Monday, April 28, 2014

Today Is The Big Day!

Egg Retrieval Day!
Out front of the center where the magic happens. 
This was before the procedure!

This means it was a big day for not only me and my eggs but also for Ryan and his little spermies! We left home at 6:30 this morning (I refused to get up before 6:15 since I couldn't eat or drink anything and I didn't want to be awake for too long.)  In addition, they asked me not to use any kind of scented lotions or perfumes as they can have negative effects on the eggs.  So, I didn't have much to do this morning besides brushing my teeth anyways.  I was nervous on the way down and may have started crying while talking to my mom on the phone (though I'm not sure she could tell.) Ryan just quietly held my hand and let me cry. It didn't last long but it was good to get it out.  Phillip Phillips soothed my nerves on the drive down as I sang along with him.  We got there, filled out some paperwork, and shortly after they took me back to my room.  The anesthesiologist, Dr. Chu was this cute little Asian guy that reminded me of the guy from the movie, The Hangover.  Kind of a high pitched, feminine voice, and sweet as ever.  He walked me through the steps of the procedure and started small talk while getting the IV going.  Dr. Uzelac came in and got me situated and himself prepared.  Within second of my IV being started I started to feel a little dizzy. My friend Dr. Chu says to me, "I put a little something in your IV so you might start to feel something." Yes, I feel it!  He said, "Well don't you worry, there's more from where that came from!" He told me to think of a nice place I'd like to vacation, a nice warm beach, and told me to "have a nice trip!"  That's the last thing I remember. Next thing I knew, Judy, one of the nurses came in and woke me up.   She said everything went great and that they had collected 13 eggs!  That's right, the lucky #13.  Funny enough, that's both mine and Ryan's favorite number.  Before we met, we both had the number 13 in our email addresses.   This MUST be a good sign.  Judy got me some water (good thing because I was parched) and asked if I wanted to see my husband.  I would love to see my husband! I told her.  Ryan came in and took these incredibly attractive pictures of me after a quick kiss.
 Someone must've been feeling good based off the size of that smile!

Judy gave us a quick run down of things to look for and that was it.  We thanked Dr. Uzelac and spoke with him briefly about the number 13 which he said is a good number.  They generally have a goal of 10-20 eggs and considering I was on the lowest dose of meds, this was a great number. That was it.  We were done.  Quick and easy.  

What's amazing to us is that at this very moment, my eggs and Ryan's sperm have been put together and our chromosomes are doing the tango. (Well, hopefully!) Because we have a male fertility factor, they are doing what it called ICSI (see video below).  This is a process when they specifically pick Ryan's strongest sperm and physically put it into one of my eggs.  This is to ensure fertilization happens.  Or to raise the chances of fertilization I should say.  From this point, the embryologist will carefully monitor the cells, that will hopefully turn into embryos, over the next 3-5 days.  Seeing as we are unable to move forward at this point, they will then freeze all the embryos until my body is ready.  We're hoping that will be in the next 3-4 weeks.  They will then do what's called an FET (Frozen Embryo Transfer) and we'll wait for 9 days, then take a pregnancy test and do blood tests to see what the results are.  Pretty interesting and very exciting!  Below are  a few interesting videos showing the process that has taken place today and is currently happening, as well as what's to come.
 This video shows the process of the egg retrieval and typical IVF procedures.
However, it does not show the process of ICSI.  The next video will
show what that process looks like.  
The ICSI Procedure

The below video is the process we will be getting updates on over the next 3-5 days.  The dividing of the cells forming an embryo(s).  This whole process is such a miracle!

Thank you to all of you that have said special prayers last night and this morning (as well as every other day)!  It feels so wonderful to know that we are so loved and supported by so many and that we have a God that is watching over us.  A God that is guiding the Nurses and Doctors caring for us, and who's working His magic as we watch the beginning stages of the incredible miracle that life is.  Simply AMAZING!  We are blessed and we thank you again for everything. 
Love, Lauren & Ryan

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