estradiol level check / FDA bloodwork

todays appointment was quick. I arrived early, like an hour and a half early. i brought a book. took public transit, so i wasn't sure how much time to give myself. you never know...
I checked in, and sat down. the fertility doctor's office has free tea and i had just opened a tea bag and dropped it in my cup of hot water when my name was called. Went to the back. some nurse asked me if i had gotten my period, and then took out 6 test tubes for blood. I got my period, but it was so light, it was more like spotting. she said the Zovia is to blame for that. They would need to take the estradiol level check just to make sure that my estrogen levels were low enough to begin the follicle stimulating hormones.

she put the giant rubber band on my arm and tied the knot and cleaned my arm for the needle. i've got a really big vein there, so thats never a problem. then the phone rang, and she got up and left me there with the tourniquet and my forearm slowly swelling red as i stared at the 6 vials. that was just a little uncomfortable. when she came back, the blood drawing needle hurt more than any of my shots. usually i like to watch the needle go in - but i was pretty over it. so i didn't even look.

she took blood for the estradiol level check, then she filled the rest of the tubes for FDA blood work. By law, any tissue donors have to get hardcore disease and STD screened before the transfer of tissues. so i got an aids test and a bunch of other tests. the nurse was kind of rough with the needle removal. she pulled the knot for the tourniquet and set that down, then just kinda yanked out the needle while pressing the cotton pad. that hurt. I was kinda shocked. i hope i dont have a blood blister there tomorrow. i've had those before, where the nurse is too rough and cuts through the other side of the vein or whatever. OWW!

then they put me in a room and told me to take off my pants, and i sat there with the loud pink paper drape with my butt on the edge of the table staring at the ultrasound machine. they keep the lights down low in the pelvic exam rooms. its calming. i sat there for maybe 5 minutes, cause the doctor was doing a "transfer" then he knocked, came in with a nurse. opened me up, muttered a polite, "sorry" as he did so.

(Every time im there for a pelvic exam he says sorry before inserting a speculum or an ultrasound wand. he must say sorry a dozen times every day. its kinda funny. the way he apologizes for his job? and then i got to wonder how working with vaginas and ovaries all day every day might affect his love life in a negative way. might be hard to sexualize something as boring as the reproductive system, as a fertility specialist. that is, of corse, assuming he doesn't have a husband at home. or maybe he's not married at all. i dont know. but those thoughts ran through my head while my feet were in stirrups and my va-jay-jay was lit up under the pink paper cover and the pretty nurse holding the clipboard was checking her beautifully manicured nails and i stared up at the creepy wire mobile hanging from the ceiling. it did a good job of distracting me. swaying little metal ballerinas into circles beneath the air conditioning vent)
he took 2 long q-tips to do the chlamydia and gonorrhea tests, with accuracy and the gentle touch of a man who pokes cervical holes with q-tips all day long. that strange sensation, of something touching the inside of the cervix... sometimes it can be uncomfortable and crampy. i've had pap smears that hurt. today was just a strange awareness of a mild pressure. lasted a second. then he handed the long q-tip back to the nurse who put it into a tube with some sort of liquid. the whole process took about 15-20 seconds. and then i was alone in the dimly lit room again with my pants to put back on.

they said i was done, and they will call me with the results to see if i can begin the follistim and menopur as planned. by the time i got back to my tea, the temperature was perfect to drink, but it was a little bit too strong.

i hate walking around in public with the band aid and the cotton ball on my arm. everybody knows you got blood drawn or something gross and medical. i saw peoples eyes look at my arm the entire way home. they probably just assumed it was an AIDS test. I always assume that. lots of interesting and beautiful people on the bus. mostly the tired working class. sometimes babies under blankets. i was staring at babies all day today. thats what i'm giving this guy. a baby. crazy.

so the lupron shots are going to be the same until i start the follistim and menopur. then the amount of lupron will lessen. but tonights shot is the same. No side effects to report. i feel fine and dandy.