The past few days have just been a blur!!! So here I sit, on the eve of the retrieval, to fill you in on all of the last nitty gritty details.
Stims
Friday, Satirday and Sunday I was taking 4 vials of menopur, 75 gonal-f, .4 hcg and 1 cetrotide, and a baby aspirin. I was instructed to take the letrozol Saturday night only.
I ran into a bit of an issue Saturday night because I went out with friends and forgot that I had been taking the cetrotide (to prevent ovulation) around 8pm. I just figured I'd take it between 10pm-12pm with my stims-except I missed that window by an hour! It wasn't until Sunday morning that I realized I was 5 hours delayed with the shot that I panicked that was enough of a lapse to allow ovulation to take place. So, having the wonderful doctor I have, I texted him. He told me it was probably fine, but I should take the shot at 4pm that day. Blood work on Monday would be the true determining answer.
Monday
Monday I had another monitoring appointment with blood and ultrasound.
"You're ready to go!"
It seemed surreal, and the details didn't seem to matter anymore because once your in the moment you tend to stop focusing on things that can no longer be controlled or influenced. So I have no idea what my lining was, what my estrogen levels were, or how many follicles he saw. We reiterate that my estrogen was too high and the transfer was most definitely canceled. We talked about what after the retrieval will look like and what prepping for an upcoming FET will entail. All those details are still to be worked out, but he thinks I'll start lupron 5 days fater the retrieval.
I left his office knowing retrieval would be Wednesday. but no idea what time or what my instructions for the trigger would be. I did some questioning today about what exactly the trigger is for, so I want to explain that here as it comes into play later. In a natural cycle, the final step is a surge of luteinizing hormone. This step is the final push in egg maturation and begins ovulation of allowing them to be released. Because an entire cycle is manipulated and re-created, so does this last step-the trigger shot. At 1am, I took hcg and lupron as my trigger in anticipation of an 11am retrieval tomorrow (Wednesday) morning. I was determined not to fall asleep before the shot, and it went off without a hitch, thanks to my awesome friend.
Tuesday
I went for blood work this morning so they could determine the trigger had indeed worked. I was told that I can't eat or drink after midnight, and I'm supposed to report at 10am for an 11am retrieval. I also start my antibiotic tonight and then tomorrow after retrieval as instructed.
You'll only get a call from us if something doesn't look right.
12:15 pm-my phone rings: it's Dr. B. He just wanted to ask me if I was sure I took the right dose of medicine last night, because my LH was low! Let me tell you, I have never been more sure than last night that the dosage was correct. But, I will tell you about my premonition: one of my friends, and I don't know if she reads this blog or not, but I will use this opportunity to publicly thank her for her endless support and love-and when I say that, I mean her 1am-texts, emotionally-supportive, hand-holding, babysitter-filler stuff. I wouldn't have made it this far without you, thank you for being such a blessing in my life.
After she checked in on the 1am shot, I told her I was so worried I messed up the dosage, even though I knew I hadn't.
I called that one I texted her this afternoon.
As I said above. the LH is needed for that final push in maturation but to also allow them to be retrieved. Mine is low, but he thinks my hcg level will compensate for it, and no additional medication can be given at this time.
I'm not surprised, but we will move forward as planned.
Insurance
On Monday at my appointment, the financial lady said we were still awaiting approval. So, we decided to tag team insurance. We spent about an hour on a conference call in an attempt to determine why authorization was taking so long, and how to move it along. It was an extremely frustrating experience, and I'm so appreciative of her time and efforts to resolve this issue. Somehow, when I arrived this morning, she informed me that between a conference call between herself, the secretary who initially requested the approval, and insurance-I had been granted approval. No one on either side, in any department knows exactly what was happening!
Side effects
I had been feeling some bloating, some uncomfortable, dull pain. My friend had warned me that with the trigger, and impending "ovulation" you feel a shift in the follicles. It's as if you can feel your body moving the process along. I woke up much more sore and crampy. Even tonight, riding home after picking up Doctor Husband, who has made his way to NY, the bumps on the road were painful!
Retrieval
I am to arrive at 10am tomorrow, for an expected 11am retrieval. I will be put to sleep using propofol and the entire procedure is an estimated 15 minutes. An ultrasound is used to guide a needle into the ovaries where the eggs are suctioned out. You can watch a video HERE about the retrieval process.
Let's do this!
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