Egg Retrieval
Today was egg retrieval day!
We began injections on Monday, April 1st and continued them through Monday, April 8th. During that time, I had 3 office visits (on the 4th, 6th, and 8th) to monitor my estrogen levels and measure developing egg follicles in the ovaries. On April 8th, the nurse called to let me know that my estrogen levels and follicle sizes indicated that I would be ready for egg retrieval on Wednesday, April 10.
To prepare for egg retrieval, I did an extra Gonal-F injection (the full 300 IU syringe) at 5:30 pm and two Ovidrel injections at 9:30 pm. That was the last injection of the stimulation phase! On April 9th, I had the day "off" as there were no scheduled injections and I did not have to keep my check-in appointment at the clinic. All I had to do on Tuesday was take an antibiotic with my regular meds (prenatal vitamin, vitamin D, and baby Aspirin). It was a nice birthday present. :-)
On Wednesday morning, we got Gavin settled for the day and arrived at Mid-Iowa Fertility at 8:15. We were called back soon and I got changed into an attractive gown, hair net, and booties. The nurse started an IV with fuilds right away, and we spoke to Dr. Young for a brief minute. As soon as the nurse gave me the first anesthesia medicine, the room started spinning and I don't remember much after that! I vaguely remember walking back to the procedure room with a nurse on either side of me and I know I laid down on a table. The next thing I remember is waking up in a reclining chair in the recovery area, with Eric sitting next to me.
As I dozed with my juice and warm blanket, the nurse checked on the outcome of the procedure. We were able to get 10 eggs! This is the average number of eggs procured at egg retrieval, so that is great news. The eggs were fertilized this afternoon, and we will get a phone call tomorrow to let us know how many fertilized successfully. The nurse told us that usually 70% are fertilized.
The eggs that successfully fertilized will continue to grow in the lab until they reach the 5 day blastocyst stage. At this point, the lab technician will send a biopsy of each embryo for PGS (Preimplantation Genetic Screening). We will learn those results approximately two weeks from today. So our next steps are to pray and wait!