IVF: Embryos & Fortune Telling

First of all, I forgot to mention in my last post that my doctor actually left the office and went to the store to go buy our doughnuts that he promised us. I couldn't believe how nice he was to do that. Miles said, "If you think how much his time is worth...those are *really* expensive doughnuts!" When he came back with them, I thanked him and he said, "You're welcome. It's a first for me." What a wonderful, sweet, doctor I have!

Ok...on to the report. I got a call from Katie just before 10:30 AM. (Which is when she said she would call by). She told me that of the 13 eggs they retrieved, ALL were mature. They inseminated all of them with ICSI. This is the breakdown:

1 fertilized abnormally (likely bad chromosomes)

2 showed no signs of fertilization

1 broke apart/dissolved

and

9, nuevo, neun, negen, neuf, NINE! fertilized normally

Yay! I am super excited about that (if you can't tell). If I recall correctly from last time, only 7 of 15 fertilized. So 9 of 13 is great! I'd love to have some left over for freezing, but if not...all I want is just one good embryo to do its job!

Katie said we'll plan for a day-5 transfer (Sunday) at 8:30 AM. Otherwise, she'll call me on Friday to confirm our plans or tell us to come in that day for a day-3 transfer if for some reason we're losing too many embryos or whatever the case may be.

For now I'll just sit back, relax, enjoy some time with Owen, and let my body recover while those little embryos grow, grow, grow!

Oh, and I have another cute story to share. This morning, Owen was eating a fortune cookie Miles left on his tray last night. When he was done, I went over to see what his fortune was.

Here is what it said:

(If you can't read it - Soon someone new coming into your life will be a best friend). I can only hope it's one of those embryos that are growing in the lab. :)

IVF: Egg Retrieval - The Count is in!

Miles and I went in early this morning for the egg retrieval. We had to be there by 8:30 AM, which meant dropping Owen off around 7:45 AM. Unfortunately, Mitchell got sick with the flu and was unable to watch him. (We hope you're feeling better, Mitch!) But I had some amazing friends who stepped up and were willing to take his place.

Ok...here on out it gets pretty detailed and descriptive of the procedure. If you have a weak stomach or prefer not to know, skip to the end.

After we got there Miles provided a semen sample that they prepared for ICSI following the egg retrieval. We talked with our nurse, Katie, about the possible side effects of the retrieval. I also asked her to explain the procedure to me. This is my layman's way of describing it: The HCG shot I took a couple of days ago triggered my body for ovulation. This allowed the follicles to release the eggs from the follicle wall. The doctor takes a probe that has a really long needle in the center of it that sticks out at the end. He goes up vaginally and inserts the needle through the uterine wall and directly into the ovary where they aspirate the eggs from inside the follicles. They fill each tube with up to five eggs (and their surrounding fluid). It really is crazy. I've done this before, but I haven't always asked questions about the medical side of things. I am so incredibly grateful that we have this technology and the ability to create life outside of our bodies. It is absolutely miraculous!

After we chatted, I got dressed in my garb:

The anesthesiologist (Wayne) came over to chat and get medical info from me. Miles mentioned to him that I was excited to be put under. When I went back into the OR, the nurse there said, "Wayne tells me you're excited for the anesthesia." I said, "Yep!" I told her I just like fighting it and seeing how long I can stay awake, as well as how loopy and goofy I get afterward. Wayne worked for a bit to get my IV going. Luckily he numbed the area because he was doing quite a bit of poking and prodding with the needle for a while. :( Next, the embryologist (Klaus) came in to talk to me while I was still lucid. He asked my name, my husband's name and why I was there. Since I was feeling snarky, I pretended I didn't know Miles's name for a second and told him I was there so they could steal my babies. Not sure if he was amused or not. He responded by pointedly saying, "You're here for an egg retrieval, right?" I decided to stop messing around and said, "Yes."

