OHSS... all because of the TWINNIES!!!

Went to Shady Grove Annapolis this morning for a followup, to check my bloodwork and do an ultrasound to see how my fluid is receding. While they do the ultrasound we get a surprise and see TWO SACS!!! Twin babies!!!

I am feeling much better today and am obviously over the moon! :)

OHSS... a slow recovery

Thursday 10/20- feel a tad better, still bloated, but can eat. It's still hard to walk very far b/c of the fluid in my back. I am hunched over like Quasimoto.

Friday 10/21-- Matt takes me to school to get organized. It is exhausting. I can hardly walk at all and it hurts just so bad... my stomach, my back, ugh!

Weekend... feel much better. Continuing to sleep in recliner. Eating smaller meals, high protein high sodium. Love my gatorade! After Wednesday I started drinking two-three Ensure shakes a day and I really think that made the difference in my recovery.

Drain 4 - last drain of OHSS

Tuesday - I am nauseous all morning but not as bad. I decide to eat what I want and what I can. If I get sick, I'll get sick, but I need some nourishment. I eat shredded wheat, cheese & crackers and watermelon. Not a bad day.

I am filling back up again though and know I'll probably need to go to Rockville in the AM. We make a plan with Mom for her to meet us in Annapolis & take me to Rockville, so Matt can get a break from the long driving.

Throughout the night I wonder if  should have waited an extra day-- I don't feel "as bad" as I did before.


Wednesday - wake up nauseous and realize that it's going without food that makes me the most sick! Mom takes me to Rockville and on the 2nd floor I get checked out (bloodwork & ultrasound). The doctor tells me that if it gets bad again after this they'll have to admit me to a hospital with a "tap" to drain the fluid into a bag... eek!!!

They have an early opening again, like 2:00, and drain 2.5 liters.

Drain 3 - worst day of the OHSS

Today was the worst day by far.

I wake up nauseous as can be. I throw up in the car on my way to Annapolis. In Annapolis, they send us straight to Rockville. (I can hardly walk at this point.. Matt dropped me off at the door).

In the waiting room at Rockville, I cry. I am in so much pain and am so nauseous that I am just miserable. The nurse from the 2nd floor was so worried about me she walked us upstairs herself!   Luckily they had an early opening-- they take me back at 12:30!! They drained 2.8 liters from me in my 3rd draining.

But I continue to feel nauseous throughout the day. The ride home is just as miserable. I feel so weak and can hardly eat. I try to sleep in bed, but wake up at 1:30 in extreme pain :( :(


My nurse calls to tell me that our 4th beta was 676!!! 

Sunday No-funday

Last night I slept okay without throwing up! A new record :)  (for the record I did have ridiculous diarrhea...)

I feel okay through the morning but my skin is stretched TIGHT. It hurts, like at a skin level... Daddy came to visit us before Uncle Ken's party and while it was nice to see him, I was really sick & in a lot of pain. I basically watch myself bloat back up; it is so not fun.

I finally decide to really avoid carbs 100%. I eat some pickles but want to throw it all up. Pickles are nasty. My stomach gets SO bloated and round that my belly button turns into a little slit-- like a straight line, not a circle :)

I can't sleep well throughout the night and am very nauseous. I have to stop eating at like 2:00 because I know we're headed to Rockville in the AM.

Drain 2 - OHSS

So on Friday I felt a little better waking up... less bloated, so less pain and less nausea. Matt & I went to the store in the AM. After a couple aisles I go wait for him in the car. Then at home I do some laundry to get caught up.

But it all catches up with ME. I should have just rested! I start to feel sick over lunch time... and by mid afternoon am ill again. Worse, a lot of fluid is gathering in my back so it's not even comfortable to lay down or sit. I have to be in the recliner with a pillow behind me...

Friday night is awful. I sleep in the recliner but am restless; then I wake up in so much pain that I'm throwing up for hours... :( :(

Early this morning we head to Rockville again. We are in no major rush b/c we know we'll have to wait 'til others are finished. I take a pillow with me for the chair & bed.  First we go to the 2nd floor to get bloodwork (they check CBC to make sure my organs are okay) and an ultrasound to check fluid levels. This time the fluid has gathered on my sides. They send us to the 4th floor. When I get there they immediately come back and give me my IV & Zofran for my nausea... just walking to the bathroom makes me seasick.

Luckily we only have to wait until 2:00 for my surgery. They take me back and drain 3.1 liters. Luckily, it's less!  Our beta today was 333! It more than doubled!!! 

Silver Lining

I forgot to post that the silver lining in this was that my 2nd beta came back 162.5... more than double :)

Drain 1

I was discharged from the hospital at about 9:00. It is so hard to walk, it hurts in my back and holding my super bloated stomach up. We head straight to Rockville for fluid aspiration... we got there at 11:30. That ride was the WORST ride ever, I was so nauseous and so motion sick (and this is after they gave me Zofran for the ride!).

We had to wait basically the whole day to get taken back to the OR-- until all scheduled surgeries are cleared. It is 5:00 before I get taken back. They take me to the OR and since I am pregnant it's a little different... not as many drugs, like the first drug they give you that gives you "amnesia". I am awake more during the prep process of getting me hooked up to the various electrodes and monitors, blood pressure machine, etc. But then he put the mask on me and I was good to go... wake up in recovery.

They drained 3.8 liters from me!!! OHSS is no joke!

