…and we’re off! First injection complete!

So, yesterday my husband and I made our second trip to City Fertility for my baseline scan.  I had had my period since stopping the Pill so my womb lining was thin as it should be.  The scan was a lot quicker than my first one and was simply to have a look at my ovaries and follicles to gain a baseline figure.  The great news is that I had approximately 13 follicles on my right side and approximately 17 on my left!

The hope is that these follicles will mature into eggs and be able to be collected.  This is a great number to start with!  The greater the number of follicles, the more chances…. Although, it could be that not all follicles mature into eggs, not all eggs are good enough for collection, not all will be fertilised successfully and not all fertilised eggs will survive long enough to be put back into the womb.

But…it could also be that all follicles mature into eggs, all are collected and fertilised successfully and then my couple will have enough little embryos to be put back into the womb and to freeze some for a later date!  So, let’s hope its the latter!

With everything looking great with my scan, it was time to finalise my treatment plan and get down to business.  With all of that done and a final blood test, we were free to go.  A quick appointment this time and wonderful to hear how everything is going so swimmingly so far.

6pm last night and it was time for my first injection.  I am on 175 units of Gonal F which is a combination of two hormones to stimulate the production of the ovaries. I will be on this for the next 10 evenings.  The Gonal F is a very easy injection to administer. It comes in a pen – similar to an insulin pen and all I need to do is dial up to 175 for my dose.  This is given subcutaneously so just underneath the skin with a very small needle.  The thought of injecting myself was never something that worried me but I know that this can be quite a hurdle for some people. I chose my upper thigh, simply because I have more fat there than on my tummy but either area is fine 🙂  I will endeavour to alternate my injection sites over the next few weeks, especially when I am injecting 2 each night!

So, for now, I will carry on with this dose, same time each evening until Monday when we are back at City Fertility again.  This will be for another scan to monitor my follicles and to review my treatment plan, probably adding in the next drug which will be to stop me releasing these eggs too early.  The whole process is absolutely fascinating! 😀

For now, I can carry on as normal ensuring that I increase my intake of water which is quite easy to do in this heat!!  I know I have only done one injection so far, but no ill effects as yet which is great!  I will update again soon 🙂

Thank you again to everyone showing me so much support!  It really does mean a lot knowing that I have the support of my friends, family, colleagues and complete strangers through this blog!  Thoughts are with my couple as they now embark on the medical side of treatment too! ❤  It feels absolutely amazing to be embarking on such an incredible journey for my couple!  I will do everything I possibly can to produce the best quality eggs, I just really hope that when it comes to transferring the embryos back, that my couple have Mother Nature firmly on their side! xxx