Monday, March 29, 2021

IVF Cycle 1 - CD 24

I'm still unsure if the current cycle day means anything, but I am going to keep providing that information.

We've had a big few days, but fortunately all of the news has been good. Like...scary good. 

As scheduled, we had the egg retrieval procedure on Friday morning at 9:00 am. I was surprisingly relaxed about the whole thing. We had a fantastic nurse named Allison who checked on me frequently and made me feel so comfortable. They had cheerful music playing overhead, including a few Jimmy Buffett tunes. After they rolled me into the operating room and I was starting to feel the anesthesia, I made sure to tell the whole team that my deceased (that's the specific word I used) dad liked Jimmy Buffett, and having Jimmy Buffett playing brought me happy memories of my dad. That's the last thing I remember before I woke up back in recovery. 

Once I realized I was done, I asked Richard if they'd gotten all four follicles, and he reported that they had. Of course, I was very excited about the news. I was also excited about the post-surgery snacks I was offered, including Scooby Snacks (baked graham cracker snacks), pretzels, and a Coke. The snacks helped the recovery time pass quickly, and I was fortunate that I was not in any pain. Richard brought me home to rest, but it was a fairly easy day.

After our part was done, the lab got to work. Richard had to bring a semen sample to the hospital on Friday morning, which while a bit uncomfortable and embarrassing does seem simple compared to my role in the gig. At our RE's recommendation, we chose to do intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection, or ICSI. With ICSI, each mature egg is injected with a single sperm (one wearing a tuxedo, just like I mentioned with IUI). ICSI is more common among couples with male factor infertility (MFI), which is not a concern for us, but we want to give our eggs the best possible chance of success.

The embryologist called me early Saturday morning with an update. I did not realize how nervous I would be when I saw the call pop up on my screen. I was out running (this was not exactly in line with doctor's orders, but it worked out okay this time) and was totally alone, which would be both good and bad if the news was not good. Fortunately, it turned out that the news was not just good but great (or GRRRRRR-eat as Tony the Tiger would say): all four eggs were mature, and they all fertilized.

After that news, Richard and I were extremely glad we decided to follow through with IVF despite the low number of follicles. We are waiting patiently (for now) and hoping that we have more good news on Thursday. So far, it seems that we have quality over quantity, and I am okay with that. I thought for sure that we would need to do another round of stims and egg retrieval, as we want to have a comfortable amount of normal frozen embryos before attempting a transfer. However, our RE told Richard that might not be the case. Ultimately, we could have 0, could have 4, and will likely have some number in between. For now, however, we are celebrating these victories after making a risky decision last week. We are so thankful for the prayers and support as well as the enthusiasm from others and celebration as we share this good news!



Something that made today great: I never do two things, but I'm making an exception today: (1) Lunch at The Chimes with Julianna and (2) An amazing card from my friend KT that arrived in the mail today! 
Time I woke up: 8:40 am

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