"Dear Progesterone,

I've only just met you and I already don't like you.  

Sincerely, 

A Very Sore Bum" 

My first few days of PIO (progesterone in oil) injections haven't gone as smoothly as I had anticipated. My first shot on Tuesday ended with me laying in my kitchen floor for ten minutes feeling woozy and faint. I've come to the conclusion that I psyched myself out by watching all the medicine sloooooowly enter my body. I was pretty surprised by my reaction since it's administered the same as Delestrogen and I haven't had issues with those. Since then, I have looked away while actually pushing the medication in and that seem to do the trick. The next day I had a huge lump and my butt was SO sore. It kind of terrified me about the next two months of injections. 

The good news, though, is that I've been able to find out what works for me and how to prevent those nasty knots. 

Why is Progesterone worse than Delestrogen? 

This picture shows the different doses I'm administering intramuscularly- which is a huge factor in the pain the day after. The left, smallest dose, is 0.3ml and that's the dose I've been using for Delestrogen. The middle is 1.0 ml which I used for the first two days of PIO. The right is 2.0 ml, which is the dose I'm currently on for PIO. I'll admit that I was scared spitless to up my dosage from 1ml to 2 because of how painful it was to go from 0.3ml to 1. 

Luckily I was able to figure out methods to prevent the pain. The mistake I made for the first injection was not massaging long enough. MASSAGE. MASSAGE. MASSAGE. That is what I have found works best along with lots of heat. 

My Advice/Methods:

1) Heat the medication once you have drawn it up into the syringe. You can do this by placing it in a heat pad/rice pack or just by placing the syringe (with the cap on) into your bra to heat with your body temp. I use a rice pack.

2) Massage vigorously after the injection. I massage with my heated rice pack for a couple minutes then put a tennis ball between my injection site and the wall and just squat up and down to help spread out the medication. I do that for at least 7-10 minutes. 

3) Heat! After using the ball, I apply heat for a good 15 or so minutes while gently massaging on and off with my hand. 

4) Get up and move around! Walking around or doing some light exercises helps get your blood going and uses your muscles- both of which help to spread the medication and prevent lumps. 

5) More heat. I sleep with an electric heat pad tucked into my sweats at night. My pad shuts off automatically after 10ish minutes so if I wake up in the night and feel sore, I just turn it back on and head back to sleep. 

These things are what have worked for me to prevent lumps. Now, this doesn't make it painless, I'm still pretty sore (feels like I've been punched really hard in my bum), but it does get rid of the nasty lumps that make it even more painful. 

I'm still doing all the shots by myself so if anyone wants some tips on that, let me know. 

ONLY 48 MORE HOURS UNTIL TRANSFER! 

___________________________________

Medication:

Days on Prenatal Vitamins: 79
Baby aspirin: 34

Delestrogen Injections: 5

PIO Injections: 4

Active Birth Control Pills: 46 (finished 1/2)

Doxycycline: 20 (first round finished 1/7)

Lupron injections: 29 (finished 1/29)

Procedures:

Acupuncture Sessions: 9
Vials of Blood Drawn: 15
Vaginal Exams: 2
SIS: 1
Mock Transfer: 1
Internal Ultrasound: 2

Weight:

Start of medication: 162.6

1 week of Meds: 163.4

2 weeks of Meds: 159.2

3 weeks of Meds: 161.6

4 weeks of Meds: 163.6 

Week 4 of Medication: Let the Countdown Begin!

Last Week: I've now been on medication (besides birth control) for 4 weeks and, guess what! Only SEVEN DAYS until the transfer! I would say that this week was more uncomfortable than the previous weeks but still nothing major. 

The Delestrogen injections have raised my estrogen levels higher than they would be normally and that's caused some pretty intense bloating. The picture below shows how bloated I've been! I look 5 months pregnant! And I not even pregnant at all! Haha I've also had a very hard time with digesting dairy so I've had to cut it out of my diet temporarily. If I eat even a little dairy, I get even more bloated, gassy, and stomach cramps. I'm not really upset about that, though, because I've had to cut dairy before when breastfeeding my youngest and I liked the way my body felt. I felt "cleaner" and not nearly as bloated just in general so I'm taking this as a blessing in disguise. I probably should avoid dairy all the time but I just love cheese and soft serve ice cream way too much. I mean, who doesn't?! The cramping, back pain, and headache have all gone away this week. 

