Ready...Set...Go!

First things first... we were very excited to get Clay's test results back on Wednesday. His sperm penetrated 15 out of 15 eggs! They are just looking for 50%, so this was great news! We also learned that there was an average of 10 sperm that penetrated each egg and anything above 2 is considered normal! The morphology report showed that less that 1/2 the sperm weren't normal size and shape, but it seems that the ones that are normal are really good at doing what they are supposed to do! We were very happy!

Today was the first shot of Lupron at 7 am. I take 10ccs and the shot goes in my tummy. The needle is pretty small and I barely felt it go in. It went okay though it was a little itchy afterwards. I have to take the shots at the same time everyday, so I had to pick a time that would work for the next weeks. I was pretty nervous about the first shot so Clay gave it to me. I think I'll be able to give it to myself soon.

It was explained to me that the Lupron turns off my body's natural production of Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) and Luteinizing Hormone (LH). Basically, I'm in menopause for a few weeks so the stimulating drugs that I'll be taking in 2 weeks take over and overproduce eggs. Here are pictures of the drug and the needle:

We went to our injection class last Thursday. We were there with another couple and a woman alone who is using her husband's frozen sperm because he's in Iraq. I can't imagine doing this by myself!!! We had samples of all the different drugs and we went through each one learning about the purpose of each drug and how it is administered. We learned about how we take care of each one (refrigerate or not) and how much to expect to pay. They told us that we needed to eat a diet as if I were already pregnant (less caffeine, no alcohol, prenatal vitamins and lots of fruits and vegetables). I was also told that once I start taking the stimulating drugs on Monday Sep 21st I will get very bloated (retaining water) and my ovaries will grow to be 2-3 times their normal size. That means that I won't be able to exercise at all and shouldn't do any twisting (like Yoga). The reason is the ovaries can get twisted which would be really bad. Take it easy... oh okay... no problem... Clay can help out! :o)

The University Fertility Clinic uses a pharmacy named IVP Care and they overnight the drugs to us. The University Pharmacy had the Lupron, so we picked up the 2 week supply after the class. I also had my blood drawn to screen for cystic fibrosis, which is a recessive gene. If I have the gene, then we test Clay. We would both need to have it for us to produce a child with it. We have a very small chance of having the gene so we're not too worried about it.

So, we will go in next Tuesday morning for an ultrasound to see how things are progressing. We are going to Oregon on Wednesday.