So Monday September fourth we knew we were possibly having the retrieval done the following Thursday. I called in to my personal “medvoice” voicemail and was instructed to give myself all three shots and report back to my doctor the following day, Tuesday.
I woke up eager and excited Tuesday morning, I had a feeling the doctor would tell me that I was going to be able to trigger myself with a new medication in hopes for the Thursday retrieval. I was also going in to work after this appointment so I had to pack all my medications to come with me. And of course each one needs to be kept refrigerated… But because I wasn’t sure what the exact plan was going to be, I had to bring ALL my medications with. Depending on my hormone levels from my labs drawn previously would determine which trigger medication I would use.
Anyways, I show up with my cute little lunch box full of needles, alcohol swabs, medications and ice packs. Not going to lie I felt so silly with that lunch box that I just left it in my car for the appointment. Dr.Moffitt did my ultrasound and measured each and every follicle in both ovaries. It was amazing to see them all and see how tightly packed they were. I had been experiencing frequency with urination, just as if I was pregnant and I totally understand why! There was just no room in my pelvis for anything other than those follicles. Did you know that they get up to 20-28mm in size each before they’re mature enough to release an egg? That is almost half an inch in diameter for each one. Uhm, when you have forty of those no wonder things don’t feel quite right!
After he did all the measuring he smiled and told me that I would be able to trigger that same night and we would set me up for the retrieval on Thursday!!! I had my labs drawn as well to check my estrogen levels. They had been climbing as they should, but were doing so at a little bit faster rate. If they were higher than they wanted then I would use Lupron as my trigger shot. If they weren’t too high then they would have me use the HCG trigger.
I waited so very anxiously that whole day to call my medvoice voicemail at four pm. (That’s the time that they leave a message for me each day after the ultrasound and blood work) I’m not kidding you, I called it at three, three fifteen, three thirty, three forty-five and four. By four o’clock I was starting to worry that they forgot to leave me a message. This was THE most important message that I was waiting for. I impatiently emailed my nurse and asked if she knew what the plan was, as I hadn’t heard from the medvoice yet. Four thirty rolls around and I call it again, still no voicemail. Oh my gosh!! I literally was getting panicked by this point. I pretty much hid in my “office” that entire evening waiting until I heard from them. By five o’clock I received a live phone call from the doctor’s office and the MA instructed me on what I was to do.
I was going to take 100units of Lupron for my trigger shot at exactly nine thirty pm. Then I would go into the office the following morning for my Pre-op meeting. I needed to bring a needle and the rest of the Lupron to the meeting as well. I was SO excited to get the news!! But when I heard I had to stay up until nine thirty that night to give the shot I was dreading it. I am an old lady when it comes to getting my sleep, the earlier to bed the better! Staying up until nine thirty was going to take all my effort!
My favorite shot of them all! Preparing my follicles to finish maturing and essentially get ready to ovulate. (Although we would be extracting them before that would happen, or so the nurse had to assure and reassure me, haha)
I went in the following morning to the pre-op appointment and she just filled me in on what to do and what not to do prior to the procedure. She also told me what I could be expecting to happen during the procedure if I did have to be awake for it. Well that made my anxiety climb quite a bit because it did not sound pleasant in the slightest. I gave myself the last shot ever for this cycle after the appointment and I was scheduled to show up at eight am Thursday September 7th for my egg retrieval!
I wasn’t sure that I was going to be able to sleep that night! I was just so excited and anxious to get this over with. I felt like a beached whale, could hardly walk any more because of how much pressure I had in my pelvis. Every time I peed it was painful because my bladder contracting affected the positioning of the ovaries. Not to mention I was just OVER IT ALL. My body had taken a huge toll and I was ready to get to the next step and get them out of me!! Believe it or not, I laid in bed and was able to read a few pages out of my current book I’m reading, and I was fast off to sleep. I even slept amazing and never once woke up during the night.
My body was working and behaving exactly how it should, with exception of making too much of the estrogen hormone (the doctor would continue to watch this) and I was well on my way. My dose was rising and we were getting one step closer to putting it all in the oven and setting the timer!
I want a bun in my oven 