5 Tips to Help Dominate Self-Injections when Going Through the Egg Freezing Process
As you embark on your egg sharing journey, one of the most important responsibilities you will have is the self-injection process. The medication you administer is what stimulates your ovaries to develop your precious eggs.
Your physician will instruct you to inject yourself 1 to 3 times per day for about 8-12 days before your egg retrieval procedure.
Your blood hormone results and ultrasound scans will help your doctor determine the duration of days and amount of medication to inject. For some women, the idea of needles, let alone having to administer them on yourself can be a difficult process.
This fear of needles is most often a case of mind over matter.
If the idea of sticking yourself with a needle leaves you queasy, here are our 5 best tips to help you conquer those injections and take control of your fertility future.
1. Knowledge is Power
Arming yourself with knowledge can be a great way to build self-injection confidence. Doing the research and gaining exposure to the process/action of self-injections can potentially put your mind at ease when it comes time to do your own shots.
Watch videos of people getting injections to desensitize yourself to the idea.
If you are worried that you’ll be unable to administer them in the correct fashion, ease your mind by reviewing educational material on best practices and steps on how to properly give injections safely. You can even ask your nurse to walk you through the first one!
Practice doing them in your head so that the thought becomes familiar. Get familiar with handling the automatic injectors and syringes by holding them in your hand. Try moving the parts so the feeling and the motions become second nature.
2. Build a Support Team
Surround yourself with friends and family who support your choice. Your support team will be there to encourage you and help ease your nerves in the right ways. They want to see you succeed.
Sometimes, doing something scary can be easier when you don’t feel alone.
These are the people in your life who are there to help build you up. When things get a little too stressful, they’re there to give you that extra push of bravery come injection time. Appoint a trusted helper for the times when you aren't feeling up to the task or even video chat with a friend that motivates you. Your loved ones will be honored to take part in this journey with you!
3. Set the Tone by Getting Comfortable
Another way to get in the right mindset before each injection is to prepare and set the tone of your environment. Removing clutter from your space can help to clear your mind and lower any anxiety you might be experiencing.
Laying out your injection supplies on a clean surface may help you feel more in tune with yourself and prepared for the task at hand.
Getting cozy by putting on your most comfortable clothing is a great way to help you stay focused. Nobody wants to be distracted by an itchy sweater in the middle of the procedure.
Also, let’s not forget about the music. The soothing sounds of nature are a perfect way to induce a sense of relaxation. My personal favorites include the sounds of thunder and a rainy downpour. Or maybe you’d prefer one of your favorite songs that amp you up and would encourage you to push through.
Whichever way you prefer, the tone of your space can be a valuable asset when setting yourself up for a smooth injection.
4. Reward Yourself
What’s your favorite treat? Whatever happens to tickle your fancy, generating a form of positive reinforcement can help develop a more positive association with needles, decreasing the chances of complications.
Whether it’s a chocolate brownie or a relaxing bath, rewards can help motivate you to complete the task at hand.
The reward doesn’t need to be consistent for each injection. As long as there is something in the end that you prepared to give yourself and look forward to, you’re golden. When you think about your reward before, during and after your injection; the positive reinforcement will form a new association in your brain.
These new-formed positive connections will strengthen and compound as time goes on. Making each new and future injection a little easier. No matter your choice of reward, you’ve more than earned it. So enjoy every second of it!
5. Think About the Bigger Picture
Remembering why you are doing this in the first place and bringing gratitude into your mindset can turn your injections into a piece of cake. Now, who doesn’t like the sound of baked goods?
Think about the driving force behind your choice to participate in egg sharing. If you're doing this to open up possibilities for your fertility future, then visualize your wildest dreams in detail.
What does your ideal life look like in 10 years and what will you’ve accomplished?
If you’re excited to help grow a family, then put yourself on the receiving end and imagine the hope, gratitude, and excitement for a new precious baby! What an honor it is to be a part of helping a family conceive a new blessing.
If your motivation is to freeze your eggs in order is to buy time to figure out what you want in life, that’s okay too! Imagine all the potential and the different opportunities you could travel towards.
Life is full of possibilities, making it difficult to plan accordingly; but you can still do your absolute best in order to prepare for any twists or unexpected turns. Focusing on your ‘why’ can make those needles seem so insignificant, you might not even remember them!
By sharing your eggs, you are doing such a wonderful thing for yourself and others. You have made it this far and when it comes down to it all, needles are ultimately no match for you.
If you arm yourself with these tips, getting closer to your fertility goals will be smooth sailing. And if you need extra encouragement, your Fertility United cycle coordinator is just a phone call away!