5dpIUI 'trigger' injection plus POAS party plans.

I got my 2nd and last hCG injection today. And my hubby did the sticking! I knew he'd have to do it this time, but to make it easier on him (he's terrified of needles), I didn't say a word. As he was ready to leave this morning, coat on and everything, he came up for a goodbye kiss. That's when I turned around and thrust a filled syringe at him and asked him if he wants me to circle the place he needs to stick me. He looked like he even got pissed for a moment and I asked him "please don't at angry with me, I don't like this either" and he chilled out. I turned around, stick!, and it was over. Easy as can be. He looked all empowered when we were done.

For those of you asking "why the 2nd hCG injection?", let me explain. My RE noticed I have a short LP. It's not crazy short, but lingers around 12 days. After the second monitored cycle (This is my 3rd IUI, but my 4th time getting hCG triggers due to monitoring), he noticed my 12 day LP trend, so he talked to me about changing my protocol in that I'll take both progesterone and hcg support throughout my LP. All it will do is help the lining in the LP and will mess with my need to POAS looking for lines.

My last hCG triggered cycle's hcg protocol: reconstitute with 4ccs, trigger w/ 2ccs and 1cc each on 4dpo and 6dpo. This time: reconstitute with 3ccs, trigger w/ 2ccs and 1cc 5dpIUI.

We'll see how it goes this time. Last time, it really screwed with my peeing on a stick. At 8dpo, I was checking on trigger and got a light bfp. I assumed incorrectly that it would be gone by the next day, so when I saw a slightly stronger bfp the next day, I thought it actually worked. Don't ask me why I thought that - I was simply obsessed. At 9dpo, I know that is too early, but it's been known to happen. Even with the trigger, I convinced myself it was it. It got darker, for goodness' sake! But, the next day it was negative again, so there you go. At least I know that at 10dpo, with all my trigger injection cycles, the hcg was not detected anymore.

Anywho, being the mathlete that I am, I did some simple calculations on paper to see when or IF I'd be able to start my pee party at all the cycle.

On average, it takes 10 days for 10,000 IUs of hCG to work it's way through the system. That's 1,000 IUs/24 hours or 500 IUs/12 hours. I know it's not actually this simple and it's not on such a time schedule, but for my calculations, this will work just fine. And we know from 3 previous cycles that 10dpo showed negatives. 9dpo, not so much, but 10dpo was clear.

~ cd21, pm. 6,666 IUs injected.
~ cd22, pm. 5,666 IUs left 1 day past trigger. (insemination day)
~ cd23, pm. 4,666 IUs left 2 days past trigger. (1dpIUI)
~ cd24, pm. 3,666 IUs left 3 days past trigger. (2dpIUI)
~ cd25, pm. 2,666 IUs left 4 days past trigger. (3dpIUI)

~ cd26, am. 2,166 IUs left in system 4.5 days past trigger. I also got a bfp, so definitely still showing hCG. But it wasn't really super dark, which leads me to believe I am passing it faster than this rate, but I won't vary my rates. (4dpIUI)

today, ~ cd27, am. 1,166 IUs left in system 5.5 days past trigger. I got another bfp, lighter than yesterdays But this if these cheapies are this light with ~so much~ hcg? These cheapies must suck! Anywho, I'm still not going to vary these rates for my 'experiment'. (5dpIUI)

today, ~ cd27, am. Added another 3,334 IUs to system, making total 4,500 IUs in system, 5.5 days past initial trigger.

~ cd28, am. 3,500 IUs left 6.5 days past initial trigger. (6dpIUI)
~ cd29, am. 2,500 IUs left 7.5 days past initial trigger. (7dpIUI)
~ cd30, am. 1,500 IUs left 8.5 days past initial trigger. (8dpIUI)
~ cd31, am. 500 IUs left 9.5 days past initial trigger. (9dpIUI)
~ cd32, am. All hCG should be gone (as of last night), 10.5 days past initial trigger. (10dpIUI)

~ cd33, am. Thursday, Jan 31st, 11dpIUI - Testing party should be allowed to commence at this point and I could actually look for a bfp if I this cycle is a success.

I initially thought my beta was on 11dpIUI, but it's on 12dpIUI. So I do get to start testing next thursday, 11dpIUI, ~if~ my 10dpIUI hpt is clearly negative. Yay.

I almost had to "bleed" a pregnant lady.

I was given my Rx for Novarel, along with my Femara, at my cd3 baseline appointment. Due to the fact I needed the Femara same day, I stopped at the Walgreens closest to my work to get it filled. Normally I wouldn't go to Walgreens, as I believe their pharmacy is the devil, but convenience outweighs my opinion all the time.

Femara? Check. Novarel? Not in stock. But I don't think it's ever been in stock the last 3 times I've purchased it, so no big deal at all. They say it'll be in the next day, but I won't be needing the trigger shot on cd4, so I don't give it a second thought. That is, until they call me.

