It's Show Time!!!!

So, we had our last ultrasound and blood work appointment today with Dr. Phy. I have 6 amazing follicles ranging from 16mm-20.5mm. I also have 3 that are 14-15mm. My blood work came back great, no signs of early ovulation (rare, but possible) and Estradiol level was at 1695 (amazing!).

So, Dr Phy set our egg retrieval (ET, as I call it for short, so you know what I'm saying) for Friday morning at 6:00 a.m. We have to be at the Labor & Delivery unit (where the Embryologist lives :) at 5:45 a.m. to get hooked up to IV's and all that fun stuff. YAY! More needles! =)

They are going to give me a mild sedative to make me sleep, but not completely be out like with anesthesia.

I had to take this bad boy tonight to get ready:

This is what is called a trigger shot. I had to mix it first and use a 1 1/2" needle to inject it into my gluteus maximus! Even though I freezed my tush for 10 minutes with the free icepack that came with my $2000 prescriptions, it still hurt a little and is super sore now. I better get my butt in gear, cause I have a lot more  booty shots coming up! If I get pregnant, I get 12 weeks of progesterone, that is thick like vegetable oil. Yowza! But, 100% of these shots and bruises and lumps and pain will be worth it to have a miracle baby to bring home to be ours.  

ANYWAYS! I never told you what the trigger shot does! haha! When the follicles are growing with a normal and medicated cycle, it is actually a little fluid filled sac that hopefully will contain an egg. The purpose of the trigger shot is to make the egg release from the sidewalls of the follicle, but still remain floating in the liquid. This will allow Dr. Phy to retrieve the eggs with the needle easier. Make sense? Clear as mud? If you are seriously interested, here's a really cool video on YouTube that has how this process works IVF Video

After the ET, Dr. Phy is done with her job and hands off the follicles in the test tube (How IVF babies got dubbed the name "Test Tube Baby") off to the Embryologist to do his magic. He will actually separate all of the eggs out of the fluid in the tube and will have a count of how many mature eggs I was able to grow. At this time, he will do a really cool technique that video didn't mention. It's called ICSI. The video states it's only used for fathers with poor sperm or whatever, but this is a standard procedure in their office because it has a much higher success rate! Click here: How the Egg(s) are fertilized.

So, after that, we will get daily reports on how our embryos (babies!!!) are doing daily. We are hoping and praying that we make it to a 5 day transfer (Wednesday). At that point, the embryos will be a blastocyst and will have a much higher chance for survival. Just whatever the embryologist deems best for our little guys and us! 

Keep us in your prayers! God is doing some amazing things,  and I just know he is capable of giving us our miracle! =)