A long road in the making

So you might be asking yourself what on earth is this a picture of? What is the long road in the making?

Well many of you know Pat and I have tried to start a family for quite some time now. I feel that it is very therapeutic for me to talk about it and inform people as much as possible what we are going through so they can understand the process.

Through out our journey we have had to resort to fertility meds. They are not fun! I have to give myself a shot certain days of the month and take pills that make my body hurt and I swell up like a balloon. I have gained 23 pds in 6 months!

Throughout this journey Pat and I decided that if the meds do not work we wanted to still have a family and that is when we decided to become Foster Parents. We are still in the process of getting our license. We were told our only possible way to become pregnant would to have an IVF. Well we couldn't do it financially so that helped us push harder and move forward with the foster foundation. As soon as we signed up to become foster parents, the money arrived for the IVF and we are scheduled to have it the end of July or the beginning of August.

We could go from 0 kids to 2 or 3!! Watch out!!!

So travel through this journey I thought I would take you down the long road and show you a few pictures of what some of the meds are . Viewer discreation is advised! Needles involved.

The picture above at the beginning of this post is our sharps container. It sits way up high on the top of our cabinet where it is out of reach even to me. Pat's job during this is to prep all my injections and help get the meds and supplies ready.

I must tell you, Pat has a huge fear of needles but he steps up to the plate and does a wonderful job getting them ready for me.

Our fridge has become the local pharmacy. No longer do we store butter in this shelf in the fridge. It is always filled with some sort of injection.



My Gonal-f RFF Pen. This is an injection pen that is prefilled and I can use it up to 7 times. I give one injection every night of 75UI in my belly. Its not too bad. The needle is so sharp and thin that it goes right in and it doesnt hurt too bad.


Here's the pen. There is a dial that you turn to give the correct dose. All the little caps are new needles that you put on for each dose.


Pat, pretending to give himself a shot. Of course there is no needle!!



Here is Pat prepping the injection. To prep it you have to wipe the tip of the pen with alcohol then put the needle on. Make sure there are no bubbles and if there are he has to tap the cartridge until they travel to the top and then push the button until there is a tiny amount of fluid that comes out.


Ugh, the needle. Its small a little longer than a thumb tac.


Ouch, there's my swollen belly.


Here is my Ovidrel injection. This one hurts! Im not going to lie! I usually get a nasty bruise from it. The fluid is much thicker so there is a thicker needle. Luckily this injection is given only once and its one of the most important ones. This one will make me ovulate all the little eggs that the Gonal-F had me produce.


Here it is. I hate that shot!

I hope by sharing with you an evening of meds in the Clouse House has helped you understand some of the stuff we are experiencing. We have our good days and we have our bad days. We look forward to what the future holds for us in the next couple of months. There are children out there waiting and will hopefully be placed with us soon. Also the IVF journey will be hard but we are ready!

Thanks again for all of the support.