Our IVF cycle has come to an end.
Egg retrieval yesterday was a bloody nightmare. I was in SO much pain during the four hour wait pre-op, and could hardly walk by the end. After four (!) attempts to find a vein for a cannula, they finally got me sedated {did nothing} and after an excruciating egg retrieval, I had 13 eggs retrieved. All was well, I was happy with that.
Unfortunately I had no response to pain medication after the procedure, and was shaking head to toe. They tried a few drugs, and ended up giving me Endone, which settled things down. After a little while in recovery, they got me up and dressed and finishing off my IV drip - and then I came over really nauseous. Felt like I was about to throw up, broke out in head to toe sweat, face as white as a sheet, and they had to wheelchair me back to recovery, as I was on the brink of passing out. That passed, and we tried getting up to go again - and it happened again.
As such, they admitted me upstairs to the ward for monitoring. I just wanted to go home, but they were worried - so after a few hours of being observed, and just a few more episodes, they let me leave. I slept well last night, and feel better today - just swollen and sore, but that's to be expected after egg retrieval.
We got the call this morning that we have 8 embryos that have survived. I was disappointed, and was greedily hoping for more, after the discomfort I've had the last few weeks of stimming. Knowing we were doing a freeze all, I figured the more embryos the better. Anyway... that said, from 13 we had 2 immature, and 3 that fertilised abnormally - so left with 8 that are in the freezer. The embryologist has frozen them in batches of 3, 3 and 2 for future growing with frozen cycles.
I've had so many people ask me why my clinic has frozen the fertilised embryos at Day 1 - most people are surprised they're not growing them out to day 3 or 5 before freezing. I still have my doubts about it all too, but it's out of my hands. It's done now. Our journey is over.
So... that's it. Feels so strange to have nothing to hope for or to look forward to. No transfer. No TWW. Just pain & discomfort for what seems like a whole lot of nothing. I'm already petrified those embryos will fail to thaw, or die off during the 5-day growing period, when the time comes to use them. There's just no relaxing on this journey.
Now we wait.
If I had $1 for every time we had to wait during this journey, I'd be a millionaire & IVF costs would mean nothing to me.
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8 comments:
Oh, that sounds like a lovely day all around! Sheesh, I'm sorry. I'm glad that you're done with the icky, though, and can heal!
That sounds like it was a terrible experience. 8 frosties is pretty good, though! I am happy you had some to freeze! I loved your last line, if I had a dollar for every time I waited, I would be a millionaire. TRUTH!
That sounds like a terrible experience! Yikes! I'm sorry it was such a miserable egg retrieval, but 8 embryos seems pretty good to me! The most I ever got was 5. It is interesting that they froze the embryos on day 1. You say you have nothing to look forward to, but I assume you will be doing a transfer at some point? I'm sorry I'm not in the loop. It's been awhile since I've visited your blog, but I'm happy to check in with ICLW!
This sounds weird. I thought they weren't frozen in "sleeves" of 2 since the 90s. Even then they didn't do sleeves of 3 because you wouldn't implant 3 usually. I had a family friend in the 90s pay a little money to get them frozen individually instead of in twos.
Maybe your clinic is using the old slow freeze method? There's a lot of studies on how the new methods are better.
I have no idea why they would freeze on day 1. I have a lot of questions about this lab I guess. Maybe it's the newest methods???
Stopping by from ICLW...Wow, I can't believe you did the egg retrieval awake. You're a rock star! My RE told me that he's only had one person do it awake and that it "wasn't a good situation." I hope you rest up and feel better.
This cycle will be a rest one and then we will hopefully transfer in January. Depending on how they grow, that is!
Oh not a rock star, I was crying in pain for a lot of it. Big wuss right here! x
We have used our lab since 2012, so I trust their judgement. For fresh cycles and freezing leftovers, they grow out after retrieval and freeze at either day 3 or day 5 using the vitrification method.
For freeze alls though, their policy is to freeze directly after fertilisation. The head embryologist says they have a brilliant rate of thawing and growing out embryos that haven't begun to divide or fragment, and so that's standard for cycles where there will be no transfer.
It's all new to me too! Georgia was a 5 day blastocyst, and both my miscarried babies were 5 day frozen blasties too. Will be interesting to see what happens next.
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