Already, Ovary?

Holy begeezes. My right ovary HURTS. I'm not even on injects yet, so I can only imagine just how much more painful this is going to get. I'm expecting a visit from my most hated aunt (aunt flow) any day now, and what I can only assume will be a life of mostly celibacy for the next few weeks. I am so not psyched about that lol. For now my biggest complaint is... nothing! Well.. except this ovary thing, but if I'm complaining now I'm going to be a wreck for the next two weeks. I have my work pants all ready. I intend to wear the same pair almost every day because they're insanely comfortable and a little too big for me. They should be gentle on my growing ovaries.

I can't believe I actually have 22 follicles I'm trying to grow to 14+mm each. It doesn't sound like much, but then you pull out a ruller and realize each follicle is almost an inch! That's 22 inches of follicle!! I've decided to document the injection process of growing these puppies, so I'm recruiting Andy to help me take some pictures Sunday. I saw someone else's journal with photos once and it helped me, so maybe if anyone comes across mine and is going to go through an IVF cycle it will help them to see what the process is really all about. Andy's still trying to avoid poking me with sharp objects (which for the most part I can appreciate) but I have no qualms about doing it myself. The needles are tiny until the Lupron trigger. I'm not excited about that one.... actually I'm mildly terrified. I got an IM injection of the flu shot last year and it really wasn't a big deal, but it was given by a nurse who knew what she was doing. I'm not sure me jabbing myself in the thigh is going to be quite so pleasant, so I may still have my mom do it in my hip. She was a phlebotomist, so even though she didn't inject things, she knows how to get a long needle in without causing death and destruction. The only problem with that is I discovered yesterday that they can have you trigger ANY time. They start at like 7PM and go on through midnight, and sometimes through 3AM. I'm not sure I can convince my mom to get up at 3AM to shove a needle into my butt. Can you blame her? So we'll see how that goes.

Also, because I'm a visual person, I took a picture of how long my needle is on a ruler, with a penny for scale. 2 1/2 inches. That's crazy.

And my umanicured nail for your viewing pleasure. Yes, I'm harping on the length of this needled, but I'm allowed to be a baby every so often.

Oh, and pushing back 1 day has landed my egg retrieval directly on the day hubs and I were planning on going to Philly to see a band that isn't even together!!!! They went through 3 singers then broke up, and now they're doing 4 shows with the original singer. They're one of my top 5 bands and I might never have this chance again!!! I told Andy if I stim for 10 days (which is what they expect) my egg retrieval will be that day. If I stim quickly (which I might - my ovaries feel ready) the retrieval will be the day before. If that happens, at minimum he can go. I would have to play it by ear. He said if I still hurt he'll drop me off and sit me in a chair all night so I don't have to do anything but watch the band. I don't know what to expect from this, or what doctor's orders are, but if they let me move around, I'm going. It won't be bad for the babies 'cause they'll be growing safely in the lab, and if I'm cleared, I'll deal with some discomfort. I suppose it's up to the doc. If retrieval is the day after it will depend what time. If I have to be there at 7am, we're out of luck, but if it's.. you know, noon, we might still go and come home that night. Andy's depressed and doesn't want to talk about it lol. I am, too. But only time will tell. I just hope I stim fast!

On a positive note, after Sunday i will have 4 whole days of leave, and 5 by the time of my retrieval. This means that even with 2 days off for that and a day for transfer I will still have leave. I'm amazed! And later this year I start earning 1.5 times the amount of vacation, so that's good. For now I'm just waiting and excited and ready for Sunday to get here.

PS: According to my current schedule, if when this IVF works, my due date will be 1/18/11, so with two weeks less for delivering at 38 weeks, that's Wednesday, 01/04/11. I'd still like a 2010 baby so we'll see.