Struggles with Infertility

Being a parent is not something that everyone has as a goal in life. But once you decide that you want to be a parent, and you are unable to, your life can either unravel, or you can try to find meaning in your struggles. This blog is me trying to find meaning.
Showing posts with label Suprefact. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Suprefact. Show all posts

Monday, February 6, 2012

IVF #1 begins with Suprefact!

A couple of weeks ago I excitedly went and picked up the first two thirds of my IVF medication. I was excited until I saw the price, anyway. Oh, the costs of having a baby the science-y way.


Oh, the fun!

Along with low dose aspirin and prescription prenatals (with 5 mg of folic acid), I started my down regulation last Thursday (February 2) with Suprefact. Suprefact is synthetic LHRH analogue and the purpose of it is to put my ovaries to 'rest'. It stops me from ovulating on my own by supressing hormone production in my pituary gland. Suprefact is a nasal spray that I spray once in each nostril, every four hours, five times a day. As soon as I wake up in the morning, I grab it from my nightstand and squirt, squirt the stuff up my nose. Right before I go to sleep, I take my last dose. It's not horrible, but it does run down the back of my throat most of the time and it's not that tasty. Fortunately, the only side effects I've noticed so far are occassional hot flashes, and they aren't that unbearable.

I'm on Suprefact until my baseline bloodwork and ultrasound on February 19th. If my estogen levels and ovaries look good, I start injects of Gonal-F and Luveris to stimulate the production of follicles. More on that when the time comes.

While all this is going on, I'm also holding out hope that this last month of TTC worked. I know it likely didn't, but I am still analyzing every pinch and cramp. I'm 12 days past ovulation and should be getting my period on Wednesday or Thursday, but I'm holding out on testing (again!) until then. However, I do feel much more positive about the fact that if this cycle doesn't work out, we have a fantastic next step lined up! While I'm scared the IVF won't work, I'm hopeful that it might be our turn this time.

By the way, next cycle is cycle 48, so about four years of TTC now. Time flies, but not when you're TTC!