Egg collection itself...

28 eggs!! They retrieved 28 eggs! Phew! 

If you saw my last post, my day began at 4.30am. A woken up child alerted me to the fact that I couldn't eat after 5am, so I figured I would be better with something in me than not. I arrived at the clinic at 10.30 and was whisked away to a private room in the treatment area to sign some papers and double check everything. 
I was so surprised to see a huge bunch of flowers, a small gift and a lovely card from the recipient. Certainly was not expecting that!

I had to empty my bladder (pee) and change into a wrap gown they provided but I could leave on my singlet thankfully. Hospital gowns are horrible- these are not. :)

I was taken through into the theatre where a cannula was put into my hand for the iv injections, while at the same time my legs were put onto stirrup-like rests and a nasal breathing tube was fitted (just oxygen).

I dont know how much of the drugs they gave me, but I had Midazolam for sedation, Fentanyl for pain and Amoxicillin (anti-biotic they give donors prophylactically).

I have no idea how long the actual procedure was but I was told it was just over 10 mins. The Midazolam totally spaced me out- like being drunk.

How they do the egg retrieval is fairly straightforward. A needle is attached to an internal ultrasound probe, which is inserted into the vagina. The doctor uses the ultrasound to see my ovaries and locate the follicles. The needle punctures each follicle, and a gentle suction is applied to remove the egg and fluid within the follicle.

28 eggs is quite a haul apparently and the nurses, doctor and lab person (she called herself a scientist) were stoked. 

Having so many eggs does make me a bit more prone to Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome though so I was sent home with a list of symptoms to watch out for (most look like flu symptoms) 

So now, they fertilize all 28 eggs by injecting each with the recipient's husband's sperm and they will know tomorrow just how many have fertilized. 
Then on either day 3 or 5, they will insert an embryo into the recipient and (fingers crossed) a pregnancy happens. The clinic said they will let me know tomorrow how many fertilized, but any communication from after then will be done through the counsellor. 

It feels weird to know that this is the end for me. I really hope this ends in a pregnancy for the couple, but having 28 eggs collected today is very hopeful.

xJ