Egg retrieval

N's egg retrieval was scheduled for 8 this morning.  We exchanged a couple of texts last night-- everybody was feeling good and optimistic.

So all I could think of this morning was the retrieval.  I sat on my hands until about 9:30, then texted M to see how it went (didn't want to bug N in recovery).  He texted right back and said they were still in the waiting room!

So more waiting.  Waiting, waiting.

And then, at 11, another text from M:  "13 eggs.  Last time it was 7."

I cried!  I didn't think I was being emotional about this, but 13 is just so awesome and I was so happy.  I was expecting 7-8, based on what N had said before.  13!  So great.

And... last time, Cara had 13 eggs (which, strangely, turned out to be 14-- one was hiding or something).  And 13 is my lucky number (and my birthday).  I feel good about 13.  Yay 13!

So now we sit and wait again (surrogacy = waiting) for tomorrow's fertility report.  For a little context, with my first transfer, 13 eggs turned into 8 developing embryos at day 2.  Seven of those continued developing to day 5.  Supposedly, that was a little over average.  According to Cara's research, 13 eggs should have yielded five early stage embryos (60% of eggs mature, and of those, 60% fertilize).  With M and N's last transfer, 7 eggs yielded 2 embryos on day 5 (so at the same rate, we'd get 3 or 4 this time).

Five would be great.  4 would be great.  2 or 3 would be just fine!  We'll see soon.

Obsessive

I read back through emails Cara and I exchanged at relatively this time with my last surrogacy.  And sure enough, I was obsessing then too.

Now that we're within a week of transfer, all I want to do is read about IVF-- personal stories, scientific articles, whatever.  And then I stare at my calendar (why, I'm not sure) and then go right back to obsessing.  I read old emails, read my old blog.  There's not anything accomplished in all of this, but I'm a planner and researcher by nature, so faced with the uncertain, I binge on information.

If transfer is on Wednesday, Rick will be able to go with me.  That would be good.  My mom will watch the girls.  We'd have to leave to come home Wednesday evening, because Rick has work the next day, but that's ok too.  I travelled home the day of transfer back in '09 and that worked out just fine for us.

If transfer is on Monday, life is difficult.  I have an out-of-town meeting that I need to attend (including a session that I am facilitating), but, if need be, of course all of that can be worked around.  For a variety of reasons, though, I'll hope that everything is looking good for a 5 day transfer on Wednesday.

I think transfer is at 1:30.  And I think I'm supposed to be there an hour ahead of time.  But I'm not sure if that accounts for acupuncture time or not.  Probably not.  I'm guessing we'll probably just leave early and get to Houston at about 10:30/11 regardless.

I still need to check with M and N to see what their plans are on transfer day.

All of this is jumping the gun, of course.  We'll have a better idea of what's going on after retrieval tomorrow, and then a much better idea on Saturday, once we have the fertility report. 

Of course, the obsessing won't end on transfer day.  Because then there are HPTs.  And then there are beta levels.  And then there are ultrasounds.  I'll chill out when I start feeling rotten (from morning sickness) and don't have the energy to do any more google searches.  :)

And away we go!

N had 7-8 mature eggs at this morning's ultrasound and, based on that and lab results, Dr. Hickman decided to have her take the trigger shot today.  Yeeha!  So egg retrieval is definitely on Friday.  Transfer is most likely Wednesday, assuming a 5 day transfer is still looking good.  If the embryos aren't looking great, they could bump it up to Tuesday.

Barb emailed me two documents of instruction-- one for what to do in connection with egg retrieval, one for what to do on transfer day.  I had to translate it all to a calendar, because I still prefer the pencil-cross-off method of getting it all done.  Here's the calendar I made:

I only took it out through the day of the pregnancy test, but according to the instruction sheet, I'll use Vivelle into the 6th week of pregnancy, Crinone sometime through 9-11 weeks, and baby aspirin through 12 weeks.

Oh-- and the fish oil isn't part of the protocol, but I have it on there because I take it every day anyway, so I like to be able to cross it off too.

I emailed Barb a couple of clarifying questions.  I'm not sure if I'm supposed to use both prometrium capsules on the day of transfer or just one (and in any case, I assume it's in place of crinone, but I'm not positive).  [ETA: One prometrium on Monday, one on Wednesday, both with Crinone.  I updated the calendar.]  Also checked to see if there's any getting out of valium.  I prefer to be fully "there" for transfer and to opt out if possible.  If they think it's a crucial part of the protocol, of course I'll do it.  [ETA: Have to do it.  Bleh.]

ONE WEEK TO TRANSFER!

And can I just say I am thrilled to be done with Lupron tonight?  Goodbye, old friend.  As much as it's not a big deal, I will not miss giving myself daily shots.  I try not to repeat injection sites, but I'm running out of real estate on my belly!  I was glad to see that Vivelle won't hang on too much longer either-- pretty much just to the end of June.  Petty, but the sticky residue the patches leave is really tough to get off.  Come to think of it, none of these meds are much fun.  Just a few more weeks, though, and we should be rolling!

