Wednesday, January 7, 2009

They definitely do some magic

They use the same medications that all other doctors use. They don't use any magic potion of any kind. In fact, in my case, the dosage was half what my local RE would put me on. 

They do monitor you VERY VERY closely. Many REs across the country don't believe in such close monitoring. Many don't believe in the blood monitoring, they just go by follicle sizes. 

CCRM leaves nothing to chance. They take into account everything that could make a tiny bit of difference. 

And here are the results they are able to get from my old ovaries - 31 eggs were retrieved today. Yes, 31, and I'm still in shock!! They don't know yet how many were mature eggs, but they got 31!!! 

The day began bright and early, and we were at the clinic by 7:45 AM. I love their special entry for surgery patients - it's all very James Bond-ish. Announce your name and the garage door is opened up for you. You go directly into the surgery center from the garage. 

They took a long time to be able to set up my IV today. My veins were not very cooperative for some reason. First they put that hot towel on my left hand, and the nurse tried to poke a vein on my wrist. She put in the local anesthetic, and then went in with the catheter. Apparently my vein moved after that! So she went to another vein a few cm away. Same thing. She put the anesthetic, and the catheter, but my veins were in a slippery mood this morning. She decided she didn't want to poke me any more, and went and called another nurse, who tried on my right hand, and thankfully got a vein to stay in place long enough for the IV to get set. 

The anesthesiologist came in, and then Dr Surrey came in. He did my ER today, and he was so warm and friendly! Once I had signed all my consents, they gave me a little cocktail and that's the last I remember. I used to be a fighter, now I'm knocked out even before I am wheeled out of the prep room!! 

The next thing I remember is waking up in the recovery room. I saw JJ being wheeled out to the recovery room after her ER. Once I was allowed to get up, I asked the nurses if I could say hi to JJ. That was the highlight of the day - it was so nice to meet her! J - I have to tell you, you're beautiful!! Even in my drugged state, and your drugged state, you looked lovely! 

It was so sweet of the nurses to allow me to shuffle over to JJ's recovery area - and can you imagine the sight? Me shuffling there in the back open gown, with a sheet wrapped around me for modesty, my feet in those blue booties, with DH walking with me, carrying my IV bag! Comical, aren't we? 

We will find out the fert report tomorrow. And because of the large number of eggs they got, they want me to come in for an ultrasound tomorrow morning to see if my ovaries look ok. Also, Dr Schoolcraft decided they would do ICSI after all. I'm trusting them wholeheartedly now, so I didn't refuse or argue. 

We plan to fly back to CA tomorrow evening, after we get the fert report in. 

That's it people - I'm going to get some sleep now. I'm still whoozy from the anesthesia, but I can't tell you how quickly I got up and sat up once I heard how many eggs they got! Thanks for your prayers and vibes, and thank you God for listening to my prayers! 

PS - On a side note: This morning, while we were waiting for the garage door to be opened for us, we saw Dr School.craft in his car, on the phone, in the parking lot. He drives a fancy shmancy BMW 750i - one that many of us have helped pay for! Just a little tidbit of general knowledge for you guys!

28 comments:

Charlotte said...

Oh, Yay!! 31 eggs Nikki...That's awesome!! Take it easy tonight, you and your poor ovaries deserve it!!
And yes, I AM feeling much better, thanks for asking!! :)

Petrucia said...

31?!!!!! :O
that's great!
oh, just your description of the vein deal for the IV made me nervous. I hate when that happens.
Rest well!

Courtney said...

Nikki!!!!!!! 31!!!!!??!! That is awesome :). I can't wait for your FERT report. When will you hear back on the PGD? I'm guessing a weekish...

Sue said...

Yayyy for 31 eggs. So happy for you and praying that you have a great fert report.

Anonymous said...

Ahhhh!!!!! (That's me screaming right now) 31!!!!!

Yea!!!

Anonymous said...

Ahhhh!!!!! (That's me screaming right now) 31!!!!!

Yea!!!

Caroline said...