My appointment on Thursday went really well! They did an ultrasound (machine pictured below) of my uterus to check the thickness of my uterine lining. You want it to be thick and fluffy, which is ideal for the embryos to implant.  The clinic wants to see the lining at least 7 mm thick and mine was...... *drum roll please* 13.93 mm!! Yay! Almost double the thickness they want! It seems my uterus is good and ready to house some babies :) This probably explains the full feeling I was feeling last week. They also did some blood tests to check my Estrogen and Progesterone levels, which were both on track to move forward with the transfer. 

I had my usual acupuncture appointments and those went well. I saw a different acupuncturist on Friday because mine was out of the office and I really liked her. Her method felt a lot different than what I'm used to, though. Instead of a constant zing/vibration through the needles, it was a tapping feeling. I'm not sure what she did different but it was definitely noticeable. 

Next Week: My medications are switching up a lot next week and I have more blood tests on Wednesday. 

I'll continue the prenatals, aspirin, and Monday/Friday Delestrogen injections. 

My last Lupron injection is tomorrow! This is a bitter-sweet milestone. It means we are SO CLOSE to the transfer but it also means that I get to start daily progesterone injections! 

On Tuesday night I will start daily Progesterone injections which are... You guessed it... Intramuscular injections.  So that's 9 butt injections a week! So far I've had really good experiences with the Delestrogen intramuscular injections but I've heard the Progesterone (aka PIO) is more painful simply because of the quantity of medication that's being administered. Right now my Delestrogen dose is 0.3 ml and the Progesterone will get all the way up to 2 ml!  This increases the chances of lumps and soreness the days after. Plus, it's every day so my bum won't have much of a chance to heal before getting stabbed again. 

I have devised a plan, though. To avoid lumps and soreness, I plan to:

• use my rice pack to warm the medication before injecting

• massage and apply heat after injections

• SQUATS! 

It makes sense in my head that walking around or doing squats after heating and massaging will help to disperse the medication even more. Plus squats are good for preparing your body for labor and building a booty ;) This theory might backfire horribly and I might hate myself after trying it but I think it's worth a shot! (No pun intended)

I will also start another round of Doxycycline (antibiotic) and a low-dose steroid, Medrol, on Wednesday. Both of these are taken orally and both will just continue until the transfer day. The Doxycycline is to make sure there aren't any infections going on and Medrol is used to suppress the autoimmune from interfering with embryo implantation. 

Long Story Short:

Monday- prenatal vitamins, baby aspirin, Delestrogen IM injection, last Lupron injection

Tuesday- prenatal vitamins, baby aspirin, Progesterone IM injection

Wednesday- prenatal vitamins, baby aspirin, Progesterone IM injection, Doxycycline 2x, Medrol 

Thursday- prenatal vitamins, baby aspirin, Progesterone IM injection, Doxycycline 2x, Medrol 

Friday- prenatal vitamins, baby aspirin, Progesterone IM injection, Delestrogen IM injection, Doxycycline 2x, Medrol 

Saturday- prenatal vitamins, baby aspirin, Progesterone IM injection, Doxycycline 2x, Medrol 

Sunday- prenatal vitamins, baby aspirin, Progesterone IM injection, Doxycycline 2x, Medrol 

Total- 36 pills and 9 injections (1 tummy, 8 butt). 

Wednesday I go in for more blood tests to make sure the first Progesterone injection is doing it's job. 

I am beyond excited to make it to the transfer. I am planning to have a nice relaxing weekend next weekend and continue preparing my body for pregnancy during the week. I want to have a calm, peaceful state of mind when the transfer happens so the babies are welcomed into the most ideal, stress free house and hopefully decide to take out a nine month lease ;) I'm going to try to keep myself busy so I'm not just sitting around watching the seconds tick by. Ahhhh only SEVEN MORE DAYS! 

