IVF - Day 3 - My husband says I am becoming a druggie

Since I am becoming an expert at shooting myself up with drugs. Not heroin or crack but drugs none the less.

I thought I would give you a step-by-step pictorial on how I give myself the Lupron shots. For those of you who haven't started your cycle yet and are freaking out about the needles I hope it will ease your anxiety.You will quickly realize once you start your IVF cycle that 2 things will happen: 1.) you need a personal assistant, there are way too many things and appointments to remember daily 2.) you have become a human pin cushion.

These pictures were taken at 7:30 am with one hand and sometimes no hands; I apologize ahead of time if some are blurry. I have to administer the Lupron twice a day for the next 9 days or so. That is 2 needle pokes a day and once I get to the stimulation meds it will be 3 pokes a day and the needles only get bigger from here.

The cast of characters: 1 handy dandy sharps container, safety first!, 2 alcohol swipes, Lupron container and 1 insulin syringe

First I wipe off the top of the Lupron container with the alcohol swab to kill nasty germs that could infect me. 

Open the other alcohol swab and wipe off a spot on my belly. I do the left side in the morning and the right side in the evening. That way I get a 24 hour reprieve on each side. I never thought my abs (or lack there of) would make a blog debut without a baby inside.

Next I draw 5 units of air into the syringe to deposit into the Lupron container. It is important to put in the amount of air you will be taking out in liquid. It will make withdrawing the liquid easier. You can see the bottom edge of the black rubber is at the number 5.

Then turn the vial upside down to withdraw the liquid, air goes to the top and I get the medicine without air bubbles. They taught me to take out more and then push it back in until I reach the desired dose.

Pinch some skin to make inserting the needle easier and less painful...drum roll please

Ta-da! Easy as pie.

Lastly recap the syringe and deposit it into the sharps container and I am off for the day. I get to repeat it all again in 12 more hours. Fun times!