From pre-op to the fert. report: My adventurous weekend

By now you have surely figured out that anything I do is never easy...and I married a man who has the same issue. IVF is a tough game anyway but add travel and sleep deprivation to the mix and you can just imagine how much more difficult it can be. The extra mood swings alone (mine and H's) can make for some interesting moments. There was a little of that but not as much as usual. (still thanking the Prozac for that) All in all, we had a really good weekend together. We enjoyed each other and the alone time we got to spend with each other. While we did not end up doing the ahem.....activities.... that would have made H happiest, we did have fun despite all the medical stuff.

We each took naps before my 11:30 pm trigger shot on Thursday night and went back to sleep for a few more hours. We had to leave the house at 3 am to make sure we were at Cornell by 6:30 am for my pre-op class. We had breakfast at a diner we like a few blocks from the clinic and made our way to the hotel. Luckily, they let us in hours earlier and H and I napped until 2. I love napping with him...I feel so safe and comforted. As calm as I have been, a part of me still had a few jitters about how many eggs I was cooking. There's a lot riding on this cycle.

We went for a walk by the river and got some dinner. We were very relaxed and happy and we enjoyed ourselves so much.

Retrieval day was not as easy.....it's a damn good thing we left the hotel early. It only takes about 20 minutes to get to Cornell from where we stayed but you never know what kind of trouble can pop up in the city. This time is was road work. On a Saturday. We made it with 2 minutes to spare. I wasn't really worried because it's all "hurry up and wait" at Cornell. They wanted me there at 8:30 am and my ER didn't even happen until almost 11:30.

I actually made some friends this time! I was in the closet sized waiting room with 2 other women and we had a good talk. We were all return IVFers....maybe that was why. We talked Drs. and emotions and protocols. It helped me relax and it never hurts to have extra people there to wish you good luck.

When I woke up from anesthesia, H delivered the good news: 12 eggs! Then, the nurse came over to tell me and she was so excited...her smile was huge. We left feeling more positive than we had in a long time.

I started drinking Gatorade right away but I still had some hyper stim symptoms. I had a flushed face and my weight was up about 6 lbs. Imagine if they had given me the full 10,000 units of HCG instead of 5,000. I'd probably be getting my ovaries tapped right now. I actually ended up sleeping most of the day and I went to bed at 8pm so the symptoms subsided. Until this morning.....

I'm not very good at sitting still and I have a huge "To Do" list running through my head. I missed cleaning day so I wanted to catch up. I needed to do laundry and change the sheets in addition to all the regular dusting, vacuuming,etc. I also wanted to get the guest bathroom and bedroom cleaned for our Thanksgiving weekend company. I wanted to get all of the heavy duty cleaning with dangerous chemicals out of the way before my transfer. I felt good this morning so I got to work (secretly after H went to the gym). Well, I can't hide my red face and bloat so I got in trouble. He said I am worse than a child and that my 2 year old niece listens better than I do.

He's pacing as I type. I got special permission to update my blog. He has had me in bed flat on my back with my legs up all day. Um, not practicing new moves- just resting!!!!! Heads out of the gutter, please.

I better go rest. Oh, yeah...my fert. report:

12 eggs
9 mature
8 fertilized

We are thrilled! Still scared but the results are more than we had hoped for. We are still having a 3 day transfer and I'm not sure why but the Embryologist that called told me that it was excellent. That's good enough for me....for now!