Hello! While, we’re waiting on additional information about our eggs, I thought I’d share a couple of things I’ve learned for myself in this journey. I will do one for STIMS and one for the actual egg retrieval. Hope you enjoy!
1. The bloat is real. Okay. I have had some experience with stimulation drugs, but this was times ten. I kid you not. One day, I could barely sit down. I had to hunch forward for release. My nurse said water and Gatorade are my friends. One of our amazing ttc sisters suggested coconut water. YES! Drink it and whatever else may help you get rid of the bloat. Perfect example. I walked in the office on the day prior to trigger and they immediately reminded me to make sure I was drinking enough fluids and staying AWAY from carbs (NOOOOOOO!!). It wasn’t until I looked in the mirror this PM that I saw I’ve puffed up quite a bit lol. No bueno. I’ve been sucking electrolytes ever since.
2. You will feel…um…frisky. Honeys, it was subtle at first. A thought here, a quickened breath there. But all of a sudden..WHAM! You want it and you want it now! Except your lady parts are tender from the incubator going on, so you don’t actually want it…but you do! Oh my! All your body knows is you have all these available eggs and fertilization is so close…SO LET’S GO! And the RE tells you NO unprotected sex lol. I saw that when they first gave the instructions and chuckled thinking “yeah, I won’t even be thinking about that”. Honey! You’d have thought that man was the last one earth. Oh my! Of course, my husband found it hilarious.
3. Limit the carbs. One of the reasons I’ve embraced running (when I was exercising. Been out about a week as things progress) is because I LOVE bread and it loves my hips, belly, and thighs lol. Heck, we use pasta at least once a week and bread always makes an appearance somewhere. (Admittedly, it’s whole grain and smaller portions, but still). When the staff said next to no carbs, I was hurt! Not after I just made slow cooker chicken and dumplings for the family, not after I made an angel hair and cajun sausage dish with green and yellow peppers and onions. Not after I baked cake! Sigh. I’ve been trying. I’ll continue.
4. Some of these drugs mimic pregnancy symptoms. It’s the weirdest thing. Fatigue, appetite, cramps, SORE nipples…It’s always a bit ironic to see that you’re trying and if you didn’t know any better, you’d swear you conceived. I actually woke up one day with so much EWCM, I thought something was wrong! It’s perfectly normal but wow!
5. Icepacks are our friend. Some of these injectables aren’t that bad. Then Gonal-F pen was awesome. But some of the injectables are NOT fun. Take for example our friend Menopur. That bama burns. I never had a major burn, but it wasn’t my favorite the couple of times I had to stick on the run with no ice prep. Ice the injection site about 10-15 minutes prior. It helps and the burn is minimized.
6. You will be hormonal. When I was carrying my son ten years ago, I cried at a diaper commercial. I mean sobbed at a diaper commercial. The past week and change while stimming, I’ve cried while S. and our children interact. I’ve cried at commercials. I’ve cried when I’ve held my nephew. I’ve just cried! I’ve also been mean-woman-go-away. I’ve been leave me alone. I’ve been “new rule. Ten minutes of quiet time before we ask Mommy to solve problems as soon as she walks through the door”. I’ve felt bad about it and know it’s the hormones. I don’t like it, but it does come with the territory especially with me when my estrogen levels tend to rise anyway.
7. Embrace the wide waists and dresses. Look, I hate dresses and would rock sweats all day if I could, but the professional in me loves pants suits, so I’ve learned to compromise. In the bloat, you will need the more forgiving clothes.
8. Embrace the journey. This walk is hard. You will hurt, cry, be disappointed, be frustrated, be scared. But walk in it. Embrace it. Whether or not it succeeds, you’ve done something instead of sitting on the sidelines wondering if you should. Never give up achieving your goal. I don’t even know what the end result will be this cycle, but I know I’ll never give up. Hope the same remains for you!
