Retrieval

Man, I am so glad I have the benefit of experience this time around. I knew what I was in for, knew what I needed, and therefore the experience was very different from last time.

We had to be up at the hospital in Denver at 7am. It was Martin Luther King Day, so the outpatient surgical center was closed. They had me to go the inpatient center in stead, which frankly, I think I got more attention both because the place was a ghost town, and also because their policies for how they treat patients on the inpatient side is more involved. (Not that last time was really all that terrible by any means.)

We had the added wrinkle of having a three year old we needed to take care of this time around. Fortunately, Chris’s brother Mark came to spend the night, and take care of Aaron for us while we would be away. Aaron idolizes his uncle, and they had a blast together.

We got up at 4:45 am, and I had to take a shower before I went. Being surgery, they had instructions that I had to be clean with no lotion, makeup, jewelry, nail-polish or anything. Just plain old me. We got up there just fine. The roads were pretty empty that early. I went straight back to pre-op and got changed into my hospital gown, and they got an IV put in.

Getting Ready for Surgery

They didn’t do full-on anesthesia on me, but something where I would sleep while they did the procedure. One of my big things I wanted was pain medicine. I remember waking up in a tremendous amount of pain last time – like they didn’t give me any pain meds until after I woke up. I insisted that that not be the case this time. I am so glad I did. I hurt when I woke up, but it was manageable level for sure.

It was a little unnerving being on the inpatient side. It was a full on operating room with tons of equipment like you see on TV. I knew that 99% of that stuff wasn’t needed for this procedure, but it still kind of freaked me out. I saw the incubator for my eggs and the doctor who would manage that part, and that was pretty exciting. Yep, we have to do this. Before I knew it, I started to feel loopy and slid into a pleasant sleep with vivid dreams that I can’t remember. I could hear the activity in the room while I slept, but tuned it out. Before I knew it, I was awake, and feeling a little pain, but was mostly ok. They let me take my time waking up, and gave me saltine crackers and ginger ale so they could give me another round of pain medication before I went home.

The doctor came by and told me the great news: they retrieved 21 eggs. Wow! That sounds like a lot. I am happy with that number.

Chris and my mom came back to help me get my things together and to hear the post-op instructions and then it was time to go home. I was ready to go relax in my own bed.

I felt ok as long as I didn’t get up. Walking was tough and painful, so a clear indication that I just needed to be a bum the rest of the day. Aaron was glad to see me, and honestly pretty freaked out that I was sick/hurt. He insisted on laying next to me and watching movies with me. We watched “Return to Neverland” (I read a book) and hung out. I feel bad for him being nervous over my condition, but really, soon enough I will be back to my old self and we can play like normal.

My Lunch Date

The nausea from the hormones is going away thank God. I get to take a break from all the medications for a while as I heal. When my system gets back on track and I have a period again, I will have to get back on a low dose of hormones in preparation for implantation. In the meantime, it is just time to rest.

Excited! And, so glad to have this part behind me.