Day 13 - Egg Retrieval (ER)

The ER was scheduled for 8:00 a.m. and I had to arrive at 7:30 a.m. My mother-in-law accompanied me to the hospital. We took the subway (MRT) there. My husband was to arrive later at the 6F IVF lab to deliver the specimen at exactly 8:30 a.m. The operation rooms are on the 7th Floor. I arrived on time at the reception and as soon as the paperwork was completed, I was whisked in to change into the hospital gowns and I was assigned a locker number to stow away my stuffs. After changing, I waited for around 5-8 minutes before a lady appeared and guided me to the operation room. In the operation room, they prepared me and asked few questions, mainly the time of my trigger shots, if I had any allergies to anesthesia, if this was my first ER procedure, when was the last time I had an operation. A nurse also inserted an IV into my hand and it was pretty painful initially but the pain subsided after a while. I never saw Dr. Lee come into the room because I passed out before he came in.

When I woke up, my lower right abdomen was in pain however ignoring the pain, I asked the nurse who was wheeling me out to the recovery area the number eggs retrieved. She said 9 eggs in total retrieved. I was expecting 8 eggs!! Now where did that bonus egg come from?! Anyway, I was pretty happy. After a few minutes, I told her that my right side is hurting and she had to call the doctor. As per the nurse, there was another ER procedure being done and it will take a while for the doctor to come and she cannot give me any pain medication unless the doctor advises. Alright, by the time a doctor arrived after an hour, my pain had subsided so I told him I didn't require any pain meds. I don't recognize this doctor but he told me that there were more eggs retrieved from my right ovary hence more pain there.

I rested there for around 2 hours as the anesthesia wore off. My husband and mom-in-law waiting for me outside was wondering what was going on and paged the nurse desk for me. The nurse asked if I felt good enough to leave and I said I was fine. After that my husband came in and escorted me out. While I was in the operation room, my husband had delivered his specimen, paid the bill and picked up the medications. We had to take the medications to the IVF lab on the 6F where the doctor's assistant gave us instructions on taking the meds and application of Crinone. I also had to make a stop at the injection room to inject 2 vials PIO (progesterone in oil) as Crinone could not be used immediately that day. I was expecting the PIO to hurt as much as Menopur but surprisingly it didn't hurt one bit =)

Oh I forget to mention that while I was in the recovery room, Dr. Lee had spoken with my husband and mom-in-law and advised that 9 eggs were retrieved. He mentioned again about the possibility of a 3-day and 5-day embryo transfer (ET).

After that we caught a taxi home and I went to sleep immediately. My lower abdomen was rather achy the rest of the day so I just rested and rested.

The bill for this visit was NT$30,046 which is equivalent to US$1,005 or CA$1,094. This included the fee for registration, surgery, 2 vials of PIO, 10 sticks of Crinone, anesthesia etc.

We are to call the IVF lab on day 14 to check on the number of fertilized eggs.

Day 11 - Ultrasound and Consult

In the morning, my mom-in-law helped administer my Ganirelix shot at home. After lunch, we went to take the ultrasound at 2:00 p.m. then consulted Dr. Lee. It all went pretty fast. I have 8 follicles now and Dr. Lee confirmed the trigger (2 vials of Ovidrel) will be tonight at 10:00 p.m. and ER (egg retrieval) at 8:00 a.m. on day 13. Dr. Lee thinks the number of follicles is satisfactory. He mentioned that he didn't want to overstimulate as the patient will be in discomfort if there are more than 10 follicles. Honestly, I didn't feel bloated or have any other side effects due to the stims.

He also said that if the embryo is of good quality and developing very well, then they may let it develop to day 5 blastocyst stage for ET and he will only transfer one embryo otherwise he will opt to transfer 2 embryo at day 3. Hence right now, the tentative ET days are either cycle day 16 or day 18. I was then given some forms to sign and had to go pay the bill, take my blood test (E2 and progesterone) and meet the anesthesiologist to do the evaluation. The good news is that I will not have to take PIO (Progesterone in Oil) shots. The nurse mentioned that the PIO has been replaced by Crinone which is just as effective. The IVF lab will provide further instructions on this after ER. On the way out we picked up the trigger shots from the injection pick up counter and went home.

That night I didn't have to go to the hospital for the trigger shots as my mom-in-law helped with that and it didn't hurt one bit. I am getting a bit tired of the shots and was very happy that it is the last of them. Now I'm just waiting for the ovum pick up on day 13. I'm praying for the best.

The bill for this visit was NT$3,112 which is approximately US$104 or CA$113, inclusive of the fee for registration, consult, triggers shots and blood tests.