Our September IVF

When we initially found out we would realistically need IVF to have a family I was extremely nervous. I have a fear of needles and I wasn't sure I could endure an IVF. One because of all the shots due to medications but second because then you undergo a minor procedure to collect the eggs. I just wasn't sure if I was strong enough to overcome my fear no matter how much I wanted a family.

We approached our September IVF with new resolve. While our July IVF was disappointing I think the trust in our Dr really helped us stay hopeful for this one. Going through the medications seemed to go really seamlessly. I was proud of myself for continually getting better administering my shots and it became almost a challenge for me to be able to do them quicker. Sometimes I would get in my way and overthink it which made them difficult even though I had been doing them for a while. Our ultrasounds went really well and at my first monitoring ultrasound my Dr was impressed with my follicles. She had me continue my medications for a couple more days and then John gave my trigger shot. Thursday, September 21, 2017 we had our egg retrieval. It went a lot smoother than I expected mostly on my end. I know they do this for a living so I wasn't doubting them just me. I will say the nurse who put in my IVF did an excellent job. She got it on the first try and it didn't even hurt. She is a pro for sure and I was appreciative of that fact. We retrieved 27 eggs and of those 27 eggs 25 were mature.

Recovery from egg retrieval was really rough for me. I expected to be bloated, tender, and out of it for a couple days. Potentially getting OHSS making it worse but I didn't expect what I went through at all. My retrieval was on a Thursday so I took Thursday and Friday off and I always have the weekend off. So 4 days recover which I figured was plenty based on other stories I had read. I figured I would still be sore but it would be manageable. By Friday I was in extreme pain, considering going to the ER because I had no idea what was going on. Every time I moved I screamed I was in so much pain. I could only sit 1 way and I couldn't sleep laying down no matter how much I wanted to. We talked to my nurse and she said she thought I was just constipated due to what I had told her and because everything was swollen from IVF it was making it worse. We told her what stool softened I had been taking and she mentioned to take 2 others instead. Saturday nothing had changed. I still couldn't sleep laying down and I was waking up every couple hours due to shifting and being in pain. I couldn't get up or do ANYTHING without help. Saturday John got me some milk of magnesia which is supposed to work relatively quickly without being too harsh on the system. So literally at this point I have taken 4 different stool softeners to ease/relieve the pain. I was desperate for something to work.

Overall it took me a week and a half to recover. Even once I had some relief from the constipation I still couldn't sleep laying down for a couple days. Once I could I was only able to sleep on my back and I still couldn't get up own my own. Normally in an IVF you transfer 3 or 5 days after your egg retrieval. Because I was in so much pain we had to do a freeze all which meant when we were ready we would have to do a frozen embryo transfer (FET).

Our September IVF Results:
27 eggs retrieved - 25 mature
18 fertilized via ICSI
18 made it to day 3
6 made it to day 5
10 total made it to day 6 freeze <3

Upcoming: Absolute Thank You To My Husband