They're All Grown Up!

6-21-12

Today was my second visit to the clinic.  The purpose of the visit was to perform another sonogram to determine how much my eggs have grown.  Chrissy and I awoke early, had breakfast and video documented my morning injection.  Chrissy has been kind enough to document some of the significant events that I have experienced and endured while on the island.  She has been a brave soul bearing witness to the grotesque mutilation I've imposed upon my body.  We're talking up close and personal footage of the injections in real time!  Coming to a blog near you!  Hmm...maybe not?  I don't think anyone else needs to see all that. 

My poor belly is scattered with bruises of every color - black, blue, purple, green - and speckled with reddish-purple dots pinpointing each injection shot.  It looks as if I have vampire bites along my spare tire and as though (as Chrissy fittingly jokes) a Smurf has been throwing punches at my belly!  Believe me, not a pretty sight!  My first day on the beach exposing the rainbow of colors on my belly, in my two piece, was a little embarrassing...but I'm over it now.  Clexane, a drug to control antibodies running rampant in my body that prevents embryos from implanting is the culprit for all the bruises and pricks.  It's a chubby, little syringe with an apparent potent and lasting needle.

Chrissy and I walked around the block to the clinic and after settling into the exam room, Anna, the nurse, and another woman, whom Anna introduced as a trainee entered.  The trainee performed the sonogram on me, which led to a prolonged state of discomfort as she maneuvered the probe like a joystick throughout my uterus on a treasure hunt for my eggs - literally speaking, haha.  Once found and measured, the final count was 6 eggs that are viable for the taking.  There could even be more on the actual day.

After the sono, Chrissy and I returned to Anna's office to discuss the changes to my medication and to schedule the retrieval, as the eggs all measured 18mm and over - the desired size.  Most importantly, Anna gave me the final meds I would need to take before the retrieval, including a syringe containing a drug to finalize the maturation of the eggs to be taken exactly at 8pm that evening, two different types of pills to assist in controlling hormones and antibodies from attacking the embryo and preventing it from implanting and finally, pills to help fight possible infection due to the invasive procedure.

After the rundown of the meds, Anna explained I would need to fast Friday night and return Saturday morning for the egg retrieval.  The procedure is expected to last 15-20 minutes; all the while I will be under anesthesia.  Since I will need about 1 1/2 hours to recover, Anna suggested Chrissy come back to fetch me around 9:30am.  With my drugs in hand and a sense of overwhelming anxiety brewing within, we were on our way.

Luckily, the only thing we had scheduled for the day was the beach, so I had a lot of time to decompress, relax and wrap my head around the meds schedule - when to take what, how often, how much, with food or not, etc.  I've just about got that all down, but I'm still trying to fight the nervous and anxious feelings revolving around the actual procedure.  What worries me most is "going under."  Forget the fact that they'll be extracting multiple eggs from my uterus!  No, what worries me the most is being put down with anesthesia!  Go figure!  I think seeing the women two days ago at the clinic, post-procedure, waking from their beds and walking out from behind the curtains looking like zombies had a lasting effect on me. 

Not to worry, I will get through this.  I'm happy to be doing this somewhere as relaxing as Barbados and to not have a care in the world, in terms of work, correcting papers and the regular hustle and bustle of home life.  Tomorrow is another free day for Chrissy and I.  We plan to of course, go to the beach and hit up the "Fish Fry" in a town along the coast - apparently the "thing" to do on a Friday night.  I plan to eat real good to last me all evening and the next morning!  I won't get to eat again until after the procedure on Saturday - which will most likely be the next opportunity I'll have to blog!  Until then...