IVF Cycle 5 - TESE (Todd’s Retrieval)

Friday, May 15, 2015

This morning was a relaxed morning for me and a nerve wracking morning for Todd.  We had a long breakfast at our hotel and took our time getting ready to arrive at Dr. Ahlering's office to meet the team for the first time in person.  I've been talking to these people for months via the phone and email.  I was excited to finally get to meet them face-to-face.

I was a little nervous for Todd, as well, because they had informed us they would not be allowing him to have general anesthesia.  I was quite frustrated with this "after the fact" change of plans, but there wasn't much we could do about it.  I gave him his Adivan and hoped it would relax him enough to make this procedure go smoothly.

Our game faces

Shawnie, our IVF coordinator that I have emailed with no less than 100 times, came to get us from the waiting room.  She took us into an exam room and told Todd to just pull his shorts down to his knees.  We were both so confused.  In the past, he has always been in a sterile surgical room, and I was never allowed in the procedure.  Not today.  As 4 others flooded into the room, I realized that I was suddenly a part of this process.  Six of us total in such a small exam room made for quite a cozy environment.  The urologist gave Todd a numbing shot, performed the procedure, and left the room to check the specimen.  Unfortunately, he returned a few minutes later to say they needed more.  They went back in for a second time and after another inspection, decided they had enough.

At some point, I asked the embryologist that was also in the room when he would be using the nanoselection beads on Todd's specimen.  (Remember, the nanoselection beads are what they throw in with the sperm when they spin them.  The bad sperm have a protein in them that attaches to the beads and causes them to sink, leaving the strongest still swimming.  We had already paid $500 for these beads for this cycle.)  Well, the embryologist informed me that we would not be using beads because all of the sperm would stick to them.  What?!  Again, last-minute information that somehow isn't passed along to us in a timely manner.  Before I paid for the beads, I was told the embryologist had approved us using them.  Frustrating, but we'll survive.

Then came the next surprise.  We needed a checkbook to pay the urologist.  I didn't have the right purse.  Todd's was at the hotel.  Luckily, the hotel was just on the other side of the highway.  I ran back over there, tore apart his briefcase, tore apart the car, and returned with no checkbook in hand.  Fortunately, we remembered that we had cash on us from Todd's most recent purchase...a boat.  That's another story for another day.  Anyway, in what looked like nothing less than a shady drug deal, I paid our urologist in multiple crisp $100 bills.  It was strange, but quite funny.

The view from our hotel parking lot to MCRM - literally across the highway

For anyone that knows me personally, you know that the change in nanobead news and the rush around town to track down a checkbook would have usually put me in a tizzy.  Not this time.  So much about my attitude and calmness has been different this cycle.  I’m loving it!

Before we left, Dr. Ahlering stopped by to shake Todd's hand and tell him he was his hero.  I felt a little star-struck since I have been talking to him on the phone for almost a year-and-a-half, and he's spoken so highly of by so many women in our situation.  I was glad we got to meet him before my retrieval tomorrow.

We grabbed lunch at a pub next to our hotel before heading in to let Todd rest, doctor's orders.  He was cracking me up with his antics.

Cleaning off the food he dropped.  Todd on Adivan is hilarious!

"Todd, what are you doing?"
"I'm having ice cream with a friend."

Then, this...

So peacefully sleeping

Around 5:30pm, he awoke and asked what time we had to be back at the doctor for my procedure.  I informed him it was tomorrow morning, and he looked at me with a very confused look.  Apparently, he thought he had slept for 14 hours!

We spent the rest of our evening in bed watching TV.  I ran back to the same pub to pick-up dinner and stopped off downstairs for more ice cream.  It's been such an awesome, relaxing day together. 

Todd is asleep right now, and I feel wide awake.  I'm excited to see how tomorrow goes.  I've been praying that we get good quality eggs.  I know we won't get very many, but we just need one embryo to make a baby.  If I was posting this realtime, I would ask for prayers.  Can't hurt to say a prayer after the fact, though.

Happy Friday!