Retrieval Day

CD 16 & CD 17- The big day- Transfer!

We hadn’t heard anything by 9:30 which was a huge relief.  I started drinking a liter of water at 10:30, because to add to the excitement they need you to have a full bladder- but not “uncomfortably full”- whatever the hell that means!  Don’t these people know I have the bladder of a 3 year old?  We left the hotel at 11 to be at SIRM by 1130 and on the drive there they told us to wait another 45 mins before coming in because they were running behind.  I appreciate them calling so that I didn’t have to sit in the wait room with a bursting bladder, but sheesh how much anticipating can they build?

I scheduled an acupuncture session to be held before and after transfer.  I have been faithfully going to acupuncture for the past few months and there was no more important time than after the transfer to hold all of the energy in.  Luckily, another blogger told me that the anesthesiologist moonlights as an acupuncturist so it was very easy to coordinate our schedules and have the acupuncture done in the same room as the transfer.

The acupuncturist was even able to leave some of the relaxing point needles in while they did the transfer which was great.  Dr. Sher came in and shook our hands and congratulated us on our beautiful “textbook” blastocysts.  He said they looked great and could not ask for anything better.  I asked him if he told everyone that and he and the nurses reassured me that he doesn’t, so that made J and I feel very optimistic!  Sher said that if I don’t get pregnant from one of the two embryos he is transferring that he will quit his job!  Well I hope my embabies don’t let a lot of infertile women down J 

The transfer went smoothly, the two most uncomfortable parts were that they had to use a catheter to relieve a tiny bit of urine and the speculum (because of the endo).  It was magical watching the two embryos being injected into my uterus.  It felt as though our struggles may be coming to an end.  The procedure took less that 10 minutes and then I had to lay there for 15 minutes until I was able to use a bed pan.  Wow, two methods I did not consider peeing today when I woke up.

The acupuncturist came back in a put more needles in me.  After she left J and I held hands in the dimly lit room and stared at the ultrasound monitor of our little embabies.  Jason Mraz’s “I won’t give up” came on the radio and it seemed to be a perfect fit to our journey.

Embabies

The big white blob in the middle is what we are excited about

I felt fantastic leaving the doctors office and we headed to the hotel for my 24 hours of modified bed rest.  Basically I can lay in bed, sit on the couch, go to the restroom and get up for about 5 minutes at a time.  J has been so wonderful, carrying my purse, opening doors, getting water, food, whatever it is that I need.  I couldn’t ask for a better partner through this process.

So for our last day on babycation we are just hanging out, finishing our CEU’s and watching some Downton Abbey!

  

LA and 3 day report and lots of pics!

CD (Cycle Day) 12 & CD 13 LA trip!

The first PIO shot went well last night.  I iced the area for about 5 minutes and did not feel a thing!  I walked around for a few minutes afterwards and kneaded the area with my fingers to prevent bumps.  Then I laid down on a heating pad and it seemed to do the trick to reduce pain.  J did a great job!  He was nervous but now that he has done it once, I think he will be a pro. 

Today we hung out by the pool and started some of our continuing education courses that we both need to complete.  My stomach feels really large and bloated.  I am pretty uncomfortable but I downing Gatorade like nobody’s business.  Personally I love Gatorade so it’s no problem for me!

We decided to go to LA just to sight see and for our 2 year anniversary.  I have heard about the traffic, but being stuck in it is a different experience!  We went to the Griffith Observatory, rode around Hollywood Blvd, Sunset Blvd, Rodeo Drive and Beverly Hills.  Hollywood Blvd was so congested we didn’t even want to get out of the car- so we didn’t.  Beverly Hills was just beautiful, as expected.  Then we went driving on Mulholland Drive hoping to see some gorgeous mansions and we were not disappointed.  We tried to find some Real Housewives of Beverly Hills houses but they were all in gated communities boo.

Hollywood Sign from Griffith Observatory

Beverly Hills

Rodeo Drive

Villa Blanca- Lisa Vanderpump's restaurant

9021-Pho so punny

Afterwards we walked on the Santa Monica Pier and had a drink at the Loews Hotel before our dinner there at Ocean and Vine.  The meal was amazing- I ate sushi, tempura and had wine which is of course a no-no when you are pregnant but A ok during the 5-day wait!   Before leaving I told our server it was our anniversary and she brought a complementary tiramisu- my favvvvorite desert.  J Bird doesn’t like it, so I may or may not have housed both pieces.

