The egg retrieval or oocyte retrieval process is probably the most painful part of the whole IVF program. The procedure is done under anesthesia, so I didn't feel a thing since I was out cold. However, the recovery process... super ouch!
DH and I arrived at the hospital around 7.30am, and after settling our admission details, I was escorted to my room and asked to change into a hospital gown and rest for a while. The procedure was scheduled at 10.30am, and I was to relieve myself one last time at 10am. I think it was good that I had a couple of hours to rest on the hospital bed before I was wheeled towards the Operating Room (OR).
Once inside the OR, the doctor, nurses and anesthesiologist all tried to make me feel as comfortable as possible. It helps that prior to starting an IV, the anesthesiologist gave me some lidocaine on the injection area before proceeding with the IV needle. Then it was lights out for me.
Diagram of an egg retrieval procedure.
Image taken from www.mayoclinic.com
Once the procedure was done, which took around 30-45 minutes, I was transferred to my dayward room. I regained consciousness in the OR and was asked to rest and go back to sleep. Apparently, if you keep awake once you regain consciousness the patient might get drowsy, feel nauseous and throw up. This happened to patient lying next to my bed (the room was shared among three patients all doing egg retrievals). When I woke up I had a strong urge to urinate. My goodness did it hurt like crazy! Several people going through egg retrieval experience painful burning sensation while urinating after the procedure (felt like a razor blade was going through my urinary tract to me). The doctor told me to drink lots of fluids and said the painful feeling would go away. It did but only after a few painful trips to the bathroom.
Finally, I woke up around noon or 1pm and then started to feel very hungry as I have been fasting since 12am that day. On top of my egg cucumber and tomato sandwich which came around 1pm, I finished a whole bagful of cheese popcorn. My mom had the instinct of bringing some munchies in case I wanted any. Mother knows best. Anyhow, the nurse kept checking on me and how I was doing worried that I would suffer the same fate as my fellow roommate. As soon as she saw me munching on the popcorn and chatting with my mom, she was confident that I would be ok. The nurse then gave some painkillers prescribed by the doctor, and I was told the effect would last about 24 hours. Around 4pm I was sent home along with some antibiotics to prevent infection (it is invasive surgery after all) and Cyclogest vaginal pessaries to be taken twice a day. Our first IVF I was prescribed Crinone for progesterone support. The doctor said one wasn't better than the other and pretty much did the same job.
Once the Cyclogest is inserted, it is best to
lay down about 30 minutes - 1 hour to let
the hormones seep in and avoid the pessary
falling out.
We got home around 5pm and around 6pm I started to feel sharp pains in my stomach. I guess the pain killers didn't last for 24 hours. It hurt to use any of my stomach muscles. It hurt to bend down. It hurt to laugh. It hurt to turn sideways. I felt like my insides had gone through a food processor and was super gassy and bloated. It felt hard to breathe or take deep breaths. I couldn't lay down straight on my bed, so I had recline seated on the sofa. I ended up sleeping in that position.
Day 16 was pretty much similar to day 15 but the pain was much less and I was able to walk a bit more. I got a call today from the doctor's clinic around noon telling us that the embryo transfer will take place tomorrow at 12pm. I guess we will be inserting Day 3 embryos and not Day 5. Hope that it won't make much of a difference. More about Day 3 and Day 5 embryo transfers can be found here. I have stopped researching on the internet about this by the way. Like I said earlier, too much browsing can damage your brain. Not to mention bring your morale down if you stumble on "facts" that don't reflect what you want to read.
I am starting to feel nervous and a little anxous. Based on my first IVF experience, the doctor has decided to do the embryo transfer (ET) under sedation. Hope everything goes smoothly.
Spent the day at home resting and pretty much not engaged in anything strenuous. Unfortunately, DH won't be able to take me to the hospital tomorrow as he has an office emergency, but my beautiful mother will be with me every step of the way. I hope that one day I can be as much of a wonderful mother as she is to me.
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