Day 3: Post embryo transfer

The day of my FET (frozen embryo transfer) came and went on June 7th. My experience might be a little different because I requested to be put under during the procedure. I didn’t have to drink 32oz of water before my procedure. In fact, I wasn’t supposed to eat or drink anything eight hours prior to be put under anesthesia. They asked if if could hold my urine until 11:30AM. I woke up at 7:13AM, and I tried holding it for an hour. I have the smallest bladder in the world, and after feeling like I was going to burst if I didn’t urinate right away, I gave in and peed. I didn’t pee until my procedure. I let them know and they said they could fill my bladder up for me if needed.

When they strapped my legs into the stirrups on the procedure table, the nurse pressed her ultrasound wand on my stomach, and she stated that I had plenty of urine in my bladder. Whew. 

I have really high anxiety, and my lower lip was uncontrollably shaking and I started breathing faster. The anesthesiologist noted this, and started my propranolol smoothie to my veins. It burned going in, but I didn’t fight the sleepy feeling off. I was down in a few seconds I’m sure. 

The rest of the stuff, I don’t remember. My husband was there and kept asking him if he saw the two thawed embryos go into my uterus on the screen. My husband has Superman eyes, and swore he didn’t see anything on the screen resembling an embryo. The doctor told him they’re about 2cm big so it would be hard to see anything. We did get a photo shot of it. All I can see is my full bladder and my thick uterus though. The embryologist or lab tech then comes in, used a scope to make sure all the embryos are no longer in the catheter. Once that’s done, I think they woke me up. 

I woke up to the feeling of a sharp pain in my low back. I was still drunk off the propofol, but two nurses guided me and helped me empty my bladder. Once I relieved myself, the back pain wore off. In fact, I felt fine right after. 

My husband ordered take out as my late breakfast and we munched on it at home. Afterwards, slept a few hours and woke up to some very mild cramping in my lower abdominal area. Like menstrual cramps. 

That was pretty much it for that day.

The day after my transfer, the cramps were back but less intense and i had no vaginal discharge, which i can’t tell if that’s a good thing or not. I also felt very bloated and so gassy (ugh). I took it really easy. My doctor had stated that I could return to 85% of my normal activities by yesterday but. I still took it easy. I alternated between lying down, sitting up with my feet elevated, and walking around the house. 

Today, I feel soooo bloated, less gassy, breasts slightly tender, and very swollen. The last few symptoms I mentioned could just be the estrogen and progesterone though. I am still having intermittent cramps, so I took two 500mg tabs of Tylenol to ease up the cramps. It feels like I’m going to start my period, is the best way to describe it. Except that I’m super emotional. I was alardeado crying at everything before the transfer so I don’t think that is too reliable of a symptom. 

My husband wanted me to go outside and do something normal, so we went to Costco together. I didn’t lift anything over 6 pounds, because I’m still scared about doing anything to ruin the implantation process. I know it’s out of my hands now, but I can’t help but feel like I can still take precautions. I noticed I was short winded walking, and my fat pants were becoming tight on me today. Like I said, so much bloating!! 

I have two more days off from work to rest. 

I hope my uterus is helping my two embryos implant, then these weird symptoms will all be worth it!

Starting the Frozen Embryo Transfer (FET) Process

I started my Estradiol  two 1mg pills twice daily started from May 20th to May 28th. On May 28th, I went in for my baseline ultrasound checking my uterine lining. I think they said it was almost 9cm. From my understanding, over 8cm is the desirable lining thickness.

On May 28th, after my baseline ultrasound, they increased my 1mg Estradiol dose to two 1mg tabs three times daily. With the increased dose of Estrogen, I felt incredibly nauseous and even some vomiting. My doctor advised against Zofran, and instead just sucking on peppermint for now. Looking up the drug's side effects, only 4% experience nausea, so it doesn't appear to be a common side effect. One night, my nausea came on abruptly, and I vomited at my in-laws yard. The questions started to my husband, "Is she pregnant?" We have kept this entire IVF thing a secret from most of his and my family. I already have high hopes, and will be crushed if it doesn't work out, and didn't want to have my family be disappointed. It would only devastate me further. 