Shortly after that I started to feel dizzy and woozy. I said, "You started the drugs, didn't you?" Wayne said he did. So I started counting. One-one-thousand, two-one-thousand, three-one-thousand.... The doctor came in and talked to me for a second. I heard the nurse say, "She's still counting." The doctor said, "If you can count to 100, I'll give you a doughnut." So I busted through and counted super fast - one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, THIRTY! And so on, until I got to 100. Then he said, "But you have to remember." That's the last thing I remember....

As I was waking up, I remember saying something strange. I asked the nurse who was helping me recover and she said she wasn't there and would get Katie for me. Katie came in and I tentatively said, "Did I say, 'My vagina is dancing?'" She smiled and said, "Yep. And we all got a good laugh out of it." Awesome. Yeah...I don't know. All I can remember is that my uterus and abdomen felt weird and *bubbly*?...so I guess saying my vagina was dancing was the best description I could come up with. Seriously...pretty sure that goes down as the strangest and goofiest thing I have ever said or done coming out of sedation.

Here's a picture of me all groggy and attempting to wake up:I also said I remembered the doctor telling me I could have a doughnut if I counted to 100. She said, "Yep! He said that. We'll get you your doughnut." A little later, the doctor came in and asked us what our favorite flavors were. He also told us that we got 13 eggs, which was great, and a few more than expected.

Later, I couldn't remember how many we had gotten. I asked Miles and he said, "Thirteen." The woman in the bed next to us was also recovering from her retrieval. She said, "You got thirteen?" The nurse said, "Not you, that's the person next door. You got two." I felt so bad for her. Then she said, "Oh. That's what happens when you get old." :( Aw...it made me totally sad for her. A bit later I heard her talking with her mother. She was telling her that they got two. She said, "We'll have to see how many fertilize. We might not end up with anything." Again...my heart ached for her. Infertility is so so hard, and can be that much more devastating when you put so much into trying to make it happen and it isn't successful. I hope and pray things work out for this unknown woman on the other side of the curtain.

So now we wait to hear from Katie sometime tomorrow morning. They did ICSI (directly putting the sperm into the egg) today and we'll know tomorrow how many actually fertilized. Here are a couple stock photos I found of "ICSI" and one with explanations of objects in the pictures:

Seriously...can you even imagine how intricate this microscopic process is?! Incredible.

As for how I'm feeling, I didn't remember it being very painful or that uncomfortable in the past. But maybe that's because I didn't have a baby to take care of and could just lay around all day. Granted, Miles stayed home from work today and took care of Owen for me (thank you, honey!) but I think it was the fact that I knew I had responsibilities to take care of and couldn't just lay back without thinking about it. That, and Owen whining and crying for his mama... :( I've felt pretty crampy and tender. It's most comfortable for me to lay down rather than sit or stand. But it's gotten better as the day has gone on. I also took a nice long 2 hour nap today while Owen napped and Miles took care of him. I was pretty sure I could have slept forever if I hadn't forced myself awake.

Also, I again need to give a shout out to my friends. When I called my friend, Holly Smith, to ask her to watch Owen, I was in tears when she so willingly accepted and did it with such joy and kindness of heart. Of course, Carly Andelin has been watching Owen multiple days over the past week and was also willing. (I just didn't want to wear her out.) ;) I really do have amazing friends. Then, on top of it, earlier this evening my amazing friend and VT companion, Leslie, came by to see how I was doing and brought me a 1/2 dozen cupcakes from Sweet Tooth Fairy. She is AWESOME.
Seriously...I am blessed with wonderful people in my life. Thank you!

US #4 & #5 +Trigger Shot

I went in yesterday for another US. He said that things are looking good and he estimated a Tuesday or Wednesday egg retrieval date. He told me to come in today. (As it gets closer to the time of retrieval, they like to monitor the egg growth and hormone levels closely so they will know when the best time is to harvest the eggs. So I'll probably expect to go in almost daily from here on out.) I talked with the nurse about medications. She gave me some to get me through until today since I had another appointment scheduled. She asked me how I was feeling and if I was tender or bloated. I told her I was indeed both and also incredibly tired and nauseous. She said that was pretty normal with the increase in estrogen. She said she would call later to confirm dosing.

