Easter Egg Hunt

Today was a day of reckoning for the IVF process. The egg retrieval is now complete. Everything we have gone through from the beginning has been solely for the purpose of this procedure. Every drug that I've injected has been preparing my body for today. It's not natural for your body to develop as many follicles as possible so that's why I've had to endure the side-effect hell that I've been in.

The egg retrieval went well this morning. Thanks to us staying in Nashville last night, we arrived right on time for our appointment. I was so relieved to find out that I would not be awake for the procedure which involved inserting a very long needle into my ovaries to remove the follicles. After all of the normal outpatient surgery prep (getting IV, donning gorgeous hospital gown and "party hat", etc.), I was wheeled into surgery and, thankfully, don't remember anything else...until I woke up with what felt like someone River Dancing on my abdomen. I woke up to more pain than I expected but the staff was gracious enough to accommodate me with some stellar drugs. (So if my post is a little scattered...you know I'm still "high")

Brandon got to do his "business" while I was in surgery. I'm sure there is a lot of pressure on guys to perform, but I still feel like he gets the better end of the deal.

An embryologist came in to let us know that they retrieved 14 eggs....apparently an average amount (I'm OK with average). They weren't able to tell us how many were actually mature, but let's think positive thoughts. After that we were able to leave.

So what's next?

It's now out of our hands (and my uterus). By now, I'm assuming that they have isolated Brandon's best "boys" and are introducing them to my "girls". We are having a process done called Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI). This is where they inject the best sperm into the egg and gives them a better chance for fertilization. We won't get an update until tomorrow. They told me to call my voice mail after noon tomorrow and they will have an update letting us know how many eggs were fertilized.

My job at this point is to start making my uterus a more inviting and plush environment for any embryos that we will hopefully have. It would be nice if it was as simple as ordering some nice furniture from Pottery Barn....but no. I'll let you take a "stab" at what it is I need to do now. You guess it.....more injections. This round of shots, however, can not be done by me. These shots are of progesterone in oil and must be injected in the muscle (IM)....which means my hips and I can't bend that way to do the shots myself. So it's time for Brandon to step up to the plate.

Once again, I'm nervous as hell about these shots. Partly because I can't do them myself (and I've become a pro at it), partly because Brandon has not yet given any shots, and lastly because IM injections are given with a needle the length of a telephone pole. Just take a look at the difference in the needles from my previous injections...


So I'm sure you can understand my hesitation. But the nurses were nice enough to draw on my hips a bulls-eye with a Sharpie to help Brandon with picking the right location. It only provides me with a smidgen of comfort. I'll let you know how the first shot goes...if I survive.

More to come...