We went back to the doctor one more time last Tuesday for one last check on these little eggies. At this point he's counted well over one dozen eggs, and I feel every one of them. I'm completely sore and swollen and miserable and feel like each egg weighs at least five pounds. Again, everything looks good, estrogen is where it needs to be, and we're all set to do the HCG Trigger shot at 10:30 that night. HCG helps in the follicle maturation process and triggers the release of mature eggs from the follicles. Basically, it gets the eggs ready to be retrieved. It's timed perfectly, so we had to do my shot at exactly 10:30pm. Luckily, my mom's friend who happens to be a nurse, met me at my mom's house, said a very sweet prayer for us, then gave me my trigger shot. She was amazing, and the shot really didn't hurt.
Wednesday, we proceed as normal and try to focus at work long enough to get through it. Unfortunately, I felt so bad and swollen, I had to leave early and came home and slept for several hours. This egg making is serious business. It has completely exhausted my body. And made me unable to button my pants from the swelling. I'm so ready for the egg retrieval the next day.
Thursday morning- finally!! It's time for these eggies to shine!!! We wake up a little after 5:00am (not that I could sleep very well between the misery and excitement). We were the first appointment that day at 8:15am. We live about an hour from the doctor's office, but since we would be going through Dallas rush hour traffic that morning, we wanted to give ourselves plenty of time to get there. So we left the house a little after 6:00, and we actually arrived a few minutes before the doctor's office even opened. After waiting for just a few minutes, they took us back, and again, gave me a "cute" little blue and white hospital gown to change in to- with a matching hat and shoes. Once again, the anesthesiologist came in (the same one from last month for my cyst) and started searching for a vein for my IV. Of course, no veins to be found. Even my poor little abused left hand that had already taken two IV's and given 10 tubes of blood over the past few weeks, no longer wanted to participate. Finally, he manages to find a little vein in my little right hand. We walk back to the operating room, and again he apologizes because he knows the medicine "aches" when going through the tiny hand veins. I didn't care. I'm building up my pain tolerance. And I know within about 20 seconds, I'll be out and back on the beautiful Florida beach.
The egg retrieval only took about 25 minutes. I woke up with cramping, but the heating pad they laid across my lower abdomen felt amazing. They also gave me some pain medicine through my IV. Immediately after the egg retrieval, I felt much lighter and not too bad. No big deal. Then, Dr. Saleh came in and excitedly reported that they retrieved 18 eggs total, 6 immature, but 12 nice, big eggs!!! No wonder I was miserable!! Normally, a women makes one egg a month. I made 18 in one week!!! THAT explains why I was so exhausted, sore, swollen, hungry, and completely in misery. My body was hard at work! So now we have 12 wonderful eggs to fertilize. During my retrieval, they also got Justin's ingredients from him, then they immediately take everything to the lab to fertilize. And now we wait.
(Egg retrieval- but first, let me take a selfie!)
Thursday night I had to start my progesterone shots in my rear. This progesterone thickens my uterus lining, and makes it that much more hospitable for an embryo. They're actually more in the area of your "back fat/love handles". At times like these, I'm thankful for my curves. This is the shot that I've heard horror stories about. The progesterone is actually in an oil, so it's a very thick shot, with a very large (maybe a little exaggeration) needle. Either way, it's thick and large and there's a lot of it, so you have to go slow. Once again, my mom's nurse friend comes to my rescue and gives me my first progesterone shot. I thought I was Wonder Woman- barely felt a thing! I thought "Man, this is gonna be a piece of cake!"
Friday morning I woke up in quite a bit of pain. I. Felt. Terrible. Because I had so many eggs, my ovaries were stuck over and over again with a long needle, many times each. Friday, I felt it. I did absolutely nothing but lay on the couch on a heating pad, constantly taking Tylenol all day long. This is where this adventure tries to get the best of me. I'm hurting. I'm mad. I'm snappy. I'm exhausted. I'm sad. I want to give up. I want to stop everything and retreat. Lucky for my husband, he was at work this day. And, because he's amazing, he came home with ice cream for me that night. It helped a little. Saturday, I'm still in horrible pain. I've read blogs and websites where they say the egg retrieval wasn't that bad. Well, I'd like to think I'm pretty tough, and I don't care what they say. I'm hurting and I'm angry. Again, I spent the day on the couch, with a heating pad, with Tylenol. And while I'm in misery, I still have to do my progesterone shots every evening between 5:00-7:00. My mom's friend had gone on vacation, but luckily, one of my sweet best friends has showed up every day to do the honors. Sunday, we missed church because I was still in so much pain. Also, I had ran a low fever all weekend long. I'm assuming this is from the combination of bodily exhaustion and trauma. And by this day, my love handles are getting extremely sore and sensitive from that dang, thick progesterone. And, to make things worse, life is spinning in circles right around us, while we're constantly at the doctor, at work (me, not so much- thank God for plenty of sick time), or laying on the couch, recovering from being at the doctor. Our yard looked like a jungle. I'm (for some ridiculous reason) taking two summer 2 classes which I had yet to start by the end of the first week, laundry's piled up, we're completely out of groceries, and I'm not well enough to do any of this. I'm usually the one who takes care of these small things, since Justin's at work so much so he can provide for us. Well, someone get my husband a cape! He mowed our jungle Saturday night, helped me with tons of homework Sunday afternoon, did laundry, dishes, picked up the house, went grocery shopping- and even came back with flowers!! That's why he's my Superman. And, when my sweet friend Sara showed up to do my shot Sunday night, she came with presents and ice cream and a sweet card in tow! Here I am, throwing myself a pity party, yet completely surrounded by amazing, caring, supportive people. My cup runneth over. Also, I did manage to spend a lot of quality time laying on the couch with my little nurse dog and a good book. So, counting my blessings and not my problems.
And the best news... Dr. Saleh called Friday to give us an update on our embryos, then again Sunday morning for one last update before the embryo transfer on Tuesday...
We have 6 perfectly strong, healthy, mature embryos!!! This means they'll implant two on Tuesday (tomorrow!!), and then we'll freeze the rest to use on another date. Thank you, God. And silly little me worried all weekend about them spilling the cup! I kept saying "Justin, I just don't think I can make any more! I just can't do this again!" Now, hopefully, I won't have to.
Everyone keeps asking us if we're excited. It's hard to be "excited" when you're not in the safe zone yet. We prefer cautiously optimistic. I'm a positive, happy person. We always look for and hope for the best. But I'm not naive enough to think this is a guarantee for a child for us. It's in God's hands, and I know His plan for us will forever be greater than our own.
So today, I praise Him that I'm starting to feel better. I praise Him for this opportunity. I praise Him for the amazing people in my life. And I pray that His will is done, and that He gives us the patience, strength, wisdom, and resiliency to carry on, regardless of the outcome.
So, starting tomorrow afternoon, I may or may not be pregnant... for two weeks. You would think we would get used to waiting by now...
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