The advice from my case manager is "Rest up for next month" which makes me a little nervous that this is the calm before the storm. I don't remember anyone telling me that the first period after egg retrieval is such an ass-kicker. So if you're reading this and you are like me and want to be prepared for the truth about what can happen... prepare for the worst.
We had our appointment on Friday, March 29th to get the results of our PGS testing. As soon as we walked up to the front desk to sign in for our ultrasound appointment, we were handed the paper below. I know it should have put me over the moon of happiness to know that we had one normal embryo, but for some reason the word Euploid made no sense to me. I had to google it on my phone.
I guess I was hoping for more choice, and more chances, but all we got was one healthy normal embryo, and it's a male. I feel more scared now because I know that with the next stage (implantation) we only have one shot at it and if it goes wrong then we are done. The doctor explained that generally when eggs fertilize normally, about 50% of them are still "normal" by PGS testing, so we were just one embryo shy of that 50/50 ratio. What do they call that, the statistics of small sample sizes?
We went back for the ultrasound, and I got to see all the lovely cysts on my ovaries that are leftover from the egg retrieval procedure. I guess this is normal. And the uterus looked good. We were escorted into another room and seated with this photo on the table.
OK fine. So we went straight to work and just reeled in the news. I ended up going out to the CSUN botanical garden in the afternoon and walked around with the wildflowers.
It wasn't the greatest news in the world, but it could have been worse. We got to ask a bunch of questions that we've been wondering and discuss some possible dates for the next round of hormones. It will be pills of estradiol and shots of estradiol and shots of progesterone and lots of doctor visits (every 2 days) to monitor the growth of the uterine lining. We want a nice soft pillow to deliver that embryo into to give it the best chance of becoming a successful pregnancy.
I think we're going to wait until school is done and grades are submitted to start that process. That day (Friday, March 29th) was our 11th wedding anniversary, so we had a nice steak dinner at home in our underwear and went to bed early.
The following day... I woke up like usual, drank my whey protein shake, ate my 2 egg breakfast with avocados (still keeping up that high protein diet). I got some beans soaking and ended up making a massive batch of 9-bean soup with the bone broth from the steaks from the night before. I was doing my thing in the kitchen, keeping busy when I started to feel a gurgling in my tummy.
Yes, it was watery diarrhea. My body was pushing everything out. I started my period. OK, that's to be expected, but it did seem a little bit violent. Then cramps started kicking down very bad. I tried to eat the 9-bean soup I had just made. I tried to eat some chicken around 11am or noon. Then I started the heavy breathing, the palm sweats and the salivating. I knew I was going to throw up.
Now I have a fairly iron stomach. But there have been times when I get a hormone-related migraine headache that makes me blow chunks. This was unlike anything I can remember. I was in so much pain, I couldn't lay down, I couldn't walk, I couldn't stretch, I just went from the bed to pacing to the toilet and back again, and back and forth for a few hours.
I tried taking some Tylenol, threw it up. I tried taking Alka-Seltzer with acetaminophen, threw that up. It seemed like there wasn't much to be done. It definitely went on until about 5pm. I finally came back downstairs and had something to eat. Dear husband went out for teriyaki chicken and vegetables. I drank some coconut water and ate some beef jerky to catch up on electrolytes.
Sunday, March 31st I begged dear husband to go out for a heating pad. That really did something good to help me through the pain. I took extra strength Tylenol (1000 mg) throughout the day, every 5 hours. It hurt intermittently (in waves). Monday, April 1st luckily was a school holiday, and the campus was closed. I stayed in all weekend with the exception of a short walk on Monday to Rite Aid and back (2 miles) to refill my stash of Lactaid.
I've considered abandoning the high protein diet (less than 40% carbs and more than 25% protein), but I guess I'll stick with it until the transfer. It is a bit hard to stay off carbs, now that my regular metabolism is back (no hormone supplementation). It's hard to stay off coffee too. And dairy. But I did order a book called "The IVF Diet" and it's supposed to arrive sometime this week or next. I'm still keeping up the 3 Liters of water. Don't know exactly why, but it's probably not a bad thing.
With "one shot" I want to try to do anything I can to improve our chances of success. I read that possibly losing as little as 15 pounds can go a long way to making my body healthier for the next stage of the process. I know I should get back to work now, but I'm adding items to my list for an IVF care package. Here's what I have so far:
- maternity leggings
- gel eye mask (for headaches)
- heating pad (for cramps)
- whey protein
- wire whisk (to mix shakes)
- egg timer (for hard-boiled eggs)
- beef jerky
- high protein (Rx) bars
- vitamin D
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