Saturday, August 6, 2011

Waiting...

On July 28th, I went to the hospital for my egg retrieval. The doctor retrieved 35 eggs! They called us the next day to let us know that most were not mature. Only 5 fertilized on their own, so they planned to do ICSI on the rest. With ICSI, 9 more fertilized. Rather than wait for a day 3 transfer, they recommended doing a day 2 transfer.
On the morning of the transfer, I had to be sure to shower (it would be my last until Monday night), take a prometrium pill vaginally (to relax my uterus for the transfer), and then take a valium. Out of the 5 embryos, 1 didn't look like it was developing so well. The recommendation was to tranfer all 5. So at 11:00am, our 5 little embryos were delivered into my uterus. It was so quick and painless, I didn't feel a thing.
I had been doing PIO shots since the night of the egg retrieval. They don't seem to be as awful as I remembered from the first IVF 3 years ago. I took a blood test to measure my progesterone on Thursday. The RE's office called to say that my levels looked good and to continue with the same dosage 1mL/night. This morning, I began the Climara patches. 2 patches on my abdomen to help support early pregnancy.
DH asked if this time feels different than the last time we did IVF. There were a lot of differences this time around. The dosage with this protocol was so much higher which resulted in the large number of eggs and OHSS. While I don't think my OHSS was severe by any means, it was definitely worse than the first time. I was very uncomfortable and as the result of it and the medication that the doctor prescribed dealt with the worst case of constipation. After more than a week, I am finally feeling back to normal.
I did experience some cramping last night and this morning. I'm not sure if it was because of the mild constipation or if it was from walking around last night. I have to be mindful of taking it easy. I go back to work on Monday which I'm a little afraid of. I get easily exhausted and am suppose to not stand for more than 20 minutes at a time or not lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk. As a teacher, that's easier said than done.
My beta tests are scheduled for August 9th and 11th. I'm preparing myself for the worst just in case, but trying to remain positive and hope for the best.

2 comments:

Amy Jensen said...

Wow - that is a lot of eggs! Sounds like they found a good protocol for you. Keeping my fingers crossed for tomorrow. You're not going to cheat and test early? I could never wait until the betas.... Good luck!

Amy Jensen said...

I hope everything is going okay.