Tuesday 26 April 2011

The One Where I Poke Myself With a Needle

*I'm going with the "Friends" style blog title again. Not sure how many of these I will do but hopefully I will stop before it becomes too annoying.

I am officially in my Mock Cycle!

*Insert cheers and applause here* 

As a confirmed needle-phobe (if that's even a word) I was not looking forward to this day. Well I was, but not about the needle part. As I may have mentioned before, the option of having my husband do the injections for me is a no go!

There are three reasons for this.
  1. He has a crazy work travel schedule. He's often gone 2-3 days a week. In fact, a week where he's home all 7 days is a rarity. He doesn't always know ahead of time when he will have to travel so it's impossible to plan injections around his schedule. So I would have to do some of them myself anyway.
  2. He is also a needle-phobe and a big scaredy cat! When the nurse brought in all the needles and stuff to demonstrate how to do the injections I thought he was going to pass out. The look on his face was one of horror and fear. There's no way I'm letting that guy anywhere near me with a syringe. So if I have to do some of them, I would rather just do all of them.
  3. The needle for self injections is smaller. If the hubby does them they would be in my hip with a 1.5 inch needle. If I do them myself they go in my thigh with a 1 inch needle. I know it's only a half an inch, but shorter needles are always better I say.
So after a quick call to my nurse to make sure it was time to start I began the process of psyching myself up for the first injection.
Here is a photo of my prep kit. 
As you can see it contains all the essentials a girl would need before jabbing herself.
  • Medication
  • Syringe
  • Needle
  • Cotton Ball
  • My son's candle- for moral support.
  • Wine- do I really need to explain? Only a few sips allowed before and the rest after.
  • My handbag, Michael Kors- not supposed to be in the shot but I was nervous and forgot to move it, but maybe it helped too?
Once I got all my kit assembled I was ready to go. The hubby wanted to know how he could help. I told him to stay out of the room and don't watch me. I know, I'm such a loving wife! : )

I carefully attached the needle used for drawing the meds into the syringe. Success! 
Then I switched to the injection needle (don't want a dull needle). Success! 

Then the hard part. 
Sip of wine for courage. 

Ready,,,,,, wait, stop. 
"Have you done it yet?" comes a voice from the other room. "No," I say. 
Sip of wine for courage. 

Ready,,,,,, wait, stop. 
"Have you done it yet?" comes a voice from the other room. "No," I say.  
Sip of wine for courage. 

Ready,,,,,, wait, stop. 
"Have you done it yet?" comes a voice from the other room. "No," I say.  
Sip of wine for courage.

This goes on for about 20 minutes until I finally yell at the hubby to shut up and stop asking me how I'm doing.

Getting my nerve, losing my nerve. 

Another sip of wine. 

A few deep breaths. 

Ready,,,,,, go! 
Success! 

It didn't hurt nearly as much as I thought it would. Meds injected. Bandaid (plaster for you Brits) on. Photos taken for my blog (which the hubby thinks is hilarious).
Here's the proof. 
*Please ignore my pastey white leg with all the freckles on it. It's a good thing I blog anonymously or I would never have the balls to post a photo of my marshmallow thigh on this site.

I did it!! I'm so proud of myself. I have to do it again in a few days but now that I know it doesn't hurt that bad it won't be nearly as scary. 

Just the first step of Mission, Take Home Baby!

36 comments:

  1. You write so well. Nice post :) Although the circumstances are not nice at all.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This post made me laugh, but I'm seriously glad that you had the nerve to do it and you feel like you're moving forward with your mission. Also, love the handbag.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good on you! The first is always the worst.. and ice helps a lot!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am so excited for you! Great job, you are doing fabulous.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Good job mama! I'm proud of you for stickin yourself! I don't know if I could do that...but great job!
    ~Felicia

    ReplyDelete
  6. Good job, I know it can't be easy to poke yourself.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh my gosh... I got woozy just reading this! I am also a needle phobe and I'm so sorry you have to do this!!! When I need any needle procedures done my husband has to come with and hold me down! I've gotten better since I had my son, partially because I had repeated exposures, but mostly because I discovered EMLA cream. Maybe you could look into it!

    http://fivefeetoffun.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh bless your heart! I HATE needles! I give you props for being able to do it yourself! Drink all the wine you want when you do that!

