IVFx3: ER Recap and Recovery

Good morning, my fine readers!

So, as most everyone knows...our retrieval numbers were stellar this time.

Our doctor forewarned me that the new protocol may help, but it may not.
Although it was considered a more aggressive protocol, the odds weren't exactly in my favor.

Most people tend to respond the best with an antagonist protocol (which is what I did my first two cycles), and very few people respond better with microdose lupron flare.

Well...we sure showed them, huh?

From the beginning of this round, I had been cautiously optimistic.
My resting follicle count was 24, with 12 itty bitty baby follicles on each ovary.

This starting point was excellent news, but again, I had 21 the second round, and plummeted to 9 follicles just before retrieval.

But this time, I stayed steady the entire time with 23 follicles.

Of course, not all of them matured.
By the time of retrieval, I still had 23 follicles, and 17 of them were over 10mm, which is considered measurable.

Of those 17, approximately 13 were just at or above maturity level.

So, ultimately I expected to retrieve a decent amount, with hopes that a lot of them would be mature enough for fertilization.

This third (and hopefully last) retrieval, was nothing short of frustrating though.

I was asked to trigger at 3am Saturday morning with an injection of Ovidrel.
This shot goes in my stomach, so I could easily do it myself.

But I was nervous I would oversleep that time, so had set multiple alarms and had Mark set his alarm as well.

The timing of your trigger shot is of the utmost importance.
It has to happen EXACTLY when they tell you to do it!

My retrieval was scheduled for Sunday.
I was asked to arrive at 12:45pm and surgery would occur about an hour later.

I had a light meal early Sunday morning, by 5:30am. (again another alarm was set because who gets up that early on a Sunday?!)

I took another nap and woke up around 10am, showered, and we were out the door at 11:30am.
We arrived super early at 12:15pm, hoping we would get an earlier time slot and could get out earlier!

No dice.

What ended up happening, was an extensive wait, to which I didn't actually have my retrieval until 2:45pm.

I was crampy and starving and generally in a bad mood.

Not that you can rush a doctor, but we finally got an update that it was my turn!

The new anesthesiologist took me back to the room.
The assistant nurse strapped me into place.
The embryologist came back to confirm my identity, and then it was nap time!

I woke up to the most glorious news.

We had 16 eggs retrieved.

Still groggy from the anesthesia, I broke into a mass of happy tears.

16!!

I couldn't believe it.

16 is three more eggs than BOTH of my first two cycles combined!
Is this real life?!

With that number, I wrapped up my stay, got dressed, and we headed home, but not before stopping at Wendy's for the most delicious meal of my life.

Neither one of us had eaten since 5am and it was nearly 5pm at that point.
Plus! Recovery requires high salt foods and lots of electrolytes.

From that point on, things went downhill fast.

I had this overwhelming pain across my upper back, and a feeling of heartburn that I never had with the other cycles.
My bloat was really intense, and seemed to be getting worse as time went on.
I was prescribed Cabergoline, which was supposed to help with possible overstimulation, to take each night for about a week.

I'm not sure what caused what, but Sunday evening I got minimal sleep.
The pain meds weren't working and no matter what position I tried to sleep in, eventually the pain would become too much and I would try another position.

I eventually found that sleeping with my head and knees elevated helped, slightly.

I emailed the head nurse early Monday morning to let her know what was going on.
At 8:30am, she called me back, asking me to come in right away for monitoring.
At 9:15am, I was at their office, getting another round of blood draws, labs, and vitals.

Luckily, everything checked out ok, so it was just a matter of time to see if my pain went away.

By Monday evening, most of my back and chest pain subsided, and I had received the second most glorious up date of my life.

Of the 16 eggs retrieved, 11 were mature, and 10 fertilized.

To put this in perspective, here is a comparison of my 3 cycles after the completion of Day 1 growth.

Cycle 1: 6 retrieved, 5 mature, 3 fertilized
Cycle 2: 7 retrieved, 5 mature, 2 fertilized
Cycle 3: 16 retrieved, 11 mature, 10 fertilized

The next update will be Friday where the embryologist will tell me how many are still growing.
There will likely be another update on Saturday where they will give me my final numbers.

At that point, if we have enough quality Day 5 embryos, I will have them biopsied and frozen, where they will join the other embryo from Cycle 2.

If this occurs with enough embryos, we can FINALLY move onto PGD testing to determine how many of the Day 5 embryos are perfect.

Perfect meaning, free from chromosomal abnormalities and free from our genetic mutation.

And today?
Today I am working from home while I continue to recover from retrieval.
I am feeling much better today, and slept through the night last night.

Praying for AWESOME results by the weekend!
Just in time to celebrate my 6th wedding anniversary with Mark!

Talk soon, loves! XO