EGG RETRIEVAL

Nick and I "all smiles" on the Egg Retrieval Day!


Looking sexy before surgery!


Looking a little groggy after surgery!


Today was the Egg Retrieval day! We have great EGGSpectations for today! Ha Ha! We drove through the bad bad fog to Rochester and checked into the hospital at 7:30am. We waited together in the room for about an hour, then I was wheeled down to wait in pre-op for another 40 minutes by myself watching all the "sick" people getting wheeled into their surgeries. It made me actually thankful for the reason I was there. I looked absolutely stunning in my hospital gown, sockies, and cap. Ha Ha! The head of the "Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Department" came and spoke with me. I was relieved to know he was doing the egg retrieval! He is such an amazing man. The moment he looks at you and starts speaking, you just feel the love. He makes you feel cared for and peaceful. Everyone who helped me today was so friendly and nice, which helped me stay calm!

It was interesting being wheeled into the operating room with all the people with their masks on. I felt like I was on a TV show or something. The worst part was when they put the IV in for general anesthesia and that wasn't even too bad. Just a few second of pain! I didn't necessarily like being strapped onto the table like a crazy person, but then they put a nice heated blankie on me and I didn't care anymore. They put an oxygen mask on me and said, "You don't look very sleepy, so we'll give you a little more." I started to count the people in the room. I think I got to 8 and then I don't remember anything else until they told me it was all over and everything went fine.

The "surgery" probably took around 25 minutes. I was wheeled back up and got to see Nick! Yippee! All I had was slight cramping, but honestly I have worse cramps that that every month with my normal period. I had to stay and rest for about 1.5 hours after. They need to make sure you can eat, pee, and walk fine. All was well and we were outta there a little after 12pm. I've just been taking it easy today. Besides some slight pressure down there, I'm feeling just fine!

Amazingly I wasn't scared today. I was nervous last week, but today I was excited and anxious to get this part over with! I was shocked I felt this way and was so brave! We feel really at peace and are hopeful and excited for the Embryo Transfer on Thursday. I just have a good feeling about all of this!!!

In case you forgot what the Egg Retrieval involves, here is a quick summary:
The surgery is performed to move the eggs from the ovaries. A needle is passed through the top of the vagina through ultrasound guidance to get to the ovary. The fluid in the follicles is aspirated through the needle and the eggs detach from the follicle wall and are sort of sucked out of the ovary! The fluid with the eggs is passed on to the embryology laboratory where the eggs are identified, cleaned, and placed in dishes. Those are kept in IVF incubators under a controlled environment. Then, since we are doing the ICSI IVF, today the sperm were directly injected into the eggs.

Also, this morning Nick got to give another semen collection to be injected in to the eggs today. Although they already have a backup frozen sample, “Semen Cryopreservation” in case if something happened to be “wrong” with this sample.
We are actually doing a different form of IVF. “Regular” IVF is where they put the sperm and egg next to each other and let them do their thing. But, we’re doing the ICSI IVF which is where they will directly inject the sperm into the egg. (And this one is more expensive….of course!) ICSI is “Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection” and it can dramatically improve the likelihood of fertilization when there’s a male factor of low sperm counts, low sperm motility, or abnormally shaped sperm. So, just hours after the retrieval, Nick’s sperm will be individually injected into my eggs. How romantic!

I also start on my last set of antibiotics today. Twice a day for the next 5 days.

The doctors took out 14 follicles and right now, they are "hatching." So, tomorrow we call in to find out how they are growing and how many fertilized embryos we have! Just think, all our future babies could be growing in dishes RIGHT NOW!! Absolutely amazing!!

Come on strong spermies, good fertilized embryos, and a warm, hospitable uterus!

PROGESTERONE OIL SHOTS

Tonight begins the progesterone shots in my butt. (Nice visual, huh!?) These are the long needles that are intramuscular. Two days of a half dose of 25mg and then after 50 mg for the rest of the injections. This progesterone is a thick oil, so you can feel it going in! I guess it'll be sore and feel like the pain of a bruise. So, we'll see how they go! Jesse will have to teach Nick to give the shots because we'll be outta town next week.

The rationale behind the supplemental progesterone is that following egg collection, ovarian hormone production may be impaired because many of the hormone-producing cells are removed at the time of follicle aspiration. In addition, the use of medications, such as Lupron that I took, may diminish ovarian steroid production following egg collection. So, basically - you take progesterone to keep the uterine lining healthy for good implantation. It keeps your uterus healthy and hospitable! If we're pregnant, we’ll end up taking this for a total of 10 weeks.

Your body naturally produces progesterone. Getting a steady stream of progesterone during pregnancy is vital for these reasons:
1. Makes the uterine lining develop and secrete fluids after being primed by estrogen.
2. Maintains the functions of the placenta and fights off unwanted cells near the womb that could cause damage to the placenta or fetus.
3. Keeps the uterine lining in a thickened condition.
4. Stops the uterus making spontaneous movements.
5. Stimulates the growth of breast tissue.
6. Prevents lactation until after the birth (with estrogen).
7. Strengthens the mucus plug covering the cervix to prevent infection.
8. Strengthens the pelvic walls in preparation for labor.
9. Stops the uterus from contracting thus keeping the baby where it is.

THESE FOLLICLES ARE BREAKING MY BACK!

On Monday afternoon I started having intense pain in my mid-back. Any way I laid didn't seem to help with the pain and I couldn't get comfortable at all. I’ve never felt anything like it. Even just laying flat on the floor didn’t help at all. I took some Tylenol and that helped for bit. I woke up with the back pain still the next morning.

Nick and I thought it must have something to do with the fertility meditations. But after talking with a nurse at the Egg Retrieval, she said it's probably because of the increased number of follicles taking up all that extra space and pushing, causing the pain. Remember that with all the medications, I have many more eggs than normal. I had around 18 follicles and in a normal cycle without medications, you only have 1. So, my ovaries were working overtime!

Turns out she must have been right because after the Egg Retrieval, the pain was immediately gone! :) Awesome! I’ve never experienced anything like that! It seemed like a miracle!

Here's an example of an ultrasound photo of someone going through IVF. That's a lot of follicles!!