On June 2nd, I started 2cc of Progesterone (in oil). I had briefly taken a look at you tube videos about how painful these are, and "ways to make it less painful." I was frightened the first time my husband injected me with it. I barely felt the 22 gauge needle going in and didn't feel the medicine entering my body. We do that every night around 9PM. I get off work ideally at 8pm (unless there are patients that come in at closing, grrrr), it takes an hour to get home, just in time for my injection. It's all "very exciting." I have noticed, that the upper part of my bum feels a little numb, and wondering if its all that oil? Prior to my injection, I put an ice pack directly on my skin over the place he will inject it, to numb ti initial prick of the needle and it totally works! 

I wasn't emotional during the estrogen pills, but with the progesterone injections, I was a hot mess. I would get frustrated or sad and even cry happy tears during cute dog videos. I'm not a crier and I'm not emotional usually, so these were all new feelings for me. 

My embryo transfer is on track for June 8th at 11:30. I don't handle pain very well, and requested that I be put under for my transfer. Usually, you are just put under for the retrieval. It would be an extra cost, but there is no way I would sit still with a full bladder, an ultrasound pressing on my uterus and full bladder, and a catheter inserted in my cervix. I will update on my FET (Frozen Embryo Transfer) later. 

Embryo Transfer Scheduled

Our tiny six blastocyst embryos are being stored away until transfer, and we can't wait!

Initially, the plan was to transfer the embryos this month, but we decided to hold off until June. We decided that if we could "schedule" pregnancy, I would want to be at my "biggest" during pregnancy during winter and deliver AFTER flu season. If we transferred in June, a baby would come around March- after the peak of influenza season. This is important for me, given I work with sick patients all the time, being a medical provider. Transferring in June would also give me a chance to lose weight. I want to be at a more healthy weight as this will increase chances of a successful embryo transfer and subsequent pregnancy. We are also very busy at work with one of our medical providers out on FMLA, and I am filling in for her for now. I do not want a busy schedule after my transfer.

I contacted the IVF clinic to let them know of our change of pans, and they were more than accommodating. The plan is to let the nurse know day one of my period in May for an embryo transfer in June. The embryo transfer will take place on June 4th at 11:30AM.

At work, my sick leave and PTO were approved the week of my transfer. I will take the week off to relax, chill and watch Netflix to help my little embryos attach to my uterus. I have already told my work that I do not want to work more than 20 hours weekly after my transfer. I am part time, but have been working longer hours weekly lately, because we are down one provider out on FMLA leave.

I am praying for a successful transfer!

Post Egg Retrieval: Quality and Number of Eggs Frozen

On day 5 (Tuesday), I received news from the office that only four out of the eight embryos made it to freeze. I felt the blood drain from my face when she told me the news. My thoughts raced back to the day of the retrieval when 14 eggs were retrieved. On Sunday, I was told that 11 had matured, but only 8 were fertilized. I'm still confused why it matters how many I know matured, if they never become fertilized? Is it supposed to make the smaller number that were fertilized sound better? From Sunday, to Tuesday, four out of the eight eggs became blastocysts, and were subsequently able to be frozen. The nurse told me though that the other four were so close to being fertilized that the embryologist would watch them ("babysit") them for a day or two longer to see if they developed into blastocysts. Remember, blastocysts have a stronger chance of implanting because it is a superior, healthy embryo. Impantation is the process of the human blastocyst attachment  to the uterus within six to eight days after fertilization.

I got another call on Wednesday from the clinic telling me two more had developed into blastocysts. Even though we had less than half of what we started with, I was grateful that we had two more embryos to potentially work with. Originally, I had 3 excellent eggs, 4 good eggs, and 1 fair egg. On day 5, the embryologist gives them a letter grade. The letter grades are a way of describing the potential an embryo has to implant. Their letter grades are as follows:
4BA, 4BB, 4BC, 4CB, 3AB, 3BB.

