At my Thursday morning appointment in Jacksonville, the doctor determined I was finally ready to be triggered as I had multiple follicles that had reached the necessary size to presumably produce mature eggs. I no longer needed to inject any stimulating medicine nor anti-ovulating medicine. Thursday evening, I injected the first trigger shot, and exactly 12 hours later on Friday morning, I injected the second trigger. I had to fast starting at midnight Friday, and was at the clinic (still in Jax) bright and early Saturday morning.
By the time Saturday morning rolled around, I was even more uncomfortable from the bloating than I had been before (which was pretty uncomfortable). It's sort of like having a giant inflated whoopie cushion inside your stomach, and the air moves around, but it won't release. Sitting hurt, standing hurt, moving from one position to another hurt, and sleeping on my stomach hurt (unfortunately, I'm a stomach sleeper so it was difficult to get comfortable). Thankfully, once we arrived at the clinic, it wasn't a long wait until I said goodbye to my husband (I'd see him again after the procedure was done) and was taken back to the prep/recovery room.
The nurse had me change into a gown, explained to me exactly what was going to happen, reviewed my medical history information, asked me a few questions about it, answered my questions, and explained my discharge instructions. Then the anesthesiologist came in to ask about medical allergies, prior surgeries (fun fact: getting knocked out to have all four wisdom teeth removed at the same time counts as a surgery), prior reactions to anesthesia, and family reactions to anesthesia. She also tried hard to narrow down my sensitivity to adult decongestants (I can't take them, but can take kiddie decongestants) to make sure nothing she was giving me would cause the same unpleasant reaction.
Then the doctor came in to introduce himself -- the clinic tries to keep you with the same doctor, but since they travel to different locations you often end up seeing multiple doctors, although they all work in conjunction with each other. He also explained the procedure, and then left to get prepped.
The anesthesiologist came back in to get me hooked up to the IV so I could start getting fluids, and then after one last visit to the restroom, I was escorted into the operation room. They helped me climb up into a soft bed, and then I had to scoot down so my butt was in a pocket-like area of the bed (there should be a consumer version of that, but with a pocket for boobs for stomach sleepers). Each leg was put on a lifted padded arm (leg?) and tied into place. I wasn't sure if it was more like American Horror Story or Fifty Shades of Grey, but the bed and leg rests were comfortable. Then I lay back and the anesthesiologist started giving me the good stuff. I remember asking if it was normal for the ceiling to be spinning, she said yes, I shut my eyes again, and the next thing I remember was being helped back into my bed, which had been lifted to the same height as the operating bed.
I have no idea how long I was in the operating room or how long I was sleeping in recovery afterward, but at some point I was semi-awake enough that when the nurse came back to check on me, I asked her if everything went okay. That's when I learned that instead of the 9 eggs they were expecting to retrieve, they were only able to get 3 because my body had started to ovulate too early. It's not unheard of, but it is rare. Later, when the doctor came in to check on me, I asked what could be done differently if I had to repeat the entire process, and although he deferred to my regular doctor's decision, he said for his patients he'd probably do a combination of anti-ovulation injections twice a day instead of once daily, and having an earlier retrieval time once triggered.
My husband was finally brought back to see me, and then was sent to get Gatorade, crackers, and to bring the car around to the front of the hospital while I very carefully got dressed and was wheeled outside. By the time I left, about 2-1/2 hours after arriving, I was still a bit woozy, but nothing was spinning unless I moved too quickly. The bloating, although not entirely gone, was significantly reduced, which was a huge relief. Except for a restroom stop and a lunch stop (by around noon I was starving), I slept almost the entire 4+ hour ride home. Once home, I shuffled into the house, thanked an amazing friend for staying at our place to take care of our puppy, got into bed, and went back to sleep until dinner time.
Something I hadn't heard of in my IVF-related online research or in talking with people: after the retrieval, they tell you to drink Gatorade or Tomato V-8 instead of water. Those drinks help pull out the fluid from the follicles and prevent the body from re-filling the follicles, which it is trying to do. I'm on a more-Gatorade-than-water drinking regimen for the next 3-5 days until the bloating disappears, which is weird for me because I'm used to carrying around a water bottle all day and I usually avoid drinks with sugar/calories. But, doctor's orders are doctor's orders.
Now I have to wait. I'll hear from the doctor tomorrow (two days post-retrieval) to get the first update about what made it post-fertilization and what did not, and then another update on Friday (seven days post-retrieval) to learn which, if any, fertilized eggs made it to the blastocyst stage. Those will be biopsied, the biopsy sent to a lab for pre-implantation genetic testing, and the rest will be frozen awaiting transfer.