All Hail the Egg Queen

It was a cold and rainy day. We arrived in plenty of time. Mom beat us, by an hour. She was waiting patiently in the parking lot for us to arrive. I tried to explain to her, arriving an hour early doesn’t get me pregnant faster, but she was just excited. Mike and I were taken back to the prep room, where the world’s nicest anesthesiologist went over everything that was going to happen. He had the most comforting presence about him. Michael and I were big fans. Dr. Sawin also stopped in to go over our retrieval and answer any questions. We were so happy when we found out Dr. Sawin was working the day of our retrieval. We heard he was one of the best in terms of the retrieval procedure. My anesthesiologist, who’s name also happened to be Mike, came back in to get me setup with an IV. He then walked me to the bathroom (It’s so important you make yourself go before the retrieval). We then waited in the prep room while the nurses finished getting the operation room ready for me.

It was time.

I gave Michael a hug and a kiss, and off I went. A co-worker of mine at the time, who also happened to go through IVF, gave me her lucky St. Gerard handkerchief. I remember squeezing it so tightly, praying as my legs went up into the straps. I only remember the very beginning, when the doctor and nurses were getting setup. They did something called a ‘time out’ where they went over all of my info. They all laughed when Mike the anesthesiologist told them I was allergic to tuna. “That’s a bummer,” Dr. Sawin said. It sure is I thought. Then Mike told me to enjoy my nap. It was lights out immediately after he said that. When I woke up, I was in the recovery room with Michael and Mom.

I felt crampy, but overall pretty good. I was relieved. My part was done. It was in the hands of the embryologists and God. Mom told me they were still counting my eggs. She said there were a lot. Usually the procedure takes about 20 minutes. Not mine. I was in there for about an hour. The nurse came in and was happy to report Michael’s count was excellent. He looked proud, and he had every right to be. She then looked at me and said, “Jennifer, you an over achiever.” Sure am, I thought. “ You are officially the Egg Queen.” She went on to tell me Dr. Sawin pulled 37 eggs. Everyone was excited. I gave the lucky handkerchief another grateful squeeze. I was filled with joy and confidence.

About an hour later, once I was able to sip on some juice, eat some goldfish, and sit up, I was discharged. I was slow moving and groggy, but so happy to be done. Now it was time for my least favorite part. It was time to wait. My IVF nurse, Rachael told me we would get a call from the embryologist on day one, day two, day three, and day six. Our day six update would be the final update, the one where would know exactly how many embryos we were going to biopsy and freeze. We had everything to look forward to. I was (and still am) South Jersey Fertility’s Egg Queen. 37 eggs. We joked the rest of the day about what we were going to do with the football team we were going to have in the freezer, not knowing the joke would soon be on us.