So off we went to Kato at 8am this morning, after following the care instructions they gave me for last weekend which involved 3 rounds of nasal sprays containing some ovulation-a activating agent plus taking ibuprofen to sort of make the egg follicle stay in place and not burst. It's a delicate dance between immature follicle that won't fertilize and a mature follicle that's fertilization-feasible but needs to be extracted at the right time, I was told. And that's why some natural-ivf cycles get cancelled -- when the egg isn't caught in time or punctured / extracted prematurely.
So all weekend long, that's what I prayed for and thought about. Channeling positive vibes, I would often "talk" to my egg and tell it to stay in place until Monday. On Sunday night, I had a fitful sleep because I was so excited for the procedure the following morning.
So off we went at 7:45am to head over to Enterprise. As advised, I did not apply anything to my body that might carry chemicals, like deodorant (I know...), makeup, perfume, etc. Apparently, eggs are susceptible to chemicals. I even had to take off my nail polish the day before. I didn't mind though. At this point, that's a non-issue and doesn't even count as a sacrifice.
When we got there, the nurses were expecting me already and guided me to my assigned bed in the recovery room. I was instructed to change into the lab gown and unload my bladder, put my hair in a net and wait to be collected. The nurse came by after a few minutes to get my vital signs, then she led me to the operating room.
I was so impressed with their SOP particularly with the repeated verification of my identity (which if you're familiar with mistaken identities when it comes to assisted reproductive techniques, you will find great comfort in their insistence in making sure you are who you say you are and that your samples are labelled correctly and checked and read carefully every time it's touched) and the full disclosure of what to expect before something is done to you. The operating chair was also pretty high-tech, very Japanese. The stirrups were leather and hence not metallic and cold, complete with velcro straps that can hold your legs in place and minimize involuntary movements that may jeopardize the procedure. There was also a screen to my left and my right, which gave me full view of whatever is being done.
The doctor then asked me, after inserting the speculum, cleaning me and inserting the ultrasound wand, if I felt cramping the night before. I did feel some twinges but was hoping they were just usual pre-ovulatory signs. I suddenly felt nervous it may mean the follicle had burst.
Next thing I knew, the extraction was being done quickly and being explained to me as I was led to look at the left screen. The doctor explained to me afterwards that when we started, the follicle had already begun to burst. That's why she jumped to quick action and asked for the extraction needle right away. Thank God, and I know Buddha was watching over me, she managed to catch the egg that still lay inside the follicle, and hurray, it's a mature egg! Fully ripened! You can't imagine how happy I was! The embryologist again repeated my name, Kato patient number and birthday, then showed me through thescreen the egg that was collected. Then it was over and I was led back to the recovery room.
While alone in the recovery room, I couldn't help but cry with relief and joy. We had a mature egg, caught just in time! One step down, 2 to go!
After resting for about half an hour, I came out to wait for Dennis and then together, we waited for the embryologist to discuss our status. We waited about an hour which they warned us about beforehand, as this was the window needed to analyze the sperm sample. When we were called in, I was surprised to receive another set of good news -- our sperm sample was higher than the previous tests we've done. Count has gone up to 44m, from the usual 12-20M level that we're used to seeing. Motility was okay too and morphology, while still low, was workable. She recommended we do ICSI, given our results and we only had 1 egg to work with. After asking some questions on how they perform ICSI, we decided to go for it, trust the process and cross our fingers. After all, we've already gotten this far.
After that, I was given some meds and instructions on what to do and not to do. We'll know by Wednesday morning if the fertilization went well and the embryo responded well, given the 2-day embryo criteria that they observe. Assuming our little bub is viable, they'll do the transfer to me on that day as well. That's the 2nd step to hurdle. I'm concentrating my prayers on that leg now. Bit by bit, with prayer and some good luck, hopefully, we'll get to the point we've worked so far to get to.
Good vibes only! Til the next update, hopefully a good one! ;)
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