The Full Procedure Recap

I still have some pretty bad cramps from yesterday's retrieval so I'm glad I'm not going in to work today. What a relief to have sick days I can use. I was going to do some work from home, and probably still will, but not enough to constitute a full day.

I wanted to write about the retrieval in more depth for those of you who have yet to go through one, and to remind myself in case I have to do it again.

Although I was nervous about the trigger shot on Sunday, it really wasn't that bad.The next day was when the soreness really set in, giving me come concern about how I'm going to keep up those PIO shots, even with alternating sides. On Monday, I felt pretty fine, just a little nervous. There was also a lot of twitching going on in the uterus area. I guess those final few follies were getting up to speed.

On Tueday, we had to be at the clinic late morning, and we left super early because the weather was so bad. The clinic only does retrieval and transfer at its main office, which is very far from my house. We still managed to get there 45 minutes early, but they were ready for me to come to the back into a small hospital room immediately, which surprised me. They had my chart and gown already laid out on the bed and told me to get changed and get under the bed covers. A few minutes later a nurse came in and checked my ID and social security number, then went over the procedure with me.

She went over our consent forms and noted that the doctor did not plan on doing ICSI, but would if necessary. Shortly afterwards, the anesthesiologist came in and hooked me up to an IV for fluids. I hate IVs, but I didn't feel this one at all. He discussed the drugs they were going to use to put me out during the procedure, and I told him about my last experience with surgery when I woke up. I was adamant about not wanting to wake up during this. I told him my herni story (in August's Medical History Part 1 post) and he told me I probably had an inexperienced anesthesiologist.

He promised I wouldn't wake up this time. He said there would be two parts to the drugs. The first part would make me a little hazy but I'd still be coherent as they brought me into the operating room and got me situated. The second part I would be out completely before the procedure started. He tols me that the second drug would most likely make me forget even walking into the OR, unless I was particularly resistant to the drug. I said I didn't care about remembering the first part, as long as they weren't really doing anything surgical to me at that point.

Then H and I just sat in the room reading and waiting. H looked awful. Scared and nervous. The only thing bothering me at that point was that I could hear everything that went on in the two rooms on either side of me. The women coming back from the procedure didn't sound so good. They were really disoriented, and one was particularly whiny. At first I felt bad for her, but then I thought--boy, I hope I am not as lame as her afterwards. She was complaining about the fact that the nurses wanted her to try and stay awake in order to come out of the anesthesia properly, and she was complaining that they only gave her extra strenght tylenol for the cramps she felt, which she admitted were no worse than a period. The nurses kept saying, you'll sleep when you get home, and you get to leave in 20 minutes. Then they were telling her she should try to eat something right away when she left and she was complaining about that. The other woman was having a hard time waking up too, but she said she felt no pain.

Finally it was time for me to go into the OR. They had me walk in with my IV, then sat me down on the edge of the operating table. The anesthesiologist hooked my IV up and immediately I felt the part one drugs enter my system. They made me feel a little drunk. The doctor asked my name and social security number again, then asked me to help her get my legs into the biggest stirrup contraptions I've ever seen. I remember putting the first leg in, and as the second leg went in I heard the anesthesiologist say, okay here's part two.

The next thing I knew I was back in my little room being told by the nurse that it was all over. H was back in the room from giving his sample, and he gave me a cup of water. I felt refreshed--like I had taken a long nap--even though I'd only been out for 20 minutes. I didn't feel any cramping at first, and then it just felt like a bad period. The nurse gave me my Tylenol and left to check on the egg count. I asked H how his part went, and he didn't really want to say much about it. I asked for a magazine and we both started reading again while we waited. The nurse came back and told me we had 14 eggs, and she was visibly surprised to see me reading. She said--My, we really must be feeling okay. You look great too. At that moment, I really did feel great. It was over, and I was thrilled we had so many eggs, though of course we didn't know the quality yet.

Then the embriologist came in with the bad news about H's low count, and suggested that if he gave another sample it might be enough. You know the rest.

I'm just waiting, praying, that we get a few good fertilized eggs out of this.

PS--Blogger isn't letting me add links at all today! I had some kitty pictures to share but can't.