The IVF process - Days 20 thru 23

Today marks day 23 of my IVF treatment process. On day 21 (Tuesday, January 24th), I went into the hospital around 6am to start the egg retrieval procedures. When I first arrived at the Day Surgery center, they had me undress and get into the hospital gown. About an hour later, a couple of nurses entered my room to ask some questions and begin my IV drip. That part was not as painful as I expected but the bruise it left is pretty big - I'd say about the size of a half-dollar.

Once they IV was in place, I rested for another 20 minutes or so and then two of the surgery doctors came in - one to explain the retrieval and lab process, the other to go over anesthesia. Within minutes of their departure, another nurse came into the room so we can head over to the OR. At that point, I had to kiss Erich goodbye so he could take care "of business" and I could get my part underway.

Never having surgery or anesthesia before, I was a tad nervous - the heart monitor and blood pressure machine picked up on that. The anesthesia nurse was wonderful. He comforted me, told me that was normal, and started asking me about school. The last thing I recall was staring at the clock so I would know how long I was in there once I woke up and a nurse saying, "We'll see you in a bit, Sheley". That was it. All of sudden, I'm being woken up by another nurse saying hello and wheeling me into a large room with a couple other patients. I came too fairly quick and felt little discomfort from the retrieval. 

Before we left, my doctor came into the room to discuss everything that happened. He was pleased to say that they retrieved 11 eggs (YES!) and that we were off to a good start. I was very excited to hear that news!

On day 22, I received my first call from the doctor handling the lab and fertilization process. He was happy to report that out of the 11 eggs retrieved, 8 of them were showing signs of maturity and were what he called "activated". He said they would now start looking at how well these fertilized eggs were going to divide. On day 23, I got my second phone call and again, it was positive news. Of the 8 fertilized eggs, they were starting to divide into two. He also said that two of the non-active eggs were showing signs of fertilization. He said those eggs would be slightly behind the others but as of now, we had 10 eggs to work with. 

Just to show you what those stages look like, I'll share a photo I found online (I'm in between days 2 and 3):

When he calls tomorrow, I hope to hear that all of those eggs have split again and that they will contain between 4 and 8 divisions within them. He anticipates that we will have more than enough eggs for implantation and should be able to schedule that procedure for this coming Sunday. Hopefully, we'll have plenty of extra that can be cryopreserved for future use - I'm almost positive we will! 

I am also getting daily shots of progesterone now. My doc has me injecting 1cc of the liquid into the muscle, which is never any fun. On top of that, I'm continuing to take my aspirin, prenatal vitamins, antibiotics, and another pill called dexamethasone. 

Here is what the progesterone shot looks like: 

So now we wait. I am feeling so great about everything that has happened thus far. I could not have asked for better results. I pray that one of the two embryos attaches and we are pregnant very soon. I will keep everyone posted and will share how the implantation goes after Sunday.