Grading System:
The number explains the degree of embryo expansion of the blastocyst cavity and its progress in hatching out of the zona pellucida on a scale from 1-6. As the embryo expands, the degree of expansion increases.

The first letter indicates  on a scale from A to C  (A being the highest) the quality of the inner cell mass, which potentially becomes the cells that form the body of the embryo after implantation.

The second letter, also from A to C  (A being the highest), indicates the quality of the Trophectoderm. The Trophectoderm are the cells that give rise to the placenta and extra-embryonic tissues after implantation

Thank goodness for my undergraduate bachelor's degree in biology. At least these cellular terms are at least familiar to me.

An update on my pain from egg retrieval on Thursday (one week ago). I woke up this morning FINALLY feeling a little better. I was in so much pain before to the point I could not get out of bed. I didn't request pain medications after my retrieval, and the doctor didn't offer them either. Out of the four donations I did prior, I received pain medications after the retrieval two or three of the four times. I guess it's the doctor's preference, but I know if a man had to go through everything the woman had to with the injections, bloating, and pain after retrieval, they would be thrown pain medications for their endeavors with IVF.

The clinic anticipates the FET (frozen embryo transfer) sometime in early April and I will update more then.

Day Four Post FIFTH Egg Retrieval (first timer IVF and 4 time egg donor)

It's been four days since my egg retrieval and I am still having discomfort in my lower abdomen. If my bladder is even somewhat full, it's like I can feel my ovaries crying from pain. During my long twelve hour shift, where I am constantly on my feet running to each patient's room, my ovaries have their special way of punishing me. This morning, I woke up feeling a lot better. But, exerting myself with little to no rest, is definitely causing me pain. I came home after my 12 hour shift, walked passed my husband's open arms, and headed straight for the medicine cabinet to grab a 1000mg of Acetaminophen, since the doctor said no ibuprofen. Acetaminophen helped more than it usually did today, than the other days. I also took my last dose of Doxycycline today (prophylactic antibiotic). 

On Sunday, I was pleasantly surprised to answer the phone from my fertility clean on Sunday. Sunday marked the THIRD day of the embryologist checking in on our embryos. It was also the call that would tell us the grade of our embryos. As a refresher from the previous post: 

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.

I had just finished seeing a patient when I saw my phone lighting up on my desk and noticed the caller ID was from the clinic. I dropped everything I was doing, and picked up the phone. The medical assistant sounded happy, so I prayed it was a good phone call. She stated that eight out of our eight embryos were doing well, and progressively perfectly. Our grading was as follows: 

3 embryos: EXCELLENT
4: GOOD
1: FAIR

The grading of an egg doesn't mean how smart or beautiful a child will be. It grades how well it should impact for embryo transfer onto the uterus. 

Tomorrow is DAY 5, so I should be getting. call on how our embryos are doing. I am keeping my fingers crossed that all becomes blastocysts. 

My Fifth Egg Retrieval as the IVF patient

My fifth egg retrieval was scheduled March 8th at 12:10pm. It had been three years since my last retrieval as a donor, and now I was undergoing the process as the patient.

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. 

Former Egg Donor to IVF patient: The Other Side of Things

It has been three years since last egg donation process. After my fourth egg donation, I decided to call it quits. I hyper stimulated on my last donation, and no amount of money could tempt me to do it over again. Unless, of course, I was doing an egg retrieval for myself.

My husband and I had been trying to have a baby for two years without success. I hadn't even had a miscarriage. At my age, I would not be considered a "geriatric" patient, but let's just say in a couple of years, I would have been.

During one of my egg donations, I had seen an IVF doctor in my home state for monitoring, and he was very kind. I had worked with several in and out of state endocrinologist reproductive specialists, but they all had treated my like a number, and not a human being--except this doctor in my home state. I told myself at that time, if I ever needed IVF, I would contact him.

After two unsuccessful years, I looked him up, and made my first appointment. Looking back now, I was very fortunate because he now has a wait list for a year.