    ReplyDelete
  9. LOVE the post- you are a funny lady.

    Obviously I am fond of your liquid courage. If this ever fails to calm your nerves, I shall introduce you to my little friend tequila. ha ;)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow you are a rockstar. Hope it does get easier for you!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ha ha! The first time is always the hardest but by the end I was jabbing myself at the sushi bar, carrying around my fridge pack like a purse. There was never any question of H doing it for me. Between his travel schedule and the fact that he's a giant baby girl...:-)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Great post! Hopefully they will get easier as time goes by otherwise I guess there is always more wine

    ReplyDelete
  13. I had borderline gestational diabetes and the finger pricks made mgr freak out enough... Can't imagine real needle sticks. Ugh! Good thing you were able to find your thigh after 20 min of wine for courage, hehehe ;)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Wine is definitely an important part of the routine :) Good luck for you mock cycle.. with you every step of the way xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  15. Well done you and definitely a good idea to have the wine in your kit!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Good luck with everything,fingers crossed for you! Emma :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Brave girl, well done you, love Linda x

    ReplyDelete
  18. Well done, bit of a needle phobe myself and not sure I would have the courage that you have shown. Love the are you done yet hubby comments - mine would be just the same. xxx

    ReplyDelete
  19. Calling by from The Post of The Month Club, not sure i would have been able to that and then write about it. :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. I am a needle phobe and fainter myself. You have gone where I am not sure I could have. Mt Everest, easy. A 'jab'? Not so sure :) Best of luck to you!!

    Thank you for linking up to Post Of The Month Club

    XOL

    ReplyDelete
  21. I have heard it gets a little easier ...just keep the end result in your sites. Found you via Laura

    ReplyDelete
  22. You are brave, brave, brave. I can't even watch when someone else pokes me with a needle, much less do it to myself.

    Stopping by from Sunday Funday.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Great job!
    You did it!
    It would have been incredibly difficult to give yourself that first injection I imagine.
    But.
    You did it!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Yikes! I would have downed at least half the bottle first...probably not the best idea. I don't have a problem getting shots, but to give one to myself? I don't know you, but you just jumped up a few "respect" notches. Good luck with everything and thank you for candidly sharing this part of your journey.

    found you through Sunday Funday

    ReplyDelete
  25. Wow... That has to be difficult! I'm afraid of needles, too, and I HATE shots. I hate having my blood drawn even more.
    I love how you light a candle when you go through this procedure. I have a candle for my high school sweetheart who was killed. It gives you a sense of calm, doesn't it?

    ReplyDelete
  26. I dont think I could do it. It's not the pain that worried me, it's the thought of sticking a needle into my skin. When I get it done, I cant watch. Good for you for doing it!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Good job and good prep work with the wine! I'm not sure that I would have been able to do it!!

    Stephanie

    ReplyDelete
  28. WOW! I can't imagine..i would likely throw up while doing it! eek.

    I'm a new follower! would love a follow back!

    Christy @
    www.scrappy2010ramblings.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  29. I'm not sure I could voluntarily stick myself with a needle. I probably would have had more than just those few sips of wine.

    I stopped by from the Sunday Funday linkup. I read your story and would like to offer lots of e-*hugs*.

    ReplyDelete
  30. The Michael Kors bag DEFINITELY helped. My hubs is a total needle phobe too. He can't stand it when the kids need shots or blood draws, and when I was in the hospital with IVs and crap it drove him nuts.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Totally would've needed GLUGS of wine rather than sips to get there..and sported my (insert cartoon character here) helly kitty band-aid with pride!!

    ReplyDelete
  32. I hate needles. I had to be a Reglan pump while PG because I had hyperemesis so bad that I was losing weight through my 5th month. The needle was tiny but, stayed in all the time. I hated it. Hubby had to do the sticking because I'd totally lose my nerve.
    You are SO much more brave than I would be! Kudos for that!

    found you through Sunday Funday!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Wow. Good for you being able to inject yourself. My sister used to have to inject herself too when she was doing IVF and I couldn't believe it...I have a very weak stomach. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  34. Good for you! I had high risk pregnancies and had to inject myself with medication every single day for the whole 40+ weeks. But the reward is definitely worth it. Hoping your needle encounters bring you one step closer to having that baby in your arms. I'll be praying for you!
    (Stopping by from Post of the Month)

    ReplyDelete