Thank you guys so much for the comments. I just got done reading through them and it makes me feel so loved to know that so many of you are thinking of me today. *blush*
We drove to Indy last night and arrived there about 9:30. We read a bit and had a good nights sleep at the hotel. We arrived promptly at 6:45 and were whisked back to the holding room almost immediately. When the nurse came to bring us back she said “I recognize you” and that seemed to be the theme of the morning. All of the nurses remembered me from my 6 other trips to see them since June. In a way it was definitely a good thing — a pleasant change of pace from the new clinic where no one seems to have any idea who I am or why I’m there.
I warned both the anesthesiologist and the nurse who put in my IV about the issues from last time and they both assured me that it would not happen again. The nurse did an excellent job putting in the IV and the anesthesiologist checked it with saline before he gave me the hard stuff. This time it didn’t hurt at all. *A word to the wise — if your IV hurts badly when they put it in (like mine did last time) it probably isn’t right. I’ll definitely go with my gut from now on with things like that. If it feels totally off, it probably is.*
We met with the biologist and I expressed an interest in putting back 3 embryos on Friday. She said she doubted that would happen (I’m just too young, yadda, yadda, yadda. Well, being young hasn’t gotten me pregnant yet, now has it??) but she would write it down. We are ICSIing only 3 this time and letting the rest fertilize naturally.
Dr. J came in and said hello and I asked him about putting back 3 and he immediately said no. He said that because I am so young it just isn’t the smart thing to do. I protested and said that this is my 3rd time through!! He then asked how tall I am (I’m 5″4′) and he responded that if we did get pregnant with 3 there just wouldn’t be room for them to grow. I jokingly said, “Well, if this doesn’t work there is going to be hell to pay. And next time I get three!”. He laughed and smiled, “There isn’t going to be a next time.” God, how I hope he is right.
Dr. J wheeled me back to the operating room and helped me onto the table himself. I thought that was pretty nice! My favorite nurse, Robin, was there and she gave me a huge grin when she saw me.
Everything went very quickly. They were talking to me while I was on the table and I remember telling them that I am high school history and yearbook teacher. They were joking that I should see the anesthesiologist’s yearbook picture and then I was out.
This time when I woke up Mike wasn’t in the room. Mike said that everything happened really quickly. He said that I wasn’t gone more than 5 minutes and they didn’t send him to collect until I was already back in the room. I guess they wanted the freshest specimen possible! I woke up a little and asked the nurse for a drink and then I kept checking the clock as I went in and out of consciousness. I started to get worried when Mike had been gone for 20 minutes that he was having issues collecting but then he came back and said it was “no problem!” He cracks me up sometimes.
As soon as Mike got back I got dressed. I went to the bathroom and when I came out Nurse Robin was in my room looking for me. She gave me a big hug and said how nice it was to see me again but that she hopes that this time is the one. She asked me if I wanted a laugh. She had a picture that had the anesthesiologist’s head photoshopped onto this picture of Borat! (She’s the same nurse that told me I was nice before retrieval #2).
The nurses all said bye and that they would see us on Friday (can you tell I like it when someone knows what is going on and I actually feel like they care??) and we headed out to begin the long drive home. I was craving a baked potato so we stopped at an Arby’s on the way home and I slept some. Once we finally got home I ended up sleeping for the rest of the afternoon. The anesthesia knocked me on my butt!
Amazingly though this time has felt different. Everything went very smoothly. No IV pain. A little cramping but nothing major pain wise so far. I feel good. I feel upbeat. I feel peaceful. I feel calm. And it is so strange.
While Mike and I were at Arby’s this morning I looked across the table at him (Arby’s is so romantic ya know!) and I said “This is just so strange. I don’t feel anxious at all. I feel good. I feel peaceful and calm. It is so not like me.” Honestly, I was wondering if they had given me some happy drugs in the IV!! But that feeling is still there. And it is so strange. I don’t know how to react to not being on edge constantly. I hope it is a good sign and doesn’t mean that I’m just going to fall that much harder in the end.
I’ll be back in the morning with the fertilization report. Please keep your fingers crossed for us!
