Egg Retrieval Update

Egg retrieval went pretty smoothly today.  We arrived at the clinic on time at 6:30 am, but sat at the lobby for about 5 minutes before anyone showed up at the reception.  We must have been the first patients there.  It's weird arriving at the clinic and no one's around, since it is summer and sunny out.  It felt much later than it actually was.

We entered IVF Suite (which had a special lock, and you can only enter if you have a special pass), and went through the usual Q&A (health, allergies, last time I drank or ate, etc) with the nurse.  When the nurse asked we have any questions, we really had none.  This was our third time through this, so we were veterans at this by now.

Steve, the nurse anesthetist came and and talked to us.  He is the same guy from the past retrievals we went through.  I remember he's a pretty funny guy.  I mentioned that the last 2 times we did this, I got sick and threw up the first thing I got home even though I was given Zo.fran for nausea (the same kind pregnant women get).  He said he'd try giving me something different this time instead of liquid Ty.lenol for pain after the procedure, though there was no guarantee. Sometimes everything is fine, but the ride home makes you sick.  He joked that if he could only figure out how to beat this nausea thing, he would ask the checks be sent to him in the Bahamas!

After that Dr. M, came in.  He was the same RE that did my first retrieval last July.  I remember liking him last time, and I still do.  He's very professional and yet very pleasant.  We went over my charts and compared this cycle to the last couple.  He said I responded "reasonably well" to my medications.  He asked if we had any questions, and again. since this is our third time, we didn't really really have any.

Then I was off the the bathroom the pee one more time before heading to Procedure Room 1, and Babe made his way to the Andrology lab.  Once on the table, Steve gave me a warm blanket (probably from a warming oven), and it felt pretty comfy.  He looked over my veins while decidin whether to put the IV in my arm or my hand.  I joked about how my left arm is my "go to" arm.  Though it looked a bit bruised, but it has never let me down yet.  He ended up putting it in my arm, since usually it tends to sting more in the hand.  Hooray for my arm.  I didn't even feel the IV at all.  Again, my arm was there for me.  I was then ready for my "morning cocktail", as Steve put in.  I felt the head rush, and thought boy I'm sure glad I'm laying down.  I was out like a lightbulb,

The next thing I remember, I was waking up in the recovery room with my Babe next to me.  I remember the nurse giving me some water, and all I wanted to do was roll over and go back to sleep.  Dr. M stopped by and told us he had retrieved 11 eggs from both ovaries.  That is good news, the most number of eggs we've ever gotten.  I remember that I had to keep asking Babe how many we had, thanks to the anesthesia.

Recovery went well.  Steve came in later and injected some medication in my IV instead of giving me liquid Ty.lenol like last time.  This actually helped as I did not get sick when I got home.  The nurse gave me some apple juice and crackers, and the next thing I know, I as changing back to my own clothes and was being pushed out in a wheelchair.  I got home, took my tetra.cycline (antibiotics) and went to bed.  I spent most of my day in bed, though I got up a couple of times to eat and drink.  I am resting comfortably.  Surprisingly I have no pain or soreness, for which I am grateful.  Tomorrow, I will be working from home, which is perfect timing, as it will be hot and humid, close to 100 degrees outside.  I will be hiding indoors.

So 11 eggs retrieved.  I am grateful for that.  I am trying to stay optimistic, but also realistic.  Here's how my last 2 cycles turned out:
Cycle 1: 8 eggs retrieved from one ovary, 6 were mature, only 2 fertilized naturally.  Nothing to transfer because the embryos arrested.
Cycle 2: 7 eggs retrieved from both ovaries, only 3 were mature and ICSI'd,  only 2 fertilized.  Had a day 3 transfer.

So 11 eggs sounds like a great number, but there are just so many other factors involved.   So, if you are a praying person, please pray for my eggs to be healthy, will fertilize and will grow into healthy embryos.

I should be getting a call from the clinic on Friday with the status of my eggs/embryos. Will have more updates then.

Quick Update

Ok, a quick update.

I will be at my clinic in 7 hours.  Will be arriving at the clinic at 6:30 am for the procedure set for around 7:30 am.  It's now 11:30 pm, so only half an hour left before my fast starts  - no food or drinks after midnight.

Please keep my in your prayers that all will go well.  Pray for these:

1. For a safe surgery, that the egg retrieval will go well with no issues or complications
2. That they can access both my ovaries (the was an issue accessing one of my ovaries in the past), and can retrieve a good number of eggs.
3. That the eggs retrieved will be healthy and mature (been diagnosed with egg quality issues)
4. That all the eggs retrieved that are mature will fertilize
5. That the fertilized eggs will be healthy and will divide and grow into healthy embryos.
6. That we will have a good number of healthy embryos that can be transfered in 5 days.

I will try to do an update if I feel up to it.  Anesthesia normally knocks me out for the entire day.

See you on the other side!