Egg Retrieval Day ... Success and Alcohol

By: Sam K.        

The Egg Retrieval Day ... I woke up excited and hopeful about my future family. Granted there are no guarantees, but I was predicting about 11-13 mature eggs and I had it ingrained in my mind that I only needed approximately 10 of those to make a baby. Therefore, I felt the odds were in my favor. 

I got to the office waiting room on time only to wait an additional 45 minutes to be taken back to get prepped for surgery. I was getting nervous, because from the trigger shot of HCG to the release of the eggs is 36 hours and we did not have a lot of wiggle room. The eggs won't wait on traffic. They release on their own time frame. I remember briefly talking to the anesthesiologist about when I could get alcohol in my system again. No, I am not an alcoholic, nor do I drink everyday. However, these past two plus weeks have been the longest time I have abstained from alcohol since before college. It was a master cleanse of some kind for me. No alcohol, caffeine, sexual activity, or rigorous exercise for 16 days. If I could pinpoint what was the most difficult for me to give up, I would have to say the intense working out. I love to eat and the way I keep my somewhat girlish figure is by burning calories from running, cross fit, and biking. It was a bit of a letdown that I found out that I would need to wait an additional 10 days post surgery before I could start running again. If you work out too early, you run the risk of ovarian torsion, and could have to amputate your ovary if it gets severely damaged. Surgery can repair the damage though for most people. The reasoning is that your ovaries are majorly enlarged after the stimulation drugs and once the eggs are removed, the ovaries are a little slower to respond*. Patients with ovarian torsion often present with sudden onset of sharp and usually unilateral lower abdominal pain, in 70% of cases accompanied by nausea and vomiting.





Back to the play by play on the day ... from the time the IV was put in my arm to when I

NOT ME, JUST A GENERIC POST SURGERY PICTURE

was put in the recovery room, I do not remember anything. I am told this is how it should be.   When I woke up, I was extremely disoriented. I did not feel any pain. My mother was there and a couple of nurses. According to my mother, I said a couple of extremely inappropriate things. I will spare you and me the awkwardness and omit that. I was wheeled out to the elevator 20 minutes later and felt extremely nauseous from the anesthesia. They did give me Fenergran prior to the surgery, but I don't think it worked at all. I drank Sprite and threw it up right before we drove home after surgery. Luckily that was the last time I experienced nausea related to this procedure. 

So, the happy news. My doctor informed me that they retrieved 15 mature eggs and that all 15 made it to the egg bank frozen in time. I could not have been more ecstatic and thankful to my RE and embryologist at that time. My clinic used the vitrification method to fast freeze the eggs. I don't have all the details on how I will eventually withdraw those eggs when I want to create my IVF baby one day, but I feel confident that they are safe. Most of the time, your oocyte retrieval surgery fee includes your first year of storage. You just better not ignore that invoice when it gets sent to you the next year. Mark your calendars. 

Next blog ... post surgery and OHSS. It happens more than you realize. 


* - My medical understanding. I am not a doctor, only someone that experienced the egg freezing process and this is my interpretation of the information provided to me. 


By Sam K.    Email me any questions or comments to Eggfreezing101@gmail.com