We're growing babies from scratch!

So, egg retrieval was yesterday!  We got there, we checked in and then waited to be called back.  At first I was called back for them to check my vitals and to sign some consents.  The nurse who took my vitals was really funny.  She was older and had a raspy voice.  The other nurse who was getting me to sign the papers was a younger woman who wasn't in the best of moods.  It was before 9am... that's the excuse I'll give her :)

The older woman who took my vitals kept telling me how little I looked.  "You're just a little girl!" She repeated this about 10x.  It was cute.  I know I'm young... but I'm not THAT young :)  Well, I'll take it anyways.  I had no make up on whatsoever so I know that didn't help my case haha... and the whole being short thing doesn't help either.

Anyways, I finally got called back to change into "the gown" and got hooked up to an IV.  I met both the doctors who would be with me during the retrieval.  The anesthesiologist was super nice and friendly.  I felt really comfortable with her and the other doctor who was doing the retrieval.  I said goodbye to Jon and I walked off to the OR.  I stood up on a stool they set up (I'm hoping they do this for all patients and not just because I was short haha) and climbed onto the "table".  They got me all comfortable with a blanket and after a few minutes, I was out like a light.

I woke up to a new nurse prattling on about something.  I can't remember.  She was taking my IV out and said she was going to get me water and then they were getting Jon too.  I wasn't in any pain which was nice. The nurse and doctor came in and told me they got 18 eggs! That's a really good number! I stayed there for a few more minutes and then they had me get dressed.  They wheeled me out to the car.  I was so dizzy.  I wasn't nauseous or anything, but I just had to keep my eyes shut on the wheel chair ride and in the car ride all the way home.  Jon helped me out of the car and took me to bed.  This is where I stayed pretty much the rest of the day.  I slept a TON.  I was so out of it lol.

My sweet mother-in-law brought us dinner while I was sleeping.  I was so grateful!  Because moving at the moment isn't my first choice of things to do.. not to mention cooking!  So, thank you, Anne!!  The chili was so yummy!!

Jon has been so amazing through all of this.  I can't leave him out of this!  He took care of me all day yesterday.  He worked from home and I fell asleep listening to him in the other room while he called into different meetings.   I love him so very much and I am so grateful for him and all that he does for our family.  He is such a hard worker and I am so very proud of him :)

Okay, I realize this is getting long.  So, I'll get to the results!

Today, I am doing better than yesterday.  I'm not super mobile and I have some pain but nothing bad.  So I am keeping low.  I got the call from my doctor's office today saying that out of the 18 eggs- we had 16 that fertilized!!  I called Jon right after and then he proceeded to post this on twitter:

"My wife grew 16 babies from scratch today. How effective were you with your day? #IVF"

I found that really funny :)  There is a blogger that I follow and she once wrote in her blog:

"growing a human trumps everything"

It's true!  No matter if it's through IVF or naturally- it's amazing!  So, that's it folks, we're growing babies from scratch!  Our transfer is on Monday :)  We are going to be transferring 2 embryos.  We are so excited!

In case this blog isn't long enough for you... haha... Here is something I found interesting.  It talks about the growth of an embryo in the first 5 days.  Today is day 1 and Monday will be day 5 :)

Embryo Development

During the first five days after fertilization, an embryo rapidly passes through multiple stages:

• On day one, an embryo is typically at the pronuclear stage, commonly referred to as 2PN. It is still a one-cell embryo, because the DNA material from the sperm and the egg has not fused yet.
• Day two after fertilization, the embryo is at the two- to four-cell stage.
• On day three, it is typically at the six- to eight-cell stage. Days two and three are also called the cleavage stage.
• On day four, the embryo is at the morula stage. A morula is a solid sphere that has many cells.
• By day five, most embryos have reached the blastocyst stage. The blastocyst stage is the first stage of embryo development in which the different cells are differentiating (developing different functions). A blastocyst embryo has three components:
  • An inner cell mass, which ultimately becomes the actual baby
  • An outer cell mass, which becomes the placenta
  • A fluid-filled space, the blastocoel

Embryo transfers are typically performed on day three (the cleavage stage) or on day five (the blastocyst stage).

Source from Houston Fertility Institute Website