Success.... 44 eggs retrieved!

Yesterday was my surgery for retrieval of my eggs. I knew I had a lot because I could barely walk or move. I felt so swollen. Best way to describe it would be to blow up 40 small water balloons and squeeze them together under your shirt. I was doing the pregnancy "waddle" into the office. I felt so much pressure and was ready to get these eggs out!

One tired momma:

Once at the clinic, I was taken into the back and put under iv sedation. They used Propofol to put me under. I think I am allergic to it. I woke up from surgery and was so sick. I had terrible flu-like symptoms for hours. My surgery was right at 8am and I didn't leave the clinic until after 2pm. Then I came home & crashed the rest of the night.

Here is the process of how they take the eggs:

The actual technique used to collect eggs for in vitro fertilization is known as an ultrasound-guided transvaginal aspiration. While an ultrasound probe is used to provide a visual image of the ovary and the surrounding structures, a very fine needle is inserted through the upper wall of the vagina and into the ovary. Through magnification of the ultrasound image, the physician can locate the individual follicles that contain mature eggs and apply gentle suction to remove the contents of each one, which is known as aspiration.

The fluid and egg from each follicle are collected into an individual container, which will then be taken to the lab for examination and preparation for fertilization. The procedure is performed on both ovaries, usually taking between 10 and 15 minutes to complete.

A couple hours after the retrieval Dr Valencia told me that were able to get 44 mature eggs!!! We decided that fertilizing all 44 would leave too many embryos. We are going to fertilize 20 and freeze 24 eggs.

I woke up this morning still feeling a little weak and groggy. Dr Valencia texted me to let me know that out of the 20 eggs, 13 fertilized. Now we wait for the second day of my cycle to begin. Then I will take another medicine to grow my endometrium. After I take this medicine 8-10 days, then finally they will do the implantation!!

I will call back to the doctors office in a few days to see how many eggs fertilized to Day 3 & were able to have the biopsy for genetic testing.