Egging Me On

Tomorrow (Wednesday) at 1 p.m., my ovaries will be relieved of their eggs. And I do mean relieved; I feel so tender and swollen that I can't wait for freedom from the twenty-plus follicles crowding around inside me. Granted, I probably won't feel better immediately, but I'll at least be on my way back to some sort of normalcy. (Oh Lord, please let it be a new normal of pregnancy!)

At yesterday's appointment, my largest follicle measured 21 mm, with many others in the 16-19 mm range. The nurse suspects that even the ones that measured under 15 mm are probably really larger and containing mature eggs, but they're too squashed together to show their true size.

I did get some disconcerting news. My progesterone levels are elevated, which means Dr. Werthers may not want to do a transfer during this cycle. He hasn't made that call yet. If he does want to postpone transfer, we'll proceed with egg retrieval and freeze all the eggs. Then, next month we would do the same process as a frozen embryo transfer, only we'd be thawing eggs and fertilizing them. At first I was pretty disappointed that we might not get to do the embryo transfer right away. But then I realized that I would much rather be patient for another month or so than send our embryos into a hostile uterine environment. We'll see what the doctor says tomorrow about my progesterone levels and the plans for transfer...

Scheduling the retrieval time for 1 p.m. meant I had to take the trigger shot at 1 a.m. last night (this morning?). I've always used subcutaneous trigger shots in the past, but this clinic prescribed an intramuscular (IM) injection of HCG. So we set the alarm for 12:45 a.m., I sat on an ice pack for 10 minutes while I mixed the medicine and prepped the syringe, and then Aaron gave me the shot. It's been two years since he last administered an IM injection, but he did a superb job, especially remarkable considering how bleary we were in the wee dark hours. It was painless!

We appreciate all your continued prayers, support, and encouragement. I'll try to post an update tomorrow evening, once the grogginess of the IV sedation has cleared.