IVF side effects

I would be remiss if I failed to at least mention some of the side effects of IVF.

Headaches

Like I mentioned, the lupron gave me really bad headaches.  They went away when I decreased my dose.

Acne

I don’t know which drug (or combination of drugs) caused it, but I got the worst acne of my entire life.  My forehead was literally covered in pimples.  It was really, really embarrassing.  Sometimes husband would run his fingers along my forehead and pretend like he was reading Braille.  “It says we should be watching hockey.”  I cannot imagine what people at work thought.

It seems to be clearing up now.

Bloating

I bloated like crazy during the stim cycle.  I literally looked three plus months pregnant.

After we started having trouble getting pregnant, I cut back on my exercise.  Once we started IVF, I cut way, way back.  (My acupuncturist told me sweat is bad for egg production.)  On the day of my retrieval, they told me I was at a high risk of developing ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (because of my large number of follicles—more than 16—and high estrogen on the day of the trigger shot—over 4000), and even moving around can make it worse.  So I cut back on exercise entirely and started drinking protein shakes and Gatorade to try to decrease the chances that I would develop it.

No surprise that I gained weight, right? 

On the day of egg retrieval, the doctor asked me if I'd had a lot of bloating.  I noticed some, but I told him I didn’t think it was too bad.  (I'd taken to wearing dresses to work and pj pants at home.)  I almost fainted when I went home and weighed myself—I’d gained over 10 pounds!  And, after studying my stomach, I realized that it was basically all in my midsection.  It looked like I was pregnant.  And not just a little bulge.  A pooch.

Fortunately in the days since transfer the bloating has gone down, but I’m still a little chubby.  (I have not gained the 2 pounds a day they were worried I might, so no ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome!)  I’m worried it’s the no-exercise and protein shakes weight!  

Yes, yes, if I get pregnant it's all worth it.