Being a four time egg donor, I have had the chance to do ALL the injection medications. My doctor chose the Gonal-F 250 units at night and Menopur 75 units in the morning. I did these medications, until the last few days, where he increased my Goal-F to 300 units two days, and 375 units on my last day. During the last five days of my stimulation medications, I started taking Centrotide/Ganirelix every morning in addition to menopur.  From what I understand, this medication helped to prevent me from ovulating until the procedure.

To give an idea of how quickly the medications act on estrogen, here are a few of my numbers that I kept record of so that you can see how quickly the medications take effect:
Feb. 27th, my first blood draw with stimulation medications: Estrogen level was 124.8pg/ml
March 1st:  Estrogen level was 303 pg/ml
March 3rd: Estrogen level was 467.6 pg/ml

On the night of my trigger shot, I was instructed to take 10,000 units of Pregnyl which contains the human chorionic gonadotropin (hcg) intramuscularly at 12:10AM on March 6th.  Once I took my trigger shot, I was instructed to no longer take any of my stimulation medications. Pregnyl is time sensitive, and it is very important to take it exactly the time your doctor tells you to.  The egg retrieval was scheduled for 12:10PM on March 8th.

I was also prescribed Doxycycline 100mg twice daily to start taking the night of my trigger injection. Doxycyline is a tetracycline based antibiotic used prophylactically prior to egg retrieval. As a medical provider myself, I like Doxycyline, It has little GI side effects, and I don't think it has a lot of resistance yet. Mankind is still abusing the z-pak (azithromycin) for their "sinus" infections or "bronchitis" that is probably a virus anyway. #AntibioticResistance But that is another story.

The cost of just my medications was $3,020 (which is actually cheaper than most that I have seen and read), which I paid for in February.

I want to mention that getting my blood drawn and ultrasounds so frequently in the mornings was really rough on me. I work 12 hour shifts (8am to 8pm), where 8am is my fertility clinic's first appointment. It was extremely hard for me to get other providers to cover for me for the first hour, and when I couldn't find coverage, embarrassingly ask my bosses if I could come in late. It may not sound like a big deal, but it was. I was so embarrassed to always ask my company to work around my medical appointments. I don't know how working women do this, unless they work from home, or they don't work at all. It's hard to imagine a woman not working in this situation though. IVF is so costly and I can't imagine that we could ever afford this if both my husband and I weren't working bringing both incomes.

While on the topic, I should also share the decisions I made before IVF, knowing that I wouldn't be able to hold down a full time job practicing medicine. I gave my 60 day resignation notice to my old job back in December for various reasons. Firstly, I knew already they wouldn't work with my schedule going in for frequent blood draws etc. I knew, being a donor, that they can schedule additional blood draws or ultrasounds last minute based on your levels, and there is no way my old job would have allowed me to miss work even with 24 hour notice. Secondly, my medical insurance was a nightmare. Because their health insurance was THAT bad, I chose to only cover myself, and purchase accidental insurance for my husband. The deductible for just ME was approximately $6,500/year. It was terrible insurance. It covered 3 IUI (intrauterine insemination), but it was a personal decision for my husband and I not to do IUI. My doctor did suggest we should try that before IVF though. My new company's insurance does not cover for infertility treatments, but the health insurance had a lower deductible of $3,000 for just myself, with an HSA. I could have chosen the $2,000 plan, but I wanted the HSA to help cover for infertility costs. Thirdly, my company wanted me only full time, and would not allow me to be part time. My new company had only a part time position open, so it worked out perfectly. I feel like I am not a mom yet, but I am already making a huge sacrifice of cutting back on my career to allow time for all of my IVF appointments, egg retrieval / egg transfer, plus recovery time, and potential complications (I've had OHSS before).

I feel like I made the right decision going to this new company. They have been understanding through this all, but I am GLAD my chaotic schedule is over (for now). I don't want to abuse their kindness any longer.  How do these mama-to-be's do it while working??

The Awkward Post

This is kind of an awkward, hard post for me. It is probably because I want to be in denial and not believe the worst can happen. There is always that chance that I am starting to diagnose myself with everything I am studying in med school to though.

