CD01

AF showed up this morning which means we're on for IVF#2! Exciting and scary at the same time (I'm already worrying on what to do for babysitting the day of the ER when I have to be at the clinic at 7 am...).

We went to the RE again on Wednesday. This time he was busier than a month ago and we had to wait for an hour to see him for only five minutes. Oh well... Got all the forms signed and took prescriptions home for all the meds for the entire cycle. The sperm test showed hubby apparently has an infection somewhere, so he has been started on antibiotics and has to redo the test in about three weeks, but luckily that doesn't mean we had to hold off cycling for another month.

I thought my recent pap meant I didn't have to go to the lab to get a vaginal test like last time, but unfortunately I was wrong. So I scheduled that in yesterday because I didn't want to run the risk of having my period and then maybe getting the test results in too late for my REs liking. It was OK, sort of. I hate it that they always assume there's something wrong (yeast infection etc), and then you have to explain 'no no, it's just a preventive measure before the start of our IVF cycle'. I still don't understand why the RE can't do it himself.

I went to see a nurse this morning to give me the IM shot of Decapeptyl 3 mg (replacing the Enantone that I had to use two years ago). Stimming starts on CD20. So nothing much going on other than stupid cramps (thank you AF) and hubby a bit afraid of me being very grumpy for the coming three weeks.

Enantone side-effects

I was prepared for hot flashes and other menopausal side-effects that Enantone might give me, but not for two weeks of diarrhea! After a few days I called the doctor's office to check if this could indeed be a side-effect.

My own doctor wasn't there, so the assistant told me to call his colleague, the one that usually does the ultrasounds. I've known him since my IUI attempts and he is always very 'speed', something I really had to get used to (if I ever have...). So I got him on the phone and told him that I wanted to ask him about possible side-effects of the Enantone. "You're bleeding!" he said. I did, but I had read that that could be normal, so that did not worry me too much. "Yes, but I also have diarrhea, could that be related?" "Yes, that's possible, listen, everything is fine, I've got a call on the other line, see you at the ultrasound. Bye!" Ugh, if I hadn't met him before I would have been really upset. Now only just a bit...

So I went to the pharmacy to get something to quiet my intestines down, luckily the pharmacist was a lot more understanding than the doctor and confirmed that it was indeed on the list of possible side-effects of enantone. Pff... it finally subsided once I started the Puregon injections on day 20.

Enantone injection

Started my first IVF cycle on August 28 with an Enantone LP injection, to suppress my normal hormone cycle. Thought maybe I could do it myself until I got back from the pharmacy and saw that it was a real DIY package: two tiny bottles, one with powder, the other one with solvent, which you had to suck out with the pink colored needle into the syringe, then add it to the powder, mix, suck it into the syringe again, change to the blue colored needle and inject the mixture into your belly.... Some great catastrophic scenarios flashed before my eyes, so I decide to make some calls to try to find a nurse to do it for me. Finally found one who was able to come by the same day. Nice guy who made the whole mixing thing seem very easy, but I'm glad he did it instead of me. The French system is pretty good, nurse comes for a home visit and you just give your "carte vitale" (insurance card) at the end, he puts it in some calculator, and the costs are immediately charged to the insurance company. It seemed that it's very under-paid though - he was talking out loud while typing away on his calculator and apparently they can only charge 3 euros for the home visit and 2,50 euros for the injection...