Retrieval Day cont...

Joel was at my side in recovery when came Dr. Shomento came in...

She said she harvested 10 eggs...an average number, not bad, not grand, average but good.

I was sort of sad when I heard that.  I was still groggy but I wanted more eggs.  I thought all along there would be  more...

She assured us she was hopeful and that things went well...

She gave us calendar instructions, but I was still groggy, so she said she was planning to call me later that day to talk about things!

My pain got worse in recovery, the nurse gave me pain meds and told me that my pain had to be a 4 (on the pain scale, you know the one with little faces that describe the levels of pain) or below before they would let me go.

She brought me crackers, apple juice, water and a 7-up.  Joel fed me and gave me sips.

An hour later they moved me to a chair.  I was given a warm blanket to wrap up in.  Dr. Shomento came back in to visit.  She is so caring.  

Dr. Warren stopped by to see how I was doing, and if what he gave me had made me nauseous...not at all, thankfully.

Once we were back in our hotel it was time for lots of rest.  I was trying to process all the emotions involved with this, and determined that it was near impossible...in a lab down the street a miracle was possibly happening...I was nervous.  I wanted to cry.  I was scared.  I was in a lot of pain.

This morning around 9:30 Dr. Shomento called...guess what?  9 of our 10 eggs fertilized!

This is a miracle!  This is a miracle!  It's better than what they expected, she said!  Usually not that many fertilize!  We have a miracle on our hands...

6 fertilized the conventional way, 3 using assistance by the embryologist (a process called ICSI)!

And now we wait...on day 2, Saturday, the embryos are left in the lab, they do not look at them.  On Day 3 they see how they are doing then determine if they will transfer them into me on Day 3, Sunday, or Day 5, Tuesday...we're hoping and praying for a Day 5 transfer...

It just means that the embryos are looking great and can continue to mature an extra 2 days. 

I'm not even sure how to begin to process...I just know we are desperately hoping for a miracle that is already in the works to be fulfilled and that our empty arms will finally be full of a miracle.