After an unsuccessful first round of egg freezing, I started the process all over again a month and a half later. We made a few changes to the last round, which didn’t take (You can read all about my first round of egg freezing here & my post on my egg retrieval recovery, how many embryos we got, and what supplements I took leading up to my egg retrieval, which will be detailed in future blog posts).
For one, I changed my doctors, moving to a practice in New York that is considered one of the best, and the place I wanted to work with all along. When I first went down this journey, this doctor wasn’t part of my insurance plan. I also started acupuncture for fertility, going to my acupuncturist once or twice a week and being pricked with needles to cause blood to flow to my ovaries. I also take Chinese herbs she prescribes me. My new doctor is adding some medicines to my daily intake, so in addition to the Menopur and Gonal we took last time, we now have Clomid pills and Doxymeth pills daily.
I’m making some changes, too. For one, I am drinking loads more water and committing to eight hours of sleep daily. Egg freezing takes a toll on your body. I’m also *trying* not to stress out about it as much. And, the biggest news of all, we are making embryos this time! So, the boyfriend will also have to be on medicine throughout this process, but oral medicine, not shots.
Like the last round, below you can read about my day-by-day journey with egg freezing, written in real time each day. My goal is to demystify the process, which I think people don’t talk about enough, as well as educate women about their options. Would love any feedback you have along the way.
Day 1, April 12:
Morning: I set a daily alarm on my Alexa to tell me when to inject day and night to keep track of things. We wake up and get out the big box of medicines I had stashed away in my closet. It’s only been about 6 weeks since the last round of shots, but we were a little rusty, so we pulled up the FreedomMedTeach website and watched the video for my Menopur shot. I am prescribed 150 iuis of the shot. The boyfriend mixes it and injects me and I feel the familiar sting of Menopur, which was my least favorite shot the last go round.
Night: in addition to the 300unit of Gonal from last time, my doctor added two pills nightly. If you are playing along, you will remember that Gonal made me very emotional the last go round, sometimes exploding into tears after taking it. I told my nurses that and they gave me a wary look and asked if I ever took Clomid. When I said no, the nurse leaned in and said one of her patients after taking it asked if it is supposed to cause rage against her husband, because that was the effect of it.
So, I cautiously explained the rage pill to my boyfriend before taking it and doing our Gonal shot. To my pleasant surprise, Gonal didnt have any effect on me this time. And, no rage from the clomid. We watched a movie, cooked dinner and did some work before bed. But, I couldnt sleep. My second pill is known to cause insomnia, so in between really vivid dreams I was up in the night for hours at a time. I guess that’s better than rage?
Day 2, April 13:
Morning: We get up to administer Menopur like a pro with no issue and without watching the video (peace out!). Our Flycleaners arrives and everything that was supposed to be dry cleaned was washed and dried. Cue the Clomid rage as I frantically call and email FlyCleaners, who I will never be using again.
Night: Left work and went home before a concert. Boyfriend expertly injected the Gonal. I took my pills before we went to dinner and a concert at Radio City to see Sturgill Simpson and John Prine. Have noticed I am having CRAZY dreams since taking these pills. Still, I prefer that to emotional craziness.
Day 3, April 14:
Morning: Early morning Menopur alarm and then back to bed. We rented Citibikes after and went on a nice ride. Low impact exercise at this point of the cycle is fine.
Night: I had some college girlfriends in town that I was seeing for dinner, so my boyfriend gave me my Gonal shot, I took my pills and hopped into a cab for the Lower East Side. Couldn’t drink with my girlfriends, but it was fun nonetheless.
Day 4, April 15:
Morning: Got up early to do Menopur and then we both got back in bed until the alarm went off at 8:30am for me to go see my Doctor for the beginnings of my check ups. When you do egg freezing or IVF, you go to the doctor about once every other or every three days to monitor your levels. I get to the doctor so that they can draw my blood to get my Estrogen levels and feel this crazy amount of pain in my left arm. The needle was too big and was having trouble. This made me so nauseous that I ran into the bathroom because I thought I was going to throw up. We switched arms and used a baby needle and all was OK.
Night: After morning monitoring, your dosages may change. So, you wait for your doctor or nurse to call you with instructions before starting your next medicines. My doctor said my Estrogen was good and to keep on the same plan for the next few days. We cooked dinner at home and did some work while binge-watching Vanderpump Rules.
Day 5, April 16:
Morning: Uneventful shot of Menopur and then off to work. No complaints! Not really noticing any changes in my body yet — when you inject you grow several eggs and they grow larger than they normally would, so bloating is quite common (but also a very good sign). Hoping I will have changes to my body this go round because I didn’t the last time and that was a failed attempt.
Night: Shot of Gonal between eating tacos that we made for dinner. Take my pills and head to bed at around 11 for the weird and scary dreams to start. Tonight’s were no different! Will be happy to be off of the pills so I can stop having nightmares.
