Encouragement/ Question

[monkeefan73]

Hi. I have been reading the threads in this forum and I must say that they are encouraging to me. My husband and I are attempting our first IVF cycle. The journey has been almost 13 years long, but through much prayer we have been blessed to have a chance to conceive. The ordeal is surreal.

All in all the injections are not as bad as I anticipated. I began the subcutaneous medications Friday, Nov. 7. I started with Gonal-F to stimulate follicle growth and started Cetrotide Tuesday morning Nov. 11 to keep me from ovulating. As of today we have 7 follicles and the doctor has planned egg retrieval for Monday, Nov. 17 at noon. I have to inject Ovidrel at 1am in the morning to prepare. All of this is such good news because I just have one ovary and my FSH levels were slightly elevated at 12.7 last month.

I am a little apprehensive about the egg retrieval because I have issues with pain. I am told sedatives will be administered, but the nurse says I will still feel everything. One nurse tried to calm me by saying the sedatives will make me not care about the 'discomfort'. Does anyone have insight in this matter?

I am in constant prayer and I cling to hope. May God be with you all...

Tracee

[lostchick]

Hey Tracee

Good luck to you on Monday! It is so exciting. You are almost there. For my retrieval they used conscious sedation, and I don't remember a thing. When I "woke up", I had some issues, but they were not the norm. You will be fine. I am sure. Most offices are so good at controlling pain. I am a nurse, and we consider pain as a fifth vital sign, right up there with blood pressure, heart rate, respirations, and temperature. I think that they will not allow you to be in any kind of horrible pain.
Good luck to you. Deep breaths!

[monkeefan73]

Conscious sedation?

Thanks for your well wishes. Your comments were right on time and I feel a little more at ease. I pray I do not remember the aspiration. I suppose the 2nd nurse I spoke to was describing conscious sedation. She did mention I would be so out of it that I would not care what they did to me. I am anxious, yet excited. Thanks again.

Tracee

[lostchick]

Good luck today!!!

Tracee,
I am wishing you much luck today with your retrieval. I know that you were feeling a bit anxious about it, but it is almost over!

[monkeefan73]

Thanks

Hi Lostchick. Thanks for thinking of me. The procedure was ok. I was out of it, but I remember some discomfort. I am crampy so I just took some Tylenol and am resting now. I had seven follicles and there were eggs in each. So as of now, I have seven eggs waiting for fertilization and will begin progesterone tomorrow morning. ET is set for Thursday if all goes well. I'll know more tomorrow afternoon.

Tracee

[lostchick]

Congrats!

7 is a wonderful number! I'm very happy for you. Let us know what happens today after fertilization! I'm glad that your retrieval went well.

[Christine08]

Hi Tracee,

I just wanted to send you my best wishes for your transfer. I, too, am on my first IVF cycle and needless to say, it's been stressful. I'm supposed to begin my Lupron shots this Sunday, 11/23, so I'm a little excited and also nervous. It's good to hear that the shots aren't too bad. How did you feel while on stims? Did you have any wierd reaction while doing those shots?

7 eggs is great, and I hope this results in a happy, healthy pregnancy for you!

Best,
Christine

[monkeefan73]

Reaction to Shots

Hi Christine. Thanks for your positive thoughts. I expected to be moody during stimulation, but I really wasn't. I felt normal most of the time. I only had one day of mood swings---I felt like I was in pms overdrive. My husband thought it was funny. Looking back, it was hilarious because I was irritated by the strangest things and I cried easily. I am glad the emotional rollercoaster wasn't more that a day.

As for the injections...I did not care for the Cetrotide injections. The injection site would burn and itch afterwards for about 20 minutes. A bump that looked like a mosquito bite would appear during that time, but it always went away once the itching and burning subsided. The RN said I was fine. The other shots were okay and I had no abnormal reaction to them. It helped that the injections were all subcutaneous.

Don't worry. The anxiety will go away after the first couple of injections. You will be fine and before you know it, injecting yourself will second nature.

Tracee

[Christine08]

OK, thanks Tracee! This is very helpful. I'm hoping that after doing it a couple of times that my anxiety will go away. I may ask you more questions later -- thanks in advance, and good luck on your cycle!

Cheers,
Christine

[monkeefan73]

Hi. I just got the news our eggs fertilized! We now have embryos. As policy our clinic won't tell us how many eggs fertilized but we will know Thurday morning before the transfer. Until then...

Tracee