Hacking Nature - my IVF blog

I have come to work today, exactly a week after my egg retrieval surgery. After we pulled the trigger shot at 1 AM on Jan 20, exactly 36 hours after that the eggs had to be retrieved. It was nothing different than any surgery under general anesthesia. The problem was I couldn't wrap my head around what was wrong with me. I mean unlike my previous surgeries, I actually had no ailment this time. It was not like my wisdom teeth were bothering me, or the salivary gland stone was hurting. Anyway, I guess this is the first lesson in "this is not just about me". At the clinic, I was put on IV fluids and then taken to the Operation Room in a weird hospital gown (I still don't understand the use of them). I joked with the doctors and nurse as usual. Arnab and I had placed a bet on how many eggs would be retrieved. He had said less than 13, while I said more than 13. The range was 5-19. After talking to the anesthesiologist about my general health, allergies, if I hav...

Today I am done with the stimulation shots and I will take the trigger shot at 1AM. It is hard to believe that the time is slowly coming, I think as I am taking one step at a time, it is getting easier to handle. I am really pleased at how I handled the hormone shots. Or rather, I'd say there was nothing intimidating about the shots. Other than Menopur, neither the Follistim nor Ganirelix hurt. Menopur hurts because of the saline solution and it is very short lived. It is true that I have a higher pain tolerance, so the entire experience was nothing critical. The ultrasound technician is happy with my eggs. She said I have got an A+ in my egg creation. There are in total 34 eggs, 23 on the right and 11 on the left. I do not know why my right ovary is so over-populated (no, it is not because I am right handed). It can mean that there has been some extra blood circulation on the right, but nobody knows for certain. There is a heavy feeling in my ovaries, yes, and with every...

Earlier this week, on Monday, my beloved feisty firebrand cat, May Kitty crossed the Rainbow Bridge. This is so far my first real encounter with death of a beloved soul. It is true I have seen my grandfather moments after he passed away, but to be honest May Kitty's death has impacted me much more than that. It has even touched me more than my own miscarriage. I was wondering what is it about a pet's death that affect us so much. I think it is because how ever old they may get, since we take care of them as our kids, we never really sense that age. To us, they still remain our little kids. May was almost 16, which mean more than 80 in human years. So we should really say that she had quite a long life. Her chronic kidney ailment was under treatment but that is what finally gave in. She withdrew from the world on Saturday, but we still tried to get her back. After 2 days of fight at the ICU when she did not respond to any antibiotic or even human dosage of pain killers, we...

In the software industry, we have a term called "male allies". What it means is that they are that group of men who are supportive of women's rights. As women are a minority in the technical industry, we need a support group of men to stand up for us. (Doesn't mean that we cannot stand up for ourselves, but sometimes you need men to stop other men from road rolling over us.) I have my own set of male allies in my life and I figured out they can be of immense help during the IVF process. To start with, the #1 male ally is Arnab. Yes, he has a big stake in the matter, but that doesn't mean I have to take his support for granted. This is a huge time to test our relationship. A lot of couples go through a very stressful time, infertility causes them to lose temper, blame one another for the "problem" (quotes because it is not a problem as such). We are both very scientific minded, so we are taking this in a practical way. Jokes about the egg retrieval,...

We had been marking days off on our IVF calendar and it looked like we have time before the shots would start. I am totally taking it one step at a time. At the end of December, we tested for any possibilities of infectious diseases, and got training on how to administer injections. On Jan 7, I got my suppression check ultrasound done and removed the Nuvaring that evening. For the only time in my life I had smooth periods (withdrawal bleeding) and the Nuvaring along with Metformin leveled my hormones, so I did not have any breakouts! An amazing feat for me! My doctor was happy with the suppression check ultrasound. Out of what seemed to me like static on the TV screen, he saw my ovaries and uterus, pointed them to me and Arnab. As long as he is happy with what he saw I am fine. Four days after that, means from Jan 11 I started my Follistim and Menopur shots. The dosage is 150 for the Follistim twice a day and 1 vial (75) of Menopur in the evening. And now I will tell you abou...