Last night was pretty awful. I only slept for two hours and then woke up sick as a dog. I wasn't peeing that much and I bloated out really badly-- worse than it's been before :(

I couldn't eat breakfast when I woke up. I am so nauseous and it also hurts to put anything into my stomach :(  I've been nauseous all day

2:00 pm - start having trouble breathing, feels like someone is sitting on my chest. Call my nurse & she says to go to the hospital. We decide to go to Anne Arundel Medical Center, where they might have a clue what they're dealing with.

3:45 - ER has a short wait before taking me back to triage. It is so uncomfortable to be reclined on those little stretcher beds! The ER physicians assistant has NO clue what I've got-- talks about doing x-rays and pelvic exams. Luckily Dr. K called ahead to explain my condition but this guy wants to talk with Dr. K and can't get a hold of him, so we wait around. Finally they decide to take back to the "real" ER area. I throw up immediately after having my blood drawn.

Evening -- more comfortable in bigger ER bed. Matt goes to get Wendy's for dinner (apparently with OHSS high protein high sodium foods are good). While he does that, I am taken to radiology to have an ultrasound done. The ride there is awful, like a thrill ride, I feel so sick. The ultrasound tech has no idea what I have and it HURTS so badly. When I get back Matt is there: I have one bite of fries and the burger before I want to throw up. I am so nauseous and can't eat a thing :(

The OB doc on call comes down to check on me and luckily he knows what he's talking about! Dr. Nance, I think. He gets me an IV (5 hours after getting there!), Zofran for nausea, Morphine for pain, and a foley catheter for... ugh you know.

I was admitted for the night and once they moved me to a real room, the "real" hospital bed was a dream compared to the others! So soft! And I could recline myself with the little buttons! I still couldn't really eat. I managed 4 crackers at midnight and some around 6 in the morning. I got to sleep about 6 hours throughout the night which was more than the previous two nights combined!!!

This morning I went into Shady Grove after having severe abdominal pain yesterday and bloating. I felt AWFUL. During 5th period I couldn't talk or walk, the pain was so bad. I couldn't lift my laptop because my abs were in so much pain!

They did an ultrasound and confirmed that I have OHSS. It is a horrible condition but it has wonderful connotations: it worsens with pregnancy!

12:00: Dr. Kipersztok calls to confirm that WE ARE PREGNANT! Our first beta, at 7dp5dt, was 62!!!!


Thank you Lord. Please keep this pregnancy (and me) safe.

Update from the lab!

Dr. K called me this morning to let me know that it definitely was not an embryo that they found in the catheter, so both embryos are 100% in my belly! :)

Also, he let me know that I have two embryos that are going to be frozen today!

Embryo Transfer - IVF #2

Today was a stressful drive to Shady Grove. The beltway was in knots, for no real apparent reason other than the fact that it was the beltway and the beltway is ridiculous. We were going no more than 20 mph the entire way from 50 to 270 :( I tried not to stress it too much... but of course did! :)

We had a 9:45 show up time for our 10:15 transfer, but got there right at 10:05. We went right back & our nurse, Nicole, was super nice! As soon as we got back there we were shocked to be greeted by Dr. K!  I was so glad we were there on his day at Rockville (I wasn't sure who we would have).

Before we go into the rooms, they make the husbands cover up their shoes with little booties (I had to take mine off, obviously). The transfer rooms have really nice relaxing ambient lighting. Laidback 101! We went in, got situated, then the doctor came in and talked about the embryos. We decided on transferring two. One is an AB blast, the other is a little behind, but still good. We might still have 3 or 4 left to freeze :)

The transfer process involves a few things: a full bladder (so they can see the uterus), the ultrasound wand pushed heavily against your abdomen, and a catheter through which the embryos are transferred. After we decided on 2 the embryologist came in to verify my info, and my selection to transfer two, then went to get our babies :) Dr. K printed off a picture from the ultrasound of the catheter so we can have "early" baby pictures!!! The transfer itself is a piece of cake, I really hardly felt anything but could see it on the ultrasound-- so awesome to see. Matt was standing next to me watching. Just as Dr. K put the catheter in Matt kissed my head!

Okay so after the transfer they take the catheter back and make sure no embryos got stuck in there. And that's where it got wonky. They found something, and we could hear them talking. Then Dr. K peeks into the lab to see what's up, and then ends up going into the lab to see what's going on. So it turns out there was something in the catheter, they didn't "think" it was the embryo, but it looked like it. Just in case it was the embryo, they wanted to put it in a petri dish to let it grow to see what it was. But if it doesn't develop, then we will know it wasn't an embryo. If it does, they'll just freeze it with the others. I was really taken aback and didn't know what to do but I will not stress it, just hope for the best!

We stopped at Burger King on the way home. When I got home I climbed in bed and started reading "The White Queen" by Phillippa Gregory. Now I'm sitting on the recliner blogging!


Dirty Dancing is on. Hopefully these estrogen sob-fest movies will make these little babies stick!!! :)

Fertilization Reports for Cycle #2

Day 1 Fertilization Report - 9 eggs were mature & 7 fertilized normally
Day 2 Report: 6 embryos still doing well (1 6-cell, 1 4-cell, 4 2-cells). Scheduled for a day 3 transfer
Day 3 Report: 7 embryos! (3 8-cells, 1 7-cell, 1 5-cell, 2 4-cells). Transfer pushed back to a day 5!!!