So we went in for our egg retrieval on Jan 31, I had 2 full ovaries filled with lots of follicles that we hoped contained lots of mature eggs. By the time we did the trigger shot (which was a super fun shot that had to be given intramuscular which means in the bum with a BIG needle that Spence had to do due to the location, he was as excited to give the shot as I was to receive it) I was exhausted all day long and I was pretty bloated. I had some minor anxiety the day we went in for the retrieval and they went ahead and put me under a little early, which I appreciated.
I woke up to find that my right ovary had shifted slightly and moved behind the veins/arteries (whatever the correct medical term is, I told you I'm not good at the science stuff) that supplies blood to the left side of my body and the doctor wasn't able to move through them to access the ovary. This means that instead of getting close to the 20 follicles that could have had a mature egg in them (based on the size) we got 10 from my left ovary only. I was so upset, the larger number of eggs you get the better chance you have of getting mature eggs and more embryos that fertilize, IVF is totally a numbers game and the bigger numbers you have the better chance you have of taking home a baby at the end of the process. One of the first things they tell you when you start IVF is that
(1) not every follicle will grow,
(2) not every follicle that grows will have an egg,
(3) not every egg that is retrieved will be mature and
(4) that not every mature egg will fertilize.
All I could think of was that right off the bat our chances were cut in half. I almost cried in the recovery room when I found out that they couldn't do anything with the right ovary. The recovery for the egg retrieval was rough for me. I was at a high risk for OHSS, which is when you respond too well to the stims and can lead to your ovaries being enlarged, fluid retention in the stomach, and a host of medical issues. More than likely not being able to get to my right ovary is what saved me from having OHSS, but I was still really bloated (I couldn't wear normal non legging/sweat pants pants for a week) and I think I was just all jacked up from the hormones because it was about a week before I was ready to be around people again. Some IVF procedures will do a fresh transfer, which means on day 5 after fertilization you go back into the clinic and they implant the embryo then. Since I was at risk for OHSS we opted to do a freeze all cycle which means that we opted to give my body a few months to heal after the medications. Studies have shown that FET (Frozen Embryo Transfers) have higher success odds and people say its because the woman is on fewer medications.
We did beat the odds when it came to the eggs fertilizing, we got 10 eggs and all 10 fertilized. Some clinics will call you on day 3 after fertilization and tell you how many have progressed that far, my clinic does not they only call you on day 5 to let you know how many made it that far. On day 5 they either implant the egg or freeze it. On our day 5 report we found out that of our 10 that fertilized we had 2 that made it to day 5 (see what I mean about it being a numbers game?).
We decided early in the process that we wanted to test the embryos for any chromosome abnormalities (PGS testing), most first trimester miscarriages are caused by abnormalities in the chromosomes. After the stress dealing with infertility and IVF I wanted to make sure that we had the best chance of a healthy pregnancy as possible. I know there's nothing fool proof in this process, trust me, I know, but I wanted to make sure that we did everything possible to know we had the smallest chance of problems after the transfer. The PGS testing and results take about 10 days from the day 5 report. The embryos are biopsied and the biopsy is sent off to the lab to test.
I got deployed to Reno NV after the first of the month, it was a fantastic distraction while we waited to hear if our 2 embryos were "normal". I was working 10-12 hour days and it was the best distraction ever. I got the call on Feb 14, yes on Valentines Day, that we have 2 "normal" embryos waiting for us to transfer. I wasn't totally aware of how stressed I was about the wait until I got that call. I was sitting in a café having a late breakfast, I literally cried when I hung up the phone I was so relieved at crossing this hurdle. One of the other benefits of PGS testing is that it also tells you the gender of your babies. So both Spence and I know, but we've decided not to tell anyone else until after we transfer and have a healthy pregnancy underway.
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