For my first egg retrieval, I was not put under anesthesia. I was given a valium, and I remember screaming in pain the whole time, while my legs were strapped down. It was torture. They allowed my husband in the room to watch the surgery, and he felt so helpless watching the procedure. Since that time, my first question was, "Do I get anesthesia for egg retrievals?" Every time I asked, they seemed shocked. They had never heard of not being put under for an egg retrieval and always promised me I would be sedated soundly during the procedure.
For my second through fourth donation, I would tremble uncontrollably minutes before the procedure, just remembering my first time. My fifth egg retrieval was no different. I trembled and felt very scared. I kept reminding the nurse anesthetist to make sure I was "under," before starting.
Walking back to get my IV put in, one of the nurses casually told me that I was their last procedure of the day probably because I had the most eggs of the day. This made me really happy and excited. I've never produced a lot of eggs, but I was kept as an egg donor, because of the excellent quality of my eggs.
When I woke up from the egg retrieval, which I was told lasted only 20 minutes or so, I remember feeling an 8 out of 10 pain. My pelvis felt like it had been hit by a train. The nurse taking care of me gave me 650mg Acetaminophen (Tylenol) and waited 15 minutes to see if this helped alleviate my pain. Fifteen minutes later, she returned, and I told her I still felt like that train was ramming into my pelvis. In addition to several heating pads, she administered 2mg Morphine and Zofran though IV. I've had Morphine once in my life and I didn't recall any bad reaction. Within a few minutes of morphine, my pain level reduced to about a 6 out of 10, which was tolerable. It felt like period cramps from hell, but at least it wasn't the train ramming into my soul anymore. She let me sit down a few more minutes, until I felt ready to walk out on my own. I have never been able to walk out on my own, so I took that the pain being bearable enough for me to walk out was a good sign. A few hours later, my pain started becoming more noticeable, but still tolerable.
Once I was lucid from the anesthesia, the nurse told my husband and I the information we were most curious about-- how many eggs were retrieved!? I anticipated either 12 or 14 because that is how many follicles they have been getting. We had 14 eggs retrieved!
The next morning (Friday), I felt like my lower abdomen was stiff (not distended) and very crampy. I was not nauseas, had no vomiting, and no reduced urine output (signs of OHSS). My pain level was back at an 8 out of 10 though. I took 1gram of Tylenol in the morning, which helped take the edge off, but I couldn't walk around my house without being in significant pain. My husband was hospitalized a few years ago for a pneumothorax, and he had some expired oxycodone from that time. Since Tylenol wasn't working, I took a half tab, which barely touched the pain, This morning, I took a full tab with another gram of Tylenol, which helped bring the pain down to being tolerable. When the MA called me this afternoon, I did mention to her my pain. She said for me to wait until Monday and if I was still in pain, they would evaluate me. Why don't women get any pain medication after this? Ive read a lot of blogs about day after egg retrieval and many of them feel just like me! If you got pain medications after your egg retrieval, let me know. Is it just my doctor?
Being so focused on the pain, helped me not to focus on waiting for the call today from the clinic telling me how many of my eggs retrieved were mature and how many fertilized. The MA on the phone told me 11 of the 14 matured. She stated two were very immature, and one just fell apart. 8 out of the 11 that matured fertilized. I was a little bummed out that only 8 fertilized, because they still have to survive and divide the next few days. Statistically, we should anticipate 20% loss from those fertilized. I am hoping that all 8 survive! The fertility clinic calls on day 1, 3 and 5 to give updates on your embryos. I return to work on Sunday, which is day 3, and I can only hope that not only will my pain subside, but that my numbers don't change too much.
I'll explain why they call on days 1, 3 and 5:
Day 0: Egg Retrieval Day
Day 1: 24 hours after egg retrieval, the embryologist can determine how many matured and how many fertilized. They wait to call until day 3, because its important to limit the amount of times the embryos are taken out of the incubator to maintain a stable environment.
Day 3: On day 3, the embryo should have divided into about 6-10 cells and be symmetrical which indicates even cell division. After day 3, embryonic DNA takes over, including genetic contribution from the sperm.
Day 5: They call to tell you how many have successfully become a blastocyst. A blastocyst is a human embryo that has divided successfully and survived to at least day five. This is also the day the embryologist gives your kiddos (embryos) their first "grade". A blastocyst is graded by their degree of expansion, their inner cell mass, and the trophectoderm. The grading system rates the blastocysts from good to fair to poor. The grading system indicates its potential to implant only.
So much of the IVF process on the other side, is the waiting game. So not only am I bloated, in pain, I have to be patient.
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