Egg transfer tomorrow??

 I have to say I had no idea the egg retrieval would be a big deal physically - I mean, yes, I was going under anesthesia and they were going to poke my ovaries with needles... but it seemed like they made a big deal about the egg transfer and I'd need to rest for 48 hours after that... anyway, my point is - my body is still hurting! I spent all Thursday with my heating pad on me and that helped but now I see why when we were leaving the nurse said, "So, just extra strength tylenol, if you need something stronger give us a call." I was like, why would I need that? OHHHHHH. I get it now. I'm surviving on just tylenol and still using my heating pad. I'm sure it'll get better soon.

Yesterday afternoon I called to check on my eggs and got what I felt was a little surprising of an update - so, they retrieved 25 eggs. Out of the 25 eggs only 14 were mature. They did ICSI on those 14 eggs (that means they injected sperm into those 14 eggs) and of those 10 actually fertilized. So, we went from 25 to 10 pretty quickly. Still good it just sounded not as great to me. She said they'd have another update for me tomorrow (Saturday) but didn't have any more information on if the transfer would be Sunday or Tuesday.

Today I called them at around 4 to see if they could tell me how my eggs were doing. (I feel a bit like a mother hen!) I left a message for the lab. I got a call from Tonya, ones of the nurses, and she asked us to come in tomorrow (Sunday) at 10:30 am prepared to do the egg transfer but that we would sit down and talk with Dr. Foulk and there's a chance we'll decide to wait but that we probably would do it tomorrow. Ok. I was kind of surprised because Dr. Foulk seemed so sure we would do the transfer on Tuesday but maybe our eggs are not doing so great so they want to do it sooner?

Later I got a call back from the woman in the lab and she was very nice and gave me an update on my eggs - she said 2 were 4 cell and looking great, high quality, and that there were a few that were a little fragmented but that they didn't worry unless it was 25% and it was only 10% (I'm just telling you what she said I did not really understand it!) and that there were 5 or so that were still 3 cell and had time to develop and so we'll see.... ok.... She was very nice and I appreciate her giving me the details even if I don't completely understand them.

Bottom line - we're going in tomorrow at 10:30 and we may or may not be transferring eggs. I feel anxious... like it'll be hard to go in tomorrow and then NOT do it but it might be the better thing so I'm trying to be prepared in case we do and be prepared in case we don't... all a very crazy mix of emotions.

Also the closer it's getting to putting them back in the more real this feels... the more I'm starting to feel myself really hoping that this works! And then it's just waiting to find out if it did or not. And I'm not exactly ready for the 48 hrs of bed rest, my house is kind of a mess and I'm sure I need to do laundry and should've gone grocery shopping today! Oh well! We'll survive. And it'd be nice if we did it tomorrow cause Rob would be home all day... but it's also maybe better if it's not tomorrow... back and forth...

We will just go in, see what Dr. Foulk says, and go from there. Trying to stay calm! :)

It went great!

So the news is everything is good! They retrieved 25 follicles (eggs) and Dr. Foulk said about 60% should fertilize, they watch them and see which ones look the strongest, and since there are so many we should be able to let them wait 5 days and then we'll put them back in! So Tuesday!

I'm home right now and they told me to take a nap and rest but I can't sleep  so I've just got my hot pad on my tummy and am watching a redbox... The Switch actually... ha ha... Rob took Robby to A&B's so I can just sit here and take it easy. Rob made me some tomato soup and I ate half a grilled cheese before he left - I was so hungry this morning when I couldn't eat and that sandwich and soup hit the spot.

Tuesday I went in for another ultrasound and a blood draw - they called me that day to say yes we want to trigger you, give yourself your HCG shot at 9 pm that night. They gave me instructions about what else I needed to do before the retrieval.

In the morning I was supposed to take a pregnancy test to make sure the HCG was in my system (since HCG is the hormone your body makes when you're pregnant and that's what those tests are detect!). It was very weird to see this positive pregnancy test not in relation to actually being pregnant - I told myself it was just an "HCG test." I called them to let them know it was positive.

All yesterday my tummy was feeling kind of full and uncomfortable - sometimes it felt like when you're pregnant and your ligaments are stretching. The spot where I gave myself the HCG shot the night before felt like a big bump and was really tender. Not to mention my chest has been incredibly sore - I'm sure it's just all the hormones. Anyway, I was just feeling kind of weird. I'm glad it was time to take all those eggs out!

The anesthesiologist called me yesterday to go over the details about my medical history and what I needed to do to prepare- nothing to eat or drink after midnight, nothing in the morning (kept having to stop myself from drinking some water). He said if I drank some gatorade the night before it'd help me feel better after the retrieval. So last night I had some yogurt and 32 oz of gatorade just before midnight. He said people seem to do pretty well if you can rest after the procedure and keep a hot pad on you. He was very nice and told me to call him on his cell phone if I had any questions!! I appreciated that.

