Egg collection & sperm retrieval

Today was the day. We were supposed to be at the clinic at 8:30am but weren't sure about traffic so left just after 7am. We got there with 35 minutes spare. 😅 They let us in the reception area though so we waited there. Rick's dad who was our designated driver and companion for the day was taking a piss by having a cup of tea right in front of us knowing full well we couldn't eat or drink anything. 😒
At 8:30 we were taken to one of the consultation offices and had a little chat with a nurse, she was asking usual questions about our medical history, allergies, loose teeth or crowns... We were told what to expect which was pretty straightforward with me. Rick was told if they can't aspire any sperm with syringe they might need to make a small incision in the scrotum anyway. He was quite nervous because he was only going to have a local anaesthesia. I got ready and then helped Rick get ready. I was told by one nurse to try and empty my bladder which was fine but not even 5 minutes later the main doctor who was leading both our procedures told me to go again otherwise they would have to catheterize me. I did go but there was nothing. Duh.
They wheeled me in, put cannula in easily and first bit of sedation. Then I remember them telling me they were going to position my legs but don't actually remember them doing it and nothing after that. I woke up back in recovery unit. I asked a nurse how many eggs they collected and how long it took. They got 10 eggs! 🤗 And apparently it took about 30 minutes. I asked 5 minutes later again but don't remember asking twice. 😅 After me another lady went for egg collection and then Rick. He had my overhead headphones on so he wouldn't hear them talking during the procedure. He was back in about 30 minutes and at the end they did only bilateral TESA. So no cutting needed. He was sooo happy. And they also found sperm! 🤗 Just before my procedure I signed a consent form in case they didn't find any sperm and the frozen back up wouldn't survive thawing so they could freeze my eggs so they wouldn't go wasted. That wasn't needed at the end but it was good to have it in worst case scenario. I munched some biscuits and hot chocolate, Rick the same a bit later and after a quick chat with an embryologist we were ready to go. All went well and now we are chilling at home with the fire on. Now we just have to wait till tomorrow to see how many eggs were mature and suitable for ICSI and how many fertilised. 🤞

We are ready to trigger!

Rick had an all-nighter with two of his mates yesterday so I wasn't surprised when he didn't mind me going to the clinic on my own today.
It was quite busy at the car park and they were running a bit late with their appointments but it wasn't too too bad.
Today I got taken care of nurse Sarah #2, the one that didn't seem very nice the first tim e I met her but she was lovely today. Maybe the other time it just wasn't her day or maybe I was too cranky and too judgmental or something. My lining is around 11mm which is good. The follicles are massive now, much bigger than I've ever seen as at the first clinic they always triggered me as soon as one follicle was above 18mm. I had some well over 20mm, I think they might have been even 23 or 24mm. Nurse Sarah recons some of the smaller ones will still grow a bit so altogether I could have 14 follicles above 14mm that could contain an egg. Yay! I do need to make myself drink more water though as it prevents developing OHSS and I have been having bad headaches from buserelin injections but also because Sarah told me there was some fluid behind my right ovary which is a sign of dehydration. I'm kicking myself now for being stupid.
After that I had a session with another nurse, the same one Rick and I were signing all of our consent forms with. Forgot her name but she is so very lovely. I got mine and Rick's instruction sheets for Wednesday and all my drugs I will need to start taking from Wednesday.
Here they are:
1) Lubion - injection twice daily, starting Wednesday evening, which is luteal support;
2) Fragmin (used to be Clexane) - injection once daily, starting Thursday, I think this one is to support implantation;
3) Prednisolone - steroid tablets to be taken daily on the morning (if taken too late in the day, apparently they could give me some very weird dreams), these are to support implantation as well and to advert rejection of the embryo/s;
plus 4) Doxycycline - just preventive antibiotics for 8 days after the collection.

And I got my trigger of course which is not Ovitrelle, it is Gonasi which I am to take tonight at 9pm sharp. That works well for me as I have been taking all my injections this cycle at 9pm. I made myself a nice little colour coded spreadsheet so I don't forget any of this.

We are supposed to be at the clinic at 8:30am on Wednesday. I should go to theatre at 9am and Rick right after me around 9:40am.

Second monitoring scan

I was nervous again because my belly didn't start hurting until late on Thursday. At the clinic the nurse who did my scan yesterday was the first Sarah, very lovely and cheerful woman. My lining is 12mm and there is one 17mm follicle in my right ovary plus a few smaller ones. There are two 17mm in my left ones and some smaller ones too. All together I have 13 follicles above 10mm and a couple around 6mm and 4mm. Sarah reckons I will have 10 or so eggs. I pray that is true. Provisional date for egg collection and sperm extraction was Tuesday 27th March but Sarah gave me one more day of stimulation so we're back on Monday for a final scan and egg collection will be 90% on Wednesday. My head hurts sooo much and my whole body too. It is quite bad but to be honest, it calms me down because it shows me something is happening with my body.

First monitoring scan

Rick is not feeling well today but he still drove me to the clinic. He stayed in the car though. I was told there was about 10 minutes delay but at the end I waited almost 30. Nevermind. Today's nurse's name was Sarah again but it was another one. There is still the third one I'm yet to meet lol. My lining is 7.3mm thick which is good for Day 7. I only have 2 follicles around 10mm and a few smaller ones. Sarah made it out like it was a very bad thing. My Gonal-f was upped from 150 units to 225. 😲 I told Sarah that it's a really big jump from 150 to 225 and she told me ot goes up in multiples of 75. I know for sure it doesn't, it goes up by 12.5. 🤔 So the lowest bigger dose for me would be 162.5. It is a bit strange but I hope she knows what she's doing. She wasn't very forthcoming with any information about my follicles so maybe I'm just annoyed with her in general. During last week I could already feel my belly being a bit sore so I was quite surprised there were only a few follicles there. I also have quite a big headaches so I really try to drink a lot of water but it doesn't always necessarily help. I hope the small follicles catch up and maybe a few more start reacting as well.

Start of stimulation

I must admit I was a bit anxious today on the way to the clinic. I was afraid my lining is not thin enough to start stimulation like last time. Fortunately it was, exactly 1.4mm thin and good thickness is anything under 4mm so I was absolutely fine. So far I only had a few headaches and belly pains from buserelin injections so not looking forward to being sore from growing follicles. I got my Gonal F and we were on our way. It was a very short appointment, even the nurse said she felt useless because I already know 'everything' about what's happening and how to administer my injections. As I told her, I wish I didn't feel like a pro regarding IVF treatment but it does make it easier for us.