Medications

On June 28, 2007, two days before my thirtieth birthday, I went down to Durham, NC to Duke Fertility Center to start the process of IVF.  My husband and I were filled with excitement at the thought of the IVF being successful. We played the "What if? game" the whole way down... what if we get pregant with twins? what if we get pregnant with triplets? what would you name a girl? what would you name a boy? would they have my crazy mannerisms? would they have my husband's green eyes? We were ready to be parents. We wanted this so badly!!!
When we arrived at Duke, I went in and had a ultrasound to make sure that the birth control and the Follistim injections I had been taking for the past few days had been working. The doctor said that the uterine cavity looked normal and I had an antral follicle count of 9. There was nothing to worry about. The next step was to start taking the medication Lupron, which is prescribed to prevent premature ovulation. The doctor decided I should take 225 IUs every evening. I was given a kit that would be enough for 14 days.
Later that afternoon, my husband and I needed to go to a training session on how and when to take all the medications. The doctor's nurse ran the session. She gave me a sheet that listed the medications I would need to take over the next few days... birth control, Foliistim, antibiotics, Lupron, and Ovidrel. The nurse discussed the side effects of Lupron with my husband and me...painful and/or frequent urination, severe headaches, insomnia, dizziness, hot flashes, and stomach pain. Before my husband and I left Duke, we had to meet with a financial planner to discuss how we would pay for this procedure. We realized it was a big investment, but it was worth it to us. We left Duke feeling confident that most of our questions had been  answered.