The retrieval.
Woke up.
Showered and made constant reminders not to spray anything on myself that was scented.
Closely supervised the Baker while he was getting ready, nixing most of his personal care items.
Went the hospital and argued on the way there because the Baker wanted to talk about the Stars trading some players with Tampa. Baker also failed to honor my request that we listen to some nice soothing music.
At the hospital I was soooo nervous. To the point of tears. But through the tears I was still able to tell the Baker how much I disliked him because I felt that he was failing to appreciate the enormity of what was about to happen.
The IVF nurses went about their routine, lots of forms, lots of questions, the weigh in (which by the way my bloated ovaries def. tipped the scales), blood pressure cuff etc. I was buried under warm cozy blankets that were such a nice compliment to my hazmat hair cap, gown, and footsies.
Then the RE arrived, sweet as ever, with SUPERNURSE!!!! Who came in extra early just for me, sans make-up in a show of staunch solidarity!!! So nice. Then the anesthesiologist came in. I was a little nervous that he was a he, but I had googled him the night before and learned that in his spare time he does missionary work in Guatemala. Anyway, he was the second sweetest man ever (you know, cause, Baker gets the numero uno spot). He even went through the trouble of numbing my arm before he started the IV. When he put the IV in I felt nothing.
Then I was given a shot of anti-biotic in the IV line, which made me GAG because my whole mouth and nose filled with this awful taste/smell. He gave me half a milligram of Versed and I walked myself into the retrieval room. Time 7:10AM.
I was pleasantly surprised! The room was not this big awful, giant, bright, impersonal, cold, sterile room. It was pretty tiny as OR’s go. It had some pretty damn good ambient lighting. The embryologist came in an introduced herself. Super Nurse was there. The RE was there. The anesthesiologist was there. Only essential personnel. I “assumed the position” in those massive, yet remarkably comfy surgical stirrups…to the best of my memory I remained completely covered and buried under all those warm blankets, in fact I remember that they loaded me up with some fresh blankets. I remember the RE saying that we needed to get my pulse down a bit…cause though I was trying to make jokes like “Oh, what a pleasure to meet you…would you like to see my girl parts?” I was still mega nervous that the anesthesia would kill me. The anesthesiologist then asked me to take a deep breath and pick my favorite place. In my head I said a quick prayer and thought about the steam showers at the Bliss Spa at the W. Niiiiiiiiice. Felt the heaviness set in.
7:45AM. That was what the clock said when I opened my eyes. I was “out/under” for 15 minutes and it took about 10 – 20 minutes for me to be 100% awake. I laid there in the bed, under a fresh set of warm cozy blankets while the Baker did his part. Then I went to the bathroom (like they make you), got dressed, drank some apple juice and walked out!
My Mom took care of me, although I was pretty awake all day I forced myself to lay in bed and try to sleep…couldn’t do it. We went to lunch at 11AM. Came home, took a little nap. Got up, baked cookies, made dinner. We have a running joke that God thought she needed the day off more than me!
I feel pretty good. I mean I’m mega bloated and have some minor cramps, but it’s only slightly worse than before the retrieval. Overall, it was a great experience.
I know these details have been mundane, but this is the type of post I really wanted to see when I was all hopped up on nerves and googling the hell out it prior to the retrieval.
Tomorrow, we should get a call with the update about how many of the 18 eggs are mature and how many fertilized.
