Getting ready to pull the trigger....

Two blog posts within 24 hours?!  Holy cow!!

My appointment this morning went very well.  Apparently, I have great looking ovaries (at least I've got that going for me...).  There were a good 15 or 16 follicles between the two, so they're hoping for at least 7-8 eggs (apparently each follicle doesn't result in an egg).  The egg retrieval appointment is scheduled for 7:30am Wednesday morning.  To prep for it, I have to do a "trigger" injection tonight precisely at 9:30pm (yes, precisely) of the Leuprolide.  This will help the eggs finish maturing and start the ovulation process.  It has to be done at a precise time as the egg retrieval is supposed to take place 35 hours later (for those of you mathing, I realize it is 34 hours from 9:30pm tonight and 7:30am Wednesday - they bring me in a little earlier to get me prepped for the retrieval).  Also as prep, I can not eat or drink after Midnight tomorrow night.  That's gonna suck big time, as I always have a drink on my nightstand because I always wake up thirsty.

When I arrive for my appointment Wednesday morning, they'll begin by doing the usual baseline bloodwork and internal ultrasound, just to make sure everything is still looking good.  Then, they'll sedate me, go up and drain the fluid and eggs from the follicles.  The retrieval itself will only take, at most, 10 minutes, though I'll be there for around 2 hours from beginning to end.  Since I'm being sedated for the procedure, I'm not able to drive home afterwards or for the rest of the day, so that means a day off for both me and L.!  Anyways, after the retrieval, the follicle fluid is examined and the eggs are extracted and placed into petri dishes.  The eggs then chill out for a few hours while L.'s semen is washed and processed to get the best quality sperm available.  They'll then inject a single sperm into each viable egg and monitor the now-embryos as they grow.  The embryos (number to be determined at that time) will then be transferred into my uterus.  If I had to guess, I'm thinking that will take place either on Saturday or Monday.  Luckily, there is no downtime after the transfer.  And then, the wait begins.  Gotta love waiting... (sarcasm inserted here)

I'll try to update on Wednesday after the retrieval, if I'm not too groggy...

Happy reading!