The journal.

Injection day 4 — the headaches, not the needles

A headache that won't quit despite Tylenol and hydration, combining two Menopur vials into one shot, and stop-and-start bleeding. The final injection day of the first stimulation attempt.

Injection day 3 — feeling like myself again

The medications finally feel familiar, a headache that behaved, and a bouquet of flowers that meant more than expected.

Injection day 2 — the mental load

Not the injections themselves — the medication confusion, a 45-minute pharmacist call, and a headache that stole most of the day.

Injection day 1 — the voicemail

A voicemail said everything looked good and to start injections tonight. Bloodwork results arrived without any explanation of what they meant.

Morning monitoring #1

$10,750 at the finance window, a blood draw, a one-minute ultrasound, and then waiting for the call about whether tonight was the night injections would start.

Receiving & unboxing the medications

The Costco shipment arrived a day late. The unboxing was overwhelming. And I realized getting the medications is its own stressful event.

Eight pharmacy calls later

The same medications, eight pharmacies, a $1,400+ difference. What I found, what I ordered, and the discount programs that changed the math.

Orientation day — six pages of notes

A two-hour virtual orientation, a room full of strangers with cameras off, and six pages of notes I couldn't really feel the weight of yet.

The AMH result: 0.84

What the number means, what it doesn't, and the 24 hours of googling things I already knew that followed.

The follicle count

Bloodwork, an ultrasound — and the appointment where this stopped being theoretical and started being my body, my timeline, my reality.

The first appointment

A 45-minute call with my doctor, months before any of it felt real. The first domino — and the gap between hearing the steps and understanding what they'll feel like.