Day 6, April 17:
Morning: I go in for my check up for a sonogram and bloodwork and got some AMAZING news. During the sonogram, my doctor found five eggs on right right ovary and three on my left and all seem to be growing well. If you remember last go round, I had six eggs but only one grew. The potential to retrieve eight eggs from this surgery if all goes well is HUGE for me. The doctor wants me to start Cetrotide tomorrow morning and thinks a surgery will be a week from today. I text my mom and boyfriend right after to share the good news and my mom says she is crying she is so happy. Today is a good day and I am so happy all the changes we made seem to be working.
After the doctor, I head to my acupuncturist. She is super excited about the good news and then puts the needles in me as I doze off for 45 minutes.
Night: All day I had stomach pains because of the eggs growing. The last go round, i didn’t have any physical signs that I was undergoing egg freezing — so no bloating, pain or discomfort. I wear the pain as a badge of honor now because it means the medicines are hopefully working! I also am very protective of my stomach area as a result because I’m afraid of shaking the eggs loose, which I don’t even know if that is possible. In any case, I didn’t let my boyfriend cuddle me because i was afraid to squish my eggs.
Day 7, April 18:
Morning: We get up bright and early to do the menopur shots and also the Cetrotide shot which will prevent me from ovulating until after the surgery.
Night: Today was uneventful. My stomach is bloating and has pressure on it from the eggs. We cook dinner, take the shot and do some work.
Day 8, April 19:
Morning: We take the Menopur and Cetrotide shots in the morning and then I head into my doctor’s office for my monitoring. When doing the ultrasound, my doctor says that my eggs look “gorgeous” and I feel like a proud parent. He counts ten (10!!!) eggs and says they are growing nicely. Two are in the 17 range, which is very good, and then some are in the 14ish range, also very good. A few are in the 8-10 range, meaning they might not be big enough to use at the time of surgery. But, we have a few more days of stims before surgery so I’m praying they all grow.
Night: Gonal and pills and reruns of Vanderpump Rules.
Day 9, April 20:
Morning: Early shot of Menopur and Cetrotide before heading to work for a few hours. AT 1pm I have acupuncture and I share the news with my acupuncturist, who is thrilled! Take a little nap with some pins in me and head back to work.
Night: Gonal, pills and a comedy show with the boyfriend. My stomach is very belated and extended because the ovaries have grown. It hurts when I walk, but that’s a good sign. Last time we tried this, I had no symptoms and I should have trusted my gut and left that doctor then and there and switched to this one. But, lesson learned.
Day 10, April 21:
Morning: I wake up early to take my Menopur and Cetrotide shot and then head into my doctor’s office for my bloodwork and sonogram. The sonogram shows that 8 of the eggs are in the 17 range, which is fantastic news. My doctor says that my surgery will be on Monday and that we can stop taking Gonal, Menopur and Cetrotide. Tonight, she says, I will take the trigger shot.
For those that don’t know about the trigger shot, it’s as scary as it sounds. 35 hours before surgery you take this shot at a very specific time your doctor gives you. If you miss a 10-minute window to take the shot, then you could ruin your chances of surgery. I had watched a show called “Friends From College” on Netflix where a couple drops the glass vial the trigger shot is in on the floor and it burst and have pretty much had nightmares of that since.
I head home and tell the boyfriend we need to cancel plans tonight as we need to be home for the trigger shot.
Night: We got out during the day since we would be cooped up all night with our shots, so after spending all day in Central Park and at museums, we headed home and watched videos of how to administer the two trigger shots I would be taking. Getting the timing right is a bit of an exact science because we would be mixing these shots for the first time that night, and there is a learning curve for doing this. My first shot, HCG, requires mixing the solution together. We were supposed to give me a shot of it at 11:45pm, so earlier we literally set every alarm in the apartment for 11:15pm (to watch more videos), 11:35pm (to start mixing the solution) and 11:45pm (to inject me). This was INCREDIBLY stressful, but my boyfriend is a champ and got the solution mixed in time and then we watched the clock for two slow minutes until it turned 11:45 and he gave me the shot.
You have to take the other trigger shot, Lupron, exactly an hour after the first shot. So, at 12:35 the same situation took place for the Lupron. I was incredibly relieved to have both shots out of the way.
Day 11, April 22:
We do the last trigger shot at 12:45 pm, exactly 12 hours after the last Lupron shot and we are officially done with shots. My stomach is in a lot of pain an every sore from expanding. Tomorrow is surgery. Stay tuned for a post on what surgery is like and my results.
As always, if you have found our IVF coverage helpful, we would love if you would consider making a donation at our Patreon page to support our journalism!
Read More of Our IVF Coverage:
IVF Diary: My First, Unsuccessful Round of Egg Freezing
IVF Diary: My Second Round of Egg Freezing
IVF Diary: Egg Retrieval, Recovery & Embryo Results
IVF Diary: My Third Round of Egg Freezing
IVF Diary: Successful Results From Our Third Round of IVF
We’re Pregnant! Inside our Embryo Transfer
The Supplements I Take To Improve Egg Quality
Improving Egg Quality With “It Starts With The Egg”
Eliminating Toxins & Chemicals for IVF
How To Pay For IVF & Egg Freezing