IVF #1 Update

Oh boy, I guess I haven't written in a while. A lot has occured, a lot that has taken up my time. OK, here goes.

On the day I had 10 follicles, I got my blood drawn. It was very painful and the phlebotomist hurt me. She even wanted me to hug her afterwards, I think to make HER feel better when all I wanted to do was inflict reciprocal amounts of pain on her.

That day, my inner elbow was bruised and sore, nothing new when I have my blood drawn. The next day, more sore, but it would be gone soon, stop being a baby. I even went and worked out. There was some pain when it came to the pushups but doable, nonetheless.

Friday, I could not hold my arm above my head without pain shooting down my arm. I spoke with the ultrasound tech at the doctor's office (I was getting monitoring done again) and she asked if my lymph node was swollen. I felt, and no, I didn't think so, but then, I don't know where my lymph node was! (I am such a clueless wonder at times!)

So, the tech did my ultrasound. 11 follicles, growing nicely! She thought she would see me on Monday so I made an appointment for then. I went down for the blood draw and asked for a different vampire than the blond, kinky-haired pain-maker. We used my left arm and it all went well. My arm still continued to hurt during the day, but really only when I pulled the arm, such as stretching it out fully or so. I decided to not stretch my arm out and things went pretty well.

I was told by the fertility clinic to increase my follistim to 375.

All was good until I dressed for bed that night. It was a Friday night and a naked body shows WAY too much. I had a dark pink streak from my underarm running down to the inner elbow at the blood draw site. There were two suspicious looking very pink raised areas on the inner upper arm. They were tender to the touch, as was the pink streak, as was my inner arm. I did not feel an enlarged lymph node, but again, I am not a doctor and don't quite know where it is.

I got worried. Was this related to the ovulation induction protocol or the blood draw? Is it serious (like a clot) or minor? After all, if I didn't stretch it, it did not hurt. What to do? So I called my health plan nurseline. She said for me to call the fertility clinic health line because it could be cellulitis or it could be something else, that the fertility-related things would have to be ruled out. OK, called the fertility nurse line. No, she thought it sounded like a GP thing. OK, called the GP number. Of course my doctor's office has no Saturday hours but I could go to a walk-in clinic. All the while I am chasing this down I am thinking "My IVF is coming up!"

Saturday I had to teach all day, 9:30-4:30. The clinic closed at 5:00. Grrr. I went back the next day and saw a very nice doctor. She thought it wasn't a clot because overnight the pink streak had disappeared and the pink lumps/bumps had decreased in swelling but were yellow and purple bruises. Further, the pain was now in my lower forearm! It was in the meaty section of the right arm, which meant it hurt more often due to stretching that arm to write, type, etc. The doctor thought it was a pool of blood (internal bleeding) from the blood draw, a reason why the draw was so painful. Apparently, the phlebotomist nicked the vein when she was trying to get in, then got in somewhere else, leaving the nicked area to bleed. She thought it was fade in time.

Monday I had my ultrasound ... 14 wonderful follicles, all growing nicely. It looked like the retrieval would be Friday. My bloods were fine. I went in for monitoring on Wednesday and got the call ... retrieval on Friday, get ready! I had 11 follicles still; however, 2 would probably not contain eggs because they were still on the small side (9 and 10 respectively) and could not get up to 15 in 2 days without follistim. I took my Ovidrel shot Wednesday night and arranged my affairs.

Meanwhile my arm still hurt.

Friday morning, my friend took me to the fertility clinic. We went over my health history and all those allergies (yes, I am allergic to 13 drugs but only recall the names of perhaps 7 -- whoops). I told them about my hypersensitivity to narcotics and narcotic-like substances. Guess what? The drugs for the anaesthesia were ALL narcotics! OK, no problem, just be aware. Oh yeah, and I'm little too, so keep that in mind (5'2", 114 lbs.). He would do so ...

The anaesthesiologist told me I would feel a bit woozy first (yeah, felt it) and then that's all she wrote. When they woke me up, they said:

• they got 11 eggs (holy cow!)
• I am a lightweight for sure. They had intended to use 4 drugs for the anaesthesia and when I went out with the woozy one, they never even had to use two of the other, deeper ones with me. They'd never had anyone not need the others!

So, I awoke instantly. I was not woozy, light on the feet, or light-headed. I was fine. I walked out, met my friend, and we traversed home. That night, I took the first pill of my antibiotic. And the arm finally stopped hurting after that first pill. (Wonder what it was?)

Saturday, I heard only 4 eggs fertilized. I was crestfallen. Only four out of 11 retrieved? How? Why not more? And then I was reminded I am 40, after all. OK, attitude readjustment. Think warmly about those 4.

I went in for my transfer on Monday and the doctor, bless his warm heart, told me there were five embryos growing well! Five!!! It turns out one was a late bloomer, a slow grower, but it looked wonderful that day. How many would I like to transfer? As many as he would allow. He grinned, folded the picture of my embryos up, placed them in my hands as he said, "OK." It took a millisecond to realize he was going to do all five!

So I had to concentrate on five bouncing little embryos ... I wanted to warmly receive them. They were transfered in such a wonderful way, like an IUI and I have been walking around ever since knowing there are 5 potential babies fighting for life inside of me.

I am not thinking I will have 5 babies. With my age and miscarriage history, we'll be lucky to get one. But five DOES increase the odds a bit. And now I just have to perk my little ones for 10 more days. We'll see ... please hope for success.

My prayers have been going heavenward for weeks. I have thanked God for letting the follicles grow so well, I have thanked Him for the number of follicles, for keeping ovulation at bay, for it all going so wonderfully. I have thanked him for my 11 (not 9) egg retrieval and for my 5 (not 4) embryos. I feel like this is the time, that the stars are all aligning and something special is happening. I am so happy and peaceful ... I would love to thank God for creating the life within me in a few short weeks. We'll see ... we have many hurdles to leap (such a resounding thing with me!) in the meantime.

I hope everyone has a great day. God bless late bloomers!