Part 12: Arrival of the T-Day
The aunt flow paid a surprise visit on early morning of January 7th. I was happy for various reasons. First it came just two weeks late, second, I can finally start with my infertility treatment and third, I can finally dream and hope about becoming pregnant soon.
The very day I called up my clinic and informed the nurse about the very recent development in my anatomical front. She gave me an appointment for next day i.e. second day of my menstruation.
On January 8th, I went to the clinic all anxious as they were going to perform ultra sound on me. It might sound gross but that’s the reality a woman with infertility has to face. The nurse made me feel calm and relax. Later, she smoothly performed the ultra sound explaining me about the internal reproductive system. This time I got to see 5 follicles in each of my ovaries in various shapes…slanting more towards round and oval. However, she didn’t tell me if it is normal to have 5 follicles in each of the ovaries at this phase of the period. But she concluded saying that everything thing looks normal and endometrium lining is bit thick as it’s still second day of my menstruation.
After calculating certain things, she signaled me to follow her to the office. Once there, she asked me how often I get my periods and she wanted to know the precise days between each period. For that I told her my periods are quite irregular and that is the precise reason why I’m there at the fertility clinic. Apparently, Dr.Vicky didn’t brief her much about my case. But that’s fine…as my case was registered on their online database. The nurse went through it in detail. Then she came up with Puregon 300 injection kit.
Puregon is one of the most effective follicle stimulating hormones (FSH). It’s the result of 12 years of hard work, brain drain and someone’s determination and dream. In a way I feel so special using this hormonal therapy. I truly hope this magical potion helps me to become pregnant in the first attempt of IUI. Sounds too ambitious right? But that’s how desperate I’m and so are the most of the women around the world who are suffering from infertility.
Now back to the point, the nurse gave a brief intro about the contents of Puregon and it’s impact on my body. It reacts different on different people like any other medicine. So next 15 minutes I spent learning how to use this pen injection. It’s quite simple and there are several videos available on the net. So let me not take the space here explaining how to use it. But I’ll share the picture here. It looks ultra cool :-)
The interesting thing about this beta injection is that it should be taken at home by oneself in the night around the same time every night. It comes in 300IU/0.36 ml, 600 IU/0.72 ml and 900 IU/1.08 ml solution for injection. I have been prescribed with the first one and asked to take the shots every night for seven nights. I started taking Puregon shots from January 8th night. Today is going to be the third night and I’m all excited. So far I haven’t experienced any side effects… may be because I’m still menstruating and the menstruation symptoms might overshadow the symptoms of Puregon. So I’ll have to wait until my blood flow ceases.
On the 8th day, the nurse will conduct another round of ultra sound to see the growth of the follicle/s. I’m all finger crossed XX Apparently, such shots also results in growth of multiple follicles which are sometimes not suitable for IUI as it might lead to multiple pregnancies.
Meanwhile, the nurse also took some blood samples to test my estrogen, lutropin (Luteinizing hormone ) and FSH levels. So thousands of things depend on my internal balance. And still I’m advised to relax and be happy. I try to ignore negative things but I’m fickle minded and highly sensitive human being! But I have to do this for the sake of my potential unborn child!
