Never use google to figure out what your body is doing.
Ok, actually, in all honesty, fellow bloggers and IVF future mamas on the web have been extremely helpful at filling in the blanks for us…
Searches like, “Am I supposed to be extremely uncomfortable following egg retrieval?” Or “What is the best position to sleep in after egg retrieval?” Have been really insightful. Because of these searches I learned things the doctor and nurses never told me… like, sleeping sitting up until the ovaries’ swelling goes down, it may be hard to get back to usual activity the next couple of days, drink lots of Gatorade and eat a good amount of protein, and how about: P.S. (excuse the TMI) you’re going to be super constipated and it’s going to feel like knives when you pee.
Yes. It’s been an awesome 36 hours at the Hutchings’ home.
But I’m pushing through the pain and have a very understanding dude.
So, thanks for that Dr. Google. It saved me some serious discomfort. Oh hey, fertility clinic nurses, love you, but just tell us like it is. You’re going to be in excruciating pain during post op and you really shouldn’t just take one day off work, but several.
Now, to the findings…
We heard from the embryologist via a icy facts only email at noon today… (I get it, they are just doing their job… but I’m on pins and needles here)
“Hi Jessica,
This is the embryology lab from Ovation Fertility in Las Vegas and we are writing to you today to update you on your fertilization results. After your retrieval yesterday there were 15 mature oocytes to inject out of 15 total retrieved. Today you had 11 oocytes with fertilization. We will continue culturing your oocytes and hope to see development into embryos. We will give you a final update after we have a final blastocyst count (6-7 days from now).”
Mmm. k. So, is that good???? I mean, I think so…
Here is where google is not so friendly. Some people with 11 of these oocytes with fertilization come out with zero embryos, some with 5-7, and sometimes all of them work.
I can do like my grandpa taught me and think, “Don’t expect anything.” Or, I can be the eternal optimist…
For our thousands of dollars and my seriously aching ovaries, I’m going with the ladder.
One thing is certain, I need to get my mind off of it the next 6-7 days or I’ll go mad.
Go ahead, distract me. 😂
Conceiving Cantor 
Hi there,
Thank you for your blog. I hope you get lots of successful fertilized eggs!
I am supposed to be going through this with dr Shapiro next month. I’m terrified to the point of not wanting to do it and adopt but I don’t want to regret not trying. I asked about pain meds because I’ve heard the retreval is painful but I didn’t realize how painful until now. They said I could ask for them on the day of the extraction and that it’s okay because I won’t be pregnant at that time.
I’d love more of your thoughts, input, and insights.
Ps. A friend of yours referred me to your blog 😉
Best,
Mel
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Hi Melanie,
Shapiro is great. His stats are some of the best in town. I’m not going to lie, the aftermath of retrieval was pretty terrible until today (day 4)… but I’m hoping it was all worth it. You just have to look deep inside and ask yourself what you really want. If it’s for your baby to share your genes, this is the price. It was more painful for me because I had so many follicles. So if you have less, expect less swelling and discomfort. Also, plan to take it really easy during your two weeks of shots and to take a full 3 days off after retrieval just in case you need it. I’m happy to answer any questions from experience. Thanks for following my blog! Don’t be turned off by my experience… It was almost worse case scenario.
Jessica 🎵
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