Just Keep Stimming

We are totally rocking the crap out of IVF. We are 5 days into the injections! It's been a whirlwind of a week so far and the time has gone by so fast.

Day 1 began on Sunday. I woke up at 6:50 am in order to give myself plenty of time to mix my solutions and get them ready to inject. Injection time is 7:15 am every morning. They needed to be done by 9 am and have to be at the exact same time every day. On Saturday and Sunday my days begin a lot earlier than the rest of the week. So, 7:15 was the latest I could go while not being rushed. I'm not a morning person and while I've done plenty of injections throughout our fertility journey, I was nervous about these medications. They need to be exactly right. So I needed to be up early to watch the instruction videos 2 or 3 times before I was ready to do it myself. Now I get up 10 minutes before and I'm ready to go before 7:15 even hits!

That night, one of my Doula clients went into labor! 39 weeks and one day. I brought my injections with me and just kept an eye on the clock. Luckily it wasn't too intense come injection time and I was able to do it quickly with the rising sun being my only light. At 11:50 am Monday morning, the baby was born after Mom had a 30 hour unmedicated labor. It was absolutely incredible and gave me nothing but hope and good vibes! 

Days 3 and 4 were just as eventful. One of my other Moms was hospitalized for preterm labor so I've been on high alert and going on little sleep. I've welcomed the distractions from my own thoughts. Up until today I didn't have a lot of time to really get into my head. Having a break from that has been important for me. 

I tried accupuncture for the first time yesterday. I've heard really surprising things about the success accupuncture gives IVF. I've been listening to meditations and visualizations specifically for IVF cycles, so I put my headphones in, laid back, and gave myself about an hour of time to positively think about my body and my babies. It was oddly calming and I look forward to continuing treatments through out the next couple of weeks. 

My accupuncture shirt. Basically I'll wear/do anything that puts those good vibes out there. 

It's weird that we are already half way through the stimming process. We go in tomorrow for our first follicle scan. I have lots of fears about my left ovary producing nothing for us even though my Doctor is sure that the amount of hormones I'm taking will absolutely stimulate that ovary. Whenever that thought creeps into my head, I just remind myself that so far my body has done everything right. It's listening and responding well and it's all going to be okay. My first blood draw revealed everything was right where it should be so I'm holding onto that victory.

Im trying to enjoy this. That sounds weird, I know. But this is a life-changing process that's made easier by seeking the good. The fact we have made it this far and I haven't completely lost my shit speaks volumes. We are fighting so hard to maintain the positive energy. I've even allowed myself to day dream about what birth will be like. Or the first time I get to take our babe to the pool. Thoughts like this make me smile and help me stay focused.

We are aiming for our egg retrevial to be June 20th with a fresh embryo transfer 5 days later. To think I'll be PUPO (pregnant until proven otherwise) in just a couple of weeks is incredible. I'm so excited to finally be pregnant and stay pregnant. I'm beyond ready to move on to the next phase of our life. We are ready and deserving of this experience and I know it's coming.