The needle was certainly the scariest part of the process for me. I use puregon, but I would say the pen would be pretty much the same. At my clinic, the first needle is done at the clinic where they walk you through the process. They also had a DVD you could take home to watch before you commence the injections. I do recall that first time taking several deep breaths and fighting the urge to close my eyes as I put the needle in.
As far as side effects go, I was told to drink lots of water or rehydrating sports drinks as dehydration can cause the headaches etc. As the follicles develop you may feel quite full. As my clinic says – you may feel like you are carrying around a bunch of grapes.
My first cycle I only had the pickup day off work (as I was on a course the next day). The second I had two days off. This cycle I’m increasing the dose of puregon, and as I felt tender after last pickup I have told work that I may take three days. It really depends on what you feel like and I guess what your work involves.
The first cycle I was only allowed to transfer one. This cycle was considered a trial cycle to see how I responded to it all. From there I could increase to two if we elected to. In our second cycle we were going to go with one again, but the remaining embryos were fragmented so would not have survived the freezing/thawing, so we elected for two to be transferred. This was decided at the transfer appointment, so was a bit ‘spur of the moment’ but DH and I had already discussed the one versus two option.
I have been physically able to return to work after transfer but tend to take the day off and take time for myself to do as I please and relax. As BW says, I also take the day, or part of, off for the final blood test. There’s just too much racing in my head to even consider being at work and you can deal with whatever the outcome when and how you want.
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