2 Aleve, 4 Advil

And I still think I'm going to be sick. They weren't kidding about this being a really bad period.
How much more can I take before, you know, I risk stomach pumping. I'm essentially at 4 times the dose as it is (2 times Aleve doseage, 2 times Advil dosage, and you're not supposed to take BOTH) ... and on all of that I'm still so crampy that I do think the odds of my getting sick (vomiting from the cramp pain) are somewhere north of 30%

I wasn't sure how long it would take from egg retrieval to getting my period. I thought 2 weeks give or take, but never really got a fixed answer. So it was 11 days almost to the hour. I already feel a huge reduction in the amount of bloatedness, and I'm down another 3 lbs of the bloat wait just since yesteraday. Overall, I'm now just about 4-5 lbs heavier than when I started this whole process. Some of that may still be water weight, and some of it might just be because I really threw caution to the wind when it came to eating while on the shots :) If I end up only, say, 3 "real" lbs up, that's fine. that's 1-2 weeks of dieting. No problem.

A little confession

I still think it's too good to believe that I've really preserved my fertility. And of course, officially it's not a guarantee, but with NYU's stats and with 28 eggs, my odds should ~95%. But so far, I'm glad I've done this, but I'm not really convinced that this is one less thing to worry about. I'll still have my post-retrieval consult with the doc, and maybe that's all I need. But while I can sit here and calculate statistics (NYU has a 60% pregnancy rate with frozen egg transfers for women under 38. Assume they defrost 9-10 eggs each time and I get 3 tries - that should be 94% overall) I still hear my biological clock ticking. Do i really have a 94% insurance policy? That's what the calculator says, but I don't feel that level of safety.

It's funny, I was at a party on Saturday night, and I met a lovely 35 year old women who I didn't previously know. Somehow the conversation turned to us being single in our 30's, and she started telling me about how she researched all about egg freezing and went to a seminar and everything. I was kinda stunned and looked at her and said "are you kidding?" - it was really trippy to have someone in a social setting evangelize egg freezing to me right after this whole adventure, when I hadn't said anything to let on that I had just done it. I let her talk and then said "9 days ago I was in surgery getting my eggs retrieved and frozen." Anyway, we then talked about Extend fertility (see this post) and she had had the same thoughts that I did. "I was really offended" she told me. Anyway, I told her to head over to NYU.

Which reminds me. My favorite nurse at NYU, Jennifer, was really awesome to me - helped me with needles, answered my endless questions, drew a big circle on my butt so I could give myself a shot ... I want to send her a gift. I think flowers are trite and who really cares .... so ... chocolate, right?

On another rambling point ... My boobs are huge right now. I don't have anything to fit them. It's PMS times 31 I guess. I've almost gone out and bought a new bra just to last me through this week.

One Week Post Retrieval

I feel great. No more pain or soreness.

It aches a little when I stretch or yawn, but that's it. Back to my normal self. Waiting for my skin to clear up and for the last water weight to go away. But otherwise I feel fantastic. I think I'm in the clear for any post-retrieval complications.

Feeling Great

4 and half days post retrieval - I feel great - no symptoms of OHSS setting in. Took my last post-retrieval antibiotic pill tonight. I'm still a little bloated, but beyond that, I feel fantastic - much better than I did while I was on the hormones.

I was putting away some of the injection stuff I still had sitting around (packages of needles and such) and my needle aversion is definitely much higher than it ever was. I'm so glad I have no more shots so give myself - just looking at the needles made me want to flee. Some sort of aversion really did build up over time. But that's not important anymore. What's very cool is that this whole thing is done - I feel great. The eggs are on ice, and it looks like I'm escaping without any measurable post retrieval complications.

So now what? Here are the remaining "milestones"

Tomorrow (5 days post retrieval): I can start taking advil/aspirin again
Sometime in the next week or two: I get probably the worst period ever
Thurs Nov 13 (2 weeks post): Restrictions on baths, tampons, sex, etc no longer in effect
Yearly: $1,000 annual frozen storage costs due until such time I use/donate/dispose of the eggs

3 days post-retrieval

I'm feeling substantially better today - the first day that I've felt decent in a while. Tomorrow will be 4 days post retrieval. OHSS is supposed to kick in 4-5 days after, so I guess the next 48 hours will be telling. I will be so glad if no symptoms kick in. I'm looking forward to picking my social life back up. I feel like it's been on hold for a couple of months.

28 good eggs in the freezer

28 out of the 31 were good enough to freeze - mature, normal, and freezeable. This is a fantastic end result. I had to ask the nurse for verification - 28 were actually good? Not just mature, but also good as judged by the embryologist? I really would have been thrilled to hear that 20 made it to freeze because I figured many of those 31 would be immature or abnormal in some way.

