Everything at the clinic went well, but not exactly as I expected it to. In the end, pre-op to recovery was only 90 minutes!
When we arrived, they took me right back and S stayed in the waiting room. There was another guy in the waiting room, so obviously I wasn't the only ER that day. I changed into my stylish gown, surgical hat, foot covers, and covered up with a sheet and sat in the fancy wheelchair thingie and waited. There was someone else in ER right now, so it was going to be a bit.
It was wonderful to know all of the nurses there. They were friendly and kind. Nurse J came and started my IV. Apparently she used to work in L&D, so she is an "expert," more or less. Then the brought the other woman back from ER. The room I was in was both pre-op and post-op, so she was on the other side of the curtain from me. I saw them wheel her in, eyes half closed and mumbling for more pain meds. She was nauseous and they kept warning her to sit back and not fall out of the chair. They told the anesthesiologist she wasn't feeling well and the anesthesiologist reported that she had given her Zofran (an awesome anti-nausea medicine) already. The girl kept mumbling about more pain meds -- I resolved in my mind not to ask this if I could help it.
During this, another woman appeared who apparently was training to do anesthesia for the clinic. When she came in, the regular anesthesiologist, L asked if she was wearing perfume and told her to fan herself before the doctor smelt it. When she came over, I saw she was wearing makeup too! Ahhh! Don't let her in there with me! Alas, I had no control over this, so I resolved in my mind to not worry about it -- that she would hopefully be far enough away (at my head rather than my feet) to not harm my little eggies.
Finally they got the other girl stabilized and the anesthesiologist came to talk to me. That went well and nurse C said as soon as she finished making my bed, she'd come get me to go to the bathroom. She led me in and hung by IV bag on the wall and when I headed out, she led me into the procedure room. It didn't look as much like an operating room as I thought it would. It was bigger and had more equipment then a regular exam room, but not the lights and complete sterility of an operating room, although everyone was in sterile dress. My favorite part was that it was attached to the lab, and had a sliding glass window that reminded me a lot of a McDonald's take-out window to pass the eggies through to the lab workers.
Nurse C came in with an elastic belt they put around your abdomen to help hold your ovaries in place. She commented that she brought in the smallest size and it fit around me one-and-a-half times. Just a small moment to make me feel good. She asked if I was nervous and I said not for the procedure: only for the outcome. She told me only positive thoughts for the outcome which I told her I was trying to do. Nurse J also said she'd be crossing her fingers for me. Between these two and actually knowing there were eggies retrieved, I felt a glimmer of hope yesterday that this can really work - there really are eggs there that can turn into babies and these nurses have seen it happen and know it can happen to me.
After that, things went really fast. Nurse C had me scoot down (I was the champion scooter of the day, she said) and get into the stirrups (thankfully more comfortable than those in the exam rooms). The lab director came in and verified my identity. Then the anesthesiologists got to work putting on heart rate, blood pressure, and pulse/ox monitors and a nasal cannula of oxygen. Anesthesiologist L gave me a shot of "happy medicine" and I resolved to stay alert for as long as I could.
Nurse C said she would go relieve nurse M because although she loved me, nurse M was my nurse, so out she went (I don't know if Nurse C says these kind of things to everyone, but I'm going to assume she doesn't and that they were completely sincere, because they really made me feel great). Nurse M entered the room, but I don't remember her saying anything.
Then Anesthesiologist L was explaining to the trainee what type of meds she used when Dr. H entered the room. She commented that they didn't use some medicine and then asked Dr. H to explain why they didn't use that med. Dr. H said that in a test with hampster eggs there had been a problem, but he was skeptical, and that was the last thing I remember.
I woke up back in the recovery room without anything but my IV hooked up. I was talking with Nurse M. The pain I felt was mostly like menstrual cramps and not even terribly bad, plus, luckily I remembered the woman before me and knew I would get a prescription to take home, so I am proud to admit I didn't even mention the pain.
I learned that I had only been there for about 15 minutes and I think we talked about some other things, but the meds were still affecting me a bit, so I remember talking, but not all of the questions and answers. She gave me some juice during this time, and Dr. H came in to talk with me. He reported that the egg count was at 10, but they were still looking, so there was the possibility of a few more. He said embryo transfer (ET) would probably be on Tuesday and I asked him what went into the decision for when ET was. I remember him saying that wasn't something they normally shared, but then him explaining part of it. I think I remember bits and pieces of what he said, but some of it seems too strange, so I'm not even going to record it here as I'm not sure it's right.
After that I got on my clothes (much easier after conscious sedation than it was last year after the general anesthetic!) and Nurse M helped me walk out to S. I had asked Nurse M to show S where to give the progesterone shots as we start those today, and she did, handed him instructions and prescription, and off we went. I mostly remember the drive home, arriving home and crawling into bed.
When I laid down I felt almost no pain, and couldn't decide if I should take anything for it. However, I remembered that part of the sedation included a pain medicine, and that would eventually wear off and I would probably hurt then, so I asked S to go fill the prescription. He did, and came back to check on me. After awhile I was starting to hurt and he hadn't left to pick up the prescription yet, so I asked him to, and was glad when he got back with it, as I was hurting - kind of an achy, crampy, bloated feeling.
For the first couple of hours, I laid there trying to sleep. Mysteriously, I wasn't able to sleep, but it was nice to lay and be still, and our daughter A was still at my friend's so it was very peaceful. A got home, and while I love her bunches, it wasn't as peaceful any more. I figured if I couldn't sleep when it was peaceful, I certainly wouldn't be able to sleep now. A climbed into bed with me to watch a movie and S went out to mow the lawn. S has been incredibly grumpy for the past 3-4 days, and it was getting worse again, so it was good he headed out to do something.
Pondering the procedure, I wasn't sure it would be that painful, and wondered how much rest would actually be required. However, the pain was actually worse than I thought it would be (I was imagining no pain, and didn't even know I would get a prescription for pain pills). Additionally, with A being difficult and S grouchy, I felt I couldn't demand princess treatment and tried to only ask for things I absolutely needed. However, I allowed myself to rest most of the time except when it was too taxing on S and A, and it is nice to have a good excuse to take it easy, as I have a hard time doing so.
Finally about 9:30 p.m. I was falling asleep while S and I watched M*A*S*H, and feel asleep for a pretty good night's sleep. I was thirsty all day and since I was drinking to quench my thirst, all afternoon and twice during the night my abdomen would get painful because I had to go to the loo. Getting up to the loo would hurt too, but I had to do it. Strangely ironic. Since I didn't post yesterday, I can report that I am still sore today, but not as bad as yesterday.
Now I am awaiting the phone call with the fertilization report, and am also anxious as it will include the final egg count (I really wish they could have given it to me yesterday instead). Maybe if it is Dr. H who calls, I will also ask again about what determines when the transfer will be. I'll write again later after the call.
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