Who's in charge here?

Funny store to share with you this morning. The Knight is away this week, and unlike the last time around, this round of injections is intramuscular (versus subcutaneous) so it is harder to give them to yourself because it is preferred that you inject the area above your butt (versus your belly). After wracking my brain trying to figure out how I can get someone to help me with yesterday's injection, I realized that my agency has a health center and that there are nurses there. After jumping through a few hoops, I got them to agree to give me my injection.

So, yesterday afternoon I went and was cool as a cucumber, being a veteran at this IVF injection routine. Well, the nurse, who was clearly no spring chicken, was not as familiar with the process and so I took the lead.

When I took the needle out of the package and removed the cover she startled me when she practically shouted, "That's a BIG needle." Ummm, yeah, are you TRYING to freak me out? I just laughed and told her that I was okay with it if she was. Hahaha. Well, it turned out that the big needle was just used for getting the medicine out of the vial, and then you switch to a smaller needle for the injection. It was still funny. I am glad I am not squeamish or freaked out about these things or that nurse would have made it a LOT worse.

Then we had a little debate about where the injection should go. When I had the trigger injection for the last cycle, it was intramuscular and the nurse at Shady Grove drew a nice little circle on my backside in the appropriate spot so the Knight would know exactly where to inject me. So, while I couldn't really see it, I remember where it was. Well, Ms. Crankypants Nurse thought it should be on the side of my hip. We finally compromised and did it halfway between where she thought and I thought.

Oh, and the shot, I didn't even feel it. I had to ask her if she'd put the needle in yet. I will do this shot (Del Estrogen) every three days for the next two weeks, and then I will add in another med (Progesterone in Oil - PIO) every day for three weeks.

That stuff is supposed to be tough because it is thick and can hurt. I found lots of tips online about how to make it more pleasant, and I know the Knight will do what he can to make it better. For example, they say you can hold the vial in your hand or on a heating pad for a few minutes to warm the PIO. You can also massage the injection site afterwards. I'm not too worried about it, but just in case I think I will stop by Trader Joe's and pick up a little reward treat - for me AND the Knight. :)