Saturday, June 13, 2009

Egg Retrieval

Dr. S retrieved 13 eggs this morning. I was hoping for a few more, but quite frankly I was worried we'd get less. So, I'm pleased and am hoping that 13 is a lucky number for us! I expressed my concerns to Dr. S concerning my disappointment and he said that he was quite pleased with my response and considered 13 eggs retrieved to be nothing short of successful. He is hopeful that we will have some great embryos to transfer to K.

Below is a picture of me as I was waiting to have the ER and a photo of the things I brought with me to help me stay relaxed. The cotton balls have an aromatherapy oil called Panic Button on them. The oil is a combination of lavendar and neroli (citrus) and smells amazing! I brought it with me to every single one of my IVF procedures. The nurses always comment on how much they love the smell and actually ask me if I'll be bringing it. The worry stone was a gift from my wonderful friend, D, who gave it to me right before FET#2 along with another stone that says "Inspiration". Both stones were given in Myles's memory to bring me hope and inspiration as we try for another baby.

I told Dr. S about my dislike of their policy of not sharing a fert report with their patients and more or less begged him to have the embryologist call me with a fert report. I explained that as a queen worry wart I will spend the week assuming that all eggs were either immature or didn't fertilize and that we'd have nothing to transfer next week. Dr. S agreed to have the embryologist call me tomorrow, but he said that she would only give me general information and not specific numbers. However, I plan to do my best to get her to give me more specific information.

A few weeks ago K asked if Dr. S would be willing to tranfer 3 embryos rather than 2, so I dicussed this idea with him after the ER. I assumed he'd say abolutely not, but much to my surprise he seemed receptive to the possibility. We discussed the risk of triplets, which is a risk we're willing to assume, and we talked about how we'd let the quality of embryos determine whether we transfer 2 or 3. Dr. S indicated that he'd be uncomfortable transferring 3 Grade A embryos, so we'll wait for the embryos to help us decide on the day of the ET.

Finally, I decided to find out if 13 is my lucky number and although it wasn't (it was 97) I discovered that June 18, 2009 is a my lucky date! This date is the potential date for our day 5 transfer, so I'm taking that as a good sign.

11 comments:

Meg. said...

June 18th is your lucky date? If that's not an *awesome* sign, I don't know what its. =)

I'm glad everything went so well for you today.

Looking forward to your fert report!

SMK said...

That is so wonderful that you got that many eggs! Awesome! I am looking forward to hearing your great fertility report! I have been thinking about you all day. :) Take care and rest!

Anonymous said...

I'm so happy you've updated us so quickly! :-) Been lurking online for a while, waiting.

Yahoo to 13 eggs! We only got 11 on my ER. Ugh!

How do you feel right now? I hope you're not in any major pain.

Looking forward to the report from the embryologist. Praying that all 13 make it to blast for you, and that you'll have plenty to freeze, too.

Btw, ITA with your RE about not transferring 3 grade A blasts. Your chances of triplets becomes about 20% at that point, if the conditions in the uterus are right...this is all according to what my RE said.

Rest up and I'll continue to pray for you!

Dara

Sheri-ct said...

You got 13 eggs on the 13th of June........sounds lucky to me! Can't wait to hear the report tomorrow!

Sheri

Rebecca said...

Congrats on a good retrieval! I've got all my crossables crossed for the fert report and transfer!!! I'll be checking in daily to see updates!

Love and hugs!!!

Jaymee said...

13 is an awesome number!!! so happy that things went well and that you convined dr.s to do what you want. june 18th is my grandfather's birthday, and a very lucky day!!

Kris said...

Woohoo! Congrats, Niki! 13 eggs is great. Can't wait to hear the fert report:) I sure hope you can persuade the embryologist to give you more info.

Just Another Day In Paradise said...

13 eggs on June 13th, sounds lucky to me... I pray that this is your lucky cycle, no matter the date or numbers :)

Gift of Surrogacy said...

Numbers are a great sign, hope the 18th, is a fab day full of hope for all 3 of you.

Great job on stimming and your ER, 13 is awesome.

Hope your recovery goes well :)

Heather said...

Thinking good thoughts for you! You deserve to have great news from this!

Anonymous said...

Good for you for advocating for a fert update!!!! I hope that the 13 are getting busy as I type. I am looking forward to the updates and I hope that K is soon pregnant with your little one(s).

((HUGS))