Egg Retrieval

Today was the big day!

They called us back to sign some forms and then I was escorted to change while Brandon was taken to the "happy room".  We shared a quick kiss in the hall where he told me "good luck" and I said "go get 'em!".  I changed into the gown and hopped up on the bed.  My doctor was finishing up with the egg retrieval before me so I had several minutes to sit and try to relax.  I was thankful there were no instruments around to stare at.  The anesthesiologist came in to ask me some questions, start my iv and before I knew it we were walking into the procedure room.  The first thing I noticed was the music playing.  How can things not go well with a little Creedence Clearwater Revival in the background?  All the nurses I've encountered at this practice have been great but my favorite one was in there waiting for me.  I love that.  She hugged me and told me how excited she was for us.  A guy popped in from the room next door and said, "Hi!  I'm Mike, the embryologist.  I'll be taking care of your babies!"  I wanted to hug him, too.  He gets major points for calling them "babies" and not embryos - much more personal.  I got all situated and the anesthesiologist hooked up the blood pressure cuff and pulse monitor.  My pulse registered over 100 right away so he gave me a jump start on the good stuff because he thought I must be nervous.  That was nice of him.  Little does he know, a resting pulse of 100 is normal for me.  Once my doctor came in they told me to think of my favorite place and that's the last thing I remember.

I woke up to talk of 28 eggs.  I thought I must still be dreaming.  28 eggs??   I believe the average is 10-15.  Holy cow!  Once they realized I was waking up they came over to tell me the good news.  They also told me that I was quite a chatter box.  I thought they meant when I was coming out of the anesthesia, but no.  Apparently I woke up in the middle of the procedure and started talking.  There's no telling what I told them.  Thank goodness I don't remember any of that.

Besides some cramping I felt pretty good.  I drank some juice, ate some crackers and peed:  the three things they require you to do before they'll let you leave.  Once I was up and dressed they walked me into the conference room where Brandon joined me.  The nurse came in to give us the post-op instructions and to show him how to administer the PIO injection that he'll have to give me nightly.  For at least 3 weeks.  I hope he was paying close attention because I didn't even feel the 1.5 inch needle-in-my-behind when the nurse did it this afternoon.  I'm sore tonight but it's because the oil is so thick.  I'll be sure to give a report tomorrow night on Brandon's attempt.

We left the office and headed to Target to get my 2 prescriptions filled.  One was for my pain today and one was for valium which I'll get to take before the ET.  We got to the pharmacy about 1:30 and there was a big sign saying they were closed until 2.  By now I was feeling really crampy and needed those pills.  We walked around the store very slowly trying to kill some time.  I must have still been a little loopy from the anesthesia because I kept finding things I just had to have.  Along with my prescriptions we brought home 2 water guns, a sprinkler and a Wii game.  Just slightly random.

They said we would get a call tomorrow to let us know how many of our eggs were mature and how many fertilized.  As long as things progress well, our ET will be on Sunday.  I'm finally letting myself get a little excited about all of this.  Which scares me to death.  Even with as well as things are going, nothing is a guarantee.  I guess that's a good life lesson in general, huh?