Retrieval Day or 32 Eggs and Then Some

I'll write down a bit of what I remember from today, since I hear I have one or two readers new to IVF.

I got to CCRM at 8 a.m. and a very nice nurse named Jennifer set me up in a room to change into a gown and start an IV. I have had some bad experiences with IVs, so I was nervous, but she used all the tricks I have heard of, including wrapping my arm in a warm moist towel and injecting lidocaine under the skin of the back of my hand before putting in the actual IV. Close to painless.

Jennifer let my husband into the room, and soon after, the anesthesiologist came to talk with my and have me sign the consent for general anesthesia. (Note that I had been fasting since midnight.) For this procedure, I was not intubated, but they put in a device to keep my airway open. My only moment of nervousness was when the doctor told me that since they were running short of Versed, they were trying to conserve it, so I might remember being scrubbed in preparation for the procedure.

A few minutes later, Dr. Minjarez came in. My main doctor at CCRM is Dr. Surrey, but I have only met him once, during my day-of-tests. Various nurses convey all of his instructions. I technically have one main nurse at CCRM, but I have only seen her once since I arrived in Colorado. All of which is to say that I did not have a real relationship with any other medical professional, and thus was not disappointed to see a new doctor. I liked Dr. Minjarez immediately, especially when she said, "I go by Deb."

Dr. M instructed me to come back for an ultrasound tomorrow, and then to drink lots of water and eats lots of salty foods for the time being. She also said that I should avoid exercise for at least the next week, and that my hyperstimulation symtoms should go away completely with my next menstrual cycle.

After Dr. Minjarez left, the anesthesiologist came back in and turned something on in the IV, and that's the last thing I remember. I guess she found some Versed.

While I was in the retrieval, DH went off to do his thing.

I awoke to the sound of beeping. I looked up and saw that my heart rate was 46. I wanted to go back to sleep, but the beeping continued, so I could not. Jennifer brought DH to the recovery room.

32 eggs retrieved. Jennifer was impressed. It was nice to feel like I was good at something related to fertility. DH has been referring to me as the ovipositor, which, thanks to Google, I learned is both an organ used by some insects for laying eggs and also an ongoing experiment in groove versus dissonance. So the lab will work with these 32 eggs, and they will also defrost the 5 embryos I had shipped here. Before anyone gets too excited, the number of embryos that fertilize AND make it to blast AND test normal will be a good deal smaller, like one fifth of that at the most.

But back to retrieval day itself.

Before I left the surgery center, I had 2 extra strength tylenol and one can of ginger ale.
I slept for most of the rest of the day, and I am ready for more sleep now.

Tonight:
Tetracycline
Dostinex
Cetrotide by injection