Orientation.....Check!

So- last night was our IVF orientation. I will try to remember some details about it.

First of all, it was really, REALLY long. You have to be there before 6 because supposedly they lock the doors at 6. I arrived at about 20 minutes to 6. DH met me there because he gets out of work at 4 and wanted to go home to shower. Of course I was panicking when he wasn't there by 5:45, but he got there 10 minutes later and all was right with the world.

We went inside and sat in the waiting room with about 5 other couples waiting for everyone to arrive. I was entertained by an article about 'Twilight' that I found on the magazine table. The wait was only about 5 minutes, which actually disappointed me because I didn't get to finish reading my article!

We were ushered into a back room with a large conference table and a white board, and each couple was given a folder about 3 inches thick with information.

The nurse introduced herself and I immediately noticed that every other word out of her mouth was, "um". It was really, really annoying. But I eventually got passed that and was able to take in some information.

She went through everything that has to be done before an IVF cycle can be done. Most of it I have done already.

Go through billing department
CD3 Bloodwork- Me
Genetic Screening Bloodwork- Me
Disease screening Bloodwork (HIV, Hepatitis, etc)- Me & DH
Semen Analysis-DH
Water Sonogram/Hysterosalpingogram/Hysteroscopy- Me (Not all 3 are done, but at least one must be done to check the condition of the uterus)

We have done the first 5 things, and the SA is scheduled for 11/23 and the waster sono is scheduled for 11/24.

Antibiotics also have to be taken to eliminate any bacteria that we may be passing back and forth (ew!). We each take one dose of 4 pills at once. That will be done on Sunday.


After going through all of that stuff, she explained what ICSI, PGD, and Assisted Hatching were, and who might need it.

She then explained which meds were SubQ, which were pill form and which were IM.

I will be taking 2 SubQ (in the skin) injected medications (Menopur and Ganirelix), one pill medication (Dexamethasone), and one IM medication (injected into the muscle). Luckily, the IM is just a one-time shot.



**I'm off to my excel class! More later or tomorrow**