Waiting around for Wednesday

I had intended to post a more detailed account of the egg retrieval Sunday when I was feeling better. However, I failed to realize that it would take days to recover. I, unfortunately, have not been one of those people for which the retrieval was a breeze. Here it is already 3 days later, and I'm still in a lot of pain, uncomfortable and stuck sitting around the house (read: very, very bored).

So I'm going to ease my boredom and give you the full account, even if I still feel like crap.

Sunday was not the best day to have an egg retrieval. I needed to get up at 4 am to make it to the clinic at 6:45 am. That meant we did not go see fireworks so we could try to get enough sleep. Our neighbors had other plans, and continued to shoot off fireworks until at least 2:30 in the morning. Add that to general trouble sleeping because of nerves and we barely slept at all.

Once we arrived, the nurse brought us back to the recovery room and prepped me for the retrieval. I changed into a gown and climbed into the bed. She went through the release instructions, hooked me up to the monitor, and started my IV. It was my first IV ever, and I was happy to find out that it hurt a lot less that the needle digging I had gone through lately for the blood draws. Dr. S had some monitoring u/s to do for other women before we got underway, so I waited for a half hour in that state. I was doing ok- maybe a little nervous, but more ready to get going. By the end of that half hour of waiting, I started to have a little more anxiety though. During that time, the embryologist came in and introduced herself and let us know she would call that evening to tell us how many mature eggs there were.

Then the anesthesiologist came in and explained his role (but honestly, I didn't really retain much of what he said). Dr. S came back with the nurse and she helped me walk through the doors to the ER room with my IV. It was a pretty small room. The stirrups were massive compared to the ones you usually see, and padded, so they were actually comfortable. As I was getting my legs into position, the embryologist slid open a window on the side of the room (it looked a little bit like a drive-thru window). The anesthesiologist put the oxygen tube in my nose, and I felt something uncomfortable go into the IV in my hand. And then I was out. This was the first time I had ever been under anesthesia.

When I came to, I felt something that kind of hurt, and said something (?) but I have no clue what. It was all over, they helped me move over to the bed and wheeled me over to the recovery room. The next couple parts are kind of hazy. I remember Dr. S telling us right away that they got 22 eggs, which was more than we were expecting. The nurse got me a heated blanket for my abdomen and Gatorade to drink with saltines. After a while, I went to the bathroom and so she took the IV out after that. The nurse gave me two extra strength Tylenol. After about 30 minutes I got dressed and the nurse wheeled me out to the car in a wheelchair. She also gave me a heated blanket for the car ride. I was in pain, but slept for most of the 2 hour drive home.

Sunday wasn't that bad, pain wise (especially compared to now!). I drank lots of Gatorade (to help with the bloating) and popped Tylenol like candy. Most of the day I sat with a heating pad and that really helped. I felt so relatively good by evening, that we went to see the fireworks in a local town (because we missed out the night before). But at about 2:30 am I woke up in extreme pain. I was sobbing because it hurt so badly. I think the Tylenol had worn off by then, and sleeping flat without a heating pad really did me in. (the fluid in your abdomen stays lower if you sit upright. When you lay down it can make your whole abdomen bloat up to your ribs. I was having trouble taking anything more than a shallow breath.)

Monday and today have been more of the same since I woke up that night. The bloat makes me feel like my whole body cavity is going to burst. I can't walk standing up straight and I waddle slowly around the house. Every step I take hurts. I am wearing the most loose clothing possible, but the pressure of the waistbands still hurts. I have been using a heating pad 24/7- and sleeping with it. To say that I am uncomfortable is an understatement. I also have a lot of respect for women who do this while they are working- because I don't know what I would do if I had to teach right now. The nurse made it sound like the second and third days are the worst and if I can get past that, I'll be ok. So I'm just trying to make it to tomorrow for relief... and to find out how our 6 fertilizing embryos are doing.