On being a pincushion

Sorry for the radio silence.  I've been trying to fill up every single minute of my days with packing/preparing/finishing work/hanging out with friends/generally avoiding thinking about what's about to happen.  So there's been that.

This weekend, I:

• Got my hair cut and colored because my IVF coordinator told me it's a good idea to get it done right now in case we are blessed enough to get pregnant this first time (and hair coloring is generally avoided in the 1st trimester)
• Bought a new pair of stretchy yoga pants on the advice of a good friend who's been through IVF...apparently I'm going to be a hot bloated mess.
• Went to Clinton Lake with Nick...he rode his bike...I hung out in the water.
• Had a marathon day with Jenni and Jill of church, lunch, swimming pool, hanging out and seeing Bad Teacher (very funny!) and then went to a BBQ with Nick
• Went swimming with Nick, made a mixed berry crumble and then went to another BBQ.
• Fell asleep at 7pm on Monday and in doing so, missed all of the fireworks.  Not a big loss in my book.

I actually did such a good job of avoiding thinking that the 'real' part of the IVF cycle was starting today that I nearly forgot that I had my first monitoring appointment this morning so I was running late and was quite flustered when I arrived.  I realized when I got there that the outfit I had chosen had FAR too many buttons and zippers and was a poor choice for a doctor visit day.  And, then I made a rather embarrassing gaffe that I won't go into here, but let's just say I didn't listen closely to the nurse's instructions about what clothes I could leave on for the exam and what had to be removed.  Luckily, I managed to get out of there with most of my dignity intact.

The nurse from our fertility clinic called this afternoon and said everything looks good and gave me my dosage instructions.  Now, in addition to the Lupron, I'm taking Follistim (which comes in this very neat pen looking thing...my geeky office-supply loving self can't help but admire it) and very small doses of HCG.  I rotated where I gave each of the shots, but between the needles and the bloodwork I've had to do, I'm starting to feel distinctly pin-cushion-esque.  Some of you who know me well will recall that I'm not a good blood-giver.  In fact, I've both 1) passed out, 2) thrown up on a nurse and 3) a combination of 1 and 2 on more than one occasion.

In an attempt to put a positive spin on things, though, I remembered when I was little that either my mom or grandma had a pincushion that was shaped like an apple with a happy face on it.  So, I'm trying to be the happy apple pincushion.  It's not easy, folks.  It's hard out there for a pincushion.

One more day of work!!!