STIMS Week 1

Hey Warriors!

This post is about my first week of stimulation injections (STIMS), and for those who might be a little nervous starting theirs. Here is my first weeks experience!

STIMS Day 1:

At first, I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be, to be honest. I had just woken up from a nice nap, and felt pretty relaxed. I decided to start prepping my injections around 6:30pm, even though K and I planned on starting at 7pm (the nurse said anywhere between 6-9pm) because I just wanted to get it over with. I carefully set up each injection correctly, as K watched quietly to the side (he know's if he puts too much attention on me I get anxious).

I first did my Follistim pen. I prepped my skin with an alcohol swab, which the smell reminded me of what it's like getting a shot at the doctors office, and the nerves started to kick in. I took a chunk of my skin, pinched it, and inserted the needle. I was expecting it to hurt a lot more, but it honestly was not bad at all. The tricky part was pushing down on the pen to insert the medication. The outside part of the button spins as you press down on the button, and I did not know that, which was kind of difficult to inject. After the medication was fully injected, I took out the needle, placed it on the table, and pressed the gauze against it with my MyVitro cooling pack, and took deep breaths. As I was breathing with my eyes closed, I could feel the medication start to do its thing, and an itching sensation started to occur as I heard K saying, "Good job, honey, you're doing great", in his clam, tender voice. The nurse told us that the itching sensation could happen, and it's totally normal, and would go away within minutes.

Next, I prepared my Menopur. The preparation was a bit more complicated (I have to mix powder and saline together), but I did it with no problems. After injecting the Follistim I was not nervous for the prick of the needle at all, because I knew what to expect (they are the same size needle). But what I did not expect was the burning sensation the Menopur has once you start the injection, and HOLY COW. When I say burns, it BURNS. I injected this one slower because it burned so bad, but soon enough I was done! I completed my first night of STIMS! K came over to me and gave me a great big kiss of my forehead, as I iced my injection site.

That night, I expected to be sore, but I did not expect to have such a bad nights rest as I did. Every position I tried to sleep was uncomfortable. Sleeping on my belly was obviously out, so I tried my left and right side. No matter what side I chose, I could feel gravity putting pressure on the injections and the medicine pulling closer to the mattress. It was a strange feeling, like touching your arm after a flu shot, tender and swollen. I finally fell asleep on my back, even though I could still feel the sensitivity of the medication in my belly. Last thing I remember was thinking to myself, "I hope every night after STIMS is not like this!"

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STIMS Day 2:

I was a little more nervous this time, especially for the Menopur, and since I had to do them alone since K had to teach a tennis lesson. I first did the Follistim, which was quick and easy (I didn't have a hard time pressing the button this time), but I did bleed a little more than the first time. I noticed that I did not have the itching sensation, which I was happy about! Soon I was preparing the Menopur, and injecting it into my belly. I breathed through the burn, and soon was done.

That night, I was worried about how I was going to sleep. But thank goodness because I didn't have any of those similar feelings. I had a couple of hot flashes, but went to sleep!

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STIMS Day 3:

By this time, I was pretty confident in preparing and injecting the medications. I showed my mom and my sister E how I do the injections via ZOOM since we were starting our book club meeting shortly after. This day hurt the least so far, but I noticed I was the most sore after. I assumed it was because my belly was starting to get sore from all the injections!

That night, I had a restless sleep. Not from the pain of the injections, but all of the hot flashes. Now I know how my mom feels when she complains about her hot flashes! We had the fan on, AC on (mind you, we are in Michigan, and typically only use the AC from June-August), and I had my summer light-weight pjs on, with one blanket. K, however, was all bundled up in a sweatshirt, sweat pants, and all the blankets on the bed, and didn’t complain one bit all night. I hope his patience lasts throughout the pregnancy! 😉

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STIMS Day 4:

I had the routine down, and could probably do it in my sleep. The Menopur burned the worst this day, not sure why! I completed one vile of Follistim, and had to write a reminder to change it out for my next injection, tomorrow night.

The hot flashed seemed to make an appearance routinely around 10 pm. Tomorrow was my checkup to see if my eggs and ovaries were responding correctly. Maybe the hot flashes were just nerves?

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STIMS Day 5:

That morning, I had a routine follow up (blood work and ultrasound). The nurse said my follicles were growing, and everything looked normal, and I could see the follicles on the ultrasound which was pretty cool (they look like small black circles in my ovaries, bigger than the las ultrasound). I would be starting my Ganirelix on Sunday. As the day went on, my discomfort grew. I was so bloated I looked at least 3 months pregnant, and every time I laughed, coughed or bent down, I could feel my ovaries ache. My stomach was rock hard, and it was difficult to get up and down. The pain was similar to after you do some ab workouts, but just lower. My back started to ache as well, just behind where my ovaries are.

I was really worried about how my injections would go since how I felt all day. The injections weren't terrible, and my discomfort started to ease around 11 pm. I had another hot night with the AC blasting. I turned over to look at K and he was all bundled up again.

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STIMS Day 6:

I actually had a good night's rest and woke up pretty energized. My bloat was still there, but the aches and pains seemed to have disappeared. I was getting ready for the day, and a couple of moms from my work dropped by to say hi, and gave me some goodies which truly made my day! I did my injections as usual. My Menopur burned, but it also left a nasty bruise on my belly. I must have hit a previous injection spot. I was nervous for starting my Ganirelix in the morning, and then the hot flashes arrived.

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STIMS Day 7:

I woke up and prepared for my Ganirelix. I wasn’t super nervous for this one, since the needles looked quite similar. Boy was I wrong. I had a really hard time getting the needle into my skin, and had to push quite hard. The actual injection of the medication wasn’t too bad. After, I looked at our IVF class notes and noticed I had to inject it with “a dart like motion”. Oopps! The needle must not be as sharp as the others. My other injections went well. I barely feel the Follistim anymore, and I am getting used to the burn of the Menopur. Let’s just say I am not looking forward to tomorrow’s Ganirelix injection.

As I am writing this, I can’t believe I am done with my first week of stimulation injections. I am surprisingly proud of myself by how brave I’ve been with these injections. It’s crazy to think that a week from today will be my egg retrieval, and my eggs will be fertilized. God is so good.

baby dust,

s.