RETRIEVAL DAY
Today was egg retrieval day! Before I give all the details, let me backtrack to our last two appointments.
Friday, June 11
We have been married for 5 years, and what better way to celebrate than trying to make a baby! Just getting started with the IVF humor over here, people. We had an 8:40 appointment that morning that went very well. The nurse counted 21 follicles that were mature or would be by Monday. We left feeling very encouraged by that!
After that, we went to what is becoming a new favorite breakfast place, Maple Street Biscuit Company. If you know Ben you know he loves a good breakfast bread, particularly biscuits. I am also a fan of their chicken. 10/10 would recommend!
The nurse called later that afternoon to review lab results and to schedule our last monitoring appointment for the following day.
Saturday, June 12
Our appointment was one of the first on the schedule, so we had to be there at 7:15 AM. With an hour and a half drive, that had us leaving by 5:30 AM...
How do people function that early?
The nurse had told us the day before that a doctor would be doing the ultrasound and talking to us about the retrieval. Dr. Bouknight was out of town, so we spoke with another doctor. She measured around 20 mature or nearly mature follicles and was very encouraging about our retrieval. She said we would more than likely do the trigger shot that night and retrieval would be on Monday.
We waited for the call that afternoon about bloodwork and time of trigger. The Ovidrel trigger shot is another belly shot used to “trigger” the ovaries to release the mature eggs. Usually your body does this on its own and results in ovulation of one mature egg each month. In our case, we were hoping for many mature eggs!
The call came and we were instructed to do the trigger shot at 8:00 PM and no other meds. Only one shot that night! Retrieval was scheduled for Monday at 8:00 AM.
Retrieval Day, Monday, June 14
We arrived at the clinic just before 7:30 AM. Ben was called back first to give “the goods.” Then, I was called back to put on all the garb: gown, slippers, hairnet. Dr. Bouknight came in and went through my chart, asking me a few questions and reassuring me. Ben was able to be with me the whole time, even during the procedure.
I have been especially dreading the IV because of my latest experience. It wasn’t quite as painful as the last, but it was a bit dramatic. They started the IV in the crook of my elbow instead of my forearm, for which I was very thankful. The first nurse went for a vein that looked promising, but she was unable to make it work. Thankfully, she had the good sense to call someone else in to help and she was successful.
I was able to walk into the OR and stayed fairly coherent for the first few minutes while getting situated. Ben had to update me on everything that happened after I fell asleep. I mean I was fast asleep, snoring!
Dr. Bouknight got 20 eggs! Of course, not all of those will be mature and some will not fertilize, but that is a very good number to start with. She said she would call tomorrow with an updated number of fertilized eggs and we will decide on a fresh or frozen transfer then. They will continue to monitor the embryos as they develop over the next 5 days. We will get an update on day 3 and a final count on day 5.
Again we “hurry up and wait” for news. Join us in praying!
