Eggcellent Mom Chronicles

My brain with ADHD? It’s like a bustling marketplace. A dozen conversations happen at once, and sometimes it’s hard to tell which one is the most important. Everyone’s shouting, and it takes all my energy to focus on just one voice at a time. But here’s the thing: despite the apparent chaos, there’s a hidden order. I may not always know what’s going on at first glance, but I know where to find everything, even if it feels like a whirlwind at times. Sure, some folks compare it to 20 browser tabs open – you can’t tell which one’s playing the music. But hey, that’s just my ADHD, and I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Then there’s my teacher brain. Lists are my jam, the key to ensuring everything runs smoothly for my students, colleagues, and, well, myself.

Now, enter the IVF brain and body. It’s a fascinating, and sometimes frustrating, combination of the two. Here, I’m trying to get all my ducks in a row, but these ducks are a mischievous bunch – some are swimming, others are inexplicably flying, and the whole pond seems caught in a strong current!

Thankfully, my fantastic fertility clinic came through with a checklist, a love language I can totally understand. From the OB/GYN checkup to injection training and even organizing the delivery of my donor specimen, everything is checked off and done.

But then came last weekend. A monstrous box arrived filled with enough medication vials (over 59!) for two weeks of injections. Now, I’m not squeamish about needles, but the idea of mixing vials for each night’s dose is a little nerve-wracking.

The real challenge, though, is the stuff I can’t control. Is my cycle perfectly timed? How many follicles will actually produce viable eggs? What quality will those eggs be? Will fertilization be successful? And the biggest question of all – how many embryos will make it through PGT-A testing?

The answers to all these mysteries will (hopefully) arrive in a month or so. But time seems to be playing a cruel trick, moving both incredibly fast and agonizingly slow at the same time. Friday is the opening event with a blood draw and ultrasound in the morning, and then in the afternoon, a (hopeful) phone call and green light to begin injections.

In the meantime, I’ll be on a mission – rounding up my wayward ducks and enjoying what feels like my first truly relaxing summer in four years! Here’s to taking a deep breath, embracing the chaos (a little), and hoping for a smooth flight path for all my feathered (and swimming) friends.