Saturday 30 April 2011

Wait and see..

To cut to the chase.. there's some good news and some unknown news.

The good.. we got 12 eggs! Out of 14 follicles!  That was a real surprise. I was thinking I'd be happy with maybe 5-7, so when I came round and the nurse told me in Chinese how many we got, I thought I'd misunderstood. But it was confirmed by the Doctor :)
I know that quality not quantity is the key, which leads onto...

The unknown... we have no idea of the quality or whether they have fertilised... They do things differently here (why am I not surprised?!) - we basically get no news until we go back to the clinic on Tuesday. We will then find out if there are any embryos, the quality and, if there are and my body is deemed ready, we will have the transfer immediately.  The only thing the Dr said is that, from the size of the follicles, they would hope they are mature, but I know that's no guarantee.
In some ways, maybe this is better than getting blow by blow updates. At least this way there is no rollercoaster of good news followed by bad news or vice-versa. For the next 2 days, all we can do is be happy that we got a few eggs and hope for the best :)

So, how was the procedure and the day itself? Pretty damn good, I have to say. We got to the clinic early and the other girl having collection that day was already there... she has 'adopted' me because we've ended up on the same schedule and she's the only one who'll persevere at trying to understand my bad Chinese! So, if all else fails, I just follow her around :)

My new friend and I got called through at about 9ish and she had clearly been instructed by the nurse to make sure I took my knickers off when changing into my procedure pyjamas! Luckily, after 3 IUIs, I knew what to expect!  She was called in first and I got to sit in a room next door to the procedure room and hear what was going on... her chatting with the nurse and Doctor, her heartbeat on the monitor, the quiet as she was put under. After 30 minutes or so, it was my turn and I couldn't wait by that point..is that weird?!

The anesthetist had a little trouble getting the drip in the back of my hand and went for the forearm in the end, but that wasn't too bad. Then he said, 'there might be pain because of the medicine' and brandished a syringe full of white stuff at me. Not sure he got my sarcastic comment of 'Oh, good!'. Then my face started getting pins and needles, I got a funny taste in my mouth and that was it. Next thing I knew, I was waking up and felt absolutely fine!

After half an hour or so, I was allowed to go and get changed and didn't have any discomfort at all which I was surprised by. I found my Bloke and we saw the Doctor to confirm the number of eggs (yes, really 12!). She explained about the transfer procedure, I got my progesterone and off home we went. They don't really let people do their own IM shots, so I'll be popping back to the ER to get mine for the next couple of days.

I spent the rest of the day on the sofa. I did start feeling sore later in the day - going up and down stairs to the bathroom was a bit tiring, but I slept well and today I feel fine :)

So now the waiting begins.. or I should say continues, because this whole process is about waiting, isn't it? There's nothing I can do now, except for an acupuncture session with Dr F tomorrow and hope for good news on Tuesday...

11 comments:

  1. Fantastic result :)) Don't worry... we don't get much of an update here either & had to wait until our transfer day too then I had to chase them up to get results about how many got frozen etc.... very frustrating !! 12 is a great start :)) Love always xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's a really good start. I expect if and when I come to IVF I won't find out until later either. I don't know if it makes it more or less stressful. Do they do ICSI automatically in China if there is a motility issue?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks ladies.. @Kat - I have a feeling that they won't automatically go to ICSI.. you pay for everything up front here and we haven't paid for ICSI (and it hasn't been mentioned since I asked if we needed it..). It would definitely be frustrating for all those eggs to go to waste if ICSI is needed but not used.. but at least we would know to use it next time. Fingers crossed!

    ReplyDelete
  4. That's a fantastic ER! I agree... always a wait. What an exciting week... that much closer to being PUPO in China:] Wishing you all the best!

    ReplyDelete
  5. AHHH! So exciting! 12 eggs is my "over the moon" number...and we have transfer on the same day. I'm so glad the retreival was easy on you. I feel stupid saying this, but I love the white stuff you referred to...which we affectionately refer to at my clinic as "Milk of Amnesia." My husband loves it too because he says I talk to the doctor and nurses about how I love to ski (I NEVER ski) and about pets we don't have. I guess they just humor me because they are used to it. Who knew I was such a liar at heart? Anyways, yeah, yeah, yeah!

    ReplyDelete
  6. What great news! And congrats on the new job for your hubby and the move too. Exciting times ahead :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. 12 eggs is fantastic! Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  8. @Princess.. the last thing I remember saying before I went out was 'Ooh, that feels weird' when I got the face pins and needles! Not sure if I said anything else!

    Thanks for the good wishes everyone xx

    ReplyDelete
  9. Great egg number, but how horrible to be in suspense until Tuesday! Hope it's great news so that Infertile in China turns into Preggers in Korea.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Great news! Hope you'll get more good news today together with a smooth transfer. Fingers crossed.

    And you are moving! Big things are happening at once =)

    ReplyDelete
  11. WOW! A dozen! That's fantastic, China Doll! I am so hopeful for you! Can't wait for your next update!
    Love,
    Maddy

    ReplyDelete