Later that afternoon she called and told me to do 3.5 vials of Bravelle, plus 1/2 of the vial I had left over from the day before. So I ended up doing 3.75 vials and a little less on the low-dose HCG. It's kind of crazy figuring it all out and often seems like such a small difference when it's a matter of drops of liquid. She also told me that my nausea and tiredness were to be expected as my estrogen spiked from 700 to 1000 in two days. I guess it's just preparing me for pregnancy...and boy am I in for it. I'm pretty sure I need to get my act together now before it all hits and I become a sluggish, lazy, blob on the couch. Also, I can't believe how these microscopic egg follicles that are growing can cause so many different feelings in my body. Today, Owen was laying on my chest and pressed down on his knees (into my abdomen) to sit up. It was pretty painful and uncomfortable. Not to mention I feel bloated. It's just odd.

Alright, back to my appointments. I went in this morning for my fifth US. We talked about potential retrieval dates again and he mentioned he will be out of town this weekend. I knew it was a possibility he wouldn't be around on the weekends for me since I am off from his current IVF schedule due to me not being back from Christmas in time to start with his other patients. Currently, they are all in the process of doing their retrievals and implantations. I'm about a week behind. He told me to come in tomorrow and again that he was expecting I'd be ready Tuesday or Wednesday. He also mentioned that since we are doing ICSI he likes to let the eggs grow a little more. He said if we didn't do ICSI and just put the eggs and sperm together over night, it would give the eggs more time to mature and grow. However, when you do ICSI the same day as the retrieval, they don't get that chance. I talked with the nurse again, got more meds and went home to wait for the confirmation call on dosage.

She called me this afternoon and said, "Change of plans." She told me that my estrogen level had gone up to 2000! It went from about 1000-2000 in one day. She said that the doctor decided that since my estrogen level was exactly where they want it, and I have a number of eggs that are about the optimal size (18-20...not sure the unit measurement) that he wants me to do my HCG trigger shot tonight. So no more of the other medications - just the HCG. She gave me instructions on how to mix the HCG and administer the shot. She said that it has to be done at *exactly* 10:30 PM tonight. I don't know all the details and how it works exactly, but I just found a pretty good site that explains IVF step-by-step. This is what it says about the trigger shot:

"The next step in your IVF treatment is triggering the oocytes to go through the last stage of maturation, before they can be retrieved. This last growth is triggered with human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG).

Timing this shot is vital. If it's given too early, the eggs will not have matured enough. If given too late, the eggs may be “too old” and won't fertilize properly. The daily ultrasounds at the end of the last step are meant to time this trigger shot just right. Usually, the hCG injection is given when four or more follicles have grown to be 18 to 20mm in size and your estradiol levels are greater than 2,000pg/ML."

So that's basically what I said. The nurse told me I don't need to come in tomorrow anymore (which is nice since the doctor was coming in early at 7:45 AM for me so that Miles could watch our sick Owen {more on that later} and not be too late to work). She told me tomorrow I need to take a home pregnancy test some time after noon to make sure the HCG is properly in my system. (This is the hormone your body would naturally produce when you are pregnant. Obviously, I won't actually be pregnant.) Then on Tuesday I can't eat solids past 3AM (let's be honest...I'm not getting up in the middle of the night to eat anyway) and clear liquids only up to 5 AM. We'll show up around 8:30 AM, prep for a 9:30 AM egg retrieval and should be out by 11 AM. Thankfully, Miles's awesome brother, Mitchell, will be watching Owen during that time.

So there it is! We're getting closer to hopefully creating a life. I am so excited and as annoying as it is to go in for appointments daily, I'm anxiously awaiting our Tuesday egg retrieval!