Egg update

N's appointment went well.  She thinks they counted about 10 follicles bigger than 10mm and another 4 that were smaller.  She had labs done that will be back later, and based on those results and daily ultrasounds, they will trigger tomorrow or Thursday for retrieval on Friday or Saturday.  Request I'm putting out to the universe: at least 4 healthy 5-day embryos.  It's looking good!

Fun Weekend

When Rick got home from work Sunday morning, we all headed to Houston to spend a couple of days with M and N.  So much fun!!  We spent hours and hours in the pool, playing volleyball and teaching Mariela to swim.  M and his brother J proved to be great swim teachers for my cautious little girl.

N and her mom had cooked us an amazing Indian lunch-- everything was delicious and restaurants are ruined for us now.  At dinner, M and J barbequed tandoori chicken and corn, with was also yummy.  And late night s'mores again.  They definitely spoil us while we're there!

The girls were thick as thieves the whole time.  This picture wasn't even posed-- they were just sitting like this when I walked into the room.

Monday morning, I had an early morning appointment (7:30) at Houston IVF for my lining check and bloodwork.  There were so many people there!  They brought me back to the blood draw station first and there were a dozen people waiting in chairs and another 8 or so standing in the hallway.  Once I was done in there, they put me in a room to wait for Dr. Hickman. 

I didn't wait long and the lining check was exceptionally fast-- he was in the room for less than a minute!  And that's *with* him doing the ultrasound.  A whirlwind.  But hey, I was out of there quickly!

After the appointment, Rick and I had breakfast and headed back to N and M's house, where all three girls were attacking/wrestling with J.  We called them off and moved out to the pool for another full day of swimming (and eating-- a light lunch of ribs and steak).  Mariela declared she was moving to Houston.  Andie wanted to finish the school year out first.

Sometime in the afternoon, Barb emailed me the results of the morning's appointment:

You look Mahhhhvelous  !

Lining is 14.2   and the estrogen is 388 –so just maintain until we have N trigger . I will scan and email GC trigger instructions to you to follow

We see N tomorrow –so we should be about ready I would think .

Sounds good to me!

We left late and got home sometime after 8 last night.  Everybody was exhausted and happy.

So now I'm anxious to hear how N's check goes today.  We're expecting egg retrieval before the end of the week, transfer 5 days later, and baby about 9 months after that.  :)

Developments

N saw Dr. Hickman yesterday.  He counted 14 total follicles.  The two largest are about 10mm, the rest are about 8.  He said he thinks the trigger shot will be on Thursday (5/31) with retrieval on Friday (6/1) and transfer on Wednesday (6/6).  He came up with those dates after looking through the chart to see how she responded last time.  It sounds to me like about the same schedule-- they ran about a week later than the projected date last time too.  She'll go back on Tuesday.

My appointment is at 8:00 Monday morning.  Bright and early, since it's a holiday and the office won't be open for the whole day.  I'm thankful that we're spending the night with M and N.  A 5:00 am departure would have been unpleasant.  The girls can hardly wait for our visit.  Mariela kept telling me "I can't wait for tomorrow!" all day today.  Rick and I are looking forward to it too.

I've been on Lupron for 4 weeks now.  Yeeha!  I'm starting to itch at the injection sites-- just for a few minutes, but it makes me think my body is starting to say "enough already!"  I had to call the pharmacy for my first two refills today-- prenatal vitamins and Vivelle patches.  If all goes according to the revised schedule, I should have exactly enough syringes for the Lupron, so hopefully the judgment call not to get more was a good one.  I'm thinking 6 days left...

And 11 days to transfer.  Ready, ready, ready!

Another day, another ultrasound

First thing this morning, I headed over to the lab for bloodwork-- estradiol again.  The phlebotomist was great; I didn't feel a thing.

At 9:30, I drove to Texas Fertility for my lining check.  Dr. Hansard did the ultrasound.  I really like her!  This was our second appointment together and she's just no-nonsense and to the point.  She agreed that it's silly to be driving to Houston for lining checks, but what can you do?  She also thinks that the check I had on Friday was inaccurate.  13.1 would be too far along for 2 weeks prior to transfer (her eyes about bugged out of her head when I said 13.1-- she was thinking our cycle was doomed).  She measured my lining at 10.7mm, which she said was much better. 

The visual:

How exciting, right?  Triple stripe pattern and all that jazz.

This afternoon I got this email from Barb:

Lab and ultrasound looks fine …keep on the same meds and  we’ll see you on Monday.
N is looking fine  …will see her back on Friday

So... looks like we're fine for now.  We'll see what Friday and Monday bring.