Sweet Sixteen...

So today was THE DAY - our retrieval was scheduled for 10am and I was wide awake and ready by 3am! I'm a little neurotic.

I have to give the people at REACH props...everyone there was sooo nice and took time to explain everything to us in detail. We had to check in by 9am to fill out paperwork and prep. I was in the treatment room by 10:15 and back in recovery just after 10:30...amazing that a procedure that is SO MAJOR to me is complete in less than 15 minutes. I was sedated the whole time so don't remember ANYTHING. The embryologist came to check in afterwards and gave us the great news...things went even better than they had expected! They were able to retrieve 20 eggs...16 of them are mature, 1 not yet mature (but there was still a chance that he/she could progress through the early afternoon and only 3 were total immature/unfertilizable. We were hoping for 10-12 total so this is such a blessing!!!!

Now there's lots of waiting...the embryologists fertilized the viable eggs this afternoon and in the morning we'll get a call letting us know how many actually fertilized. I'm sad to say that it's not unusual for that 16-17 healthy embryos to dwindle significantly over the next 5 days. We'll get calls daily with updates as to how the little embryos are doing.

We're tentatively scheduled for a day 5 transfer (Monday) and I was surprised to find out that there will be 2 days of bed rest after that. I knew the day of but totally missed the fact that there are 2 days afterwards...I will NOT stress out about work, I will NOT stress out about work...I have not taken more than 2-3 days off in a row in nearly 3 years, so I will NOT allow myself to feel guilty about this. (I have to keep repeating this mantra to myself and also need to remind myself that I'm not curing cancer or ruling the free world, work will go on with or without me).

So far today I feel pretty good - very tender (a resultof the 8" needle they stuck up my who-hah I suppose), super bloated and crazy tired but I hear that that is all to be expected. I just have to monitor those side effects as I could end up suffering from OHSS which could land me in the hospital. So I'm being a good girl and following Dr.'s orders to the letter! Luckily light stretching is advised at this point so I may try some VERY GENTLE yoga tomorrow.

The next milestone is Friday...that's the day I start the dreaded progesterone shots. Now I'm not woozy around needles and I'm proud of how well I've handled the other injections but this needle is about 2 inches long and has to go ALL THE WAY IN to my rear end! Luckily The Italian will be here the first few days that I have to take it, but by the end of next week he's got to head out and I'll have to figure out how to administer to myself...I can do it...I hope that the anticipation is worse than actually doing it. Those daily shots will last for weeks.

For those who are curious we won't know the results until 12 days post transfer, so we still have a ways to go. Step by step...we'll get there. For right now I'm focusing on celebrating each little victory and right now am so thankful for our Sweet Sixteen!!!!

Frankie Say RELAX!

I can NOT begin to count how many people have told me in how many different ways that if we would just "relax" that everything may fall into place and we'd be just fine. As an optimist myself, I love hearing this, however....easier said than done! For all of those loved ones out there who are worried about my inability to relax, I promise, I'm TRYING to "relax" (sounds like an oxymoron right?)

I am naturally a tightly wound, obsessive compulsive control freak (some may lovingly use the phrase "anal retentive"), so relaxing is not my strong suit....and that drives me bananas because I am also type A, bonafide overachiever/people pleaser, so to realize that my attempts at making myself relax are not only not succeeding but also that other people are noticing that I'm not succeeding at that attempt and could potentially be disappointed with me for the "failure" is making me crazy which again sort of defeats the relaxation attempts. So I'll work on it - promise.

Anyways - so we're 8 days down and 6 days to go - more than halfway through the 2 week wait - HOORAY!!! I'll tell ya it hasn't been easy this go round...something is different ~ I feel flat out CRUMMY! I don't know if it's side effects from the injectables or what - but my body is not happy with this last round of medicine and the IUI. I feel and look like a blowfish (hubby swears that I don't look like one - but I think he's just afraid of what will happen if he agrees with my assessment). And it's not just the blowfish syndrome, it actually hurts and is very uncomfortable, all sorts of weird "twinges" and cramps all through the day and night.

I of course have self diagnosed myself (via google searches) with OHSS...Ovarian Hyper Stimulation Syndrome (which is not a good thing). This basically means that your internal lady parts (ovaries) have become overstimulated and incredibly swollen due to the fertility meds. This can be severe and require hospitalization or it can be minor and work itself out. One of the biggest threats is Ovarian Torsion - that's right...twisted ovaries (awesome) which can have all sorts of crazy, horrible and irreversible side effects. So as I read the plethora of horror stories on the internet, I am doing my best to remain calm, to "relax" and reassure myself that this is NOT my diagnosis but I'll chat with Dr. Katz about that to confirm. I'm starting to become a bit of a hypochondriac now too...(relax Kelly, relax, relax....)