Yay, Yay, Yay! I have been thinking of you and wondering how the ER went. A huge congratulations - You have made my day. I'm looking forward to checking in with you when I get home.
And did I forget to say...Yay!!!

Darya said...

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lulu said...

Wow! That's such great news. I've been recently following your journey and am so happy for you. Can't wait to hear more good news!

Misty Dawn said...

Wow~ 31!!! that is great! Can't wait for the FERT report tomorrow!!!

Mo said...

WOW!!!!! 31!!!! That is fantastic! Congratulations, Nikki!

: )

Mo

Jill M. said...

31??? You're an egg machine!!! And you were all worried you'd only get 11, haha. So excited for you, can't wait to hear your fert report. Hugs!

Birdee said...

Wow - and we were worried about only 9 - pft! Your Ovaries Rock!! So does your Dr and clinic.
Congrats and GL hon. Cant wait to see what happens from here =D

April said...

this is such great news! 31! woo hoo!!!

travel safely

Elana Kahn said...

Woo hoo!!! That's an awesome #! I only got 8... I agree with the docs using ICSI. There's a better rate of fertilization, and the chances of them picking sperm with the translocation and having random sperm with the translocation fertilizing is the same. GOOD LUCK!!!!

Anonymous said...

Wooohoooo for 31!! That is down right awesome!!! Can't wait to hear about your fert report! Crossing my fingers!

Lorraine said...

Wow! 31 is just crazy! How nice to be surprised in such an abundant way!

Keep up the magic, CCRM!

Meinsideout said...

Holy moly! That is fantastic! I totally have egg envy!!!!!

I hope you are doing okay and feeling great!!!!

Unknown said...

Hi, it's Ashlee (ashand on the IVF boards). I cycled at CCRM in early December and am now about 6 weeks pregnant.
HUGE congrats on the 31 eggs retrieved! Wow!!! CCRM IS the best, for many reasons, and they do a wonderful job. We were so satisfied with our entire experience there that, even if we hadn't gotten that BFP it would have overall been a good experience for us and the BFP was just the icing on the cake. Lots of great thoughts going your way and please continue to keep us posted!

Shelby said...

31? Holy sh*$! Seriously, are you sure you didn't just turn 21? CCRM are definitely magicians! AWESOME!

Meinsideout said...

Hey girl - yes, I am going to stay here for my next cycle - the docs in both places both suggested an aggressive protocol so that, coupled with the bit of insurance I have left that I can use here, was the deciding factor to stay.

I cannot wait for the fert report!

Polly Gamwich said...

What amazing news ... seriously, 31?? That's outrageous ... I love Dr. Schoolcraft.

Yay for us getting our fert reports together tomorrow! Here's to many fertilized eggs.

I hope you're feeling OK after having 31 oocytes yanked out of ya. I'm so happy to hear that they are monitoring you for OHSS so closely ... again, another reason I love Dr. Schoolcraft.

Yay!

JJ said...

Nikki, first of all congratulations on that wonderful number of eggs. I've hardly ever heard of such a large number being retrieved. You're a superstar!!! It was so fabulous to meet you this morning. Funny, the first thing I asked my nurse when I woke up was if I could say hi to you, too. She looked really surprised that I knew you. I think our hubbies bonded in the lobby, too. :-). It made my day to meet you as well. Hope you're feeling ok and don't hyper-stimulate. Take it as easy as you can. I'm looking forward to seeing your fert report tomorrow. Ugh, for me that part is really scary.

C said...

31!! whoa....your ovaries are really hardworking must say...

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on your 31 eggs!!! Wooohoo!
I can't wait to read about your fert report!

DAVs said...

Ok, can I just say "I told you so!" Said with love, and meaning--I know CCRM notoriously gets way more eggs than they see/count on u/s. Remember your panic over 11? Har har! 31 ROCKS! Rest up.

Lisa said...

31 is an awesome number!!!! Congratulations and I hope your trip back to CA is uneventful!

Linda said...

Yep, I agree. There's magic going on at CCRM! Yay for getting a lot of eggies! I now (ok, so I'm a bit late lol) hand you the "Easter basket". (That's what my sister called me after the ER)