Skip to main content

Starting my parental journey, part 3

You can read part 1 here and read part 2 here.

Yesterday I had my baseline ultrasound. I was pretty nervous so I had my mom take me (and she very kindly got up early to do so). I also had a blood draw. If they had told me this was going to happen, I had entirely forgotten, but that's okay as I'm not really afraid of needles. The person who took my blood draw was kind and jovial, especially for it being so early in the morning for such a thing.

Then came the ultrasound. I was nervous as my previous one had hurt a fair bit and I had even bled. This time though, I had taken some ibuprofen beforehand and I asked if I could listen to something during the ultrasound. It was surprisingly easier than my previous one. This was in part because of a smaller probe (why do we use larger ones if we can use smaller ones???), but I also think taking the pain meds and listening to The Real Housewives of Potomac (my current reality show binge) helped some. The sonographer seemed to judge me a bit for choosing to watch (or really just listen to) reality TV saying something along the lines of "You and your reality TV," but I didn't really care. I was nervous and wanted a distraction.

The ultrasound was shockingly quick. The sonographer warned me that future ones wouldn't be so quick as they'll have to measure follicles. She also told me that I had a lot of eggs, which I took as a good sign (however, there is certainly a concern for ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome which also makes me nervous). I was out the door just a few minutes after my initial appointment was scheduled (to be fair I had arrived early because of who I am as a person). 

I then took my mom to get donuts as a treat for both her for getting up early and driving me and for me for getting through the appointment (although it had proved to be far less taxing than I had feared). The donuts were also a quick in and out (though getting there took longer than we expected). 

It was a bit weird to work afterwards, but it wasn't too bad. I had to wait only a few hours for my results and I got the go ahead that I was good to go! I excited wrote a few questions to the nurse (including where to find videos about injections again because I had 100% forgotten how to do them, what I should and shouldn't eat or drink during this process, and if I could always have the smaller probe) and updated some friends and family about getting the okay to start injectables this Saturday. I also later asked my mom if I could stay over so I could be at the house when I started my injections. While I do feel at home in my current apartment, I feel safer having my mom around.

I don't know how I'll handle injecting myself twice daily, but I hope well. At the moment, I feel surprisingly calm about it, but perhaps that's because I've compartmentalized to be like "that's tomorrow Holly's problem." I also have some other stuff going on in my life right now that is very big (including the exciting arrival of my newest nephews which, while incredibly delightful, included some serious scares) which might be taking up some of my mental space.

I plan to keep updating you all as things continue, but wanted to give this update about how I am about to start injectables! I am excited to continue this journey, even if it isn't how I pictured my life going. I'm sure future Holly is going to thank me for going through all of this.

If you have the time and energy, please keep me in your thoughts and/or prayers as I go through all of it, and see this post about ways to support me through it if you're wondering what I may need/want during this time.

(Prompt by me)

"Pregnancy/Baby Bump" by Alabama Extension


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Starting my parental journey, part 2

You can read part 1 here . Yesterday I began the next step of my parental journey. Ironically, it was starting birth control. This medicine helps prepare my ovaries for the egg retrieval process. It was weird taking the pill to prepare for my fertility journey because you typically think of the pill as ensuring you don't get pregnant. Obviously, I'm not getting pregnant now, but I am getting ready for that eventual possibility. There have also been various bureaucratic issues that I've been dealing with. Mostly insurance stuff (as I'm sure comes as no surprise). But, thanks to a new benefit at work that started 1/1/24, my journey will be (mostly) covered. While, again, there were some bureaucratic hurdles that I had to overcome in order for this to all work out, I am immensely glad that it did work out. I am nervous though. In part I'm nervous about a lot of the practicalities of this step in my journey. For instance, I will have to inject myself with various medica...

15 ways to support me on my parental journey

I posted yesterday and in August, 2023 about starting my parental journey. If you're wondering how you can support me, here are some ideas I have at the moment (though these may change and also don't feel pressured to do any of these things). Check in via text or DM so I can respond at my leisure (but please don't be insulted if I take a long time to respond) Help with arranging food for me (I know that when I get overwhelmed, I often have really awful eating habits) Offer to help with apartment chores (I may turn you down, but the offer will mean a lot) Walk Hoban (I realize only some people can do this, but the relief of lightening the responsibility of Hoban will likely be welcome) Be understanding if I have to cancel plans (I hope to still be somewhat social during this time, but I cannot guarantee how I'm going to feel) Drive me to appointments (I have the retrieval itself covered, but I have other appointments that will happen leading up to it so if you have the...

15 things I'm looking forward to for summer 2024

It'll be here so soon!  Whale watching with a friend Bookstore crawl with a friend 57th Street Art Fair Beach days Movies in the park Swapping out my wardrobe Being done with egg retrievals (hopefully) Helping a friend plan her wedding Going to Galena Taking other trips with friends Doing more sessions of my D&D one shot Eating ice cream on hot days Dining at the Point Trying to find an agent for my picture book ideas (hopefully) Reading more (hopefully) (Prompts by me) "Sperm Whale diving" by Bernard Spragg. NZ