IVF Q re: ER day

hithertorue · September 2019

Hi IVF ladies and those lurking who might have gone through it,

We are considering a switch to IVF this next cycle. I go for beta tomorrow but I've already begun AF today.

I asked generally how long until ER and the nurse said injections until CD 9-11 is average, with ER CD 11-13 being the average but depends on how well I stimulate.

The one and only very important, cannot miss thing I have in my calendar is a work awards ceremony on the evening of what would be CD 13.

I can get there without driving. And it's approximately a 2 hour thing. With transport included probably a 4-5 hour thing from 3:00pm-8:00pm. I know my clinic does their ER in the mornings....

What are the chances I would be recovered enough to make that event if I have the worst case happen and ER falls on that day??

I plan on asking the nurse this exact thing tomorrow but wondering if someone could put my racing mind to rest! 🙈🙉

nancinator · September 2019

@hithertorue I think it depends on your response to the stims and how many eggs retrieved! I felt bloated leading up to and after the ER but it went away fairly quickly. You can take painkillers if you feel discomfort and if you happen to have an event the night of your retrieval, I would make sure to wear something loose-fitting. Some women get OHSS and they suffer quite a bit so in that case, it may be very hard to go out the same night. it'd be equally annoying if it was right before the ER because you feel super bloated and your ovaries are ultra tender.

My timeline just for reference... I got Day 1 period on June 18. I started follistim and low dose hcg June 20, 21, 22, and 23. On June 24, I continued the follistim and hcg and added ganirelix until June 28. I remember June 28 was a friday night and I went into NYC to see a show and it was SO uncomfortable because by then, my ovaries were busting with follicles. June 29 and June 30, I used Lupron to trigger and then July 1st (CD 14) was my ER. When I "woke up" from my ER, I was in sooo much pain because they retrieved 35 eggs. I got home and had to take it easy but recovered very quickly by hydrating + eating salty foods to get the excess fluid out. By July 4, I was out having fun again. Hope this helped x x and best of luck!!

inthewoods23 · September 2019

@hithertorue per the RN at my clinic they can adjust the amount of days I'm on BC to better cater to my schedule if I had something going on. So they could put me on BC longer to avoid any potential conflicts. Like we were worried, at the time, that my FET would fall on the week we were on vacation. As it turned out my FET wasn't going to be til well after that vacation so it didn't matter.

And FWIW, I went out and had dinner with family the night of my ER. I was in pretty minimal pain so I could easily just pull a "I'm not feeling 100% today" excuse if I was asked. And I think my ER was at 10:30 if I remember correctly and was home early afternoon. I wasn't given and prescription meds. I was only recommended to take Tylenol if I needed some pain management.

2dogsmom · September 2019

@nancinator and @inthewoods23 would you be willing to share a little more about the ER process day of — I’m doing another IUI since this month was a bust but then probably heading to IVF as well and the ER is the scariest part about it for me.

inthewoods23 · September 2019

@2dogsmom I was given a Valium to start. They go over what they'll be doing and a little bit about the following days when I should expect calls on embryo progress. They put me completely under for the procedure which only takes about 15 minutes. Then they give you like an hour to wake up. Before we left I knew how many eggs they retrieved. Later that day is when they told me how many were mature and the following day how many fertilized. You will need someone to drive you to and from since they give you the valium and put you under anesthesia.

Oh, and around the time I was taken to the operating room, DH went to go provide the sperm. It worked out that I had basically woken up just before he came back to me in the recovery area.

hithertorue · September 2019

Thanks for your help ladies!! I read your replies at 2am when I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep! Ugh! Really feel better reading your experiences with the ER and then had some extra questions for the nurse this morning.

BC wasn't an option and she said no real way to avoid or delay if the timing happens to hit the same day as my work event. So I will just have to play roulette and hope I'm lucky. Otherwise our choice would be to do a cycle off and do monitoring or another IUI. We are just going to play roulette and move forward with the ER.

I don't think I will be >20 follicles based on my stim results from the last 5 IUI cycles. Different stims now but I don't think that will affect the count overall. Hoping I respond well like I did with the Puregon. I am now going to be doing Gonal-F and Menopur. With Citrotide later on.

She still estimates the average is to trigger on CD 9-11 so hopefully I will be on the early side of that. .... which also means less drug expense! Phew these ones are expensive!!

Also asked more about the day surgery process. Our clinic does sedation but it's not full anesthesia. You are essentially awake. I wonder if it will be like when you have a colonoscopy. You're not actually awake but they call it awake because you're not intubated for breathing and it isn't full anesthesia. Same process as described above though, procedure is only about 15-30 minutes with about an hour recovery and you need your spouse to drive.

So I'm feeling better bc I have a plan in place if I do have the ER on the day of the work event. I will call in with the flu the Sunday (day before) and say I'm not going to work the morning but will see how I am feeling by the afternoon and if I can make it I can get on the late train and take the early train back. So would be going into the city by 3:00 and back home by 8:30. I'll ask DH to work from home that day so he can get me to the train if I am up for going.

2dogsmom · September 2019

Thanks @inthewoods23 — I appreciate knowing more. How many days until you felt you were able to function normally? As a teacher my job is pretty intense as far as having to be “on”... part of our conversation right now is trying to decide if we should wait and hopefully time ER over my 2 week winter break, or if I could take 2 days off and be ok. Taking more than 2 days off is really hard.

@hithertorue sorry you couldn’t sleep — I can imagine all the nervous energy & thoughts racing!! I am glad you have a plan in place for your work event. FX all the meds go smoothly!

inthewoods23 · September 2019

@2dogsmom I went back to work the next day after my retrieval. Did the same for my hysteroscopy surgery. There's restrictions on how much you can lift and exercise, but otherwise things can resume back to normal. I called in sick to work both days so if I didn't look super well when I went back people didn't question it and just asked if I'm feeling better. Any continued cramping usually had me feeling meh and it was easy to just say that without suspicion.

IVF Q re: ER day

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