CD 15- Egg Retrieval - Conception Day

Wow. What an experience.

My friend E, husband M and I piled into the car and headed to the clinic around 730am. Both of us had neither eaten or had anything to drink since midnight (ok, so m cheated, he had some coffee, but he HAS to have his coffee). I woke up feeling excited, and not really nervous. I woke up feeling invigorated, like I just transitioned into the next stage of this process (well, I did) and that this could really work.

Today I felt like I could climb a mountain. (except for my whole chickeneggweightbelt I was wearing.) M and I wore comfy pajamas (I wore my bear pajamas, rock!!). It was very comfortable.

They took us back and since we were both having procedures done, they said we could room together! It was so nice having him right next to me throughout the whole thing. We dressed in our paper gowns tied at the back, put on our booties and shower cap. We took a bunch of video and generally screwed around laughing. Occasionally we would hold each other, and I shed a couple tears along the way.

All the clinic staff were so nice to us, everyone was just so sweet and helpful and catering to our needs. It was very nice. The needle guy came in and said it was time to hook me up to an IV. That went by without incident, and soon I was receiving fluids. Another nurse came in to get me and M and I said our goodbyes.

The room I walked into was more 'operating room' like, and there was a big monitor with my name and birthdate on the screen. The needle man was obviously hooking up my sedation, and they covered me in warm blankets. A woman came in and asked me to confirm my name, my birthdate, my reason for being here today. I satisfied all of her questions and she left as quickly as she came. Dr. L came in and asked how I was doing. I was thankful he pulled down his mask when he spoke to me. It was much more human. I remember someone asking me where I worked and I told them. Then I remember they asked me what I did. This was the last thing I remember!

All of a sudden, it was my husband in my face asking me if I was ok. When I woke up I had a considerable amount of pain. I was too groggy to communicate this but luckily my husband knows me so well he told them I needed something asap. They put more pain meds into my IV and the pain dulled. I could still feel it, but it wasn't as achy.

I lay dozing for a minute or two and they walked M to his operating room. After about a half an hour or so they wheeled him back in, and I was so happy to see him. All I wanted to do was take care of him and stroke his hair and see how he was doing. Corny, I know. But I didn't want him to feel any pain. He was funny again in his rambling he does while coming back from conscious sedation. He was asking the IV guy about his years of schooling and began rambling incessantly. The nurses chuckled and I smiled, my wonderful husband.

The docs came in and said they went into both testicles and took sperm from both. The right one apparently had more than enough but that was the second one they tapped. So, we're all good on that front.

As far as I'm concerned, they said they found 10 eggs. This is a little disappointing but I'm not gonna let it get me down. I suspect out of those 10, that 5 will be mature and available for fertilization which would give us about 3-5 embryos to play with. Since we're only looking for one *really good one*, we're not as freaked out as we would be if we were looking for two or three good ones. The docs call me tomorrow to let me know how many of my eggs were mature officially and how many of the eggs fertilized.

Just think, M and I have combined our genes and created cell-like creatures that are sitting in petri dishes right now! Us! Our genes! Our children! It sounds macabre, but I like to think of all of those embryos as little souls, even the ones that pass to the other side. Maybe they will come back another time, or in another form, like a favorite pet or something.

Overall, the pain is not bad. It's a little uncomfortable to move around. It definitely feels like something happened in there. I'm spotting, but they said that's normal. Mostly, I'm just so proud of us as a couple, and of me for getting to this stage. After a failed vasectomy reversal, two weeks of birth control, 30 plus days of injections, a month of diagnostic procedures, heartache and hope - we have finally gotten to the stage where others can now take action. This is where science is needed, and M and I step back and observe until it's time to make decisions.

A big thank you to my friend, E who sat in the clinic waiting for us so patiently and drove us to and from. And thank you for pulling over when I had to puke on the way home from the sedation. You kick ass!


To my little embryos out there growing right now - may you produce additional cells and be as strong as your mother and dad.