When I started this process, I had been thinking I would certainly do 2 rounds of egg freezing just to be safe. Maybe a round now and another one in a year or two. But with 28 known good eggs, I don't think I need to. The average number of eggs retrieved for egg freezing by NYU (according to their site)is 14 - so 28 actually making it to the freezer is better than 2 average rounds.

Anyway, great results. This process was worth it for me (although I'll stamp that final approval once I get past the OHSS risk). Guys have it so lucky, 5 minutes and they've got 250 million sperm. For me, 28 eggs required a month of shots and side effects and health risks and anesthesia. But I'm not complaining!

For all the process, I think there's a really good shot there are some genetic halves of future babies on ice in a container at NYU with my name on it. Even if I don't end up using these eggs, I'm pretty sure I'll donate them to someone who needs them. At one point in my life I thought I could never be an egg donor because I wouldn't want to have biological children that I didn't know out there somewhere. But I don't feel that way anymore. For the effort I undertook in this process, and with all the blogs, forums, and such that I read about people struggling with infertility, I really hope these eggs make babies for someone if not for me.

Retrieval Recap

I showed up to the center at 10am (as requested) for my 11am retrieval. I filled out another form and had to change into two gowns (one tied in the front, one in the back), socks, and a surgery cap. I was weighed (up nearly 10 lbs since I started - normal, just bloating I hope) and interviewed about the last time I ate, medical history, etc. I had to sign things like "Yeah, I know people die from anesthesia" and was told that retrieval only actually took 10 minutes.

I sat in a chair waiting to be called into the surgery room, and watched other women in recovery. They seemed fine, relaxed, sleepy. That was good - I would be in their position in less than an hour.

When it was my turn I had to take one of the gowns off and got into the surgery bed. My IV was hooked up and then we all waited around for the doctor. I think they gave me a general sedetaive or something at that point (the anesthesiologist injected my IV and I asked if that was what was going to knock me out and she said it was just to relax me). Finally the doc came in and at that point they lifted my thighs into these big, ummm ... thigh holders?.... and that had me completely on show for the room of nurses and doctors - far worse than simple stirrups, which doesn't bother me. Ugh. At that point I was happy at the thought of getting knocked out and not at all worried (even though I had been worried about the anesthesia - I wasn't now). The anesthesiologist told me she was administering it, and I recall telling her "wow - I feel that kicking in." I felt drunk and I tried to see if I could control keeping myself awake (just as a science expirement) . That's the last thing I remember in the surgery room.

Next thing I know I'm awake in the recovery room, and there are sharp stabbing pains in my lower intestines. I didn't start screaming, but definitely let the nurses know I was in a lot of pain. The first one said "that's because you had a lot of eggs." My retrieval also took 20 minutes instead of the average 10 minutes. The pain would come in waves, but when I wave hit it was really bad. When I tried to sit up I almost fell over. They quickly brought a regular ultrasound over to see if I had internal bleeding, but it looked good. They said my bladder was very full (from the IV), and that, along with the sheer size/swelling of my ovaries post-surgery was pushing substantially on my lower intestines. Somewhere around now is when they told me the number 31, which was shocking since I thought I only had ~20 follicles. They gave me something for pain through my IV and also Tylenol by mouth.

While we waited until I was ok enough to get up, they gave me some juice and graham crackers (standard recovery fare).

I finally did get up and try to use the bathroom, hoping that would help things. I'll spare the details, but it took me multiple tries and a long time. With that and with the pain meds, I was in much better shape. They kept asking if I was light headed or anything, which I wasn't. So they were able to discharge me. It was about 1 pm - only 30 minutes later than my ETA discharge of 12:30. Instructions - no tampons, baths, sex, advil/aspirin, douche, saunas, etc for 2 full weeks. Call immediately if I get any symptoms listed [...]

My mom was in the waiting room waiting for me - they had to make sure that I had an adult driving me home - and we left.

It's now the next morning ... Things still hurt - hurts to sit, hurts to walk, but not as much. Now I'm just waiting for the call to find out how many eggs were good/mature/frozen.

I'm also reading up on OHSS (Ovarian Hyper Stimulation Syndrome - post egg retrieval, when there were lots of eggs, the ovaries can do things which essentially cause fluid to accumulate in the abdomen), which is a little scary. The fact that I'm under 35, have polycystic ovaries, and had 31 eggs puts me at a high risk (That's why ideal is 10-20 eggs. 31 is good for having gotten so many eggs, but it's not good for my health). Symptoms usually kick in 4-5 days post retrieval. From what I've read, it's sorta inevitable that I'll develop some level of OHSS and nothing I can do about it, I think the best I can hope for is that it's mild and doesn't interfere with life for the 1-2 weeks it sticks around.