<3 

___________________________________

Medication:

Days on Prenatal Vitamins: 73
Baby aspirin: 28

Lupron injections: 28

Delestrogen Injections: 3

Active Birth Control Pills: 46 (finished 1/2)

Doxycycline: 20 (first round finished 1/7)

Procedures:

Acupuncture Sessions: 7
Vials of Blood Drawn: 14
Vaginal Exams: 2
SIS: 1
Mock Transfer: 1
Internal Ultrasound: 2

Weight:

Start of medication: 162.6

1 week of Meds: 163.4

2 weeks of Meds: 159.2

3 weeks of Meds: 161.6

4 weeks of Meds: 163.6 

I was actually bummed to see that weight this morning, even though I was actually expecting worse. I am so bloated and retaining so much water that I knew my weight would be heavier this week. The thing that frustrates me is that I've been really good about my eating and getting into the gym so the athletic side of me isn't comprehending the gain. But I KNOW that it makes sense and will likely go away as my hormones even out. 

Week 3 of Medication

Last week: Today closed up my 3rd week of medications to prepare my body for the embryo transfer. Everything is still going great with only minor noticeable side effects. 

I started the delestrogen injections (as you probably know) and the only things I'm really noticing from them is an increase in vaginal discharge and a crampy/full feeling in my uterus. My second shot that I did at work went just as smooth as the first but I still hesitated and shook the whole time lol 

The Lupron is causing some ovary pain (same feeling as a cyst) and the lower back pain I was having has almost completely gone away, which makes me think it was, indeed, from suppressed estrogen levels. My Lupron headache is nearly gone as well. 

I had two more electro-acupuncture appointments this week but she did them a little differently. Since my back was giving me such issues, she had me lay on my back and placed the needles on my stomach and top/insides of my calves. I think I preferred this way, especially since that means she can put that lovely eye compress on me :) At one of my appointments I had a "phantom shock" that was really weird! When she turned the electricity on for my right leg, I felt three shock sites but there were only two needles! I have no idea what caused that but it was weird. 

Next Week: There isn't much change in medication this week but I do have an appointment at ORM on Thursday. 

This week I'll continue taking the daily prenatals, baby aspirin, 5 units of Lupron, and Delestrogen on Moday (.25 ml) and Friday (tbd). I'll also continue the twice weekly acupuncture. 

Thursday morning I go into ORM for an ultrasound to check the thickness of my uterine lining. We want it to be nice and fluffy! I'll also get some bloodwork done that will determine the dosage for the rest of my Delestrogen injections. I'm a little nervous about this appointment because I just hope my body is responding correctly to the hormones. From the symptoms I'm having, I feel like it is but you just never know until you get in there. 

There's only TWO WEEKS until the transfer day! Ahhh time is flying. I'm continuing to be amazed and graced with the love of M & S. Every time we are able to talk they are genuinely concerned for me while I go through this hormonal treatment. We breifly talked about when they will be coming to the states next and it seems that they will definitely be able to make it over here while I'm pregnant. That will be a really special experience for me because I want them to get the entire experience! I want them to feel the baby/ies kicking, to see the big belly, to go to an appointment, and deal with my moodiness ;) I know I say this all the time but I just absolutely adore them. 

___________________________________

Medication:

Days on Prenatal Vitamins: 66
Baby aspirin: 21

Lupron injections: 21

Delestrogen Injections: 2

Active Birth Control Pills: 46 (finished 1/2)

Doxycycline: 20 (first round finished 1/7)

Procedures:

Acupuncture Sessions: 5
Vials of Blood Drawn: 13
Vaginal Exams: 2
SIS: 1
Mock Transfer: 1
Internal Ultrasound: 1

Weight:

Start of medication: 162.6

1 week of Meds: 163.4

2 weeks of Meds: 159.2

3 weeks of Meds: 161.6*

*I've recently cut sugar out of my diet but had a large sugary drink yesterday, plus I'm super bloated, so I'm hoping this is just some water weight that will come back off. 

Successful First Butt Injection! (video)

I did it! Even though I was super nervous, shaking, and got the nervous sweats afterwards it was not bad at all! I was so anxious about this shot that I nearly forgot to do my Lurpon injection haha This was last night and I'm happy to say that I don't have any soreness or lumps today but, I know this is the lowest dose I will inject intramuscularly so I don't expect the rest to be this easy. 

What is Delestrogen and why do I need to take it?

