Why did I ever think this process would go smoothly? It all makes sense on paper, but somehow I’m already screwing up my Gonal-f injections and getting my cycle day wrong. The deal is, I’m supposed to be on 200 thingymawhatsits of Gonal-f every day, but they gave me two 300-dose pens, and I forgot that there would only be 100 units left of the first pen on the second day (sorry, I’m boring myself just writing this crap). Anyway, I turned the dial to 200, but instead of stopping short at 100, it went down to 37.5. So was there extra stuff in the pen? Did this mean I should take 37.5 more from my second pen? Or was this inaccurate, and should I take 100 more? UGH. Then, I go into the clinic this morning, pretty sure I’m on Day 4 because I started medicating on Friday, but when the nurse calls me in, she’s all, “So, you’re repeating your Day 0 today.” And then we had to have a please-take-another-swig-of-your-coffee-and-pay-attention talk. Then she started telling me how my estrogen and progesterone had dropped, and I was all, “LADY, THIS IS OLD NEWS! GET TO MY DAMN ULTRASOUND RESULTS ALREADY!” Finally, she confirmed it was indeed my Day 4, and this is where my follies were at:
Left side: A whole bunch, all under 1 cm
Right side: 15, all “still tiny” and under 1 cm
Then I had to ask for more Lupron, and re-explain to her why I needed extra (because of that whole repeating-my-Day-0 thing, which isn’t exactly uncommon among IVF patients) before she hesitantly wrote out a prescription for it. Man… I get that it’s 8:30 a.m. on a Monday, and they’ve all been working since 7 a.m., but STILL.
On another note, I took my Lupron vial on its first field trip last night! Yep, my first experience with injections outside the home. As y’all know, Lupron has to be refrigerated at all times, so when hubby and I decided we were going to visit his grandmother up north and then go to this weird Russian sauna-and-steam operation afterward, and it would overlap with my 6:30 p.m. injection time, I realized we’d need to bring all of my meds and stabbing mechanisms and find a way to keep Lulu nice and cold. Do we have a cooler? Of course not! Did we want to ask Bubbie if we could store some fertility drugs in her fridge? Of course not! But do I have an ice cream maker? You bet I do!
And so that’s what I did — grabbed the bucket part of our Cuisinart ice cream maker, which is stored in the freezer, then swaddled the Lupron in a tea towel, and crammed it inside. My Gonal-f pen, syringe, sharps container and alcohol swabs went into my purse. When the time came, I ran out of the Russian sauna, threw on some clothes and bolted out to the car to do my business. Honestly, it was dark and freezing, and I was sitting in a suburban parking lot using the shitty light from the overhead visor to see what I was doing, fearful the entire time that some dude would walk by and think I was shooting something far more illegal into my body. Fortunately, that didn’t happen.
But for posterity, here’s a photo from my sketchy injection session, complete with little Lulu in her ice cream maker:
Have you ever had to take your injectables on the road? If so, what kind of system did you have in place to make sure it all went smoothly?
Yeah, Science! 
Oh man, it is all so dam complicated isn’t it. It sounds like you are picking up all the tips as you go.
Oh man the wonky Gonal-f pens screwed me up totally! On my first cycle I was taking 325 from 450 pens, and the math never worked out how I thought it would. Apparently they overfill them and you get some extra which means you take less from the next pen. That’s why you get the handy dandy window saying how many units you’re short, and that’s what you dial up on the next pen. F’ed me up for days, though, until I asked the nurse about it!
I put my trigger shot in a friend’s fridge on Saturday night. Much less entertaining that an ice cream maker! That’s awesome. I’m sure you looked like a total junkie.
OK phew! I figured there was just extra solution in the pen, so I only took another 37.5 from the second one… good to know. :)
You’re such a rockstar.
The nurse told me the Follistim pens always have extra in it. Usually on the last day I end up cobbling together whatever is left in those pens to make my dosage. Extra injections. Yay!
My husband and I are experts at the car injections. He has to do my injections so it isn’t like I could just run into the bathroom and do it myself. The car was the only place that worked. During our first IVF we had some family visiting so we had to manage injections at Disneyland and on a road trip up north. Basically, I would sit in the passenger seat and recline all the way back. He would sit in the back seat and get everything ready then just lean over me and do the injection. It was awkward, but worked. The pharmacy gives us a cooler bag and ice thingy for instances just like this. I like your creativity in keeping it cold :)
Haha, this is awesome! I want you to write a blog post called Injections At Disneyland… :)
Ditto on you being a rock star!
