August 4, 2020
We made it to the egg retrieval! We had strict instructions to report to the fertility clinic by 7:45am for an 8:15am retrieval. They are very specific about timing because the eggs need to be extracted 36 hours after your trigger shot.
I was nervous (nothing new for me), but even more nervous because L couldn’t come with me. Prior to COVID-19, he was allowed to accompany me back to the surgery waiting/recovery room. It was always comforting to have him there to hold my hand before the procedure and greet me when I came out of the anesthesia.
The check-in procedure went by so quickly that I didn’t have much time to wallow over being alone. We did write each other notes to exchange before the egg retrieval. That helped to calm my nerves a lot!
Before I knew it, it was time to go under and the next thing I remember, the nurse was waking me up. She let me know they got 21 eggs!! Umm, WHAT?! We were expecting 10…so 21 was a complete and total shock!
The nurse brought me some animal crackers and an apple juice and I spent some time waking up. I felt very groggy, but thankfully not nauseous like my first two retrievals! I made sure to tell the nurse anesthetist that I get super nauseous with anesthesia. She made sure to give me a ton of anti-nausea meds via my IV. She also kept my pain meds to a minimum. She said unless I need them, the strong stuff can increase your nausea. Just FYI for anyone who gets barfy like me.
I called L and let him know it was time to get me. They made sure I went pee before leaving, and I was released! The fertility clinic would call me the next day with our official fertilization report. They would let us know of the eggs retrieved how many were mature and how many fertilized.
The next day we got the call and the report was:
21 eggs retrieved, 14 mature. 10 fertilized.
I felt pretty good about our numbers and spent a lot of time focused on gratitude: gratitude to my body for getting us to this point. Gratitude for my family’s unending support. Gratitude to my daughter for being the best little support system any mom could ever want. Gratitude to those little eggs for giving us hope.
We have ten in the running and now we wait five long days to hear how many will make it to the blastocyst stage by day 5 and day 6. This is a “freeze all” cycle with PGS testing which means all healthy embryos will be frozen, biopsied, and sent for genetic testing.
