I have been anxious about this day since I started reading and educating myself on IVF. Progesterone in Oil is an intramuscular injection of progesterone. As stated it is an oil which means it is thick. A larger gauge and longer length needle is necessary to get this medication into the muscle, typically a 22g inch and a half needle. The purpose of progesterone is to aid in the implantation of the embryo. Most who participate in IVF need to have progesterone supplementation throughout their first trimester.

All the injections up to this point have been subcutaneous or under the skin. The needles are thin and small. As we know, I am not a fan of needles so this has been intimidating. I bought the auto injector to help B and I with this process. I was feeling nauseous throughout the prep and administration of PIO. B did a great job of staying calm and keeping me relaxed. The click of the injector did startle me but I did not even feel the needle go in. B reminded me to keep breathing. It did take longer since it is thick but the whole injection took less than a minute.

We used a massage gun to massage the area. I then sat on my heating pad for a few minutes. An hour and a half later i barely feel any tenderness or lumps. I won’t lie I am still nervous for tomorrow, though I know in time it will become routine. I can do this.

-A