A Little Better Today

Yesterday was not a good day, and I had a hard time falling asleep. I found a 10mg Valium pill in my bag of goodies from the clinic that I was supposed to take before the egg retrieval but forgot to, so I decided to test it out. It was amazing, as after about 20 minutes I could stand up straight and relaxed enough to fall asleep.

I woke up this morning, praying for a miracle. And I kind of got it! I rolled out of bed without any pain and nausea is gone! Excitedly I looked in the mirror to discover that I still had a huge belly and couldn't stand up straight, but I didn't need pain meds to walk! And...wait for it...I stood up for about 7 minutes to do the dishes! WOO HOO!!

I know, I get excited very easily these days.

Suffering

Holy crap, my life sucks more than I ever imagined!! So I've been on bed rest for almost a week. First due to pain, then on Friday, I realized that part of the discomfort was due to an almost week long constipation. So I very slowly drove to the pharmacy and got some laxatives. The pharmacist suggested an enema (YIKES!!), but I opted for the Miralax that you mix into your drink. That was gross. And it didn't work. On Saturday, I went back to the pharmacy for a different kind of laxative - the kind that you have to insert in your...ahem...you know. Well, that worked very well, I recommend it to anyone with a serious problem.

Now for 6 days, I've been suffering from a huge stomach syndrome. I mean it is HUGE. Even with the pain meds I haven't been comfortable since the harvest. Oy. I can't stand up straight, not quite sure why, but I blame the huge belly and it's so tight, it's not flubber, it is solid, and it won't go away!!! It's so whiny, I know, but it's my blog, so I get to whine all I want. I haven't been able to eat more than a few bites of food before feeling like death, and I can't tell if I'm nauseous or hungry. Today I was able to eat a whole slice of pizza over 30 mins - I found that if I eat super slowly, it doesn't hurt as badly.

Last night, I went to work, and it was not good. I was in pain most of the time, and finally in the second hour I became very nauseous and ended up vomiting a bit. Then I came home and had the most painful night since Wednesday. I called the clinic this morning and asked if this was ok, and apparently, according to the way I responded to the hormones, this IS normal. Cuz remember, my ovaries were the size of grapefruits and they'll get bigger before they get smaller. SOB. They asked if I had been gaining weight or if I had trouble going to the rest room, answers to both are no, and apparently, that's good. WOW. I've been on pain meds most of today and I really don't want to do this anymore. Sigh. They expect it'll be another week before my tummy goes down. WHY ME?!?!?!?!

Egg Retrieval

Yesterday morning, my friend C drove me to the clinic for the harvesting of my eggs. As I laid myself down on the bed, I told myself, the end of my bloated discomfort is near!! Woo hoo! The nurse came in to install the IV, and had the hardest time with both arms - according to her, by the end of the cycle, the body is so beat up and tired that it doesn't want to give anymore. I believe it...both arms were pretty badly bruised and after being poked in the arm 4 times, I was ready to go home. Another nurse came in and announced that we were going to put the IV in my wrist. WHAT?! She turned on the Jersey Boys sound track and we started talking about musicals, which was fun and all, and I could tell that she could tell that I was nervous. I tried to put on a brave face, but as she started tapping my wrist for veins, I started freaking out and asked in a shrill voice if this was gonna hurt, and she replied, "not any more than being stuck 4 time in the arm," then she went for it. OW, OW, OW!!! That really freaking hurt!!! She gave me a couple shots of antibiotics to start with, which stung like WOAH. I asked when I was getting the good stuff, and she just laughed, said this was when all modesty was going to fly out the window and bound my legs to the stirrups. Um. Yeah.

Finally, she said the good stuff was coming and that it was going to make the ceiling and the lights move. How did she know that? Did she try it on herself for fun? I remember looking up at the lights expectantly and didn't notice any changes, and then I turned my head to watch her do something and when I looked back up the ceiling, the lights were moving!!! Like thousands of tiny light bulbs on a very fast conveyor belt. I vaguely remember the doctors and the nurses saying something to me and then next thing I remember, the nurse was asking me to take a nap. I did nap for a bit, but I think I was uncomfortable, because about 20 mins later, I woke up and started texting my friend M, who was picking me up. She was there already but they had told her that I wasn't ready yet. Pshaw, I was so ready!! I got off the bed, put on my pants and shoes and opened the door and I felt great!! No more back pain, no more pressure in my stomach, no nausea - then the nurse rushed in and asked me to sit down so that she can take the IV out. Oops. The nurse handed me a prescription for 20 Percocet tabs, which I said probably wasn't necessary as I felt fine, but she said I'd feel it later. She explained that my ovaries were the size of grapefruits at this point and that even though they took the fluid out of the follicles, the ovaries will expand before decreasing in size. How can they get bigger than grapefruits?! Is that humanly possible? M took me to the pharmacy, then home where I passed out immediately.

Few hours later, I woke up with oh so much cramping everywhere!! So I took one of the pain pills, waited about 2 hours and then finally called the clinic again because it was NOT helping. The nurse told me to take another one and to call in the morning. I took another one, and waited and waited and an hour later, when nothing happened, I took another. Oops, mistake. About 10 minutes later I was throwing up and having hot flashes. I took some ibuprofen and passed out again. I continued to wake up through the night to take more meds. What a pain!!

Hoping it'll be better later...sigh...

T-1

Wow, I am having a pretty horrendous day. For one my stomach is HUGE, two there is so much pressure I can hardly stand up, three I can't sit, stand or lie down without pain. I went in for my last check up today, where the nurse assured me that I should feel pretty normal in about a week. I asked why I was feeling so awful, and she said that ovaries are generally the size of golf balls, but right now they are the size of large tennis balls, so of course there would be pressure. OMG, I can't wait!

I spent all day in bed trying to figure out the most comfortable position. Um, I discovered that there is none. Tonight looks like doom.