A slight change of plans

Well, things haven't gone exactly as we were expecting. We went in on Thursday for the retrieval of the eggs. There were about 12 follicles that were seen in the ultrasounds, but there wasn't a mature egg in each one. We did get 5 mature eggs though. Dr. Peterson said that yes, we were expecting more eggs, but at least we have some eggs to work with. He said that not every body reacts the same to these hormones and sometimes it is actually going through the process of extracting the eggs that helps us learn more about why I haven't been able to get pregnant. I was pretty out of it when he was talking to us, so I'm looking forward to learning more when we meet with him again.

With the lower number of eggs and the likelihood that about 1/2 would fertilize, he prepared us for no longer being candidates for their Single Embryo Study. He thought that we will probably do the implantation on Day 3 vs. Day 5 and implant 2 embryos (as long as we get 2).

Sure enough, we heard from the Embryologist this morning and he said that 2 eggs fertilized and Dr. Peterson wants us to come in tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. Then he will talk to us about the quality of the embryos and how many he recommends we implant. They should have pictures of them!

We feel blessed that we have these two and hope that they continue to divide and grow over the next day. We are anxious to get them out of the petri dish and into the safe comfort of my uterus. My sister Abbie reminded me that nurturing is what I'm good at. My body will know what to do and will be a great home for them!

I started taking the progesterone shot the night of the extraction. The needle is long and thick and the medication is in sesame seed oil so it takes longer to plunge. I got the worst cramp the first night and could barely walk. The nurse recommended massaging the area and walking around afterwards and that helped last night. My hips are going to be so sore!


Other than that, I'm feeling much better today. The egg extraction was quite a painful process...thank goodness for the drugs! I was so relaxed and sleepy that I really didn't really care what was going on. I do remember the doctor poking hard at the ovaries and saying they were "bouncy". I guess I was wincing because Clay asked if it hurt me. The doctor compared my pain to grabbing his testicles with a vice grip! Yes, painful! Here's a picture of me after the procedure while I'm drinking juice and eating crackers to avoid nausea. Not so cute with a hospital gown, no make-up and a little groggy! But we're documenting everything, right?


I've been taking it easy over the past two days. I have a few more days of bedrest coming up. I'm looking forward to watching movies and reading! I'll report back tomorrow after we talk with the doctor.