retrieval update...

What a week this has been, and it's only Tuesday!
Since the last post my days have been filled with daily visits to the doctor. Blood work, ultrasounds, and more shots. Each day they would check the progression and growth of my follicles, waiting for them to reach a certain size before we could move forward.
IVF is really so complicated and there are so many if/than scenarios. When I write, I try to do it while remembering that most of you don't know much about it. I know sometimes the details get a little blurry, but bear with me.
Basically, every day they checked my follicles to see if they were mature enough to trigger ovulation and proceed with my retrieval. FINALY, on Saturday, we got the call we had been waiting for.
We were ready to trigger! The nurse instructed us to do the shot at exactly 9:15p.m. and that my retirieval would be scheduled for Monday morning at 9:15. Exactly 36 hours later.

I know previously, I touched on the chance of OHSS (Ovarian Hyper-Stimulations Syndrome) and that my estrogen was high. Given all the risk factors and my high estrogen, we have decided to hold off, freeze our embryos, and do a frozen embryo transfer (FET) rather than a 5 day fresh transfer. While it will mean we are delayed almost another month, OHSS can be extremely serious, deadly even. Obviously, the goal in all of this is to have and maintain a healthy pregnancy, and that means I have to be healthy as well. I feel really good about our decision, and after all this time, what's 3 more weeks? It also is giving me a mini-break from the shots, doctor's appointments, and stress. I can just relax and focus on getting my body ready for baby. Lots of vitamins ;)

All of that aside, we spent the weekend prepping for Monday's procedure. I was nervous. Nervous about the procedure, about going under anthesia, about how many eggs they would be able to retrieve, etc. I slept ok Sunday night, but by Monday morning I shed some tears. Lying in the hospital bed, waiting for anthesia was nerve wracking. Mike was trying to make me feel better and lighten the mood, but I could feel myself tensing up. I stopped panicking long enough to pray and that helped calm me down a lot. Before I knew it, they were bringing me into the procedure room and then everything started getting heavy. I couldn't stay awake, and before I knew it, I was back in the recovery room with Mike. It felt that quick! A few minutes later, the doctor walked in and informed us that he was able to retrieve 46 eggs!

That number blew me away. Honestly, with everything I've read and all the women I've talked too... I was expecting we would get about 15-20 and about half of those would fertilize. When I heard 46 I was floored. Once I felt stable, we were able to leave. Mike drove me home, with a quick Chick-fil-a detour, and then I spent the rest of the day resting and watching tv. I felt pretty good and even got up to head to Jake's soccer practice. That was probably not the best idea, because after being on my feet for a bit I was ready to lay down. That night, I took one of my pain perscription pills and slept like a rock.

This morning (Tuesday) I woke up and felt pretty normal. My energy was a little low, but I felt better than I thought I did. I took my time, got in the shower, and started to get dressed for the day. That is when I noticed the first big difference. Holy swollen stomach! People warned me that I might look like I'm 3 months pregnant... granted it's been a while... but I don't remember being this big at 3 months pregnant. I feel like this is more like 5 months pregnant and it's hard to the touch. So weird.
I headed off to work, but by lunch time I started feeling pretty weak. By about 3p.m. I couldn't last any longer and headed home. I wanted to make it through the day, but sometimes I forget what I am asking of my body and it catches up to me.

The best part of today, aside from getting home and relaxing, was getting my update from the nurse. She called at about 11am today to inform us that 20 of our eggs have fertalized "so far". She said there was still some time for more to fertilize, but 20 is amazing to me!

We officially have 20 embryos! God is amazing. Over the next 5 days we will continue to get updated on how our beautiful babies are growing. As excited as I am to hear how the progress, I know the statistics show that they won't all make it to day 5. While this is bitter sweet, natural selection is God's doing and I trust that the right embryos will continue to grow. On day 5 we will freeze the growing embryos and begin preparring for my transfer.

All of this has been so amazing and flown by. I can't wait to see what's next and where this takes us! Thank you so much, for all your prayers and well wishes. The support has been incredible. I plan to continue to update as we know more!