It's only been 5 days since the ovum pick up, but it felt like months had transpired. Time really slows down when you're totally not enjoying yourself. My tummy is so bloated I looked a few months pregnant. But after the last round in March, I'm done with all the low self-esteem stuff.
I've been in and out of KK hospital since last year for various reasons, and today is the very first day I get an afternoon appointment slot. You can tell I'm not a morning person when something this trivial makes me somewhat happy.
So fast forward into the procedure room. We get the nice small un-daunting room this time. While I had to be wheeled into the department on Monday, I could at least amble slowly in myself today. The bouts of nausea was excruciating. The pain had subsided a little but it still friggin' hurts. And I still can't stand / walk upright for more than 5 minutes without going out of breath.
Not having to wait is the way to go. I guess I was the last patient of the day. The doctor actually arrived before me (for once! And I wasn't late ok!) Dr Chan did a quick scan and determined mine to be a relatively mild case of OHSS. He told a horror story of a pregnant woman in the ward above who is so bloated she's just waiting in agony to get literally drained.
I had 7 embryos alive on Monday that went through blastocyst. The rest of the 22 ovaries hadn't made it till Monday. 2 are ready for transfer today. 1 looked promising, 1 needed further observation, while the last one died.
And he laid out my cards.
1. Do the fresh transfer today. There is no medication for OHSS. My relatively mild case is bound to go away on its own (soon we all hope). The implication was that if I do get pregnant from the transfer today, it WILL come back with a vengeance, a la the poor girl in the torture chambers above.
2. Freeze the embryos. Let the OHSS go away before doing the thaw cycle after my next round of period. Which was what we did the last time. There is a 10% chance of the embryos dying upon thawing and also the stress if defrosting may harm them.
The 2 men; my hubby and Dr Chan both looked perplexed and said I had to make the decision myself. But I already know what they think was obvious.
'CAUSE THE MEN DON'T HAVE TO GO THROUGH THIS PAIN DAMMIT.
I was jammed between a rock and a hard place. But I was done with emotional pain after the previous 2 failed thaw cycle rounds. I'll try my hand with lady luck on the physical pain card.
So I took a deep breath and said "Ok, I'll do it today." Without missing a beat, the doctor said "I knew you'd say that." and turned around promptly to proceed with the paperwork.
I petulantly announced I want to be a man in my next life. Everybody in the room was amused.
The blastocyst embryos looked so different from the regular ones. Dr Chan described the fully expanded one as looking like a shining solitaire diamond.
My 2 little diamonds... Play your duet and grow...
Oh man, I hope it works this time! Hubby absolutely forbids me to name the embryos this time. "Stop it!" he says, when I suggested these 2 were 'Earl' and 'Forest'.
I've been in and out of KK hospital since last year for various reasons, and today is the very first day I get an afternoon appointment slot. You can tell I'm not a morning person when something this trivial makes me somewhat happy.
So fast forward into the procedure room. We get the nice small un-daunting room this time. While I had to be wheeled into the department on Monday, I could at least amble slowly in myself today. The bouts of nausea was excruciating. The pain had subsided a little but it still friggin' hurts. And I still can't stand / walk upright for more than 5 minutes without going out of breath.
Not having to wait is the way to go. I guess I was the last patient of the day. The doctor actually arrived before me (for once! And I wasn't late ok!) Dr Chan did a quick scan and determined mine to be a relatively mild case of OHSS. He told a horror story of a pregnant woman in the ward above who is so bloated she's just waiting in agony to get literally drained.
I had 7 embryos alive on Monday that went through blastocyst. The rest of the 22 ovaries hadn't made it till Monday. 2 are ready for transfer today. 1 looked promising, 1 needed further observation, while the last one died.
And he laid out my cards.
1. Do the fresh transfer today. There is no medication for OHSS. My relatively mild case is bound to go away on its own (soon we all hope). The implication was that if I do get pregnant from the transfer today, it WILL come back with a vengeance, a la the poor girl in the torture chambers above.
2. Freeze the embryos. Let the OHSS go away before doing the thaw cycle after my next round of period. Which was what we did the last time. There is a 10% chance of the embryos dying upon thawing and also the stress if defrosting may harm them.
The 2 men; my hubby and Dr Chan both looked perplexed and said I had to make the decision myself. But I already know what they think was obvious.
'CAUSE THE MEN DON'T HAVE TO GO THROUGH THIS PAIN DAMMIT.
I was jammed between a rock and a hard place. But I was done with emotional pain after the previous 2 failed thaw cycle rounds. I'll try my hand with lady luck on the physical pain card.
So I took a deep breath and said "Ok, I'll do it today." Without missing a beat, the doctor said "I knew you'd say that." and turned around promptly to proceed with the paperwork.
I petulantly announced I want to be a man in my next life. Everybody in the room was amused.
The blastocyst embryos looked so different from the regular ones. Dr Chan described the fully expanded one as looking like a shining solitaire diamond.
My 2 little diamonds... Play your duet and grow...
Oh man, I hope it works this time! Hubby absolutely forbids me to name the embryos this time. "Stop it!" he says, when I suggested these 2 were 'Earl' and 'Forest'.
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| My little diamonds... |
