Good and Bad

Well I had my egg retrieval yesterday. They said I wouldn't feel pain just some pressure. Wrong...it was painful and my veins are hard to find for the IV too. The nurse tried twice to put the IV line in and she couldn't...this hurt a ton. Then the doctor came in and put freezing on my other hand...he got the line in and I didn't feel it. They got 22 eggs which is a very high number...no wonder I'm hurting!

They are doing eveything possible to prevent OHSS (ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome-a potentially bad complication where fluid builds up in all sorts of places it shouldn't). I'm on fluid restrictions to prevent fluid building up in my body. I can only drink one litre of gatorade and one can of V8 per day. I'm quite sore and naseous...it hurts to walk around. I also have a ton of things I'm taking post retreival.

And the good news is that we talked to the lab director today and out of 22 eggs, 20 were mature and 19 fertilized. This is a great fertilization rate. Tomorrow we will hear how many embryos we have and how they are doing.

I also have to go in every morning for an IV calcium infusion which helps prevent OHSS. I was worried about the IV going in again but Dr. H God bless him, did the IV using freezing and it was ok. We had to hang out for an hour while the stuff dripped through. The nurse was really nice and gave me a can of gingerale. She said it would be ok to have one a day in addtion to the gatorade and V8. This made me very happy...it's hard to drink so little.

Well soon we'll know the status of our embryos...grow little guys grow!

YAY!

Levels came down, just finished hcg shot and egg retrieval will be on Sunday at 8:15 am. It was tricky to mix the shot and get 3/4 of a dose out but I did it! Remind me never to be a nurse. I've had enough injections for a lifetime...but it's done.

I got to meet a lady today who is currently cycling at my clinic. Her egg retrieval is tomorrow morning. This is unfortunately her 4th IVF so I hope it is successful for her. We had lots in common, married the same time and with a similar history of IF issues. It was good to talk to her too because she made me feel more at ease about the ER on Sunday. Hers have always gone well and been quite easy. Oh and she had the cutest pupppy too!

Well I don't have to go to the clinic tomorrow or do any injections...double yay. I do get to start on the next set of meds but they are oral so that's all good.

Ok now we're really doing this...by next week I will have embryos inside me!

Blood draws-uggg.

Well today was my forth blood draw this week and it was awful. One of the coordinators tried to do it and it did not work at all and it hurt a lot. The doctor saw her trying and came in to help. He was successful but wow I don't want to repeat that. My arm looks like it's been through a war zone. The doctor says my veins are just very hard to find...great. They sent me home with another dose of orgalutran and they will call later to say if I should inject that or the trigger shot. Did I mention I'm not a fan of orgalutran cause it hurts? Ok well there`s all my whining about painful blood draws and injections. I was joking with the lady that was giving me my meds as I left. She said 'here's your orgalutran' and I said 'what would a morning in Victoria be without it?' She said it reminded her of a lady who'd said 'nothing like a pelvic ulrasound to start your day". LOL I guess humour helps! Fortunately no more ultrasounds for me at the moment...those hurt too when your ovaries are ginormous and you have a million follicles. Ok no more whining. Off to see the ocean!

Now I get it

I asked more questions today about my bloodwork and it looks like my E2 levels are too high and that's why I've stopped my meds. They need to come down before I can trigger and do the egg retrieval. They had already predicted I'd be a high responder to the meds and yup I am...lots of follicles and high E2 levels even with my low doses of meds. This puts me at risk for OHSS (ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome) which is not a good thing for me or the cycle. So praying that my levels come down and I don't get OHSS. The doctor didn't seem overly concerned and I may have to take a med after trigger that helps prevent OHSS so I hope it's all good.

Almost there

Well the good new is I only have to inject one med tonight, not three and likely for the last time. The bad news is I think I look like an IV drug user...oh well it's all for a good cause. No one can get blood out of my right arm anymore so my left arm is full of marks and bruises. I'm off for one more blood draw in the morning, hopefully my last for a while. Today the doctor said I wouldn't have to take two of my meds anymore and I might be able to do the trigger shot tonight which would mean egg retrieval on Saturday. I was actually more excited than nervous about the retrieval which surprised me. They sent me home with the trigger shot and a whole pile of things I have to take after retrieval. They said they'd call later with the bloodtest results and instructions on how to give myself the injection of the trigger shot. I had the meds with me while sightseeing so I could understand the directions and I even turn down a whale watching trip today so as to avoid a phone conversation about fertility treatments while on a boat with 10 strangers. Anyways they called and said not tonight and come in the morning for more bloodwork...so retrieval will be Sunday or later. Still getting close!


I have thought about what it would be like if this fails....it will be unimaginably difficult after all we have gone through and spent. I'm not going to dwell on that...it will be a huge disappointment no matter what so I'm going allow myself to be excited for now.

I'm feeling more peaceful about the rest of the procedures which is nice.

We made it

We had a good drive to Kamloops and then on to Victoria. Victoria is beautiful and the cottage we're staying in is nice. We had our first visit to the fertility clinic yesterday. The bloodwork from Edmonton on Friday had showed that my E2(hormone) levels were quite high but they weren't sure why. I didn't really feel comfortable hearing that but followed instruction and started a third injectable med.
I was very happy to hear yesterday that my ultrasound showed everything is going well and the doctor said it may be ony 2-3 more days of injections...YAY...I'm not really enjoying them but it's too late to quit now so every night I keep it up!

My dear hubby was extremely nervous at the clinic. He was in the room with me during the ultrasound but he then went back to the waiting room part way through. I was fine! He won't be coming in the room with me anymore! The staff was so nice...the nurse said one of them would come in with me during the egg retreival as hubby can't handle it. Well we go back tomorrow for monitoring and to hear when we will move on to the rest of the plan. I am nervous for the egg retrieval..I hope they use lots of drugs as it is done under conscious sedation. I am glad we are at this clinic. The staff is very friendly and they do whatever they can to make you feel comfortable. They even give you a heating pad and little socks to keep your feet warm.

I'm really glad I'm not working during this as I feel tired all the time, and have other assorted weird symptoms including mood swings that well isn't like me at all....good thing dear hubby is understanding and I can nap whenever I want and see the beautiful ocean all the time too.

We made it

We had a good drive to Kamloo