Back to our regularly scheduled program

I am still grieving, but unfortunately my biological clock couldn't care less. Endometriosis doesn't take a break because there's been a death in the family. It's been made clear to me by my infertility doctor that time is of the essence. I don't have the luxury of mourning for six months, then starting IVF. My endometriosis is so severe that it could start to grow back well before then.

So, I went to my doctor yesterday for "sounding" and a lesson on injections. The sounding was kind of like a pelvic exam, but quicker and weirder. A doctor came in to the exam room, saddled me up in the stir-ups, and practiced putting a catheter through my cervix and into my uterus, sort of a dry run for the embryo transfer. The docs wanted to make sure there were no impediments to getting the catheter in, and luckily there were not. It did not hurt.

The injection lesson was quick and a bit confusing. I guess I have the option of doing the pre-egg retrieval shots in my thigh or belly. I talked with a friend of my sister's who had IVF five years ago, and she strongly suggested "pinching an inch" of my belly and jabbing there. Seems doable. She said it really doesn't hurt there. This is a time when it pays to have what the commercials call that "annoying belly fat." More fat means less pain.

As for the post-retrieval progesterone shots, my husband will have to do those. They go in the tushy, and those do smart. But I really don't have a choice. This is what I've decided to do, so it's time to suck it up.