Needles Get Under My Skin

Well, last night I did it. I stabbed my wife...with a little 28-gauge needle and injected her with 10 units of Lupron. It wasn't too horrible of an experience; although I didn't look her in the eye the rest of the night and then I left the bathroom to watch a movie about Jesus.
 

I really have no fear of needles. I shouldn't anyway; I have a couple of tattoos. However, something about sticking someone I love with a sharp object is just tough for me to do, even if I know the end goal.
 

It did go fairly smoothly, however. But this is the “easy” one. Then again, I do have to apply it to her stomach region, so perhaps that's just a psychological weirdness for me and injecting her in the hindquarters won't be a big deal. I guess we'll see. In the meantime, the orange hasn't complained.
 

Related to all this, Kristina and I are only a week away from our respective retrieval operations, assuming everything stays on schedule. It could be a day off, one way or the other, but I'm guessing the “hormone calendar” is pretty accurate from what we've tracked thus far.
 

Also, I'm hoping to goad Kristina into a post or two about her feelings now that she's started the latest hormone injections. (Those she's still doing herself). These are the FSH and gonadotropin shots, which have definitely given her a little swing in mood at moments. And she is tired.
 

To be fair, she is the same Kristina 99.9-percent of the time, an amazing trooper, but she has told me of moments where the visceral emotion doesn't make sense. Honestly, she bewilders me with her courageous heart, and I often have to deal with my guilt for putting her through this - since the problem is my "fault" not hers. But she is supportive and tells me we're in this together...and then let's me stick her with needles, so that helps my guilt.
 

Anyway, we have three ultrasounds scheduled over the next six days and are only twelve days from completing all the steps. Oddly, it looks like we might have misnamed the blog, since the whole process (from beginning to transfer) will actually be 52 days. But whatever the count, we're closing in on the final days.