Catching up

Warning...This is a long one.

Friday morning started pretty early considering we had to be at the doctor's office at 7:30 for egg retrieval.  We arrived right on time and things got started pretty quickly.  M went off to do his thing while I stayed with the anesthesiologist.  She got my IV started right away and we sat and chatted for a few minutes.  While we were chatting, I noticed she had Jack Johnson playing on her computer in the background.  I told her that Jack Johnson was one of my favorite musicians.  We also chatted a bit about running because I noticed she was wearing a Garmin as her watch.

After a few minutes we moved into the procedure room and waiting for the doctor who would be performing the retrieval to arrive.  She was running a bit late and I was getting anxious laying on the table.  Keep in mind my legs are already up in the stirrups, so that wasn't the least bit awkward as nurses kept coming in and out with an update on the doctor's arrival time.  The anesthesiologist had brought her iPhone into the procedure room, so we just kept chatting and listening to Jack Johnson. Finally the doctor arrived and the anesthesiologist started my sedation meds through the IV.  I remember just before I was dosing off I heard Better Together start playing.  That was the first dance song at our wedding, so I'm sure I had a smile on my face as I dosed off.  I'm taking this as a very good sign.

About 20 minutes later I woke up and the nurse walked me into the little recovery area.  I sat there for a bit while the drugs wore off.  Just as we were about to leave, we received word that they were able to retrieve 10 eggs.  This is exactly the number we expected based on the ultrasounds.   Once I had fully woken up, they sent us along our way.  I was in a decent amount of pain most of the day, so I alternated between the couch and the bed either reading or watching TV.

We got a call bright and early Saturday morning, letting us know that 7 of our eggs had fertilized.  This is right on target with the statistics we had been given early on in the process.  We were excited with the news, but I needed a distraction so I didn't sit around the house all day thinking about the "what-ifs".  With nothing on the agenda, we hopped in the car and drove to Charlotte to go to Ikea.  The most exciting part about this trip was getting to see some awesome friends from Charlotte.  One of the friends is the keeper of Baby Jesus and the other was a recipient of Baby Jesus' good fortune several years ago.  They both went out of their way to meet up with me and spread some of the Baby Jesus love.  Even M got in on the Baby Jesus rubbing action :)

Our next update from the lab was this morning.  After some tense minutes waiting for the phone to ring, we finally got our good news.  All 7 embryos are still looking great!  I couldn't be more happy.  I know we still have a lot more hurdles to cross, but I'm excited they have made it this far.  Our transfer is scheduled for Wednesday morning at 10am.  Any thoughts, prayers, and good vibes that you have to share will be appreciated.