CD 17 - Intramuscular injection (IM) Shots - Progesterone in Oil

So, as an IVFer, you always hear about the dreaded IM shots.

Let me define IM for you. IM stands for Intramuscular Injection. As in, no more baby shots in the stomach, those sub-Q shots that we take advantage of early on in the IVf cycle, these injections go into your muscle. They are an inch and a half long and the entire needle must go into your muscle in order for it to be effective.

Sounds terrifying, doesn't it? Well, I'm hear to debunk some false rumors. They really aren't that bad. Yes, they are a bit more of a pain in the ass than the sub-q shots, but they are basically the same thing, except in your butt, and it takes longer to push the meds through because the ingrediant is Progesterone in Oil (PIO), a thicker substance that takes longer to push all the way out.

You also hear about all of these tricks of the trade, to ice it first, to heat it first, to get Lidocain patches. All of it. Well, I got the Lidocain patches but they aren't that great, so I've resolved myself to ice and that works just fine. You ice the injection site for about two minutes, and you're good to go. Make sure your hubby massages the area for like 30 seconds afterwards to break up the medicine in your muscle. It feels good too, to have the area rubbed.

However, I am here to say, the bitch about the PIO shots, is not the inch and a half needle, it's not the injection, and it's not even the plunging. It's how SORE your butt is afterward. Remember when you were in highschool and you started a sport and for like a full week your body hurt so bad you could barely walk? Or you start working out after a long time of not working out and your calves burn so bad it hurts to walk? It's kind of like that. Each side of my butt is terribly sore, it does hurt to walk, and it feels as though I have an old, persistent charlie horse in each leg. I've been taking hot baths to relieve the soreness but mostly I'm just chalking it up to experiences that I've had like this before.

Like when my brother kneed me in the thigh at Christmas and it hurt for WEEKS! This is less pain than that, I'll keep telling myself that! :-)

I'm calling the clinic today at 2pm with hubby on conference. We're going to ask them to give us a cell count on Day 2 and see if they'll give it to us. I suppose it is going a bit over board to ask how they are progressing on Day 2 but I've learned so much that it will give me better information into the long run.

We're really, really, hoping for a 5 day blastocyst.

Otherwise, my embryo transfer will be tomorrow!!