Today was one of those gloomy, dreary Fall days.  The type that farmers don’t like to see happen as they are trying to get their crops out of the field.  But this was a day that was fitting for how I’m feeling and perfect for staying in my cozy bed sleeping and catching up on my DVR and Netflix shows I just don’t seem to have enough time for.

Yesterday was our retrieval day.  I was beyond ready for the doctor to put me under and offer me some brief solace from my bloated misery.  I was also excited to hear how many of the follicles they were able to harvest eggs from.  My mom was kind enough to come to our place at 5:40AM {she even had to drive an hour to get here!} so that we wouldn’t have to wake Lincoln and take him with us.

We arrived at the clinic shortly before 6AM and I waddled down the hall to my waiting room.  The nurse took my vitals and could see how uncomfortable I was.  The procedure wasn’t scheduled until 7 but they had to have another nurse, the anesthesiologist, and the doctor make their rounds and make sure I understood what was happening in the procedure.  Yes I knew, and I couldn’t wait to get it done! The doctor expected it to take the full 45 minutes because of my high follicle count.

Shortly before 7AM, they took me back to the procedure room, strapped me in to the cold bed, and to sleep I went 🙂

It was around 8:45 – 9:00 when they woke me up.  I was in so much pain and discomfort, nothing like either of the retrievals before.  I was shaking and crying from the discomfort and felt like my insides had exploded. They gave  me IV tylenol with codeine and then another dose of some other wonderful drug which eventually helped subside the agony inside me.

The doctor came in and shared the news that they harvested 20 eggs out of all the follicles.  I was a little surprised because I felt so much fuller than this, but 20 is a great number, so no complaints!  And even better, the doctor thought we could move forward as planned for the fresh embryo transfer on Saturday!!  My ovaries were quite large, by my estrogen level was not terribly high, considering {just over 2500}, and she believed the fluid in my ovaries would drain and swelling go down in time for Saturday.  This was more great news!!!

We were able to leave the clinic shortly after 10.  Overall the procedure took much longer than past retrievals so I was even more thankful that my mom had taken Lincoln so he wouldn’t have waited around that long.  It would have been awful feeling the way I did and listening to a tired, whiny 4 year old who just wanted to go to school!

We headed home and I headed straight to bed.  I was told not to take any pain meds until 2PM when the others had completely worn off, otherwise they would not react well together.  By 1:30, I was NEEDING the pain meds.  I was in so much discomfort, my stomach & intestines feeling like they were squished inside me.  Any time I moved I took a bucket with me… just incase.  I had to force myself to eat some toast as I feared the thought of having nothing to come up if/when that time came and the idea of dry heaving was nightmarish based on how much it hurt to even cough.

At one point I made my way to the bathroom.  I was crying because of the pain associated with just the simple act of going to the bathroom when I felt the lightheadedness, the dry, parched mouth, and knew my insides were coming up.  I had failed to take the bucket with me the 15 steps from my bed to the toilet so I screamed for Eric to bring it….quick!  I vaguely remember spitting in the bucket and then it was gone…..the next thing I heard was Eric yelling at me and slapping my face.   I had passed out and hit my head on the side of the tub.  Now my head hurt along with my insides and he wouldn’t stop screaming at me!

I finally realized what had happened and he helped me up.  I at least no longer had to puke, but I still felt awful :(.  The rest of the afternoon and evening was the same as well as through the night.  There are more embarrassing stories I could share along with this one, but we’ll stop there 🙂

This morning I woke up feeling somewhat better.  I still feel bloated and have little to no appetite, but was told by the nurse today that eating protein and drinking lots of water should help with this.  It still hurts with every step I take, but I’ve lost my sidekick bucket and have been able to move around a little more without feeling like I’d toss my proverbial cookies.  Hopefully tomorrow I’m feeling well enough to go back to work.

Today I also received the call advising how many of the eggs fertilized.  Like I said, we had 20 total harvested.  4 of them were not mature and they were unable to even try to fertilize.  Of the remaining 16, 14 of them fertilized.  There is no way to know for sure why the other 2 did not fertilize, but all in all, I’m ecstatic to hear that 14 fertilized!  The nurse confirmed they intend to move forward with transfer on Saturday morning and to continue on my progesterone shots and other pills I’m currently taking.

I must say, in all of my procedures, shots taken, bruies, allergic reactions to patches, and invasive ultrasounds, this recovery post retrieval has been the worst experience of all of this. This recovery has been worse than child birth {although I actually enjoyed most of my labor with Lincoln!} and right now, I can honestly say I never want to go through this again!

But then I see my son and am reminded that I have so much indescribable love for him and if going through this agonizing process again has a even a small chance of delivering me another one of those, I would do it over and over and over again.

Love is an incredible, amazing and powerful thing and experiencing it as a parent is the most rewarding thing I have ever done and pray to do again.