Egg Retrieval

I had the egg retrieval on Friday (8/26). We were at the surgical tower at about 5:30 am. I got to chill out in my pre-op room until about 6:45 when they took me upstairs to the operating room. I had a spinal which is the strangest feeling in the entire world. They were very happy with how it went!

The procedure was strange too. I, obviously, couldn't feel anything from the waist down. During the procedure, I kept feeling like I was shaking. Come to find out that I was! It was the doctor working on the retrieval! So strange. I had an awesome CNA who talked to me the entire time.

I was back up to the recovery room at about 7:45 am. So it really was a quick procedure. I felt sick about 8:00. At first I thought I was hungry but my blood pressure dropped pretty low and I almost threw up. Not a good feeling. I was FREEZING! They ended up putting those blankets that you see in trauma scenes on tv. Like the aluminum foil ones and then they pumped it with hot air.

I think I was down to my post-op room (which was the same as my pre-op room) about 9 am. They nurse said (and I quote), "Oh the spinal should wear off in an hour)...I made David tickle my arm as I drifted in and out of sleep. 10 am. Yep, still can't feel my legs. 11 am, yep still can't feel my legs. I had some crackers and jello. Who knew that jello would be so satisfying on an empty stomach?? It really hit the spot.

12 pm, I could feel my legs and move them but I still couldn't move my hips. The nurse had already drawn up my discharge papers at 11 am! Oops! Finally they came in about 12:15 and basically forced me to get up out of bed to try to go to the bathroom. I think my butt was starting to fall asleep from laying there so long so it was a good thing they did! About 1 pm we were on our way over to the clinic to get some further instructions from the fertility clinic.

I think I was back at the hotel by 2 pm. David and I napped until 6 pm. He took off for home when Marie and Heather got there about 7 pm. It was really hard for him to leave. I just wanted him to get home already so I didn't have to worry about him driving by himself.

I feel much better today. My bum is a little sore as my progesterone shot didn't go so well on Saturday night. We now realized the importance of icing the site prior to the injection. Oops! It served me right as I was being a total jerk to David.

Now we wait to see how many eggs fertilized. On Saturday, only two had fertilized which an additional 2 being immature. They were going to continue to watch those 2 to see if they grew. We're not working with very good odds but I am trying to remain positive.

Today they will biopsy the eggs if they fertilized. We won't find out until Wednesday if any of them are "TCS-Free". This means that we still have to travel to Sioux Falls tomorrow night. I am praying boldly that all 4 embryos have grown and none of them have TCS. I don't ever want to have to go through the retrieval process again.