Lessons Learned While Trying to Have a Baby: IVF Part 1

While Physicians for Women of Greensboro is able to perform all of the blood tests and ultrasounds needed during the IVF process, they do not perform the two actual IVF procedures in-house. Instead they partner with an IVF clinic from Charlotte called REACH. Thankfully, REACH has some of the highest IVF success rates in the Southeast. For patients under the age of 35, REACH has a success rate of 52% as compared to the national average of 44%.

Dr. Teaff and her nurse, Alice, come from Charlotte to Greensboro once a month to meet new IVF patients and to perform some pre-IVF testing. At our first consult David and I had to redo all of the blood tests, plus some additional ones, that I had done during my initial fertility testing. Being the horrible wife that I am I was giddy to hear that David had to have blood taken as well. For so many months I had been the one getting poked and prodded so I was a little too gleeful about David having to be tested. I have one word for you….KARMA.

They took my blood first. After taking 6 vials I was a little woozy so as David sat down to get his blood drawn I went to sit in the waiting room. A few minutes later I passed out. Meanwhile, as David was getting his blood drawn a woman rushed in exclaiming that she needed a nurse because someone had just passed out in the waiting room. David just nodded and said, “Oh, that’s my wife.” When I finally came to I was surrounded by two pregnant women, three nurses, my husband, a terrified two-year-old little girl, and (thankfully) a trash can. Fortunately I received free crackers and orange juice because of it. That made it all worth it.

Another part of the pre-IVF testing is a trial-transfer. During the trial-transfer the doctor pushes a catheter through the cervix and into the uterus to insure there will be no blockages during the actual IVF procedures. After my trial-transfer I met with a financial counselor to go over all our IVF expenses. Considering our procedure totaled around $18,000, David and I were extremely grateful that our insurance covered almost all of that. Finally, before you begin IVF you must also go on birth control pills for one cycle. This is to level out your hormones and egg production so you can begin the IVF process at a common baseline.

Once you have done all the pre-IVF procedures and completed a cycle of birth control pills you are ready to begin your IVF medication. It was this part of the procedure that scared me the most. Seeing all the drugs I had to take, all the shots David had to give me, I began to comprehend the magnitude of what we were about to do and it seemed overwhelmingly daunting. I realized, as much as I wanted a baby, I really wished that I didn’t have to do this. I began to understand that I hadn’t ever done something really difficult throughout my entire life; there was always an easy way out. But for this there was no easy way out and no getting around it no matter how scared I was. I couldn’t fix myself or stop the oncoming wave of shots and surgeries. I realized I needed to be strong but I wasn’t sure I was strong enough.

While our family and friends were extremely supportive, my greatest support throughout my IVF procedures was David. Even though he was scared too, having to watch instructional videos on giving various types of shots both under the skin and intramuscular, learning how to fill syringes, and actually having to give me multiple shots every day, he was always so careful with me to make sure I was doing okay. After every single shot he gave me he told me how good I had done and how proud he was of me. I couldn’t have done it without him and I love him so much for being so wonderful!

Below I’ve included a picture and list of the primary medications I took during IVF as well as a description of each:



HCG: A subcutaneous injection taken once a day for about two weeks used to help maturation of eggs.


Gonal F: A subcutaneous injection taken once a day for about two weeks that stimulates multiple eggs to grow within the follicles on each ovum.

Ganirelix: A subcutaneous injection taken once a day for four to five days that prevents premature ovulation. This medication made me extremely nauseous.

Ovidrel: A subcutaneous injection taken once two days before egg retrieval that forces your body to ovulate.

Progesterone: An intramuscular injection given daily beginning two days after egg retrieval and continuing for a month or two. This shot is in oil form and leaves lumps under your skin that hurt. By the end of taking this shot I could hardly sit down or sleep because it made me so sore. After a month I switched to suppositories because I couldn’t handle taking this shot for another month.

Doxycycline: An antibiotic pill taken after egg retrieval to reduce the risk of infection.