So, the trigger shot went fine. Crazy, though. I had Matt set his clock alarm and his watch alarm to get us up. We had really bad thunderstorms move in last night, and I was worried that we would lose power, the alarm would never go off, and we would not wake up. That would be just my luck! Anyway, the power did go out, but the storms woke us up at 12:24am. The power was back on by that point, and I went downstairs to mix up the shot. I think I was still half asleep. I had a few minutes left prior to shot time, so I asked Matt if I should ice the injection area to help numb it up. Just then...BOOM, CRACK, KA-POW....the power went out again. I was swearing like a sailor, and Matt was frantically searching for the lantern. He was prepared to shoot me up via lantern light if necessary. Thankfully - two minutes later the power came back on. I skipped the icing part and went straight for the shot. Matt didn't hesistate, and he did a great job. The needle did not hurt going in. I only felt some pressure, especially while he was injecting the HCG mixture. After the needle came out, though, I was like...OUCH. It felt like someone had been using my bootie as a punching bag. I had this really deep muscle ache, which I suppose makes sense since the injection is supposed to go deep into the muscle. I massaged the area for a bit and then went back to bed. This morning it still ached, but I went to the gym to try to walk off some of the pain. It isn't too bad now. All in all, today....my belly hurts from the bruising from twice daily shots, my arms are sore from having my blood drawn about 4 times, my bootie hurts from the trigger shot, and my ovaries are totally barking! Well, not literally barking...but barking because they are sore. Don't I make the IVF process sound so appealing? Makes you feel like you missed out by having kids the "traditional" way, doesn't it?
I do not have to have any shots today. I only have to take two antibiotics tonight. Tomorrow I will be up at 5am to get some food in me (I can't eat after 5:45am). Then back to bed and up by 8am to get some liquid in me (no liquids for me after 8:45am). We will leave here by 9:30am to make sure that we are in Rockville by 11:15am. The acutal procedure is scheduled for 12:45pm.
The egg retrieval is a simple surgical procedure, but I will be given a general anesthetic (aaahhh...sleepy time) in order to keep me comfortable. A large needle, guided by ultrasound, will be pushed through the vaginal wall in order to access the ovaries. The follicles will be aspirated into the needle, and the needle will then be removed. An embryologist will be on hand to take the follicles and assess them. We will be given an initial egg report after the procedure. We will continue to get daily fertilization and growth reports from the nurses up until the time of egg transfer. Starting tomorrow night, we will begin the progesterone in oil (PIO) intramuscular injections. These shots are used to prepare my body for a potential pregnancy and to better equip my body to maintain a pregnancy. These are intramuscular (IM) injections that I will receive daily until the time of a pregnancy test. In addition to these shots, I will continue taking my prenatal vitamins and baby aspirin, and I will begin taking another hormone supplement called Estrace. So - the really big stuff all gets started tomorrow. We are well on our way!
