April 2016 - IVF #2, Retrieval

Hospital Bracelet, retrieval #2

The retrieval yesterday went well...in fact, it went better than we expected.  Sunday night, I had a little bit of trouble calming my mind to sleep until about 1:00am.  My alarm woke me at 5:00am, and I jumped in the shower.  Around 5:30am, Michael and I got on the road and headed to the Piney Point Surgical Center (~50 min drive from home).  He sweetly remembered to grab my favorite throw blanket on the way out.

From the start, I felt more confident going into it than last time.  For reference, my personal list of nice-to-haves for retrieval procedures:

• Remove all jewelry and just leave it at home
• Bring ID and insurance card
• List of medicines / supplements you are currently taking and when you last took them.
• Warm socks to wear during the procedure...fun design is even better!  
• This is actually the only piece of clothing (other than the hospital gown) that they will let you wear!
• Comfortable clothes which are easy to put back on when you're hazy afterwards
• Personally, I prefer stretchy pants because a) no zippers and buttons, and b) your stomach is crampy / achy afterwards
• Also, I dress warmly (cardigan, sweatshirt, etc), regardless of the temperature outside.  Coming out of anesthesia, I'm usually chilly / shivery.
• Wear shoes that are easy to put back on and walk in when you're woozy.
• Chapstick for before and after since the procedure is a bit dehydrating
• Soft throw blanket in the car for the ride home
• Chocolate milkshake from Whataburger on the way home!
• Oh, and less pleasant, but I have learned the hard way to drink some Miralax from the moment I get home.  
• The combination of drugs they give for anesthesia and pain resulted in some serious blockage after my D&C.  
• Even with the Miralax, it could be several days before you experience...ahem...relief.  Trust me.

The nurse called me back around 6:45am.  The IV went in without incident this time, and I realized I'm starting to find the sting of those needles far too familiar.  Michael came into the prep room after I was changed and IV-ed.  The friendly anesthesiologist came in and we spoke for a bit about the procedure and she confirmed my current meds from my paperwork.  My RE, freshly back from his vacation, came in and we had a nice chat about the procedure and expectations.  He did say that he thinks we were lucky last time with the 7 we were able to grow and retrieve and that this cycle is more likely evidence that I'm coming in line with averages and what he would expect given my situation.  If we are to do another round after this, we will adapt and change the medicines to see if we can improve results.

It was then time to head into the procedure room.  The nurse led me into the room adjacent to the one I was in for my D&C and IVF #1.  Getting onto the table, I felt like a veteran of this process, which was a little funny and frustrating at the same time.  This was procedure #4 (since November) with the same kind of prep and setup.  I spread my arms onto the extended arm platforms as the nurse arranges the stirrups and covers my legs.  The anesthesiologist's assistant introduced herself, covered my face with an oxygen mask, and said I would feel the medicine start going through my IV shortly.  It burns at first as it climbs my arm, then I start to feel it in my chest and head.  For fun, I see how long I can keep my eyes open before it takes over.  I find myself thinking about Michael and his part in all this, which is likely about to begin simultaneously in another room down the hall.

I wake up in recovery with a nice young nurse, who brings me a bottle of apple juice to sip while she removes my IV and stick-on nodes from the monitors.  Once she sees I'm reasonably coherent, she brings Michael back along with my bag of clothes.  We wait for a few minutes until our RE can come give us a debrief.  When he arrived, he told us he got 2 eggs!  TWO EGGS!  Better than we thought!  He says he's not sure about the maturity of the second one, but still, good news.  He walks through the usual routine with us...fertilization will happen that same day and we will hear back from them on Monday with results of that step.  He said, as we already knew, that I would get a period in the next week to 10 days, and to get in touch with the office when that happens.

Michael helped me change back into my clothes, and a nurse helps me into a wheelchair and rolls me out to the parking lot.  Michael wraps me in the fuzzy, warm throw blanket and turns the seat warmer on in the front seat and we head in the direction of home.  Two things (beside the blanket and seat warmer) are making me feel very happy and warm inside: we got TWO eggs when we thought we would only get one, and I'm about to have a big ol' chocolate milkshake on the way home...first dairy I've consumed in WEEKS!  And it was so gooooooood!!

Indeed!

Now, we would just have to wait...if our eggs are mature enough for fertilization and whether they make it through the first day...all of this is out of our control now.  The chances are small, but we are at least giving them a chance.  And 2 > 1, which is an even better chance!

We went home and watched an animated movie (my favorite when coming off of anesthesia) and rested.  I took some pain meds for the discomfort, and anytime I needed to get up, Michael was right there helping me manage the dizziness safely.  Have I told you recently how lucky I am to have married this man?  I probably haven't said it enough...

I had no trouble falling to sleep last night.  The Tylenol 3 helped, but mostly, I just felt calm knowing our parts were finished for now.