Santa Monica Pier 

Just a man on a ladder, in a thong with two snakes.  Nothing to see here

Loews lounge

Santa Monica Fog roll

Tempura

Happy Anniversary!

Santa Monica Pier

Loews Lounge

CD 14 & CD 15- Day 3 (3 days after retrieval) report

Our nurse called this afternoon and let us know that out of the 13 fertilized eggs we have 12 that are still growing normally.  2- 5 celled, 6- 6 celled and 4- 8 celled.  The nurse said that with a day 3 report they like to see that the cells are between 5-9.  I have heard varying reports of 6-8, but since Dr. Sher does not do day 3 transfers, the most important thing is that they are on track to becoming blastocysts.  I can usually keep up with the IVF lingo, but this is where things become a bit complicated.  When the embryo becomes a blastocyst, it will be ready to transfer into my uterus.  A blastocyst has hundreds of cells so they are graded in a different way.

J and I were excited to hear that 12 of the embryos are still doing great, but it left me feeling a little wanting.  It lets us know things are still on track but all of that doesn’t matter until Day 5 or Day 6 (after retrieval) when we find out how many turned into blastocysts and if they are quality grades.  There are so many steps to IVF!  I called it instant gratification because you know what is going on in your body or with the embryos almost every step of the way, but J said that’s only if you are getting good news so we renamed it instant notification.

On the day before retrieval we took it easy, went to the strip to shop a bit and see the fountains at the Bellagio.  

Afterwards we hit up our fav spot in Vegas- Sweet Tomatoes! So yummy.

My stomach finally started to feel better last night and it seems as though all of the gatorade and coconut water has helped to decrease bloating.

Tomorrow is the big day- transfer day!  The nurse will call us by 9:30 am to let us know if the embryos have not become blastocysts and we will postpone the transfer to day 6.

  

Day off and Retrieval

CD 10- Off Day

Today I woke up and didn’t have to take any shots! And to cap it off I slept up 7:30 woohoo.  Actually, I did wake up at 5am and my ovaries just felt like they were going to burst.  I think I was sleeping curled up on my side and the extra pressure was not feeling so great.  I was so scared that something was wrong.  I laid there for about 20 minutes worrying about OHSS, but then finally got back to sleep.

We saw What to Expect When You’re Expecting and it was actually a lot funnier than I thought it would be.  It didn’t get stellar reviews and we were the only people in the theatre but we thought it was funny.  The only thing that pissed me off was (spoiler alert) Elizabeth Banks character tries for 2 years to get pregnant and then one day she drinks wine, (after abstaining for 2 years) has spontaneous sex with her husband in a park and BOOM she gets pregnant.  Not a stereotype at all! “Just stop trying so hard!” “When you stop trying it will happen” or the best line, just because it was delivered by a doctor that we were seeing for a semen analysis, “Get a six pack and have sex!”.  To everyone who has every given this advice- you must have been right because it happened in the movie!

Ok, let me repress my angry infertile and go back to what I originally wanted to comment on.  I felt so bad for Elizabeth Banks.  I know she chose to do this role, but it couldn’t have been easy for her seeing the issues she has had conceiving.  For anyone who doesn’t know she used a gestational carrier recently to have her baby.  I am sure that she tried for a while and heard all of the ignorant comments that people can make.  I can’t imagine how tough it must have been for her to play an infertility stereotype (Stop trying and it will happen).

We ate at this chain buffet restaurant- Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes.  It’s amahzing (think Penny from Happy Endings).   It’s a salad buffet with awesome toppings (julienned butternut squash, summer squash, beets, carrots, broccoli stems), but they also have unlimited soups, breads, muffins, and fro yo.  Needless to say we were kind of stuffed afterwards so we walked off our meal at the Premier Outlets South.

I am resting for the rest of the night and gearing up for tomorrow!  The retrieval is set for 10:30 am and we are to be there an hour in advance.  In preparation for anesthesia I cannot have any foods or liquids after 12 tonight so it’s a good thing we will be doing the retrieval in the morning, cause I likes to eat.  Praying that the follicles will be nice and ripe and that they will have eggs in them!

