Goodbye Eggies

I'm back!
Sorry, I'm a bit late in getting this written up and most of you will already know what happened, but anyway...

After a couple more days of injections and sprays, then a final injection to mature the eggs, I arrived at  the hospital on Wednesday last week at 08:15, ready to have my eggs harvested, accompanied by the bf. I knew he wouldn't get bored waiting what with all the gadgets and buttons to push in the hospital. Great.

First on the list of the day, I was asked a load of questions, met the doctor and the anaesthetist, signed the consent, was given my gown to change into, had my blood pressure checked, was made to stand on the scales (jeeeeeee-zusssssss) had a cannula stuck in the back of my hand and plonked myself on the bed, ready to rock n roll - Not before taking a couple of photos with my arse hanging out of the gown.
At that point, we had a bit of a giggle,  being raised to the max height on the bed, then slowly lowered. Then again, and again. Oops- in came the nurse, "what are you doing up there" she asked, bemused. Em...checkin the view?

I was given a dose of a sedative, which made me a bit woozy and giggly, and then whisked off to the theatre.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..

When I woke, I felt absolutely fine. The nurse informed me that they had managed to retrieve 7 eggs, which made me a bit teary as I thought it wasn't very many at all and really had hoped for a bigger yield! The nurse reassured me this was a very good number, but I just couldn't shake that feeling of disappointment. Having  counted 21 during the last scan, what happened to the rest? Well, the nurse explained that the eggs must be a certain size to be viable, they could perhaps be growing outside of the follicle, or maybe the follicle doesn't actually contain any eggs. OK, that's clear.
A trip to the lavvy, a round of toast and tea, and at 11.15 was discharged. Home to my own bed to catch up!!

The plan from then, is that the dad-to-be would attend the unit the following day to provide his sperm and this would be mixed with the eggs overnight.
The next day, the embryologists would see if any of my eggs had ben fertilised.
The day after that, an embryo or 2 would be implanted in the recipient. And then the waiting game recommences
It's all very exciting.

I'm happy to report that I haven't suffered with any cramps or bleeding, but since a day or 2 later, I've had a really tender, bloated belly and my boobs are killing me. Apparently this is normal, while my body is returning to it's former self. Sadly, not of that when i was a sylph-like teenager.

I asked the hospital to please keep me informed of the progress, and fingers crossed there will be a happy ending to it all. I promise to let you all know just as soon as I do.

Onto the subject of finances, with my hospital visits for scans and collecting the various drugs, using the car park and taking a day off work, the value I received for my effots, was about £65. I felt I should reiterate that I didn't do any of this for financial gain, but to help those less fortunate! The UK doesn't pay egg donors, athough there has been some debate whether to introduce a fee for donors, in the hope that it encourages more ladies to donate their eggs. You can ponder that for a few minutes yourself.

So for now, it's goodbye from me, and goodbye from my eeeeeeggs