Egg Collection

Hello Everyone!

Today we had our egg collection (EC) at Bourn Hall in Cambridge. We had to arrive at the clinic at 8:15 and because of where Phil and i live we had to get up for 5:30am! It wasn't that hard really, what was hard was that Phil could have a cup of coffee and i could not... bad times.

So we got to the clinic in good time, the number of cars on the road that early in the morning is ridiculous! After signing in at reception we walked round to the Nurse's Station where we were taken to a ward and i was put in bed number 2. There was a couple already in bed number 1 and after about 15 minutes of us being there the couple for number 3 arrived.

After a short while a nurse came in to go through some paperwork and Phil was given his 'special cup', i was given a delightful pessary to put in my bottom to help with pain relief and i was asked to change into a hospital gown. Then our doctor came in to introduce himself and ask if we had any questions etc.

Phil was then taken to a side room to do his bit, he tells me it was quite nice in the room with an unexpected array of dvd's and magazines. What a lucky boy!

Meanwhile i was walked down to theatre and as soon as i got on the bed i was surrounded by about 5 smiling female faces. It was quite surreal really! The anaesthetist put a cannula in and then set about putting me to sleep, which did not take long at all!

The procedure involves the doctor inserting a needle though my vaginal wall and into each ovary, the follicles are then drained into the needle and the liquid is then checked for an egg. Not all the follicles will contain eggs and very rarely a follicle could contain 2 eggs.

Fast forward 30-40 minutes and i wake up, have a little cry (hormones... urgh) and promptly ask the nurse standing over me for a cuddle! Ha ha, luckily Phil was on hand for that! Then i had a sandwich (cheese and pickle to be precise, and it was lovely!) a cup of coffee and just relaxed for an hour or so.

After a while a nurse came in to sign us out. Amongst other things she told us that the doctor had collected 7 eggs, which is a good number. You need to get a good balance, too many and the quality of the eggs can be diminished. We are really pleased with 7, plus it is a lucky number!

She said that i was to call tomorrow at 2:10pm to see how well the eggs have fertilised with Phil's sample and to see if we are in a position to book the Egg Transfer. It is unlikely that all of the eggs will fertilise, they hope for at least 70% so i would hope that we get 4 or 5 embryo's. Fingers crossed!

Then she said that tonight i am to start using the Crinone Gel which is a progesterone gel to support my womb lining. I will be using it every night, at 6:30pm and she said once it is applied it is a good idea to walk around for about 20 minutes to warm it up and help it activate. Then Phil and i left and when we got home i had a good few hours sleep.

At 6:30pm i applied the first gel, this is what it looks like fresh out of the box:

First you need to shake the pipette up and then twist of the end:

Then whilst sitting or lying down you insert the pipette into your vagina and firmly squeeze the end so that all of the gel is deposited inside.

It was a relatively simple process and then Phil and i went for a 20 minute walk, which was nice.

Now almost 12 hours since the egg collection i am feeling good, my throat is a little sore, i have a bit of pain in my stomach, just like a mild period cramp and also have a little bit of blood but it is nothing to worry about.

Plus my lovely friends Robyn and Loz just popped in and they have bought me a Pandora bead that is orange (the colour of fertility) with little spots on it which Robyn said represents little eggs. What a lovely gift!

I am happy about the 7 little eggs that we have and hope that they are doing well and that the phone call tomorrow will bring good news.

Here's to the next few days,

Take Care All x