injection
Photo by Stephanie Dennis

After a week of eyeballing the pile of drugs on my kitchen counter, it was finally time to roll up my sleeves and roll down my waistband. Injection day had arrived. I was trying not to be nervous but was definitely feeling overwhelmed. We're talking needles and drugs here. I couldn't goof it up. It didn't help that my lab partner/husband was out of town. I realized I needed to call for back up.

My friends Kristine and Adrienne came to the rescue. They are the kind of gals that know how to tackle a challenge. I had devoted time that day to review the process and prep all my supplies. I would be mixing two different drugs, creating a cocktail that would be injected into my tummy. The mixing part had me a bit flustered. One syringe for this, another for that. Drawing needles vs. injecting needles. And then there was the dreaded air bubble!

Like many things in life, once you get down to business it isn't as difficult as you feared. With minimal confusion (and calm reassurance from my injection team), I had the syringe loaded with my first dose. It was time to take the plunge. Plunge is a good word for it. It was not unlike that moment before jumping into a cold pool. You know the best way -- the only way -- is to just jump, but you dread the cold shock. In this case, it was eying that inch-long needle and not having any idea how it would feel to pop it into my stomach.

Turns out it ain't so bad. And pushing that liquid in felt a little weird and stingy, but not terrible. I don't know how the other drugs in my stockpile are going to feel, but so far I'm okay. I'm now on day four and feeling like a total pro. Even better, I haven't noticed any side effects, knock on wood! For good measure, I am trying to get to the gym to ward off the inevitable bloating I keep hearing about (oh, and then there's the dozen dark chocolate eggs I woofed down on Sunday).

Tomorrow morning is my first sonogram to monitor my progress. I'm actually looking forward to seeing what's going on in there. I am not feeling too threatened by disappointing developments ... yet. There will be plenty of nerve wracking moments to come, so for now I am trying to keep my cool and cultivate some bodacious follicles.