After two rounds of egg freezing medicines (You can read diaries of both experiences here: my first unsuccessful round of egg freezing and my second round of egg freezing) my egg retrieval was scheduled for Monday morning at 10:45am, meaning we had to get to my doctor’s office for 9:45am.

My boyfriend and my mother came with me and I was super nervous. This was my first surgery in my life and I’ve always been deadly afraid of anesthesia, but there was no avoiding it for this procedure.

The nurses brought me to an operating room and prepped me, making me wear a hospital gown, bonnet and socks. Luckily, they allowed my boyfriend and mom to come with me. Then, they inserted the IV, which was terrifying, and also my first time experiencing that. My boyfriend held my hand as I looked away and it was inserted.

I asked the anesthesiologist a ton of questions before being taken away into the operating room, by myself. Unfortunately, no one can accompany you. As I got onto the surgical table my whole body was actually shaking from nerves. The staff was super professional and calming, but I was still afraid of the surgery and also the results.

The anesthesiologist inserted the anesthesia into the iv and I closed my eyes and was quickly out. Twelve minutes later I was being woken up by the nurse. The surgery was over! For those undergoing retrieval, it is a very quick procedure. The eggs are collected intravaginally by a big needle/suction device. I remember feeling groggy but not being in any pain whatsoever, which was a pleasant surprise.

Next thing I know, I was being wheeled into the other room and the nurse came by to tell me they got 7 eggs, all of which had to be tested for maturity and mixed with sperm to create embryos. My mother and boyfriend were then brought into the room and marveled at how quickly my surgery was over.

Soon, the nurse asked me to go into the bathroom to try and pee because they won’t release you until you are able to urinate. There was a little bit of blood when I used the bathroom, but that’s standard.

The Recovery

Within another 20 minutes I was back at my apartment to recover the rest of the day watching HGTV with my mom drinking copious amounts of coconut water and eating salty foods (They recommend you do both). The first day I honestly felt fine and mostly laid on the couch. I even went to dinner that night with my mom and boyfriend.

Day two of recovery I headed back to work. I felt OK in the morning but got crazy bloated by midday to the point where I was super uncomfortable. Bloating is a major symptom after egg retrieval. I had prepared for this by laying out shapeless dresses for the work week ahead of my surgery. After work, I walked the mile and a half home hoping to get SOME form of exercise (This whole not working out for three weeks thing is miserable). Every step fo my walk home hurt and I felt very achy.

My doctor called saying that of the 7 eggs they retrieved, all were mature — which was great news. And, 6 of the 7 successfully mixed with my boyfriend’s sperm — more great news. However, I misinterpreted the news and didn’t realize that those eggs weren’t embryos yet. The eggs and sperm would have to be tested and frozen, and typically only 40% to 50% of them survive that process. She says I will find out in a few days how many viable embryos we have.

Day three was my worst day. I had spotting again and called my doctor, but they said that was normal and not to worry. My stomach hurt a lot, with sharp pains at the bottom of it and back aches. I went to bed and slept it off, feeling fine in the morning but still super bloated.

I’ve been drinking tons of water to try and flush out the bloating, which has been the most annoying bit of all.

The Results

Within about six days of the surgery I felt completely back to normal. That weekend we got a download from our embryologist. Out of the 6 mature eggs, four of them fertilized with sperm. We mistakenly interpreted that as us having 4 embryos that we would use, so we were really happy. But, later on we learned that the four embryos would still need to undergo genetic testing. Only about 50% of the embryos typically come back as viable, which is a scary thought. Basically, IVF is a complete numbers game, and the more eggs you get from a retrieval, the better because from that point on it is a sick war of attrition.

After getting zero eggs the last go round, this made me very nervous. On Wednesday, about 10 days after the call from the embryologist, I missed two calls from my doctor and an email, which made my heart sink. I called her back and she broke the news to me that none of our embryos were good. I immediately burst into tears as I tried to comprehend this. The doctor said that all of the embryos are what is called “chromosomally abnormal” meaning they have too few or too many chromosomes and won’t be a viable embryo to create a baby. They essentially will have to be discarded. Ten minutes after that phone call I had to make a big presentation at work which was streamed globally. Not ideal after crying in a conference room.

This news started a downward spiral of about 24 hours of crying and Googling. I downloaded the audiobook version of “It Starts With The Egg” that day and listened to it for six hours straight, something I wish I did back in October when I began down this path. (Stay tuned because I am planning a post on how I incorporate what I learned from the book into my life for our next few cycles). 

The next day, my boyfriend and I scheduled a conference call with my doctor to more thoroughly go through the results after having processed them. My doctor said that I not only have a low ovarian reserve, but poor quality eggs. My egg quality was essentially my last hope that I had for the last six months. I kept telling myself that it was OK if I wasn’t producing a lot of eggs as long as the few eggs I produced were rockstars and made great embryos. Now, this hope was completely shattered.  Given this round and the last, plus my low AMH number, my doctor said I have a condition called diminished ovarian reserve, which is one of the biggest obstacles to fertility and one of the most common reasons for miscarriage.

The one positive from all of this is that you can’t test egg quality until it is in an embryo, so I am so happy we chose to make embryos rather than just freezing eggs, because we would have had false hope that we had 6 viable eggs to use down the road. For those contemplating egg freezing, I highly suggest making embryos if you are in a serious relationship because this will give you much more certainty.

While we are both devastated beyond words, we are going to take a month off and try again. In the meantime, I am making drastic life changes in the hopes of improving my egg quality in the interim. My Doctor says there is no evidence that these changes will definitely work, but it can’t hurt and that’s enough for me. The doctor also said that there is a very good chance this outcome happens in subsequent rounds, but there’s also a change things improved. We have our fingers crossed. My acupuncturist suggested that I think about an egg donor at my session this week, and that also caused me to burst into tears. 

We will continue to chronicle our embryo-making attempts, and have a series of posts scheduled on the supplements I am taking to improve egg quality, a post from my boyfriend on what the process has been like for him, an IVF Q&A, and more.

 

Read More of Our IVF Coverage:

IVF Diary: My First, Unsuccessful Round of Egg Freezing

IVF Diary: My Second Round of Egg Freezing

IVF Diary: Egg Retrieval, Recovery & Embryo Results

IVF Diary: My Third Round of Egg Freezing

IVF Diary: Successful Results From Our Third Round of IVF

The Supplements I Take To Improve Egg Quality

Improving Egg Quality With “It Starts With The Egg”

Eliminating Toxins & Chemicals for IVF