Shots! Shots! Shots! Shots! Shots! Shots!

It’s my first day of shots!  One this the morning and three shots tonight.  The Lupron injections are tiny; total piece of cake.  Let’s just say there’s a little more action with the other two shots so they’re a different story.

I keep the fertility meds that don’t require refrigeration and all sterilized tools in a small cardboard box (I know, classy) on the bottom row of my espresso colored bookshelf.  Turns out that everything in my cardboard treasure chest is completely disorganized.  I can’t resist reorganizing the contents.  It’s probably a subconscious procrastination tactic, but anyone that knows me, knows I can’t fight the urge to organize anything.  Once the goods are in order, I’m reminded how many steps are involved in giving the next two shots.  Grateful that the drugs come with photo instruction sheets (below) and that I saved them in my box of goodies, I review the guidelines before attempting the injections.

After mixing the Menopur powder with the sodium chloride and switching to a smaller needle, I swab a small section of my stomach and take a deep breath.  One inch from my belly button, I place the needle as close to my skin as possible without poking it.  With my left hand, I grasp my mini muffin top.  With my right, I hesitate, hold my breath and then pierce my flesh with the needle.  I push the plunger and quickly count to ten.  I can feel the solution burning under my skin.  “A few more seconds and it will be over.  Just breathe.” I tell myself.  The seconds creep by.  Finally, I reach ten and pull the needle from my tan flesh, dropping the syringe into the red sharps container.  Noticing a small lump at the injection site, I lightly massage the mound until it goes down and the sting subsides.  One shot down, two more to go.

In a new location on my belly, I swab for my next injection.  Something I’ve never noticed before is printed on the outside plastic of each sterile syringe packet for Gonal-F, “Use only with Gonal-F Multidose”.  “Good. At least I know I’m doing it right,” I say to myself.  The last injection for today is a micro dose of Lupron and is by far the easiest of the three.  Nailed it!  That’s a wrap for day one.