Delestrogen, also known as Estradiol, is one of the types of Estrogen that our bodies naturally make.  Estradiol plays a role in SO many important aspects of the female body, from bone health to egg health to reproductive capabilities.  There are so many things that Estradiol affects but for my purpose, we are focusing on it's impact on the lining of the uterus.  Right now, we are trying to bulk or "fluff" up the lining of my uterus to be more receptive to the eggs when we transfer them.  Estradiol is the key to a fluffy uterus and is primarily secreted from the ovaries during reproductive years but, since I'm taking Lupron and it's job is to shut down my ovaries, I will be giving myself twice weekly doses of Estradiol via my bum.  These will continue for about three months, until the pregnancy is good and settled into my uterus and I begin making sufficient hormones on my own.  

___________________________________

Medication:

Days on Prenatal Vitamins: 61Baby aspirin: 16

Lupron injections: 16

Delestrogen IM Injection: 1

Active Birth Control Pills: 46 (finished 1/2)

Doxycycline: 20 (finished 1/7)

Procedures:

Acupuncture Sessions: 4
Vials of Blood Drawn: 13
Vaginal Exams: 2
SIS: 1
Mock Transfer: 1
Internal Ultrasound: 1

Weight:

Start of medication: 162.6

1st week of Meds: 163.4

2nd week of Meds: 159.2

Week 2 of Medication

Last Week: Today was day 14 of meds and while things are still going smoothly, I am having some side effects from the Lupron. I'm having some pretty noticeable lower back pain that I believe is due to my suppressed estrogen levels. I remember after Gunner was born, I had similar back issues so I'm thinking its a hormonal thing. If it is, things should get better shortly as I decrease the lupron. I've also started getting the infamous "lupron headache" that so many women get. It's not horrible, but noticeable almost all day. 

I had two sessions of electro-acupuncture last week. It's quite weird! My acupuncturist puts four needles in the small of my back and two in each shin. She hooks corresponding wires to each needle and turns the electricity on, one pair at a time. She'll turn up the voltage until I tell her to stop. She leaves me alone for 15 minutes, checks to see if she can turn them up, then leaves me alone for another 15 minutes. The needles on my back aren't as "painful" as the one in my legs- but none of them are really painful. It probably would be if I had her crank it all the way up but we don't need to test that. :) 

I was trying to describe the sensation to Mark and the best I could come up with is someone taking the needle and wiggling it back and forth REALLY REALLY fast with the ocassional bug bite lol This is the type of acupuncture that I'll continue twice a week until the transfer. I still really enjoy the acupuncture and especially my acupuncturist. She's really awesome and helps me out with other aches and pains not related to the surrogacy. 

I stopped taking the antibiotic which I'm pretty happy about because the constipation was quite uncomfortable. 

I had my Estradiol blood test on Thursday to see if the Lupron is doing its job and suppressing my estrogen levels. I believe they are looking for levels to be under 70 and mine was 20.55 so it's definitely working! That means I got the "go-ahead" to start delestrogen and decrease my Lupron starting tomorrow. 

Next week: The only oral medication I'll be taking next week are the prenatal vitamins and baby aspirin. 

Buuuuuut I do get to start the Delestrogen injections, which use the big scary needles and are injected into my bum muscle! Eeek! I start those tomorrow evening and will continue every Monday and Friday until about 11 weeks of pregnancy. 

The Delestrogen (also known as Estradiol) will be drawn up with the pink, 18 gauge needle then I will switch it out for the smaller, blue, 25 gauge needle (thank god!) to do the injection. Monday's injection will be 0.10 ml and Friday's will be 0.20 ml. 

Here's a comparison of the three different needles with the Lupron needles on the right. Look how big the pink 18 gauge needle is! I'm sooo glad I don't have to use those to inject. 

I'm going to post a video of my first injection tomorrow night so be sure to check back! I'll be giving myself my first injection since I will have to do it myself at work on Friday so I want at least some practice. Ahh wish me luck! 

I'll continue my acupuncture this week and I'll continue my nightly Lupron injections but will jump from 10 units down to 5 units. 

I'm getting more and more excited about the transfer; it's only 3 weeks away! Time is flying by! I feel such a bond with M & S, I just hope this all works because I really don't want to let them down. Everything about them is wonderful and they truly deserve these babies!  

