Extraction

I got the official word Saturday morning that my eggs would be extracted on Monday. So yesterday morning I made the early drive to Houston. It was a pretty easy procedure: I was under general anesthesia so I woke up and thought I'd only blinked and asked the doc when we were starting. "Oh, we're done!" Well alrighty then! It only took about 20 minutes.

So I get the call today that out of the 17 follicles I had growing, they harvested 8 mature eggs. Good news: all 8 were successfully fertilized! EIGHT POTENTIAL BABIES. They'll grow for 5-6 days then get frozen. I have to wait for my next cycle and then after that they can be implanted at any time.

I'M SO EXCITED!!!

Side Effects

More side effects from the FSH shots are emerging. Specifically, bloating. I went to New Orleans this past weekend and when I came back I'd gained a couple pounds. I figured it was from all the amazing food, but considering I'd walked ~10 miles each day, that couldn't have been the case. Nope. It was the shots. Bloating and weight gain. Great...

Another side effect I'm seeing an increase in is smell sensitivity. The floors are getting waxed this morning at work and as soon as I smelled it I wanted to hurl. Just now I went into the break room to refill my water and there was a BBQ potluck. I'm 100% on board with BBQ, but for some reason the smell just turned my stomach. Man, I hope that's not going to stick around if I get pregnant.

More drugs!

Friday morning I had bloodwork to check my E2 (Estradiol) levels. The doc called me Saturday to let me know that my levels were lower than they'd like, so I had to double my Menopur dosage. That shot already hurt enough as it was, now it hurts double.

I went this morning for more bloodwork (basically an every other day type thing) and a follicular ultrasound. No changes in my doses based on the blood, so that's good. Ultrasound showed 12 follicles on my right ovary (the lazy one!) and only 4 on my left. Most of them are between 8mm and 14mm, which the tech said was right on schedule. My doc will extract them when they've reached at least 22mm.

I go back in 2 days for more bloodwork and another ultrasound.

And It Begins

Well, we officially started the IVF process. We met with the coordinator about a week into December and I received all of my medications a couple of days before Christmas. Handing over a check for $15,000 was difficult. Paying another $2500 for medication was brutal. We're officially broke.

I started taking a Lupron injection the day after Christmas. Not so bad, although it causes itching and burning at the injection site and minor insomnia.

Last night I began the Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) shots, Gonal and Menopur. They hurt worse than the Lupron. It took me almost 30 minutes to give myself 3 shots because of the difficulty in trying to figure out how to attach all the different needles and mixing the medications. Gonal has to be kept in the fridge, but is supposed to warm up to room temperature before injecting.

My stomach looks like a pincushion. Last week I ended up with a huge bruise because I took the needle out at an angle instead of straight. At least Michael doesn't have to give me any butt shots, so there's at least something to be thankful for.

I go back for more bloodwork tomorrow to see if my FSH meds need adjusting.