Are we there yet?

There's me at the Dr. office in Akron at 7:45 Sunday morning giving the thumbs up! Follicles are ready to go! He only measured the big ones but I noticed sizes of 18mm, 19mm, and 20mm. I asked him what he's prediction was on how many would be retrieved. He said without counting based on his experience- he thinks I will have 22 eggs retrieved and 14 of those 22 will be mature. That made me smile ear to ear!!! He also said something to the effect of "Not seeing any problem starting a family with my quantity of follicles" We told him we had an IUI child already so he made a joke saying we are trying all methods- so after IVF done we will conceive naturally. I hope after this IVF that my trying to conceive journey is finally closed because it's been a long, long journey.
After we had our ultra sound we talked to IVF nurse who explained our instructions for next two weeks. Basically more shots, more pills, more waiting. Shots are progesterone. They go in my back side- nurse drew two nice big targets with a sharpie for Scott. LOL. These are the shots women really dislike. The needle is bigger and the medicine is thick like cooking oil so it doesn't absorb fast. Nurse said its like getting a tentanus shot everyday. Sweet! This will thicken my uterine lining so babies can stick and stay. I will be on these shots at least until we see a heartbeat then we can possible switch to a suppository.
I will also be on antibiotics, a steroid (to help with implantation and make sure my body doesn't reject the embryos), and estrace- which, like the progesterone shots, helps thicken the uterine lining. That's all in addition to my regular pre natals, folic, and baby aspirin.
So all shots in belly are done! Last night we ewre instructed to give the HCG trigger shot (the most important shot of this whole deal) at 11:30PM. They have to time this shot perfectly with egg retrieval. I asked nurse if HCG made my eggs come out of the follicle- she said no- the egg is resting on the side wall of the follicle before the HCG shot. The HCG shot makes the egg detached from side wall of follicle and float in middle of follicle- right where we want it for retrieval! If we wait to long after giving HCG shot the egg will come out of the follicle (what we don't want for IVF cycle- but what you do what with IUI cycle) HOW THE HELL DO PEOPLE CONCEIVE NATURALLY? It is a mystery to me.
So nurse also told me after retrieval all the drained follicles will fill back up with fluid and becoming cystic. That will cause some pain, bloating, etc and will take a  few weeks to go away. This is normal thing to happen with IVF patients and I need to stay hydrated, eat salty foods and protein and take it easy. This part makes me super nervous. Especially with my bowel problems/history.
Did I mention I am exhausted, sore and bloated? I am also getting excited!!! Nurse gave me a lab sheet to go get my blood pregnancy test on August 19th and also gave me a second one to repeat after first one comes back positive. WOW now that's positive thinking!! I did ask about the chances of triplets. She said chances of twins are 20%, and chances of trips are 5%.
Tomorrow my eggs will become my embryos! A embryologist will update me on my eggs/embryos Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday afternoon and Friday morning. Based on how my embryos grow/split/divide I will either have them transferred 3 days after retrieval or 5 days after retrieval. So Friday or Sunday I get my babies back and pray they "like the place" and want to stay for 9 months!!

   AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH



Ready to Trigger!