Egg Retrieval

This is an overview of the procedure tomorrow for me. I will be under sedation and will be sleepy afterward. The whole procedure will take about 15-20 minutes. Here is a clip that explains the procedure: 

 

Jake's procedure is called  TESE, which stands for Testicular Sperm Extraction. Jake will also be under sedation and a local anesthetic. Below is a picture of how his procedure will be performed. 

Final Sono

At our appointment this morning Dr. Le re-measured the follicles and decided that I should not receive any more stimulation. My follicles were measuring 16-18mm. And are the right size to complete the egg retrieval. So tonight at 10:15pm I will take my final injection of HCG. This medication will mature all the eggs that are developing inside each follicle so that on Wednesday they will be ready for the retrieval. After the injection it will take 36 hours for the eggs to fully mature and float within the follicle. On Wednesday they will remove each egg out of the follicles.

Todays Appointment

Today is day 8 of using Follistem for follicle stimulation. I had my estrogen level rechecked this morning and it came back at 1826 (1000-2000 was the range Dr. Le wanted it at) my follicles were re-measured and looked like they were packed in my ovaries like sardines. They averaged about 10mm-14mm, he wants them to be about 18mm Dr. Le dropped my Follistem dose down to 125 tonight and 100 tomorrow. We have our next appointment Monday morning where Dr. Le will give us all the final dates for the retrieval based on that appointment.

After Dr. Le found out about our situation with the Urologist he made a physician to physician phone call and got everything straightened out! Dr. Chaung will be available to do Jake's sperm retrieval when needed. Other good news, Jake is now home from Kansas City and is able to go to all my appointments with me, as well as give me the two nightly injections! A special thanks to my other "baby daddy"- Jen, for going to all my appointments with me in Jake's absence, you are the best!

Follicles

Today I had my estrogen level re-checked and Dr. Le measured the maturing follicles. He counted 19 follicles measuring anywhere from 8mm x 8mm to 12mm x12mm. He also checked the lining in the uterus and said that everything looked as it should. This afternoon Dr. Le's office called to tell me my estrogen level was 586, up from 118, which is very good. So good, in fact, that he lowered the dose of the Follistem to 150units and the Lupron to 5 units. I have my next appointment on Saturday to make sure my estrogen level continues to increase, and my follicles continue to grow! Jake comes home tomorrow and Dr. Le estimates our sperm and egg retrieval date to be Thursday, June 2nd!




Sono Pictures of Left and Right Ovaries:
The black circles are the maturing follicles

 

Bump in the Road

I just received a phone call from Dr. Le's office. Unfortunately, the urologist that was to perform Jake's sperm retrieval the day of my egg retrieval is unable to do it because of a scheduling conflict. Dr. Le's office gave us a number to call to try to use another doctor, which needs to be done in the next two days. UGH! For one thing the new doctor, Dr. French, needs to do a consult with Jake and unfortunately Jake is still in Kansas City, Missouri until Friday. To top it off,  even IF Jake can come home early Dr. French does not have any availabilities. My possible egg retrieval days are June 1st through June 4th, so hopefully we will be able work out the scheduling before this time! Ahh!

Follistem

Today is day 5 of stimulation meds. On Monday my Estrogen level was 118, (they want it to be 100-200) which means the medication is doing its job. I have another sono and blood work done tomorrow to see if the level has increased. So far so good, I am getting braver and am able to give the medications to myself every night. The effects of the medication are very strange. I feel that my lower abdomen is growing and always fills "full".  It does not hurt, but is a very strange sensation. Its hard to wear a belt or anything across my lower abdomen because it feels sore and restricting. However, the good news is I am halfway done with the stim meds and next week are our retrievals!!

Sono and Estrogen Level

Yesterday I had a follow up sono and lab work to check my estrogen level. They wanted my estrogen to be below 60 which would  suggest the Lupron was adequately suppressing my natural hormones. My level was 8, woo hoo!  This means that we will start the stimulation medication Follistem on Saturday and start tapering off the suppression meds. The Follistem is used for 10 days to stimulate the follicles to mature for the retrieval. During these ten days I will have to go every 2-3 days for sono's to make sure I am not getting too much medication causing over-stimulation, which is one of the possible side effects of the medication. On a side note Jake's office is flying him home for the weekend, I get to pick him up tomorrow, I can hardly wait.