Intralipids

So I had my intralipid infusion this morning. It went really well. It took a little over 2 hours for the entire bag to be infused. I sat in one of the back rooms on a gurney with it hooked up. The nurse got it going--albeit a little bloody:) I have what you would call a "very good vein" (thanks mom and dad!!) and when she stuck in the needle to start the IV, I had a little leakage:) It always looks a lot worse than it actually is. I didn't actually watch the needle go in--not sure why. I can give myself numerous shots, but something about seeing the needle go into the vein--it just creeps me out! So when I turned to look after the stick, I saw the mess:)

I just sat in the back room, reading my book and listening to the goings on in the office. The nurse came into to check on me several times, about every 15-20 minutes. The embryologist also came in--I love her! I think she was just checking all of the charts, recording who would be consenting to freezing and any extra tests that you can do on embryos, trying to get everything in order before it gets busy over the next two weeks. The first time she came in, we chatted for a few minutes as she looked through my fat chart. She asked if this was my first cycle with intralipids and I said yes. She then mentioned that she would probably be a little conservative this next cycle because last cycle they had some multiples with those who were on intralipids. I didn't say much as she left. She came in a second time a little while later and looked some more in my chart. She commented that my embryos had greatly improved in between my last two cycles and we commented that hopefully they would be even better this cycle. As she left, I asked again about the multiples. She said last cycle they had 2 sets of triplets! She sounded disappointed when she said it, which I found interesting and comforting. She said it had been over a year since they had had a triplet pregnancy. During our conversation she said that they didn't like multiples because they just want to give the patients a chance to have 1 baby. She said that multiples pregnancies are harder on the patients and the babies, but they have several that happen as a result, but they really only like twins if any. She said that they will probably be a little more conservative this cycle due to that, but of course each patient is an individual and we would discuss together the best course of action.

I found the conversation very informative. One-that people who had done intralipids had good results in their last cycle and two-that the embryologist is very involved and doesn't want to put a patient in a potentially dangerous situation. Sometimes I think the embryologist gets forgotten and the doctor gets all of the credit--but they really do A LOT in this whole process! Overall it was a good morning.

I add a 4th shot tonight--my LH medicine. This is one change from past cycles. I was usually on a drug called Menopur, which is actually a LH/FSH blend. I think the doctor felt that possibly I was getting to much FSH which may have been effecting my egg quality. This cycle I am on Luveris, which is just a LH medicine. I do have to mix the meds, so that is always a little nerve-wrecking, but it usually goes without a hitch. I'll update more later!