Gallbladders are overated

When I first started blogging I made the comment that maybe I was destined to be a poster child for IVF. Well that belief has since changed. Now I believe I am the poster child for everything that could possibly go wrong in a IVF cycle. Well hopefully not :)

For those that may need a little background, I have had side effects from the beginning. Most have been bearable but the bloat and headaches have led me to the ER and many late night calls to the IVF office. Just when I thought I was over the hump and readying for my transfer I hit yet another roadblock.

My retrieval was a success with 12 eggs, 10 of which fertilized.We were anticipating a 5-day transfer today. Everything looked great and our embies were all A students. However over the weekend I began to feel tremendous pain in my abdomen. I was prepared for the bloat and cramping from retrieval, but I just knew something wasn't right.

On Saturday my hubby brought me yet again to the ER. After every possible test under the sun I was thought to have either liver inflammation, gallstones stuck somewhere or blood in my belly. Turns out one of those conditions wasn't enough and I ended up with all three. With all that being said I had my gallbladder and the golf ball sized stones removed Monday. All of this of course has to fall on the day before the transfer. I was beside myself thinking a cancellation was imminent.

I feel blessed that all the GI's, General Surgery Physicians and RE staff worked together to make it possible for our transfer to still occur. Honestly after 4 days in the hospital we counted 16 different docs involved in our case. The RE docs are beyond wonderful and everyone was so compassionate and sensitive to our situation. It was a first for everyone. Not every day does one perform an organ removal and then a embryo transfer the next day. I definitely think I may end up in a medical journal.

The environment and condition weren't ideal but after the options were reviewed we were ready to take the chance. We could of just frozen our already perfect embryos and risked the chance of a lower success with a cryo emby transfer. We could of started a whole new cycle from scratch. Luckily we were all able to come to an agreement. Frankly I don't think I could go through this again, at least not anytime soon.

I was discharged this afternoon and wheeled down to the cold room for the transfer. The embryologist was excited to brag to us about our embryos. We lost a few embryos in the growing process and had 8 remaining from the 10. We will find out tomorrow how many are remaining to be frozen.

We were even given a picture of our lovelies in transfer. Hopefuly all goes well considering that I will be recovering from gallbladder surgery at the same time. I like to think I am never given more than I can handle, so we are remaining optimistic. Only 10 days until my first blood test so lots of rosary rubbing going on.

My hubby was by my side the entire time and even slept next to me for 3 nights in the hospital. Here is a pic of him all dolled up in his transfer attire. He looked like a cross between a painter, an embalmer and a hot mess. They don't make those get-ups in Husky sizes. It was a surreal experience watching the transfer on the screen. We could actually see the release of the embryos.

Despite the fact that I was delirious I remembered to have my hubby bring my four leaf clover and my fertility socks! I refused to show my face in a picture today, not feeling so pretty.

Lastly here are our embies in utero! The line points directly to the embryos, one right next to the other. I just hope and pray they find a nice resting place and settle in for the long haul. Time for a pain pill and some rest. :)