Monday, April 19, 2010

Progesterone shots -- eek!

PIO = Progesterone in Oil
PIO = intramuscular injection in your backside
PIO = P-I-Oh Crap!

I had my progesterone level checked this morning and it was only 4.1. CCRM wants it above 6. The nurse called with the news and I knew what was coming. I've heard about these shots.

I have a fear of intramuscular (IM) shots because the needle is huge and you can't give them to yourself. This means my DH has to give me the shot. Yikes! We paid a nurse $100 to come give me the HCG trigger shot at 2 a.m. in Denver in February to avoid this. But now, I have to have a 1 cc injection every other day at least through the pregnancy test and well into the pregnancy if successful. Getting someone else to do it just isn't feasible.

My dear friend Kate who has actually adminstered her own PIO shots and taught her DH how to do it has agreed to help me out tomorrow. Then on Thursday, the nurse will teach my DH how to do it.

They ordered 20 doses -- enough for 40 days! Someone's being optimistic... I'm sure that's the standard initial order, but I'll just pretend it's Dr. Babycraft! : )

3 comments:

  1. Here is a site made by Bea (a beautiful blogger) that is all about injections: http://ivfshootemup.blogspot.com/

    with videos and everything!!!!

    Sorry about the shots!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hope the shots go well. I'll be praying for you and DH that he becomes a great nurse.

    Take good care!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I prefer to do my own PIO shots- seriously! I find it hurts less doing it myself, and frankly my DH is not real comfortable doing it, and it ends up stressing me out more to have him do it. And I actually chose to do PIO instead of 4 suppositories/day - less mess.

    My tips for PIO:
    1. Massage the area with your fingertips/hand immediately after injection. And walk up and down the stairs a few times. It will help distribute the oil in your muscle tissue, preventing lumps (and pain later).
    2. Make sure you never chill the oil, leave it at room temp. Some people warm the oil in the syringe by rolling it around in your hands a bit, but honestly, I never noticed a difference.
    3. Use the smallest gauge needle you can, even if the injection takes longer. I think I drew up with a large 22g and then injected with 25g or even 27g. It takes awhile, like at least 30 seconds to get all the med in, but it hurts less in the end (haha, punny!).
    4. Sit on a heating pad after the injection - also helps with dispersing the medication in the muscle tissue.

    You'll do great!!

    ReplyDelete