What A Week And A Half!

I guess I’ll start with the injections. We started Wednesday the 2^nd and finished Wednesday the 9^th.  One week of injections flew by! We started with Puregon each night and then on Monday the 7^th, we started Cetrotide as well. Everything was progressing really well and the needles were a breeze. I had a lot of nerves leading up to the first one, but once I knew what it felt like, I was fine with the rest. I had little side effects from the hormone injections; a bloated belly and feeling a little tired towards the end were all I seemed to have. My blood tests and ultrasounds were showing that things were looking good and I had produced some healthy looking follicles. On the 9^th, they decided to go ahead and get me to do the trigger shot which would then have me going in for egg retrieval on the Friday (yesterday). It was all moving relatively fast!

I went in for day surgery yesterday and they informed us they had retrieved 9 eggs. We were happy with that number! They told us they’d call the next day (today) and let us know how many fertilised and were still kicking along strong. Kate presented me with a lovely card telling me how brave I have been and how proud she is of me. I’m so lucky to have her. We made a trip through the McDonald’s drive-thru because I had been fasting since the night before and was STARVING and then headed home to rest. I was sore but not in any pain.

Because everything was progressing so well, I had little side effects, bloods and ultrasounds were showing good things and I was being told everything looked great and healthy, I think I developed a false sense of security.

Then we got the phone call this morning.

I assumed that out of the 9 eggs collected, we’d at least get 4-6 fertilised. This wasn’t the case. She informed us we had 2. I thought I had heard wrong and asked her to repeat it. She had an accent and mentioned something about 4 fertilising, but only 2 making it. We have 2 to work with. I was shocked. Upset. I know it only takes one, but if that one doesn’t stick, we only have one left……and that’s only if it survives the defrosting process. I had a bit of a cry, I think more-so out of shock and things not going the way I had thought they would. We talked, hugged it out and decided what will be, will be. We just need one sticky egg!

We had discussed putting both back in, but for this IVF cycle, our first time, we agreed to stick to our original plan and just do the one.

For the first time throughout this whole process, I’m actually feeling a little scared about how it will all turn out. Before that phone call this morning, I just assumed all had gone well, so all will go well…..perhaps a little naïve? Now I’m like, shit, the whole process has been great and yet we still only have 2 eggs. Anything can happen. I’m not immune to the things that can go wrong. I’m back in reality and not in the ‘that won’t happen to me’ headspace anymore.

Kate has been a trooper through it all and we’re both remaining positive that when this little egg is put back in on Monday, it will cling on for dear life. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about the next two weeks ahead of us.