CD 11- Retrieval

There was a lot of pressure on my abdomen when I work up this morning; again I think I was lying on my side.  I looked in the mirror and it looked like I was about 3 months pregnant because my lower abdomen was so distended.

I was only at the doctor’s office for about 5 minutes before they took me back into the surgery area to start prep.  The nurse went through all of the do not’s and included was no swimming!  Which kind of stinks because I was planning on lounging around the pool and this weekend we are going to LA to go to the beach and sight see.  Oh well, at least I can have a glass of wine to make up for the no swimming rule during my 5 day wait J

The anesthesiologist took me into the surgical room and they propped my legs up in stir up-like contraptions.  The doctor started me on something that was just to relax me.  She told me she was Canadian so of course I was super excited to talk to her about that!  The last thing I remember is Dr Sher coming and everyone agreeing I look like Reese Witherspoon ha.

When I woke up I was in a good amount of pain, specifically on the right side.  J Bird was right by my bedside and he was rubbing my back.  He then told me that when I came back I was moaning in pain and flashing my lady parts around in the bed!  I don’t remember that part, but I know that I was trying to turn on my side to ease the pain, so sorry to anyone I flashed!  J Bird got me some pain medicine at that point and I asked for some Tylenol before I left.  When I stood up to get dressed I was surprised to feel pain in my rectum.  I thought it has something to do with the endometriosis, but when Dr. Sher came in to give results he said that it is not uncommon to feel pain everywhere in that region.

The final stats for the day: 18 eggs retrieved and 13 were mature! Wonderful retrieval.  I was still in pain when I left so I grabbed a small bite to eat and some Gatorade.  When I got to the hotel it hit me how tired I was so I curled up with my heating pad and took a 2-hour nap.  When I woke up I was feeling a ton better.

Tomorrow we will get the fertilization report so we are definitely looking forward to that.  Tonight I start the Progesterone in Oil shot!! I am anxious about it and I know J Bird would rather skip the shot but it is a necessary evil.

Hot Shot!

CD 9

Today my b/w was scheduled for 8:30 and u/s for 10:30.  Got up at 5:30 once again (ugh!) We went back to the hotel in between appointments so I could finish getting ready because we had plans to hit the strip after the ultrasound.  Today Dr. Sher came in his white wash jeans and cowboy boots and I was very tempted to ask him if he got them in Nashville cause it sure looked like an outfit you would wear in the south!

My lining was 15mm and when he started to look at my ovaries and he like “hot shot….” And at first I didn’t realize what he was talking about but then it became clear he was talking to my ovaries and calling them hot shots lol.  Right ovary: 18 x 3, 17, 16 x2, 15 x 4, 14 x 2, 12.  Left ovary: 19 x 2, 18 x 2, 17, 16.  Total of 19 follicles today and all of the follicles from yesterday have seen good growth.  Sher turned to J Bird and told him, “The follicles look almost as good as your wife!” ha we had a good laugh at that.  My Estradiol level is 1340. Then Sher dropped the bomb on us- Trigger shot tonight! Wow, we weren’t really expecting to do it this soon, but the sooner the better.  A babycation is nice and all, but two weeks is a long time to be away from home and work.

Nurse Linda showed J Bird how to do the trigger shot.  It is an intramuscular shot taken in the bicep.  He was feeling a little trepidation about the shot.  After watching me give myself sub-q shots for two weeks, I think he realized that he does not want to have to administer shots!  Including the PIO, which he was so excited to do a few weeks ago. 

After the appointment we went to the strip, lost $100 on blackjack and slots in like 6 minutes flat, walked around for a few hours, and ate lunch.  

Bellagio ceiling

Ceasars Palace

What's Vegas without some boobs

Buddha station

Being in the hot desert sun of only 105 degrees (yeah right) really wore us down so we headed back to the hotel and laid around until it was time to do the deed.  The shot that is! 10:30 was our given time and it is very important to take it at exactly the time they tell you to. First we practiced with an extra needle on a banana haha.  An orange would have been ideal to simulate skin, but it was all we had!  I just wanted J to get the feel of how slow to press the plunger down.  We iced my arm and J Bird just went for.  Well sort of.  He stuck me once and apparently I didn’t feel it and it didn’t go in.  The second time he got it all the way in. I had dead arm after he did it, but that was a good sign to know that it went into the muscle.