An IF Woman's Shopping Dilemma

So, AF came last night.

I was shocked only because I have been spotting somewhat heavily since Dr. Gentle tried (partially in vain) to remove the Holy Polyp! pair.

I was told that after I took the last BCP on Christmas that AF might drop in for a light visit.

So far, she's only a little lighter than normal. And how on earth can there be anything left in there??

Anyway, after my suppression check this morning (more on that below), I ventured into a local mega pharmacy chain to purchase AF-specific products.

You see, I have been avoiding buying them for months now. I can't even tell you how long it had been since I bought them. I had been digging through suitcases and old gym bags looking for tam.pons so I didn't have to purchase a BRAND NEW BOX.

After the surgery, I had to break down and buy some pads because of the initial bleeding (I won't tell you how long ago I had run out of those and had been relying on tam.pons alone.)

Except for a couple of tam.pons that had long ago lost their wrappers and had nearly popped out of their applicators, I had nothing left.

Until this morning, I had convinced myself that those thin pads I bought last month and/or a small box of pantiliners would do the trick. That I would not even have to *think* about such feminine hygiene products until the hospital was sending me home with a couple of super-thick pads and a healthy newborn.

I stood in that damn aisle for what felt like forever. I couldn't justify buying a BIG box of super tam.pons (my typical pre-ivf - hell pre-TTC purchase) but I felt guilty about spending the extra money on the small, handy little boxes.

In the end, I simply refused to buy a big box. I purchased a package with four little boxes of those nifty travel-size numbers in three different strengths. Even though it amounted to a decent number of tamp.ons, it felt like less of a commitment somehow. As in, these boxes are small enough to get lost in my bathroom cabinet as I journey (successfully, of course) through the three trimesters of pregnancy.

Come on, a girl high on the drugs on her first round of ivf can dream, right??!! :-)

The good news is (yes, I do have some) that I am adequately suppressed. It's strange what words become music to IFers ears, isn't it?

My E2 levels are below 20 (anything below 50 is good, I am told) and the lining of my uterus is thin.

So, tonight I start the stims. Here's the plan for the drug party:

Fri 12/28 = Lupron (5 units) and Gonal-F (225)
Sat 12/29 = Lupron (5 units) and Gonal-F (225)
Sun 12/30 = Lupron (5 units) and Gonal-F (150)
Mon 12/31 = Lupron (5 units) and Gonal-F (150)
Tues 1/1 = Lupron (5 units) and Gonal-F (150)

Wednesday, 1/2/08, back for u/s and b/w at 7:15am.

How does this strike those of you who are ivf veterans? The nurse told me that this was a fairly conservative protocol but I would like to know how it compares to others' experiences. Thanks to Serenity's advice, I no longer expect to be ready for egg retrieval when I go in on January 2nd. She successfully managed my expectations so my hope is that egg retrieval will happen between the 9th and the 12th, with the transfer occurring early in the week of the 14th. The 14th is my mother's birthday so maybe that would be good luck?

If only luck is what it took....