My friend Maranda came over at 8:15 am in the morning (that was for you Tab! ;)) to watch Robby and we checking into the fertility center at 8:30 am. We met the friendly anesthesiologist and as always they asked me to go to the bathroom first (those bladders need to be emptied before all the ultrasounds and everything) then I just undressed waist down and put the hospital gown on.

He came in gave a little shot in my hand to numb it that stung a little but it meant I didn't feel it at all when he put the other needle in! Yeah! He put some IV fluid in me and then that's what he used to give me the rest of the medications. The anesthesia was the part I was most worried about and the only part I was awake for so I'll give you as many details as I can remember. He put the little oxygen tube in my nose, blood pressure cuff on my arm, heart monitors on my chest, and put his stethoscope near my throat too. Here I am in all my glory:

First he gave me something to help me relax and it made me a little sleepy. I liked that one because I was still conscious but stopped worrying. Then he put some anti-nausea medication which he said would last the longest. Then I remember them saying they were ready to get started and Rob kissed me goodbye and then.....

I started to wake up. I couldn't believe it was over. About 40 minutes had passed I think. I was sleepy and didn't want to wake up. My mouth was so dry and my lips too. Rob got me some water but my mouth just felt all cottony! They let me lay there and wake up slowly for about 15 minutes or so.

Dr. Foulk came in and told me they got 25 follicles. He explained that it's best to let them wait as long as you can - if you don't have very many eggs and they aren't doing great they'll put them back in sooner but if we can wait 5 days and still have 8 or so eggs to choose from and pick the best from there that's great. The longer you can wait then we can see which ones will be the strongest and have the best chance. So we'll put them back in Tuesday probably.

An example of an embryo 3 days after fertilization

They will call us tomorrow to let us know how many fertilized - they take Rob's sperm and mix them together within an hour or so of taking the eggs out but then it takes 12 hours to see how many actually fertilize.

So if we go in Tuesday then I think they do a blood test 7 & 10 days after that to see if it worked! The reason they do 2 is in case there's some trace of HCG still left in your system from the trigger shot and we don't want to have false information. But if there's HCG on day 7 and then it doubles by day 10 then it means your pregnant. So by July 8th!

For now I am just having to give myself progesterone oil shots - or Rob will have to do it! They gave me my first one today while I was under - that one leaves a mark! These will be in my lower hip (bum) area. They look like they aren't going to be very fun but if it helps a baby stay inside I'll do whatever I need to!!! We will also do an acupuncture treatment right before the transfer as well. I need to an another post on acupuncture but that'll have to be later.

I'm just happy everything went so well! Rob gave me a blessing last night and I have been calm and happy and I just feel good. Thank you so much for all your support! I know that all your prayers are helping us stay calm and be comforted.

I've got eggs!

Lots of eggs!

Ok, so I went in this morning for an ultrasound to see how all my follicles/eggs are developing. Since the timeline is all subjective to how my body responds and there's nothing set in stone I've been trying to be prepared for it to take as long as possible - as in, probably won't have enough eggs till Wed or Thurs... trying to be patient!

So today when Anne Marie did the ultrasound and first things was check, my uterine lining looks "perfect" - great! Then she started looking at one ovary - she kept moving it around and measuring all the big black circles (follicles) - she quickly said, "looks like we'll be able to trigger you 1 day early!" (I didn't have a trigger day set in my mind but I guess she did!) She said even just based on the one side I had so many that were already almost the right size that we'd probably trigger me Tuesday evening!

Some of you are thinking - what the heck does "trigger" you mean? I will "trigger" my ovulation by giving myself a shot of HCG and then 36 hours later is when I would be about to ovulate so they will go in and do the egg retrieval then, so in this case if I trigger myself (give the shot of HCG) Tuesday evening then I'll go in Thursday morning for egg retrieval.

In a normal cycle you have 1 follicle that matures to about 20 mm and that is the one that is released when you ovulate. Like this:

So the black ish big circle...

In an IVF cycle where you are using the stimulating medications that I'm using (Follistim and Menopur) then you get lots of follicles developing, like this:

Got this off the internet but this is pretty much exactly what my ovaries looked like today!

Anne Marie said the criteria for being ready to trigger is that I need at least 2 follicles measuring over 19 mm and 5 over 15 mm - I already have 1 over 19 mm and the 5 over 15 mm and several other big ones. She counted and measured about 11 on each side so 22 total. I'm not sure if they retrieve all 22 or not but at least there are plenty in there we are sure to get a good amount out!

I'm just so excited that this is all coming along so nicely and that I might be doing the egg retrieval as soon as Thursday is just exciting!!! The sooner they take them out, the sooner they can go back in (2-5 days later, again depends on how they are doing!), then the sooner we can find out the results.