Extraction Day!!! (Sunday, June 26, 2011)

Physical: Feeling swollen this morning, which is good.  If I felt completely normal, I would worry that there weren't potentially 20 little eggs waiting to be extracted.  I am a bit hungry, having had nothing to eat since last night.  But my procedure is early this morning, so it won't be long until I can eat.

Emotional: I am a bit trepidatious.  Will it hurt?  Amazingly, I never got extremely emotional or crazy from the hormone shots.  I know that each woman reacts differently, so I believe that I have been lucky.

This is especially important to me because, unlike those married women undergoing IVF (which the fertility clinic is teaming with), I don't have a husband.  What I do have is a new boyfriend who has been incredibly supportive.  Throughout the process, I have feared that I would have some sort of emotional upheaval that would send him running for the hills.  But, alas, we have survived and he has been an absolute savior, including getting up at an ungodly hour this morning to make sure I made it to surgery on time.

The funny part was when the nurse asked him for his sperm sample!  I had to immediately intercede that we are not making embryos today!  Please don't fertilize these eggs!!!  That could've been the straw that sent him running, but instead he joked about it and offered (privately, to me) to go hang out in the semen sample production room, especially if they had good magazines/movies!

The Procedure
So, after being hooked up to an IV, they walk me into the Operating Room and sit me on the table.  I position myself as instructed and answer the nurses questions about my identity.
...

Next thing I know, I'm waking up to the sound of my perfect new boyfriend's voice!  I'm in the recovery room and can't believe that the procedure has been completed.  No pain, no discomfort.  I waddle to the car and, with a quick stop at the pharmacy and grocery, head home to convalesce.

Injections: Day 8 (Thursday, June 23, 2011)

Physical: Generally, I'm fine, but feeling a little swollen, fragile, and just not 100%.  I left work at 4pm because there was no reason to tough it out and jeopardize my health. (Today's Test Results: 13 are big with some behind, estrogen 1850)  With the follicle count, it seems like there's a bit of gamesmanship going on.  Understandably, the doctor doesn't want my expectations to be built up, so they've stopped telling me as much about the smaller follicles.  That's fine.  I know there are at least 17 there somewhere!  Grow babies grow!!!

Emotional: Amazingly, considering the level of my estrogen, I'm still as sane as I ever was.  However, I'm probably less fun than normal because all I want to do is chill out at home and watch movies.


Is anyone reading this?  Tell me your thoughts in the COMMENTS section below.  Have you considered freezing your eggs?  It took me about two years of thinking about it, researching, and getting comfortable with spending the money before I was ready.  But I have to say, as soon as the doctor's appointment was made, I felt like a weight was lifted, like I could stop grasping straws and trying to make the wrong relationships work.