my ovaries: hostage

I went back to the doctor this morning to get started on one of the new drugs I will need if we do end up doing IVF. They did the sonogram, determined that nothing was going on for next cycle yet (I'm only at Day 18), and showed me how to use the new drug. It's called Ganirelix, and it basically takes my ovaries hostage. It will render them incapable of doing anything on their own, which is exactly the way we want it if we do IVF. Unlike with IUI, when we were just stimulating my natural cycle and ensuring timeliness by using the trigger shot, there is nothing natural about IVF. They will control every step of the process.

If it happens. Because, remember, I could be pregnant from our 4th IUI. Probably unlikely, but possible.

Anyway, the Ganirelix injection comes already mixed together, so it will be slightly easier than the follicle stimulating hormone, Gonal; that's when I get to be a chemist mixing powders with liquids and switching needles and whatnot. This one is all ready to go. But it has to be given subcutaneously (under the top layer of skin, I think is what that means) rather than intramuscularly like Gonal. Basically Gonal I just stab straight into the center of my leg. Ganirelix I inject at a 45 degree angle into a hunk of skin that I pinch together on my leg. Not much of a learning curve, really.

The nurse showed me how to do the first one at my appointment this morning, and then told me that I have to give myself the injection every morning at the same time. Which means I'll be stabbing myself in the school bathroom and - even better - on our 5th grade camping trip this week. That'll be fun to maneuver when I'm sharing a bunk with six 10 year old girls. I was also told to continue the progesterone (bane of my existence) until I either get my period or come back into the office for the blood test a week from today. If I'm not pregnant, I'll continue to Ganirelix until they determine it's time to start inducing ovulation for IVF.

The GREAT news of the day is that my good friend and colleague who has been going through all of this fertility stuff for way longer than I have is finally pregnant! Her second IVF did the trick and she's now almost 12 weeks along. She told me today and of course was nervous that I'd be upset. But I was truly so thrilled for her. I cried, entirely from happiness. She and I have have gone through so much of this together and I could never not be happy for her after everything she's been through. And it bodes well for me... it's so nice to see that it works out. She has also been doing acupuncture and is convinced that did the trick. AND another one of our colleagues also had a successful IVF over the summer- that news was just made public. We always have tons of pregnancies at school... maybe this year is the year of the assisted pregnancies!

So - optimistic vibes all around here. I go to acupuncture tomorrow and, of course, back to the doctor in a week. We're pushing ahead, one way or another. Oh, and one more weird thing that I don't think counts, but still: the hubby has a client who's a shrink, and she asked him out of the blue last week if we were expecting a baby. She said she just had a feeling that he was going to be a father. Maybe it's just my acupuncturist's theory about the parenting journey beginning once you're trying that came across. But my husband is the most skeptical person on the planet about anything other than science determining anything, so the fact he even mentioned this to me in a semi-serious, hopeful way is saying something.