Happy Friday! Let’s take shots! Lupron shots, that is. I’m finishing up my last few days of birth control (Levora), and this morning I started 20 daily units of leuprolide acetate, or Lupron. This stage of IVF is called suppression. It puts your body into a temporary state of menopause and allows your ovaries to rest. After all, they are about to be put into overdrive producing as many follicles in a week as most people produce in a year or two. The Lupron also dramatically lowers estrogen levels and, therefore, allows my doctor to regulate my body’s production of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH). Ovulation cannot occur naturally on Lupron because LH, which stimulates ovulation, is suppressed. This prevents a premature release of LH before the egg retrieval procedure.

I know this sounds like a lot of medical mumbo jumbo. In a nutshell, these meds won’t let me ovulate until the eggs have reached maturity and my doctor is ready to go in and retrieve them. It’s only been a few hours, but the only side effects I’ve had so far are numbness and a tingling sensation in my lips. Now I know how Kylie Jenner feels. I’ll post a full update when I go back to the doctor to start the stimulation phase next Thursday (May 21st). If anything interesting or funny happens in the mean time, I’ll be sure to let you know. Have a great weekend, y’all! Drink a cold one for me 🙂