I should've put a note in the first post on this blog saying that you will learn way more about me than you ever cared to know, so if that bothers you, you probably shouldn't continue reading. Better late than never! So, consider this your warning from here on out.
So at the end of my last post, I mentioned how I had to schedule an appointment with my regular doctor to get reimmunized for Rubella, since I was no long immune, and they would not begin an IVF cycle without being immunized for it. If Rubella is contracted during pregnancy, it can be deadly to both the baby AND the mother (one of the many, MANY reasons to always have your children, and yourself, vaccinated!). With being reimmunized, you must have the vaccine at least 30 days prior to the start of your IVF cycle. Knowing that I could possibly begin my first IFV cycle as soon as the end of November, I called my regular doctor immediately to get in as soon as possible to get the vaccine. This was the morning of Wednesday, October 7th. I spoke with the receptionist and was informed that they would not give me the vaccine without first having a physical (it had been a couple...okay, maybe a few years since I last had a physical). I told her that I really needed the vaccine ASAP and that if I could just get that, I would schedule a physical for another time. She said she would talk with the nurse and someone would call me back that same day. Of course, I did not hear back from anyone that day. So, I made sure to call first thing Thursday morning. I explained that I had been waiting for a call back yesterday, and they said "Oh, well, the nurse said you need to come in for a physical and we'll give you the vaccine at the same time. Besides, we don't keep the vaccine in house, so we need to order it anyway." Okay, great, let's get this thing scheduled then. Knowing that I would be able to start my first IVF cycle as early as the end of November, and keeping in mind the 30 day wait in between the vaccine and IVF, I told them I needed an appointment as soon as possible (as close to October 25th would be ideal). The conversation went a little like this:
Me: "Timing is really of the essence with this vaccine <sidenote - I had already told them why I needed it>, so I really need an appointment before the end of October."
Receptionist: "Okay, let me see...How does November 3rd sound?"
M: Did she not hear what I said??? "Do you have anything before that, by chance?"
R: "Okay, how about Friday, October 31th?"
M: "Umm, October 31st is a Saturday, not a Friday..."
R: "Oh! Okay, Friday, October 30th?"
M: "Is that really the soonest you have?"
R: "Yes it is."
M: "Okay, I guess that'll have to work then." <Getting the vaccine that late would mean I would possibly have to push my first IVF cycle to the end of December, around Christmastime, which is a really inconvenient time to try and schedule multiple appointments>
R: "Oh wait, I was looking at the wrong calendar! Hahaha" Really lady?? "How about Tuesday, October 27th?"
M: "Okay, yes, let's go with that..."
Finally, I had my appointment set to get my vaccine. Fast forward to Saturday, October 24th - I get my period, thus becoming Day 1 of my cycle (I told you you were going to know more about me than you ever wanted or cared to know). CNY wanted to me to call on Day 1 so I could schedule a blood work appointment (between days 2-5) and an SHG (a Sonohysterogram, between days 5-10, but could not be done on the same day as the blood work, as they needed the results of the blood work before they could do the SHG). Since Day 1 was a Saturday, I couldn't call and make the appointments, so I called first thing Monday morning. I was able to schedule the blood test for Tuesday before my physical, and the SHG was scheduled for Friday.
Tuesday comes and I go get my blood drawn. Luckily, only one vial this time. I also get another internal ultrasound done, just checking to make sure everything still looks good (oh yay... because that's exactly what I want is an internal ultrasound while I have my period...). While I was there, they also give me a prescription for antibiotics, which was to be taken the day before, the day of and the day after the SHG. This is common practice for them, as it helps prevent infection that may come from the use of the catheter for the SHG. Then I head over to my physical, where they ask me 10 million (and 1) questions and do the exam (which took about a quarter of the time they spent asking me questions). And finally, I get my vaccine. Seriously, I've never been so excited to get a vaccine as I was at that point.
A few days later, I go back to CNY for my SHG. They had told me ahead of time that it wasn't as bad as the HSG (which I didn't have any problem with, but apparently many women do), and to just take 800mg of ibuprofen about an hour beforehand to help with any discomfort that may occur. So I go in thinking that this will be a piece of cake. No, it definitely wasn't. What they do is slip a catheter with a tiny, uninflated balloon up into the lowest part of your uterus, inflate the balloon a little bit and add a bit of saline into the uterus to check that the lining doesn't have any fibroids, adhesions, etc. They then stick the internal ultrasound wand up there to view everything (yes, really. I wish I was joking). "You may feel some slight cramping," they said. Yeah, slight cramping my @$$. That sh#! hurt, plain and simple. The whole thing took about 10 minutes, but it was 10 of the slowest minutes of my life. Fortunately, everything looked good. After she was done torturing me, the nurse and I discussed the next steps in my treatment. She would fax in a prescription for all of the medications I would need for a cycle of IVF (which is only available via a prescription mail service) and told me that the pharmacy would call me Monday to verify all of the medications, as well as confirm my shipping address and get my billing information for any co-pays I may have. This means that with the start of my next cycle (which should be around the weekend before Thanksgiving), I could start my first round of IVF. The prospect of my first round of IVF being so close had me crying happy tears that day. Things are finally starting to look up, and there seems to be a slight glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.
My next blog will be all about my call with the pharmacy and the medications I have coming my way. Stay tuned!
Happy reading!
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