First of all: “So was there extra stuff in the pen?” YES. They always put extra in the pen. “Did this mean I should take 37.5 more from my second pen?” Yes – that is correct. “Or was this inaccurate, and should I take 100 more?” No! Just take the 37.5.
We took our lupron on the road when we had a late night out planned. We loaded up a little cooler and kept it in the car. When it came time to shoot up, we went out to the car (parked in an alley) and shot up my stomach. I felt like a drug addict and was sure to have my prescriptions with me in case someone questioned us. Ugh.
We took my meds on the road a lot. My family knew what we were up to so it was no big deal to keep them in their fridge. Traveling on a plane with needles is super fun – involves a lot more stress ahead of time than is needed.
Good call on the ice cream maker!
I had a Lupron compound that didn’t have to e refrigerated, because I had to work in Chicago so I had to take it on the plane. I got a doctors note and all, but the needles went right through security. Then I had to lee my went each night at 8 to shoot up in my hotel room. Fun times!
Ha! Ice cream maker. Love it!
I’ve shot up at my mom’s house (which included a plane trip), in a men’s bathroom, and in my car. I bring an insulated lunch bag with me for such occasions.
They always have extra in the Gonal-F pens. Use it, sister! This handy dandy chart helps when you’re moving to a new pen: http://www.fertilitylifelines.com/assets/pdfs/Gonalf_RFF_PEN_Tearpad_111213-114202_Final.pdf
Yeah math!
Great idea on the ice cream maker!
It’s probably not a big deal, but in case you are planning on another sauna session, I don’t think they are allowed during stims. Do not freak out though, I’m sure it’s not a huge deal.
Eeek, really?! I assumed it was just a no-no during pregnancy… thanks for the tip, though, will definitely avoid from now on!
Triple ditto on you being a rockstar :) And I was going to alleviate your worries about the math for the Gonal-f pen ( yes, they fill with extra meds), but all the lovely commenters have already done that – yay! Congrats on being Day 4 of Stims!!! And, yes, I had to bring a very unsexy cooler to a screening at the LA film school a few months ago! So embarrassing. My DH wanted to do all my injections (his way of feeling involved I guess ;) So we both had to be escorted to a private bathroom just as the movie was being introduced! We lied and told them I was a diabetic. (I’m certain there’s not a diabetic alive who can’t do their own injections, so I’m sure the ushers were like “huh?”….the whole thing was ridiculous! :)
you are a rockstar! love how you made it work! I did some injections in the parking lot of a bar this summer. our friends all arrived at the same time and were looking in and gesturing at us, like what are you two doing!? I think they thought we were fooling around! lol! I felt like an addict for sure! But lets face it, this is not that much different!
I never actually had to resort to this but you can remove the extra medication with an insulin needle. There are charts online equating ml to iu for gonal F. It prevents you from having to shoot up twice. I don’t know if you are paying out of pocket for your medication but I always saved the used up pens in the fridge in case I needed to use the extra medication in them. Why on earth did they issue you the 300 and not the 900?
There’s a 900??!! And they’ve been hiding it from me this entire time?! I feel like I’ve been had, damnit… gotta get on this.
I think so. Do you order from freedom fertility pharmacy? Check their website. Here we go http://www.freedomfertility.com/fertility-medications/medications-and-pricing.aspx
Oops I don’t think your comments section likes url’s. Check freedom fertility pharmacy’s website. They have the different options listed under “medications and pricing”
Oh never mind. There it is. I will stop talking now!! ;-)
Thankfully I haven’t had to take the injections on the road. I have the same ice cream maker and I’ll have to remember to use it in a pinch like you did.
We have the same ice cream maker! I love that you took a road trip with your injections and I too would have felt a little dirty doing it in the car (I SWEAR I AM NOT DOING HEROIN IN HERE OFFICER).
Ahhh ingenius, I love the idea of using the ice cream maker… a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do!
I always feel so conspicuous when I have to stim outside of home but oddly I also do it faster.
I am not surprised you were confused!! I was confused!
It is weird that I am excited about the possibility of shooting up in random places?!
OH good lord! thats incredibly confusing! And when the stakes are so high I am sure it amkes it worse