02 December 2011

Transfer day for IVF #3

Today, December 2nd, I had two embryos transferred back into me, but before I share the details on that, I want to update on what went on since I last posted.

The bus ride on Wednesday morning wasn't so bad. The bus was full, but I had a book with me to read (the last pages of Incubus Dreams, by Anita Blake). We arrived about 10 minutes early (8:20am) and there was no one at the reception to sign in, so I went pee. By the time I came out, Mr Siili was gone (to give his sample, I figured) and a nurse was waiting to escort me back.

As soon as I walked into the back area, I was told to take the 1mg of Panadol they had set out for me, get my shoes, pants and undies off and the dressing gown on. Next I got my IV inserted for antibiotics, which I get every time because of endometriosis. As the nurse did the IV, I asked about the possibility of getting progesterone injections, but they don't do those in Finland. Bummer. Then it was time to relax (and start reading The Other Handy by Chris Cleave) while the antibiotics dripped. Mr Siili joined me again. The nurse had a difficult time getting the antibiotic drip off and I bled all over the dressing gown. She had me change to a clean one. Then it was time to be harvested.

The retrieval went quite quickly and without any hitches. I was given two syringes of pain meds (morphine or something else along those lines) and then the nurses and doctor finished getting ready to do their stuff. There was some pinches and pokes that did hurt, but not nearly as bad as last time. One of my ovaries was playing hard to get and took a bit more maneuvering to get to, which caused the doctor to press the wand quite uncomfortably, almost painfully, against my clitoris. Thankfully it didn't last too long. Then the other ovary and it was all done. I was told they had collected 10 eggs.

Back at my bed, I unsteadily crawled onto the bed. The nurse tried telling me something about pain meds, but I just couldn't understand what she was saying in Finnish. Mr Siili explained it for me. haha. I told Mr Siili he could head home, as I was fine. I guess I told him a bunch of other things too, but I have no idea what they were and he couldn't quite understand me. Mr Siili stuck around for a bit longer and then caught the next bus home. I slept for a while until the nurse woke me and asked how I was doing. I asked for pain meds, which helped. I slept some more. Again, a while later, the nurse asked how I was doing and I told her I'd like to sleep a bit longer. Around 11am I dragged myself out of sleep and sat up to eat my snack I had brought with me (as instructed). I let my friend know I'd call her in a bit to let her know when I was ready to head home. The nurse came and talked to me, confirmed 10 eggs retrieved and gave me papers to go home.

My friend picked me up just after 11:30 and drove me home. Once home, I crawled into bed and slept many hours. Mr Siili had appointments to be at, so I was home with the cats. I got tired of laying in bed, so I plugged the TV in for the first time since spring and watched some stupid stuff. I was just too bloated and in pain to move much. Thankfully the pain meds they gave me seemed to still most of my coughing. That was a relief!!

Thursday Mr Siili and I sat around and watched TV shows _all_ day. It was very relaxing.

Today, I went in at 11am for the transfer, with a not so full bladder (bad me). I did drink water, I guess it just hadn't gotten to my bladder yet. Out of the 10 eggs, 8 fertilized although one of those didn't look so good. They transferred 1 excellent and 1 good embryo to me today. That leaves 5 embryos growing over the weekend and they will see what will be frozen on Monday.

Only time will tell what happens with this cycle. I can test on December 16th. I'm not feeling anything at the moment, except still a bit bloated and sore. I'm thinking that if this cycle doesn't work, we'll take some time off before trying the possible FETs. Mr Siili doesn't know this, but it will be ok for him either way, so long as I am ok with it. I think I will need a break for a while after this. I'm not sure how long of a break. But at least until I go stir crazy again.