Oh man, it was a whirlwind of a week. The meds, the prep, having mom fly in, and getting ready to go. Wednesday was a lot. 4 shots in one sitting. Gonal F + Menopur mixed together, Cetrotide, and 2 trigger shots of Luprolide and Novarel. One of them, the one that goes in your butt, has quite a large needle. So that was fun.
Had to wake up super early for retrieval. Couldn’t eat or drink after midnight so by the time we got there my stomach was growling like crazy. They went over paperwork, the procedure, what we were doing there, my history, etc. Got me hooked up to an IVF to administer fluids, which def helped with the hunger noises probably from dehydration.
The anesthesiologist said that she’d administer the propofol, which made my mom bring up Michael Jackson, haha. But that I’d be out in 20 seconds, and on a beach somewhere. I walked into the OR and got up on the table. They strap you in stirrups which is always weird haha. Doctor came in, explained it and said let’s get some eggs! I laid down, started feeling like “oh, I think the drugs are working,” and the next thing i know it was over and I was awake haha.
As soon as I was awake, they checked on me, made sure I was ok. And then told me the news. Well they said 5 eggs retrieved at first and I got upset. But she double checked and said “nope, it’s 8!” which was a lot better. We tried to get McDonalds fries which is an old wives tale for post transfer but figured it couldn’t hurt. However, it was too early so hashbrown it was haha.
If you’re doing an egg retrieval soon, I do recommend having some items on hand. I made a basket to keep them all at my bedside for easy access. Must-haves are a heating pad, Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Gatorade, LiquidIV (loved these), GasX, Stool softener, and alllll the snacks. Ideally ones high in protein and salt. I had crackers and these on hand.
They then called the next day to let me know that 4 of them didn’t make it. 4 of them matured + were able to be fertilized normally. YES!! Now the wait until day 5, which is an anxious 4 days, lemme tell you. Finally came the day, they called and she said “I have really good news!” and I felt like I could breathe again. 3 of the embryos made it to day 5 + are graded 5AA which is like cream of the crop. They watched the 4th until the today but unfortunately, the little guy didn’t make it.
Now, they were biopsied, frozen and sent off for PGS (pre-implantation genetic screening). This will let me know that the 3 embabies are normal, and I will also find out the sex of each embryo. I googled and 70% of 5AA embryos tend to be boys, so there’s that.
Now it’s more waiting! Results could take up to 2 weeks. I also wait for my period, and text them on cycle day 1. Then we start the transfer cycle schedule of meds and such to get my body ready for the transfer!
So now I’m asking for strong genetic embryo baby dust! ✨
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