Egg Retrieval & 2 Days Post

Sorry for the delay in posting. I have not had the energy to write or think much. I’ve been posting quick updates on Instagram & Facebook. There are some questions that have been asked, and Austin told me I should probably stop putting off posting. So here we are. I’ll post pictures later…

Egg Retrieval

We were to check in at OU at 6:15am, which meant we left at 4:45. I knew that I would have to provide a urine sample when I got to the office, so I was trying not to pee. I woke up in the middle of the night needing to pee, but I refused. So by the time we got to the office, I was dying!! We got there super early, too. The office doesn’t open until 7:30, so the nurse that was assigned to egg retrieval was the only one that would be there. We were let in, and I was able to go to the bathroom and produce a urine sample. I felt bad for getting there so early, but our nurse was incredible. I had to undress and put a cloth gown on and cover with a sheet. They had those in a blanket warmer, so they were nice and cozy. Once I was ready, the nurse put the wires on me to monitor breathing, pulse, etc. Then she attempted my IV. I’m a hard stick and it’s always an issue. She tried in my right arm, and then found a great vein on my left hand just below my thumb. It was such a strange placement, but it worked. We basically waited around until it was time to go into the procedure room. The anesthesiologist came and talked to us about the anesthesia and then the doctor came and talked to us about the procedure. None of it was new information, since they prepped us really well. They give us SO MUCH information, so it’s good to hear it multiple times. It was finally time, and I was out before I even got to the room. They literally wheeled me into the hall, turned the bed around, and went in the room (it was directly across from where we were). I remember being warned that we were turning, and that’s it.

When I was knocked out, Austin got to do his part. They time it so that the eggs and sperm get to the lab around the same time. I was expecting to be loopy and out of it the rest of the day. I was not. Once I woke, I was lucid in the moment, but I couldn’t remember later what was said. Austin was there when I woke and helped me get dressed. I am SO SO SO glad the visitor policy because of COVID was lifted in time for all of this. It would have been really difficult to go through all of that without him sitting with me the entire time. I had to stay for a while to be monitored while I recovered and woke up from the anesthesia. While we were recovering, we found out how many eggs were retrieved—34!!! They got 14 from the left ovary and 20 from the right. We were SOO excited!! I was hoping for at least 20. Austin is just hoping for like 5 embryos. Before all of this, I was feeling crampy and afterward, I was feeling more crampy. I think I posted about this before, but with the retrieval, they go in with a long ass needle and suck the liquid out of the follicles. Then they go through that liquid and find the eggs. With PCOS women, they usually have a lot of eggs retrieved during IVF. It’s because they don’t always have an ovulatory cycle, so they usually have a good ovarian reserve. But the eggs are usually lower quality. My doctor said that she could retrieve maybe 20 and 15 would be mature. So getting a ton of eggs is exciting, but knowing the attrition rate, that doesn’t mean we will have 34 kids!

After being dismissed, we went to breakfast at Jimmys Egg, and had our regular waitress. Then we went home. Once we got there, we had to do our first progesterone shot (1/4 mL). That was an experience. We videoed it. Lol! This one is intramuscular, meaning it’s in my ass. The needle is 2 inches long. So I have to lay down. Doing that in the kitchen where we’ve been doing them wasn’t a place to do that. We tried in our bedroom, but it wasn’t light or bright enough. I took a nap until dinner time and just rested. We had to do another progesterone shot, starting our nightly shots.

Day 1 Post-Retrieval (Egg Update)

I pretty much sat on my ass all day with the heating pad on. It pretty much felt like period cramping except when my digestive system was working. Moving a fart through my bowels felt like daggers. Soon after, I had to poop. This was super painful. I started taking stool softener the night we did the trigger shot. I didn’t know how much to take, and the bottle said 1-3 daily. My poops are normally diarrhea, so I didn’t think I needed to take many. Well, this fart and poo experience changed my mind. So I immediately took another stool softener and a pain pill. Bathroom visits in general hurt. Getting up and down hurts. I assume it’s the same type of pain after giving birth, just minus the vagina stuff. We got the call from our doctor about our eggs and sperm finally! Of the 34 retrieved, 29 were mature, and 12 fertilized. There was one that was questionable, so they set it to the side and were keeping an eye on it. The doctor said that there were some egg quality concerns, and fertilization was less than expected or she would like. We will get a call about the grade on our embryos. They will be like school grades (A, B, C, etc). The lab hardly ever gives As. The doctor said to expect some Bs and several Cs.

Day 2 Post-Retrieval (Embryo Update)

Today, I was off work to continue recovering from surgery. It’s so weird. I don’t feel like anything happened other than the cramps and pain. So Austin has to remind me to rest and take it easy. I took my car to the dealership today for some work. I sat around for a while, so it wasn’t too different from being at home. On my way home, the doctor’s office called with our update. It was almost 2pm, and of course I had been waiting anxiously all day. Our 13th fertilized! Of the 13 embryos, 6 are As and 7 are Bs!!!! Our 13th little one turned out to be an A. Crazy! I was shocked to hear about our little embryos. Yesterday’s news of the low fertilization made me nervous. I wasn’t expecting ANY A embryos. Like my doctor said, I was expecting a lot of Cs. Because we have so many good quality embryos, we are doing Day 5 transfer, which will be on Monday. I will take a progesterone tab vaginally 2 hours before our 1:30pm transfer. They will transfer the best quality embryo and freeze the rest.

The doctors don’t transfer more than 2 embryos anymore. They typically only suggest 2 for older women or those with a history of miscarriage. There’s a chart that the assisted reproductive people have as a guideline for doctors. Also, my doctor said that with my high blood pressure and insulin resistance, having multiples is not a good thing. The chance for multiplies is already increased simply with IVF, so transferring more than 1 embryo would not be safe—for me or out embabies. We won’t get any other updates until we find out which embaby is transferred on Monday and how many were frozen.

Other Random Updates

My whole life, I have known two things: I love sex, and I want to have kids. And I always thought that those two things would go hand in hand, but now, I think it might be one or the other.

Michael Scott, The Office

If there is a quote that absolutely epitomizes IVF, this Michael Scott quote is it. You have to abstain from sex 2-3 days before the egg retrieval. Then, after the egg retrieval, we can’t have sex until after the pregnancy test. Not only this, during the Stim process with all of the nightly shots, sex is not on the mind. The side effects, the bruises from the shots, everything makes sex undesirable if it is even on the mind. And now, we have to wait until pregnancy test, which is about 15 days post egg retrieval. Making a baby is the fun part, right?! Not for us.

Money….so with everything that has happened, the car repairs I need, etc, we decided to break down and get a loan. I did this on Monday, which was last minute, because Wednesday was another procedure to pay for. This is not what we wanted to do, but we did not have enough to cover the rest of our cycle. Our payments are under $150 a month and start late May. So that gives us some cushion. This is how I was able to take care of my car—new tires, new battery, alignment, oil change. Then there were some things they found when doing the multipoint inspection that needed to be done. Austin’s car started acting up on Tuesday, so he had to get it fixed today—another $300. So this loan alleviated a ton of stress during this time that we are supposed to be completely stress-free and calm.

So now, we wait for Monday and continue our nightly progesterone shots until 10 weeks of pregnancy!