Since my last donation (earlier this year), my periods have become extremely irregular. I never had abdominal cramps during my cycles, but since the last donation, my cramps are horrible. I am unsure if these abnormalities are consistent with the complications and oddities that occurred during my donation, and I am scared to find out the worst possible outcome.

During my last donation, the IVF doctor put me on maximum dosages, and on some days asked me to take the maximum dosage twice instead of the protocol of 1 dose daily. In my opinion, my ovaries were extremely pissed at the doctor for putting it through more hell than it had to asking me to take twice the maximum doses daily. I developed severe OHSS after the egg retrieval. I was also under lots of stress with the last cycle.

Since I study medicine full time, I am constantly reminded how my symptoms (additional ones not mentioned here), are red flags for me to get checked out. It's easy for someone to recommend to see a provider about the issue... but the doctors/providers are always the hardest patients. I can honestly relate to that. It is extremely difficult for me to see a doctor about any issue- because I can come up with lots of differential diagnoses for myself with the knowledge I have now. Of  course I still don't know everything, and doubt I ever will, even as a practicing clinician. The world of medicine is the understanding that we as clinicians should constantly be learning and be humble enough to recognize that we don't know everything.

In school, we had the medical board come speak to us about the laws and regulations, and a quick introduction on "how to avoid getting sued." During their time with us, it struck me how many things the IVF doctor did wrong with my last donation. It is my hope that there are no serious adverse effects to my symptoms- and if there is, I need to restore my faith in doctors. Sometimes, they get so busy, they miss the small details, which in turn can cause life-threatening or negative outcomes as a result.

As a future clinician, I want to always promise myself to treat all patients like they were my own family members. We are all going through hard things, and there is no reason for medical providers to make those "hard things" even harder for us (patients).

Please read my post "10 Basics Things You Should Know About Egg Donation Before Donating." Though the after-feeling of donating is rewarding, we also sign up for the unknown side effects that come with it. Be good to your body... we only have one in life.

- The anonymous egg donor

Egg Donation for Dummies

So you want to be an egg donor, huh?

The top 9 BASIC things you should know:

1. If you faint at the sight of needles, then egg donation is not for you. For a few weeks, you will be screwing with your natural hormone cycle, by taking approximately 4-6 injections daily in your stomach, quadriceps, and buttocks. In addition, you must get your blood drawn everyday. For the first time during my fourth cycle, my veins got so bruised, it swelled up to the size of a grape. Your friends and family might question if you're a drug addict with all the needle inject sites in random places of your body. My stomach had so many injections, it turned 50 shades of gray, black and blue during that time.

2. You're concerned about your fertility, and not sure how egg donation affects it. When I began donating, I was reassured by every IVF doctor that it did not affect my fertility. Funny you should say that doc, because years later, I'm in the business of medicine, and there's no sufficient data in favor of egg donation and fertility risks. In fact, why on earth would I believe anything the IVF doc is saying, especially when I am the reason behind their fat paycheck from parents at the end of day. Whose side are those IVF docs on? I can guarantee you, it's not the egg donors. 

                                                   Biofeedback baby... don't mess with it.

Oh you don't understand positive and negative feedback of the endocrine system, and the mechanisms behind it? Yeah, I thought I understood it after receiving my undergrad degree in pre-med, but learning about it in detail in medical school really changed my perspective. If you have no desire to conceive, then egg donation is for you.

3. If you are late to most or all of your nail appointments, hair appointments and/or school classes, then egg donation is not for you. Each morning of your donation cycle, you must go into the IVF clinic, to get your blood drawn and do a transvaginal ultrasound... which bring me to number 5. 

4. A transvaginal ultrasound is done nearly everyday. Yep, it's more uncomfortable than what's depicted in the picture too. 