I got a recorded message about my "Rx" being unavailable without an estimated date as to when it would be in. I was told they'd call me. I still didn't need the drug until next weekend, probably the 12th or 13th, but since I was picking up my antibiotic for my upcoming HSS, I asked them about it. A few quizzical looks at the computer monitor and I finally ended up receiving a shrug as my end response. No idea when they'll get it. And no other Walgreens in the city has it in stock either. "Try calling in a few days" and I was sent on my way.

Nah-uh. I don't work this way. I need to know my plan and that wasn't a plan. So I called my friendly neighborhood Safeway pharmacist, which is my normal drug dealer. He says he doesn't have any either and they use the same wholesaler as Walgreens, so no dice. He then proceeds to tell me that just about every pharmacy in the city uses the same supplier, so I'm pretty much screwed if I want some hCG. This is when the idea of bleeding a pregnant lady came to mind.

Fortunately the image of holding down a preggo in some kind of a vampire pose was dismissed when he told me I should try this certain local place that uses an independent supplier. I called them with renewed hope and the girl on the phone actually laughed when I asked her for Novarel. She said they don't have it and she knows their supplier is out. She asks me to hold on for a moment while she looks up the date of possible shipment. I almost hang up but hold on to at least hear a date. It's got to be better than a shrug, right?

A few moments later and she comes back on, saying they "should" have it by the 18th. The vampire image pops back into my head. But then again it's destroyed as fast as it was created when she continues with "but guess what? I have ~one~ vial left. Want it?"

So this girl has her dope. I forgot the syringes though so the RE is going to have to share. Maybe I can show up to a junkie's needle exchange party. Do you think it would be bad junkie etiquette if I showed up empty handed and expected a hand out?

Want in on my insanity?

Okay, hold on to your math hats. I'm a mathlete.

When wondering how long hCG stays in your system, many go by the average of "1,000 UIs/day". Since I am a poas-aholic, I know that after a trigger of 10,000 UIs, I am usually getting stark white bfns by 7-8dpo. Let's say 8dpo for the math factor. That means ~my~ body processes about 1,250 units per day.

This cycle I had:

7,500 IUs 9 days ago, on ovulation day.
1,250 IUs 4 days ago, at 5dpo
1,250 IUs 2 days ago, at 7dpo.

Before my 3rd trigger on 7dpo, 2 days after last trigger and 7 days after 1st trigger, I POAS. It was BFN. Nada. Stark White.

That means in 7 days, 7,500IUs was processed (makes sense) and in 2 days, another 1,250 was processed (again, makes sense).

Okay, we good so far? I have verified that trigger is gone.

I give myself trigger #3. About 12 hours later (that night), I POAS and get a BFP. This was Sunday night. Makes sense. I'm still within processing time.

Of course I want to check to see when it's gone, so 24 hours later (36 hours after last trigger), Monday night, I POAS again after holding urine for 3 hours or so. It's a ~faint~ bfp. Okay, so this one is taking a little longer to get out. Okay. Fine.

9dpo. This morning, I poas using fmu, which has only been held for about 3 hours, due to I had to pee in the midst of the morning. It's a bfp again. But darker. ~argh~ !!! WTF? Seriously?

Which leads me to have to make some conclusions. It could definitely still be the last trigger. Maybe this one is taking more than a day to process. I'm at the 2 day mark and still getting a bfp. It could happen. And maybe this morning's darker bfp was just because it was more concentrated than last nights. Yeah, I did pee, but I didn't drink anything else, so still, it was from liquid all night.

It all makes sense that it's still the trigger. And plus, I'm ~only~ 9dpo. Sure, my chart went triphasic 2 days ago. If I am, ~cough~cough~, pregnant, implantation would have already happened on 6dpo. Which is early but not impossible. So it's possible to get a bfp already. But I AM taking progesterone supplements, so that could attest for the higher temps. But I started taking the supps on the morning of 3dpo. Why would it wait 3 days to make my temps higher?

SEE. My insanity. I wish I wasn't smart enough to think about all the possibilities. I wish I could blindly wait until 14dpo to test. I wish I knew that yes, it could be a possible real bfp. I wish I knew that no, it could definitely still be from the synthetic hcg I was injecting in my ass.

I know WAY too much and I don't know nearly enough.

So I wait. If it gets darker ~again~, then it's real. If it fades, it's not (but it's still early!) <--- gotta keep some hope, right?

My first self-injection is done.

I gave myself my hCG injection this morning. Piece of cake.

I was pissed that my husband conveniently left early to go to work - he KNEW he was supposed to do it, but oh well - I gave myself the tooshy inject myself.

Righty came through!

Before my follie check appointment, I got a peak reading and a followup +opk. Great timing because I got my first 7,500 IUs of hCG today too, since follie was 20x20mm! yay!

I'm to followup with 2 more hCG injections at 5dpo and 7dpo (he changed protocol today). They sent me home with some syringes and needles and told me when to do it. Although I got no injection training whatsoever. I don't think I need any, it's already mixed and all that - only need to poke myself. Maybe I'll check out a few injection videos Mel told us all about.

Hrm. 7dpo hCG injections. This is totally going to throw off my 2ww, you know that, right? suck.