Lucky Number 7!

So today was egg retrieval. We arrived at 9:30, but because there were only 2 of us getting retrievals today, Dr. Greene was taking his time and so we started a bit late. He was awesome as always, and he listened to me when I told him I am a horrible patient to start IV's in the hand, so he put it in my arm which didn't hurt at all.

Once I was prepped and ready to go, I hugged and kissed Nate goodbye, and he went off to do his part. The drugs they gave me acted very quickly, and I was pretty much as high as a kite within seconds. The room was spinning, but I felt good. I could still feel the initial needle going in, but I didn't really care that I could feel it. Dr. Greene found one egg fairly quickly, and then it seemed to drag on forever before he found another. I don't remember how many he got from the right, but I know it wasn't a lot. Since I seemed to be tolerating the pain quite well, he decided to go for that elusive left ovary. It hurt like a sonofabitch, but I breathed through it. The nurse told me I was doing really well, and Dr. Greene said that if I wasn't so tough, he wouldn't even attempt that ovary as he really had to punch at it with the needle to reach it. I figured no pain no gain; I wanted us to have the best chance possible and I would have taken worse than that to get eggs. And, ironically, that little partial ovary that enjoys playing peek-a-boo had the best follicles out of all of them!

In the end, they managed to retrieve 8 eggs!!! I was so happy to hear it was more than 5, though I would have been okay with just 5 again as well. One of the best parts was being able to see the actual eggs on the big TV screen on the wall. They looked almost exactly like shown in the picture above.

Once I was wheeled into recovery, the embryologist said that 5 were fully mature, 2 were borderline but she thought they might catch, and 1 was immature. So hopefully 7 to work with! We had 100% fertilization rate last time, so I would be over the moon if that happens again for us.

I am in a lot more pain post-procedure than I was last time, and I'm pretty crampy and sore. Last retrieval I barely felt at all and was able to go out for dinner with friends that same night, but this time I've been in bed all day taking it easy with Tylenol and lots of napping.

We will get a call from the embryologist tomorrow morning to find out how many fertilized. I am already feeling protective of my little babies-to-be, and I hope they are doing well. Can't wait to hear tomorrow!