5. If go "insane in the membrane" when you can't fit in a daily work out, then egg donation is not for you. As an egg donor, undergoing injections, you should not work out. In fact, do not do any form of cardio even after the surgery- don't even fast walk! You must wait until your ovaries return to their normal size (so, after your next period). In laymen's terms, the injections stimulate more follicles to grow, causing your ovaries to swell up like a large fruit. Your normal ovaries are 3 to 5 cm! The fallopian tubes (aka: the arm looking things holding onto your ovary) can't deal with the weight, and twists on itself (torsion). When this happens, your blood supply to the ovary is cut off, and it starts to "die" (no blood to organ = organ death). This is what we called ovarian torsion and it is a medical emergency! It's a risk you sign up for when you agree to be an egg donor! Which brings me to number 7...

6. I have donated 4 times, and I suffered from ovarian hyper stimulation syndrome (OHSS). It's no fun people! I had to go the ER, and emergency room visits are not a day in the park, Due to lack of time (I have 4 exams next week), I am copying and pasting just a few of the adverse effects from OHSS from the Mayo Clinic:

• Rapid weight gain — I gained 10 lbs in one day
• Severe abdominal pain - more like excruciating pain
• Severe, persistent nausea and vomiting - story of my life for 2 weeks after surgery
• Decreased urination - you retain water
• Dark urine - you retain water
• Shortness of breath - can't breathe because your visceral organs are so cramped from your super big and super pissed off ovaries. 
• Tight or enlarged abdomen - this is an understatement. 
• Dizziness - Oh, one thing, I didn't have

7. Never ever sign a contract without reading it in detail. Get it checked out by a lawyer even. Even if the agency hires one on your behalf, be cautious. 

8. If you believe the eggs you are donating, are really your offspring, then donation is not for you, period. 

9. If you are donating for the money, then donation may or may not be for you. Many alumni donors regret their decision of donating because they did it solely for the cash. 

I'm sure there are more things that could go onto this list, and I will continue to add on as I get more time! :)

Peace and Love 

- the anonymous egg donor

Disclaimer: As always, all opinions are my own

Does Egg Donation Affect My Future Fertility?

Q: If I donate my eggs, does it affect my future fertility? 

( I get this question so many times in my email, that I decided to publicly post my response for all to view. If you are a skim-reader, at least read the wording in red). 

A: Truth is, there are no long term studies showing the after effects of egg donation. So don't accept their guarantees that there are no consequences to your fertility.  Per my previous four donations, I was always told by my  agency and IVF doctors that there was absolutely no risk to my own fertility. After befriending many other egg donors, and completing my first year in medical school, I have come to the devastating realization that it is very possible that my previous  four donations have put me at increased risk of cancer and reducing my ovarian reserve. Some of my egg donor friends have actually gone into early menopause before the age of 30, likely caused by egg donation. 

For a long time, I couldn't wrap my head around my agency and IVF doctors constantly reassuring me that I was not putting my body in any sort of danger. Since then, I have realized that I was a very trusting and naive individual. I also was not a medical student back then either. Of course I shouldn't put all my faith into those people who are using my body as an egg vending machine. I was merely another check in the bank! I want to believe that my original agency whom I had done 3 cycles with, really did not know that it did in fact take a major toll on their donors. Recently, I was asked by them to do a fifth donation. However, I denied the offer. I am no longer willing to donate. Partially because of what I have learned in medical school, partially because of my nightmare experience with another agency I worked with on my fourth cycle, and partially because of I am on new medications that disallows me to be a donor anymore. I hope potential donors reading this takes consideration of the serious health risks you take on as an egg donor. 

When girls ask me about whether I would recommend egg donation, I am unable to really give a straight answer. Instead, I like to tell them what I know medically behind the process, and the possible consequences. I also tell them about my first 3 donations, and how wonderful my agency treated me. In 2 of those 3 donations with them, I was put in the best hotels, and taken care of very well by them. During one of the donations, one of the hotels was pretty bad, and in a sketchy part of town. I was not sure if it was because the cost of living was higher in this area... or what, but that was my last donation with that agency.  

If you have any more questions as a potential donor, donor, or intended parent, please tweet or email me! The best way to contact me is on Twitter.