The nerves before hand …
I have a phobia of needles so I was extremely nervous about egg collection. It didn’t help that my egg collection got postponed by 2 days as the doctors said they wanted to see my follicles grow bit bigger. I was devastated!!!
After going through egg collection I can now say, there isn’t anything to worry about!!!! Here are my two biggest concerns about egg collections before going through it….
- I am going to be sedated, but I am not asleep, will I feel anything and see everything? In my experience, I felt nothing ( other than what I feel when going for a scan). As the anaesthetist gradually injected the sedation medicine she was casually talking to me about Christmas ( and there was Christmas music on in the theatre). The doctor then said he was about to go through some muscle so I might feel ‘something’… the next thing I remember he said he was all done!!!! I walked into theatre, and was put on a trolley on the way out ( but I don’t remember being trolled out) … I only remember what I seen when I walked in.
- I have a phobia of needles, will the tube in my hand that feeds in the sedation medicine hurt/ sting? The nurses at the clinic were all aware of my phobia and therefore to relax me a nurse put on some cream on my arm to numb the area they were going to put the tube in. She said she wouldn’t put it in my hand, instead she would do it on my arm but I won’t feel a thing as it will be numb – and she was absolutely correct!! It was painless! ( See pics below of the cream and the tube put in to feed the sedation medicine and do a blood test)
Egg collection
Here is how the day went… in the morning I took a sip of water with a tablet that would calm my nerves down. I was informed to not wear any nail varnish, perfume or deodorant as it could impact the eggs when taken out.
I packed a bag for egg collection which includes slippers, dressing gown and a panty liner. We arrived at the clinic nice and early to avoid being stressed – although the waiting in the waiting area was hard!!!!! As I sat in the waiting area we watched other patients…. I whispered to my husband ‘Do you think they are here for egg collection too?’, ‘ That gentleman has arrived alone, he must be providing a sperm sample’ :-).
As we waited for a bed, a very kind nurse put on some cream on my arm to numb the area where the sedation medicine would go in. I than sat for 45mins for the cream to take effect….. clock watching!
When a bed became free, I was immediately informed to remove all clothing and put on a backless gown and my slippers and dressing gown. It wasn’t feel too nervous at this point – just feeling excited to get this over and done with! ( below is a quick selfie I took!)
As I sat on my bed the doctor and anaesthetist both introduced themselves and were very kind and chatty. The doctor did a quick blood test which I couldn’t feel at all due to the amazing numb cream! The anaesthetist said she would be by my side throughout the whole process and I had nothing to worry about – this was very comforting 🙂 . The doctor was familiar from various other appointments I had so it was nice seeing a familiar face.
My husband was told to leave and come back in 2 hours ( to give me time to rest ! the procedure is only 15mins!) . I walked into theatre and the atmosphere was very relaxed. Christmas music was playing and there was only the doctor, anaesthetist and an assistant in the theatre ( From watching casualty – I expected a lot more people to be around!)
I lay down on the bed, propped my legs up ( like a scan) , and the doctor put on some cream to make it easy for tube to pass through. Painless!!! The anaesthetist then started to feed me the sedation drugs through my arm as the doctor was oberserving my follicles. The doctor then said he was about to go through some muscle and I might feel something – but at this point I think I must have passed out as I didn’t feel anything.
The next thing I know, I am lying on my bed, with the curtains closed, and the nose advised me to sleep on the side rather than back to ease any pain ( which I don’t remember having any). At this point I felt really groggy and nauseous due to the drugs.
Husband arrived, and I had a sandwich ….. which I immediately threw up all over my bed and gown. I remember my husband rushing for help and then i was very apologetic to the nurses. The nurses said it was nothing to worry about, I just need to sleep it off. She then got me on my feet to clean up the sick… as I walked I was dizzy and couldn’t walk straight.. the nurses said they wouldn’t normally get me up so early after the procedure but because I was sick I needed to clean up….
The nurse told us that they had collected 16 eggs!! She said the was a lot and did very well 🙂 We were over the moon!
I then went back to my clean bed, and wanted to go home. I changed clothes and the tried some orange juice and salted crisps. It was mandatory I had a quick week before I left too – which I managed to do fine! ( no pain) .
I held my husbands hand as we walked to the car and I couldn’t believe it was over!!! I felt such a relief! We live 20mins away from the clinic – the drive was awful – thankfully the nurse gave us a sick bag!!! I was sick in the car on the way home!
As soon I got home, I slept…. what a day!!!
The days Egg collection…
Day 1- we got a call from the embryologist saying from 16 eggs, 12 survived. Around Day 1 I was feeling very sick – I was told I was border line OHSS hence I was feeling sick but this was nothing to worry about
Day 3 – we got another call from the embryologist that we have 3 top quality and 8 good quality embryos and are on track for transfer in 2 days – exciting!!!!! At this point – I actually felt like I was pregnant!! Lower back ache, breathlessness and extremely bloated
Tomorrow is my embryo transfer!!!! 🙂 fingers crossed xxxx
Annie's IVF Journey 