Me, My RE, IUI and the HCG

Well, the 2WW now officially starts. I had my last ultrasound on Saturday morning, and the final sizes of the ‘Big 4’ follicles were:

(drum roll……)
18,17,16,15

There were actually two more 15’s, but apparently there is only about a 30% chance that they would mature enough to release an egg. But, since there were 3 of them, there’s a chance at least one will release. RE had me wait until Sunday morning to inject the HCG trigger so the follicles could mature a little bit more. I had my IUI at 10:30am today. I probably won’t ovulate until later this evening since it takes 36 hours after the HCG trigger, but RE said that would be fine.

Speaking of my RE – a few people have commented (and thanks again for the comments!) that their RE doesn’t do the ultrasounds, etc. My RE doesn’t do them all the time – usually an assistant does them and then he comes in afterwards and goes over the results with me. But when it gets close to the end, he tends to do one or two of the ultrasounds. This Saturday, it was only him and one nurse in the office so he did the ultrasound - their office isn’t always open on Saturdays. Anyway, I do seem him at some point at every single appointment! He always goes over everything in detail, how things are progressing, etc. I was surprised that some people barely see their RE! I figured mine might be more attentive than some, but I guess I lucked out more than I realized!

Anyway, back to the HCG trigger and the expected O time….there is a slight chance that I may not ovulate until tomorrow…. And why is that you wonder? Well, let me tell you the story of a moron (me) who has the coordination skills of … of…. Ok, I just don’t have any coordination skills.

Me = DUH.

Sunday morning – time for the trigger!! Yay! Ok, so I open the package – the syringe is already all set up – all I need to do is take it out, jam it into my thigh and press the little ‘plunger’ – same routine as always. Simple, yes? Not for me! Somehow, and don’t ask me how, because I don’t even know myself, when I took syringe out of the package, the end that you press down on… well that came off… some spilled onto the counter.

I just stood there, looking at some of my precious HCG trigger in a tiny puddle on the counter. I had the other end in my hand – I was so freaked out that I was frozen for a moment, but I did manage to keep the other end in a position so nothing else was spilling out. So I quickly jammed the needle into my thigh, grabbed the other end, put it back in and injected the rest. I inserted the needle end right away, before putting the plunger end back on because I figured more liquid would come out the needle as soon as I put it back together and I did not want to lose any more!!

Yes, this did happen. I couldn’t make up a story this idiotic.

So I sit around, silently freaking out for about two hours. It’s Sunday – I knew I couldn’t get any more medication. I knew I did inject some. I thought perhaps 2/3 of it, but then I wasn’t sure. I didn’t know whether to call my RE or what… I finally broke down and called my RE’s answering service and left a message for him to call. I figured if there was any problem maybe he would need to reschedule things, or maybe he would tell me I didn’t need the whole shot and I could stop having a heart attack. All I knew at the time was that I couldn’t concentrate on anything whatsoever. I was furious at myself – I go through all this, finally get the size and number of follicles needed, and I screw up the simple HCG shot?!?!?!? I wanted to cry. Actually, I did cry.

RE called back shortly and, feeling like the ultimate brain child, I relayed the story to him. He asked how much I thought I injected and I told him, and he said that there is indeed more than you need in the shot, and I should be ok. He said he had some in the office and would normally run in and let me come get another shot, just to be on the safe side. (This guy is just so awesome!) But, he was an hour and a half away – I of course understood and never even imagined he would run into the office for me, even if he was close by! And since it was Sunday, there was really no place to get the medication because the specialty pharmacies that would carry it were closed. He said he thought I would be ok.

Ok, so that made me feel a little better, but I was pretty preoccupied all day, thinking about the situation and wanting to kick myself 500 times.

I did wind up getting a ‘backup’ shot today. When my RE came in to do the IUI, he said that I really was probably ok, but if I wanted, he would give me another HCG shot so if I hadn’t injected enough, I was covered – I would just ovulate tomorrow night at the latest. Of course, that isn’t the best timing since my IUI is today, but the boys are supposed to last at least 48 hours, right? Oh wait... just found this online.... if the boys are 'washed', which is done with an IUI, they only live 18-24 hours. Damn. I'd better ovulate today or that was a wasted IUI. I am an idiot!!!

Anyway, RE did say to make sure that there was additional activity with DH tomorrow, just in case. The only side effect would be if I had indeed injected enough, then this second shot would cause my ovaries to swell even more and I might be uncomfortable. Uncomfortable? Who cares?!? Give me the backup shot!! So as I lay there after my IUI, one of the nurses came in and gave me the shot.

Oh, and RE did say that he hadn’t run into this before (someone spilling the HCG shot) He said this in a nice way – he didn’t say it like ‘Wow, you’re a real ass. I’ve been in practice 20 years and no one has managed to do what you did.’ I of course, still felt (and still feel) like a real boob.

So I should hopefully ovulate tonight… or maybe tomorrow. (sigh) Usually I can feel it – I get pretty crampy and have a very heavy feeling in my abdomen, which then subsides. I would have posted yesterday about my IUI being today, but I just did not feel like posting – was trying not to think about how I may have messed things up. I feel a little better now that I have had the backup shot. I do hope I ovulate today – would be so much better with the IUI being this morning, but there will be activity tomorrow to cover me in case of a later O. I start my progesterone.e (ugh) on Wednesday and my beta is scheduled for October 2.

So if anyone is ever worried because a drop of the HCG came out of the needle before you injected it, don’t worry! A drop is no big deal – just don’t spill it on the counter!!