Husband's Perspective - 06/27/10 – Old McDonald gave some shots, P I, PIO!

The first PIO shot this evening was an entertaining experience. Wifey’s backside was marked up by the nurses, and after icing up, she was bent over the side of the bed to give me a clear target. I extracted the PIO shot from the vial, and changed to the smaller needle for the shot – Wifey tells me that this part is very important. So I’m getting ready to administer the shot, and start by wiping with the alcohol swab. Wifey then gets up and starts pacing around the room, almost hyperventilating, telling me how scared she is of this shot as she has read so many horror stories on the web. Curse you, internet! Finally, after about 15 minutes of agonizing over the expected outcome, she assumes the position, and the shot is done before she knows it. The needle looks long (1.5 inches) but slides in nicely. The sesame oil is not too heavy, so the shot pumps in without a lot of effort. And it doesn’t sting like the Menopur, which is a bonus. I just hope we don’t have the 15-minute prelude every night! Decided to take the dogs for a long walk after the shot, which seems to help Wifey, as there is no stiffness in the backside afterwards.

Husband's Perspective - 06/25/10 – Is it better to give than to retrieve?

Early start this morning- up at 5:30am for our 7:30am check in at the clinic. Or should I say, for Wifey to check in for retrieval. My part wasn’t scheduled until 9am, so I had 90 minutes to kill. I took out my laptop, connected to the free wifi provided by the clinic, and started working on some reports. Then I realized that I was cooking my swimmers between the heat of the laptop and the warm surface of the chair. So I spent over an hour perched on the edge of the chair, with my laptop perched on my knees – about as far from my tackle as I could manage. After a very long wait, I was finally escorted to a small room to do my business. The room was clean, with dimmable lighting and a hatch in the corner in which to place my little cup of love. Not the most comfortable of environments, with two hard plastic chairs and a sink, under which was a stash of “materials” as the nurse called them. I took a quick peek out of curiosity – a small pile of well thumbed Playboy and Penthouse magazines, with torn covers and stuck together pages – ewww! Luckily I didn’t need any of their assistance, as I had something much nicer to get me in the mood. 10 minutes later and I was done and deposited – go for it my little swimmers! Last one to the egg is a sissy!

Husband's Perspective - 06/20/10 – Approaching Planet Ganirelix

The Follistim and Menopur shots are going very smoothly – we are in a good routine with the timetable, and the mixing of the Menopur shots no longer phases me. So today we introduce the Ganirelix shot, which sounds like an alien planet from Star Wars. Luckily this one is a self-contained, pre-mixed syringe, so I just have to pull it from the packaging and administer the shot. The needle looks to be the same size as the Menopur shot, and the amount of looks to be about the same. Wifey decided to have the Menopur on the left side of the abdomen and the Ganirelix on the right side, and the shot went without a hitch. She has been complaining of discomfort with the Menopur shot, so it looks like it is the Menopur itself, rather than the needle, as the Ganirelix seems to be the same size and volume. Our sharps container is now looking pretty full, so Wifey will need to pick up a new one when she gets another round of meds tomorrow. We have 2 Follistim shots left in the last cartridge, one round of Menopur and two Ganirelix. We anticipate retrieval towards the end of the week so will need plenty more shots between now and then.

Husband's Perspective - 06/17/10 – The Driest Throat In Town

One sacrifice that I agreed to make was to fore-go beer until after my sample is collected. And that’s a tough one. I have two bottles of Stone Brewing’s finest sitting in the fridge, waiting for their caps to be popped, and I can’t touch them until some time next week. I guess it’s a small price to pay in exchange for a bouncing Bumble, but my throat is so dry!

Husband's Perspective - 06/15/10 – A Different Type Of Shot

It’s hard to believe that after four days of mixing and dispensing shots, I’m becoming used to doing something that I had never tried before, especially something as involved as injecting drugs.

Anyway, there are weightier matters to be considered, because at some point next week I will have to step up to the plate and deliver my half of the magical mix. That’s right – it will be “Shoot Into A Cup” time! Yesterday, Wifey read some horror stories on the web about guys being asked to do their business in seedy, musty-smelling rooms with worn sofas, sticky magazines and dodgy video selections, and paper thin walls that allow anyone to hear a pin drop on either side. The local facility is still fairly new, so I hope that conditions will be a little more conducive to providing a good sample. The pressure will be on, and I won’t have the benefit of a helping hand from Wifey. So the big question is, do I take a chance that the facility will provide suitable reading and viewing material, or should I take my own so that I know I’m going to be getting a quality product to help me produce a quality product?

Didn’t think I would be wrestling with questions like these when we started the process.