Egg Retrival Day!

Last update I said that I was going for another ultrasound and blood work on Sunday. Well on Sunday they told me I had 15 follicles on the right and 10 on the left... whoa.

15 + 10 = 25.

Holy moly.

That explains why my abdomen looks like I'm 5 months pregnant and I am so... so... SO uncomfortable. My lining is also at a 9 which is absolutely amazing! Prior to the hysteroscopy surgery on my uterus in January the best it ever was was a 6.8mm. For an IUI they ideally would like for it to be at a 7 and for IVF they hope for at least an 8. Sunday it was a 9mm. It grows about 1-2mm a day. It's also a "triple stripe" lining, which I have never had before. I have googled "triple stripe lining" and I cannot find what it means, only that it is what is needed for IVF and indicates the it is the optimal lining thickness for embryo implantation. If anyone can tell me what a "triple stripe lining" means that would be great!  Haha!

Anyway, so on Sunday they told me that the ER would be on Tuesday and that I should do the trigger shot (HCG) on Sunday evening. They also said that I should accompany the HCG shot with a 450iu shot of Follistem. Yowza!

This morning (Tuesday) I woke up at 5am with very intense ovulation pains. I never felt that before being on the fertility drugs but with 25 follicles releasing 25 eggs... ouch. It's hard to explain the actual feeling it was just intense.

The ER is a surgery so no eating or drinking since midnight. We went to the clinic this morning for 7:45 am.

(Please keep in mind that this is my experience and it may be different at other clinics)

I went into the surgery center by myself while my hubs went into a separate room to give his sample. They had me take off all my clothing and put on a hospital gown facing backwards and then another one as a robe. I also had to put on a cap to cover my hair. Fast forward through signing paperwork and confirming date of births and social security numbers for the hubs and myself. I started to get very nervous... when I get nervous I break out in a blotchy red rash on my chest and neck... and then I cry. Yep. Big fat tears rolling down my face and I just couldn't stop it. Gah. It's just an overwhelming thing, this whole process is terribly overwhelming and then with losing all of the embryos last time... I was just scared because so much is on the line here. This is it. This is the final dance. This is the final IVF that our insurance covers and I am unsure if this is something that we can afford to do again if it doesn't work out.

But... no pressure right?

The staff thought I was nervous and concerned about the surgery so the nurses and anesthesiologist were very sweet and trying to console me... but I was so choked up that I couldn't explain to them that I wasn't scared about the surgery I was scared about losing all of the embryos again like last time. The surgery, no biggie.

After I got the IV in my arm they lead me into an operating room. The end of the bed is gone and in it's place are holders for my legs because, obviously, they have to get to my ovaries and how they get there is through my va-jay-jay. They positioned me on the bed with my legs spread eagle (I'm covered up at this point but I am sure not for long). The anesthesiologist gave me some magic stuff in my IV...

...and I woke up 30 minutes later in recovery.

I had some cramping/pain.  They gave me some medicine to help with the pain and my hubs came in to sit with me.  They told us that they got 20 eggs!  Even though I had 25 follicles they were not able to get to them all.  They go through the wall of my uterus to my ovaries and some of the follices were unreachable.  I was there in recovery for about 45 minutes and then we went home.  I slept for 4 hours and have been a couch potato all day. 

I'll go back to work tomorrow and wait for them to call in the morning to let me now how many eggs were mature and how many were fertilized.  Then they will call on Friday morning and let us know if we will do the transfer that day or wait until Sunday.  That was the phone call last time where they told us that the embryos didn't survive.  I'm going to try and be as positive and optimistic... but...

Please God. 
Please.