Egg-cellent Hormones

I was very surprised when I received a call back from Shady Grove yesterday, just a few hours after my appointment. Apparently my small ovarian cyst was nothing to worry about after all, and my hormones levels tested great! I have been scheduled for my "Donor Day" appointment for Monday, March 7th. Only about 20% of women who apply to the donor program make the cut, so I'm really excited that I'm one of the lucky few. My next visit to the clinic will be a day-long process, and I'm planning on being there about 4-5 hours. I will be screened further by a nurse practitioner for a variety of infectious diseases, as well as many genetic disorders. You can see the full list here if you are interested: Donor Screening. I also have to bring along a copy of my pap smear results from this year, otherwise I would have to get another test at the clinic, AND pass a drug test. Does anyone else hate peeing into a cup? It's probably one of the most awkward experience at the Dr's office... well, maybe besides the ultrasound. After all of this I get to learn how to give myself the hormone injections. This should be interesting to say the least.

The majority of my day will be spent with a social worker/psychologist. I have to take the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, also known as the MMPI, which is basically an extensive personality test to weed out any crazies that made their way into the clinic. The psychology nerd in me is actually thrilled to take the REAL MMPI after studying it in class for a few semesters.

I came across a sample donor profile, which is the form you have to initially fill out when you apply to become a donor. Pretty extensive huh? I knew this would be a long process when I first applied using this form, but I definitely wasn't aware of the full extent of the journey I would be taking on. And that's just considering MY end of the bargain! Considering all of the time and effort it takes to create a life in the case of IVF, I'm really hoping that whoever gets my eggs gets lucky the first time... and maybe even a second.