One thing I've dreaded from the beginning of this whole IVF thing was the progesterone shots. Don't get me wrong, I'm not afraid of needles. You really can't be when going through this whole thing. In the last month and a half, I've given myself 65 shots in the stomach and I've had my blood drawn 8 times. When I had my surgery, it took 3 attempts to get my IV in. Needles I can do.
However, all the shots I've had to give myself so far have been subcutaenous (just under the skin) shots into my stomach. The needles were either little insulin needles or 27 gauge, 1/2 inch long needles (both pretty small). These progesterone in oil shots are 22 gauge needles that are an inch and half long. They're huge. And they're intramuscular shots, which means they're injected directly into my butt. Yikes!
I had to take my first one yesterday. Since they go in my butt, I can't really do them myself, so ny hubby has gotten to do the honors. I'm not going to lie...I was terrified the first time. I iced it for 5-10 minutes beforehand, because I had heard that numbing it a bit can help relieve some of the pain. The hubs didn't seem to have any nerves about stabbing a giant needle in my butt. In fact, I fear he may have even liked it a little. But when it was all said and done...it really didn't hurt bad at all!
Today's went well too, though now that the numbness has worn off, my butt muscle is a little sore. The point is...I've survived two days of progesterone shots. I feel like I can tackle the world!
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