Hit Me With Your Best Shot

Yesterday was my mid-cycle ultrasound. Day 12, if you must know. (You: I don't remember saying that I must...) I had two good sized follicles on one ovary and another kind of small follicle on the other ovary. Which basically means three eggs were preparing to release; probably only two were viable. The two large ones looked about a day from being ready, and my uterine lining was perfect. HOWEVER. I have been doing the OPK's faithfully, and as of yesterday, I was still barely even getting a second line. (OPK's work like this: you test every morning, and as you get near ovulation, you'll see one dark line, which is the control strip that indicates the test is working, and then a second, fainter line. Each day the second line should get darker, and when it is finally as dark or darker than the control line, that means your lutenizing hormone, or LH, is surging, and you'll ovulate within about twenty four hours. Or in other words, it's time to get busy.)

So! The fact that I hadn't gotten a positive yet was bad, 'cause those eggs were ready. The doctor squinted thoughtfully at the screen and said, "I'm going to suggest that if you haven't gotten a positive OPK by tomorrow morning, you need to give yourself the hcG shot we ordered and stimulate ovulation. Otherwise you're risking triplets, because this third egg could be mature, too, by the time you ovulate on your own."

The nurse started to show me how to draw up the medicine, measure a proper distance from my navel and then pinch enough fat in my belly to stick in the needle. I nodded wordlessly, but I must have been looking queasy, because eventually she stopped and said, "Do you want to just come in tomorrow morning and have me do it?" What a quandary... Stab myself in the abdomen with a needle or trust someone else to do it? Still, given that I've never administered an injection, the odds seemed in her favor.

This morning I got a much darker test strip, but it still wasn't as dark as the control line, so not technically a positive. Off to the doctor I went, where the nurse brought me back and started rolling the medicine between her hand to mix it, while informing me cheerily that she "hasn't done a belly shot in a while!" Comforting. I tried to relax as she grabbed an inch of skin and slowly pushed the needle in, a tiny needle the same as they use to give insulin injections, but oh my gosh did that sucker burn. Maybe it was just the hormone burning and not the actual needle, maybe I was just still too tense, maybe I was icked out by the whole process, or maybe she just SUCKED at giving shots, but by the time she pulled the needle out my arms and legs felt like jelly.

It was worth it, however, when I got home later and took another OPK test. The test strip was even darker than the control line. Success! I am now as bona fide fertile as it gets. Thank you, modern medicine.