Finding Humor in IVF

“Laughter is the best medicine.”

“One day you’ll look back on this and laugh.”

“Laugh until you cry.”

If you are going through infertility—and more specifically, if you are in the middle of an IVF cycle—you may think there’s not much to laugh about. Cry about? Yes, that’s for sure. But I promise if you look closely, you can find some humor in IVF to help get you through.

Before you take me for some insensitive shmuck making light of a serious situation, please do read about my infertility and miscarriage history, and please know I am right there with you in each breakdown, each setback, each dashed dream. But I can laugh at myself every now and then; and when I stop and think about some of the things my husband and I have gone through (and put ourselves through) this past year, I have to admit there have been some comical moments, such as…

The time my irreverent sister-in-law had these “Good Luck with your IVF” cookies delivered to my door as a surprise. Yes, those are sperm, egg, and syringe cookies. And, yes, my stepkids answered the door and wanted to know why Aunt Katy sent cookies with snakes on them. They preferred the “smiley face” cookies to the rocket ship cookies. In case you were wondering.

These cookies were just what the doctor ordered as I nervously started my first IVF cycle.

There was also the time I foolishly asked my husband for his help with a Fleet enema the night before my first egg retrieval. If you don’t know what a Fleet enema is, or where you put it, look it up. My husband is a good man and was willing to help in any way I asked, but the whole situation was a disaster with a lot of yelling on my part. During my next two IVFs, I handled my own torture, thank you.

And let’s not forget the time my medication was delayed due to storms affecting FedEx deliveries, and I called my doctor’s office panicking because I was in the middle of a cycle and didn’t have enough meds for the next couple of days. Strangely, a former patient had just called them earlier that day to say she had leftover meds to donate (this is common in the IVF world due to the exorbitant costs of these meds). The nurse gave us each other’s contact info, and it turned out this other woman lived in my area less than 10 minutes from me. So, my husband and I met this total stranger at 10:00 P.M. on a Friday night (exciting weekend, you know!) in her front lawn, where she gave me a bag full of fertility drugs and instructed me how to use these particular injections. She kept saying, “This is the most random thing I’ve ever done!” Random indeed! But that stranger’s kindness saved my cycle, and it was quite comical having a pregnant stranger show me how to use an injection by the light of her lamppost.

That fun evening didn’t conclude there. We then proceeded to drive to the FedEx sorting station, where we knew with certainty my meds had arrived (but wouldn’t be released until FedEx reopened on Monday). The gates were closed and locked (well, most of them, that is), but we could see lights on inside. My husband proceeded to find the one gate that wasn’t locked properly and made his way into the grounds of the facility. Watching my husband prowl around FedEx trucks and beat on the locked door late at night was quite amusing. My only regret was not photographing this moment—and that we were unsuccessful in getting my medication until Monday.

And then there was the time I woke up from my first egg retrieval and asked the nurse how many eggs they had retrieved. She let me know the answer and left the room. She returned to check on me moments later, and I asked how many eggs they retrieved. This scene apparently repeated itself so many times she suggested we write the number on my palm so I could look at it. I was wound a little tight that first go-round!

Talk to the hand! (and quit asking)

Another funny memory also involves my first IVF and the dread that was building with the trigger shot. If you aren’t familiar, the daily injections are subcutaneous needles (read: short, thin little needles) you inject into your stomach. You think that sounds bad?! Well, the joyous trigger shot is intramuscular and looks to be about six inches long compared to those cute little needles. On top of the impending torture of being stabbed in the backside with this weapon, there is the added pressure of having to be stabbed at the exact minute you are so instructed, as this shot is perfectly timed with your egg retrieval 36 hours later. Screw this up and the last two weeks of hell you just put yourself through will be for naught, not to mention you’ll end up throwing some serious cash down the drain. With all of this stress building, I put a huge ice pack directly on my butt cheek for a solid 20 minutes. Freezer burn had nothing on what I knew was coming my way, so I sucked it up. At precisely 9:59 P.M. I marched into the dining room, the location we’d decided had the best lighting, and pulled down my pants for husband to stab me at exactly 10:00 P.M. I was gripping the dining table so hard my knuckles where white, and I was getting myself very worked up. I kept yelling, “Just do it already! For the love of God, just do it!” When I received no response, I finally whipped my head around and started yelling again, only to be informed that he had already injected me and pushed in all the meds. Talk about an effective numbing job! I wasn’t so lucky the next two trigger shots, though…

All in all, there are lots of ups and down with IVF and infertility in general. Finding some humor in it all does help to ease some of those rough times. When we are motivated by such strong emotions, we tend to say and do some ridiculous things—but at least we will have some stories to tell![hr]

Have you been able to find humor in your IVF or infertility struggles? Do you have any of your own funny stories to share?

 

 

Bridget
Bridget was born and raised in San Antonio and moved back here after college and law school. She is a wife, full-time attorney, wrangler of four kids ages 15, 13, 3 and almost 2. As both a stepmom and mom, her life and house is always full and she loves to share about blended family life. Bridget is also passionate about infertility advocacy after having suffered multiple miscarriages and multiple rounds of IVF. Now with her stepkids, rainbow baby, and surprise baby, her family is complete and she is soaking up every minute of motherhood!