___________________________________

Medication:

Days on Prenatal Vitamins: 59
Baby aspirin: 14

Lupron injections: 14

Active Birth Control Pills: 46 (finished 1/2)

Doxycycline: 20 (finished 1/7)

Procedures:

Acupuncture Sessions: 3
Vials of Blood Drawn: 13
Vaginal Exams: 2
SIS: 1
Mock Transfer: 1
Internal Ultrasound: 1

Weight:

Start of medication: 162.6

1st week of Meds: 163.4

2nd week of Meds: 159.2

There Are Needles in My Closet...

Literally!

I really like the way I store my Meds and needles so I thought I'd share. I got this idea from a fellow blogger whom I can't remember (thanks for the idea surro friend!). 

I purchased a hanging jewelry organizer that houses all the supplies quite nicely and fits perfectly in my closet. I like that everything is in the same place and is out of reach from my littles. Here's a couple pictures! 

This side has all my supplies for the delestrogen and progesterone injections; including vials of medicine, syringes, needles, and alcohol swabs. 

The other side has the supplies for lupron injections, vaginal suppositories, and extra medications; including prenatal vitamins, aspirin, doxycycline, birth control pills, and Medrol. 

I think the jewelry organizer was about $15 but I think it's really useful! 

___________________________________

Medication:

Days on Prenatal Vitamins: 53
Active Birth Control Pills: 46 (finished 1/2)

Baby aspirin: 8

Doxycycline: 16 

Lupron injections: 8

Procedures:
Vials of Blood Drawn: 12
Vaginal Exams: 2
SIS: 1
Mock Transfer: 1
Internal Ultrasound: 1

Weight:

Start of medication: 162.6

1st week of Meds: 163.4 

So Far So Good

Last Week: I just finished up my 7th day of medication and all is going smoothly so far. I stopped taking birth control on Friday (hallelujah!) but that means no more sexy time for us! We will abstain from sex for the next 6ish weeks, until pregnancy is confirmed. Poor, poor husband haha. 

I had my first acupuncture appointment on Wednesday and I really enjoyed it! We just did a general session where she had me lay on my back and inserted two needles into each of my shins, two in each forearm, and two on the top of my head. The "needles" are barely bigger than a hair so I could barely even feel them going in. She placed a lovely compress over my eyes, dimmed the lights, and played a relaxation exercise for me to listen to. She came in periodically to spin the needles but I was, otherwise, left to relax. Next week the actual Blood Flow therapy will begin so things will be a bit different. I will lie on my stomach and she will insert the needles (I don't know how many or where) as usual but then she'll attach a machine to the needles that will run an electric current through them and into my body. Yes, she's going to electrocute me lol but only gently. ;) I'll let you know how that feels after my appointment. I'll do the electro-acupuncture twice a week for 4 weeks and then directly before and after the transfer, as I've stated before. 

I haven't felt very many side effects so far. I have started to get a little dizzy/groggy feeling after the lupron injections but I haven't felt anything "menopause-like". 

I'm excited to get off the antibiotic because it's made me rather constipated and bloated. 

Next Week: This week's schedule is calm as far as medication but busy regarding appointments. 

As you can see, my med box isn't nearly as full this week. I stopped the birth control and will stop the antibiotic after Wednesday so all I'm left with is prenatal vitamins, baby aspirin, and the lupron injections. 

I have 3 surrogacy-related appointments this week.  Monday and Wenesday will be my acupuncture and Thursday morning I head down to ORM to get my estrogen blood levels checked.  If the lupron is working correctly, I should have low levels. 

Overall, everything is going great so far.  I can't believe the transfer is only 4 weeks from tomorrow! Eek! 

___________________________________

Medication:

Days on Prenatal Vitamins: 52
Active Birth Control Pills: 46 (finished 1/2)

Baby aspirin: 7

Doxycycline: 14 

Lupron injections: 7

Procedures:
Vials of Blood Drawn: 12
Vaginal Exams: 2
SIS: 1
Mock Transfer: 1
Internal Ultrasound: 1

Weight*:

Start of medication: 162.6

1st week of Meds: 163.4

*I decided to include my weight throughout the journey because I know a lot of women are curious about the way medications and pregnancy can/will change their bodies. Also, my health, not just my weight, is something I make a priority so tracking it will help keep me accountable. I will note that I have gained 10 pounds since September so that will likely come off over the next few moths as I get myself back on track.