The night before the retrieval neither of us were able to sleep. We were both nervous about what was going to take place and how many eggs they would be able to retrieve. When we arrived at 6:00 am we were met by the nursing staff and told I was the only patient of the day so I had the entire team to myself. I had the most wonderful nurse who was so kind when setting up my IV. I had prayed that it would be easy, and it was. She even gave me something for my reflux and that calmed me down as well.
The Anesthesiologist came in to introduce himself and I told him that I sometimes get nauseous with the meds. He assured me that I wouldn't and he would give me something that would make me feel better. Dr. Douglas came in and shook both our hands and lead us through the process one more time. With tears in my eyes they wheeled me to the OR. It looked just like what you would expect and OR to look like. Lots of machines, lights, freezing temperatures, ect. I moved over to the table and they started hooking me up to many different monitors. My fear seemed to get worse but the nurse stood with me and held my hand. That was the last thing I remembered. Next thing I knew I was waking up in the recovery room with Kevin. The doctor came back in and told us they got 20+ eggs but we would get an accurate count in a minute. He told me I would be in some pain later on so he gave me a script for meds and something for nausea. Kevin said I had a long conversation with him and used the word fabulous but I remember nothing. Kevin thought it was the funniest thing he had ever heard and continued to use the word fabulous all day.
The director of the ARTs department came in to introduce himself and gave us a final count of 26 eggs. I was shocked. We didn't think we would have this many at all, but they told us that more than likely most wouldn't fertilize because they were not mature. But they still felt I had a good number that was mature and were confident with the results. I was able to really wake up at this point and drink lots of fluid. The nurse gave me another bag of fluids in my IV to help prevent issues with overstimulating. I was able to eat a couple of graham crackers and go to the restroom which meant I was able to go home. We were both truly impressed with the team at the ARTs department, which made the procedure and time there easy. The worst part of the experience was the fear I had before it started. I hope we never have to do this again but if we do I know I could handle it!
Kevin and I came home after picking up some breakfast and fell fast asleep. We slept most of the day and laid around watching movies. We were both able to breath easier knowing that all had gone well. Kevin also got a surprise that afternoon . He had ordered a telescope, yes that's right a telescope. This hunter and fisherman I married also has a small portion of geek in him. He was able to set it up and fiddle with it while I rested yesterday. He was so sweet to me making sure I wasn't in pain and getting whatever I needed so I didn't have to get up. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband and friend in my life.
This morning (day one) the embryologist called and said that out of the 26 eggs retrieved that only 11 have fertilized. She told me this was great, many people only have a handful fertilize. She said we are looking at a five day transfer which would be Wednesday. They will call us on Monday (day three) and let us know how things are looking with the embryos, if for some reason a majority of them die between now and then we will likely do a transfer at Monday but she felt with my age we shouldn't have that problem. They will also start grading the embryos to let us know which are the most viable ones to put back. Because of my age our doctor will only put two in at the time of transfer. Because of issues with multiples it is best to put in as few as possible.
Overall we had a good experience with the retrieval, even with the foot long needle (which I luckily never had to see). I have been in some pretty rough pain but it seems to be going away for now with a couple Tylenol and Advil. Please remember these embryos in your prayers. Please pray that we will have enough to put two in and freeze two (and that they will be the best quality needed). We are really excited about the transfer and looking forward to seeing pictures of these embryos. Not many people get to see their children at such a young phase! Please pray my body will heal and except these embryos.
Tomorrow night we begin our progesterone in oil injections. Kevin has to give me these and they are pretty painful from what I hear. I think he is actually excited about giving them to me since he didn't get to do any of the other injections before. Hoping that he will do such a good job it won't hurt at all!
Note: I am sure this post has tons of misspelled words, crazy sentence structure, or may not make any sense at all. I'm still on pain meds so luckily I don't really seem to care!
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