Let's start with good things:
- We now have two dozen fertilized eggs. Obviously 24 is too many to put back, but luckily vitrification and FET means we can have two, reasonable pregnancies of 12 each....
- The red gatorade isn't so bad if it's really cold.
- After no percocet overnight, I felt great this morning. Better than in a week, in fact.
...that's all I can come up with.
Less good things:
- Stopping the percocet was stupid, stupid, stupid. Midmorning, I was suddenly in so much abdominal pain that I freaked out. Luckily, I did the responsible thing and called the Baby Factory. The doc on call there said she wasn't a bit surprised, given my age, battery-hen-style egg production, and extensive endometriosis. She told me to get back on the percocet and stay the heck in bed. Although it took several hours for the percocet to get back to its former level of effectiveness (because it always works better if you don't let the pain get away from you), I am basically okay now. I am also still in pajamas, which now have gatorade stains. Classy.
- Way too sick to go to acupuncture, even if I hadn't been forbidden to leave the bed.
- The nurse who called with the fert report announced that I would be having anesthesia for my ET, per the doctor who did the ER (Dr. Saturday, not Dr. Baby Factory), who never introduced himself in the OR and put my IV in badly so it hurt like hell the whole time.
Dr. Baby Factory and I had already talked about ET procedures, as he knows my ornery cervices better than anybody, and he did mention that anesthesia was a possibility. He mentioned it in a "in case you think *you'd* like this" kind of a way, just as information. We decided that valium was enough. Now some guy I don't even know has just announced that my care is changing, because he feels like it. I feel out of control and angry.
I also feel really, really sad about the idea of not being conscious for the ET. So much of the IVF experience is so distant from what I want the conception of our child to be like. I am grateful that I have the opportunity to use IVF, grateful that it may save us from infertility. But the experience is not without loss, you know? I've read so many IVF blogs, and ET day seems for so many couples like the day it becomes personal again, as they watch the embryo on the screen, hold hands as it goes in. I want that.
Doctor On-Call wants me to come in tomorrow anyway, to get checked for OHSS and so on. Since Dr. Baby Factory is also Dr. Monday, I hope to talk to him about it. I just hope I can keep from crying. Because crying hurts my belly so much right now.
Oh, I forgot one other good thing: a big shout out to my wonderful acupuncturist, who wrote to check in on me and is just generally a blessing.
24 eggs..thats amazing! Congrats! Maybe you can convince him to let you stay awake if you explain how important it is to you, i suspect that many people dont care/dont voice their preference.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
24 is great! How many are you guys putting back?
ReplyDelete24 embryos is really awesome. You could so be octomom and have your own reality show, if you wanted to.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear that the ER and aftermath have been so painful for you. I hope you're able to stay conscious for the ET. Good luck talking to Dr. Baby Factory tomorrow.
24 cheers for 24 embys! That's amazing. Are you starting to develop your reality show for when you're the first person to successfully deliver two sets of duodecaplets? (I had to look that one up) Ditto on E's point, maybe you can work your verbal magic and talk your way into being awake for the transfer. I have a feeling if anyone can pull it off, you can. It SUCKS that you should have to fight for that, of course, but no big surprise I guess.
ReplyDeleteStay on that percocet!
Congratulations on a whopping big TWENTY FOUR! :)
ReplyDeleteI hope you can get to talk to your nice doctor, and actually get to discuss your treatment like growned-ups. I hate when doctors do that thing where they treat you like a child who doesnt' know any better. Can you take someone with you to help get your point across? Esp if you're not feeling to good at the moment. Hope it all goes well, crossing my fingers and toes for you. :D Best wishes.
Wow! You have rock star ovaries! On the only cycle I got through with my own eggs I got 2 eggs. So I never experienced that ovarian pain. But I'm sure it's worth it. The progesterone injections I gave myself in the butt for 8 weeks really hurt, but the payoff, who is snoring away next to me as I type this, is SOOOOO worth it.
ReplyDeleteHope you can work things out re the anesthesia. Watching the embryos on the ultrasound screen become these blips of light in the darkness of my uterus was exciting. Although, what I remember most is how badly I needed to pee when the u/s tech pressed down HARD on my very full bladder.
Excited for you both!!
Sounds like you have good numbers. Remember to keep drinking that gatorade. You might also try the yellow. I hate the stuff overall, but can tolerate the yellow cold. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteGood news indeed on the 24. That is wonderful.
ReplyDeletePity about the decision on the anaesthesia. I never like it when these things are handed down from on high. So maybe it'll help if the Dr can explain how exactly they arrived at it? And you can put in your tuppenceworth.
Good luck, in any case, as ever. Keep downing the sauce..
Great numbers, sorry about the crappy fallout. I have had Susan only a couple of times (I think our schedules are out of sync) but she is tremendous. I never knew she had a blog-- thanks for posting that link!
ReplyDeleteFeel better. I hope you are lying somewhere cool and breezy whilst downing Gatorade and being waited on hand & foot by the inestimable Sugar.
wow, 24 embryos is awesome! congrats on such a good retrieval and fertilization.
ReplyDeletei hope you are able to speak with your doc and make some changes to the ET protocol (or at least get a better understanding of why the decision was made).
What a fantastic fert report!
ReplyDeleteHow is it not up to you about the anesthesia? What a bunch of b.s. Girl, no one can stick a needle in you without your consent. If you want to be awake for it, you tell them. It's not a comfortable experience, but I didn't think it was any worse than an IUI.
Yay for 24!!!! That's fabulous!
ReplyDeleteI hope your doctor is able to put your mind at ease or help with changing the decision for the ET. Although if it helps I definitely thought that the transfer was the worse part as trying to keep my bladder full made most of the lower half of my body have muscle spasms. My hips felt like they would explode along with my bladder.
My first ET was a warm and fuzzy and special. Sinatra was even on the musac. But then it didn't work. My husband wasn't even the same state as me during my FET and that was 100% fine. In fact, the Valium made everything fine. You need to do what's right for you, but in my experience/opinion, you're not missing much by being under for ET.
ReplyDeleteDude, after you've achieved your pregnancy, I think you should make an angel food cake with the extra eggs. Except I guess they won't be eggs anymore, and an embryo cake is really disgusting, isn't it? Sorry. I just meant, HOT DAMN, that's an absolutely wonderful start. I'm so sorry about all the painful and scary parts, and the loss of the experience of seeing the embryo--SAD. I hope more wonderful experiences will soon arise to compensate for that missed one.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the emby haul and best wishes for your transfer. I hope your bloat eases up soon - its no fun, that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteHoly canoli!!! Can you send some of that emby madness my way???? I hope your ET goes swimmingly and that you have sticky sticky embies. With that many, something's gotta stick, right? (((HUGS)))
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the 24 embryos. That is stupendous! I have to say, having read so many "my transfer was so amazing it brought me to tears" stories, I found my transfer to be completely lame and anticlimactic. My lab didn't even have any pictures of the embryo and the room was so small my wife couldn't come with. So...all in all, nothing worth being awake for, in my experience. (Especially since I was in so much pain from having to pee like a mofo.)
ReplyDelete