Take it all one hour at a time. Every time you do a shot, give yourself a treat - like a chocolate or little sweet. I think stubbing a toe (which I do constantly) hurts way more than the shots. Look at how tough you are already... shots have got nothing on you! :)

Thank you for your kind words!

Prep!! Don’t overthink it. Lay everything out neatly, morning and evening. The shots are not that terrible...get the needle in at a slant. You will be ok, you will get through it. I did an antagonist protocol this January (unsuccessful) now on a micro flare protocol. Good luck!!

Thank you! Same to you!

Try to keep yourself healthy as you start IVF! I came down with a sinus infection and I feel as though it really wouldn't have been too bad otherwise! Watch YouTube videos, there are a couple out there for IVF start to finish which I watched several times to help get prepared... And yes girl, if you can run marathons, you got this!!! Think of how much mental preserverance you need for that and bring that into your fertility journey. Good Luck!!

Appreciate your insight! :)

I have a HUGE needle phobia. I (literally up until my intial blood work for IVF) passed out every time I had bloodwork done for something.. I even passed out from a TB vaccination. My husband did my first shot for me and I was SHOCKED. I didn’t feel it at all. He doesn’t like needles although he can tolerate them. The menopur shot I could feel a little bit (the actual injection not the shot going in). By day 6 I was up to three shots a day and I actually did the day 6 shots myself as we were at a party and my husband was buzzed haha. I was able to even look at what I was doing! Even the intramuscular HCG shot I had to do last night I was able to do myself and barely felt it! It’s amazing what we can overcome. I did all my shots at the same time as my doctor said mine should be done between 6 & 9PM so I just started at 8 with one and did them one right after another. I still can’t watch or talk about the bloodwork when I go for monitoring but If anybody can relate to fear of the shots it’s me! I had anxiety for days leading up to the first one.

You're speaking my language! I am such a wuss and pass out every time I have blood work done too. I hate, hate, hate needles. Seeing all the shot demonstrations today made me already feel light headed lol. But I totally agree with you, we are stronger than we think! Thank you for taking the time to ease my nerves. Good luck to you on your journey as well!

I can totally relate to rcc3663's comments above. I'm so scared of needles and I dread getting any type of bloodwork done. So, I was really anxious about the injections. But, I just finished my first egg retrieval and I totally agree that the shots were NOT that bad. After the first few nights of doing it, you'll totally get the hang of it and you won't even think about it anymore. Putting an ice pack on my tummy before the injections definitely helped me. Also, if you're taking Menopur, it stung a little bit when I injected it at the beginning. I read that others mix it first and let it sit for a few minutes while doing the other injections. I found that waiting a few minutes after mixing before I injected it reduced the stinging. Just something to try if you're having trouble with that one. Hope it's going well so far. Best of luck to you!

Thank you LovelyLavender! Your words are definitely reassuring. How bad was the egg retrieval? Did you have to take off any time from work? Good luck on your journey as well. I start my meds this week and will be taking Menopur so that's good advice. I'm praying and sprinkling baby dust on us all. :)

Its going to be fine.... those needles are going to be nahh...! When you see a big fat positive after the 2ww.

The egg retrieval really wasn't too bad for me. I was worried about it since it's a "surgery," but the procedure is quick, so my body recovered fast. I felt back to "normal" later that same day. Luckily, my surgery fell on a Saturday, so I didn't take any time off work. I was fine to go back on Monday. However, it was important to take it easy for a few days after. For the two weeks following the procedure, I tried to follow a high protein diet with limited carbs, which seemed to help with the bloated feeling. Using a heating pad on my tummy when it felt sore/bloated helped too. Best of luck to you! You've got this!

Good stuff! Thanks Lovely Lavender! As a newbie on these sites, I'm just blown away at the kindness and level of support from complete strangers. It goes such a long way to know that people you don't even know are there for you and are rooting for you. Prayers and positive vibes right back to all of you!!

Thank you for your encouragement! So, egg retrieval was not very fruitful...only 1 retrieved :( BUT, it fertilized!! I had my day 3 transplant this afternoon. Praying, praying, praying this works.

I am right there with you about the nervous part but not about the needles. They will be just fine. Just breathe and it will all be okay. Maybe come up with a mantra to say every time you take that shot. Like pain in temporary but a child's love is forever. Some good motivation and happy thoughts of what could happen.