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!
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