Post Op: the Fortune Cookie

Children's laughter, so beautiful to hear, soon will be a chance to have them very near. 

Funny enough that was my fortune cookie yesterday after the retreival. The recovery so far is not so bad, just sleep and heat and Extra Strength Tylenol every 4 hours.

Yesterday I arrived at the doctors office an hour before the procedure so they could check my vitals and talk to my anesthesiologist.  I was under for the actual procedure but breathing on my own.   The last thing I remember was being hitched up on a table and my doctor talking to me while the anesthesiologist gave me a cocktail through an IV.  

When I woke up I was super groggy and laying in an exam room.  A nurse gave me Tylenol and apple juice and asked if I could stand.  I was a bit wobbly and just wanted to sleep.  I see why you need a ride home and someone to stay with you 8 hours post.  The procedure lasted less than an hour, and I was at the office two hours or so, but surgery is still surgery. 

Four hours later I woke up in my own bed much less disoriented.  My doctor had emailed me and said everything went stellar.  I also actually had an appetite - always a good sign.  We ordered Chinese food for dinner, hence the ironic fortune cookie.  Kids in my future?  Guess my frozen egg baby insurance policy was a good idea after all.

Egg Retreival

Ain't nothing like the real thing, baby.

Ain't nothing like the real thing. ~ Marvin Gaye

Today is the day.   Finally.  I'm slightly nervous but moreso ready for this to be over.  The trigger shot took me under. (Pro-tip: numb the area with an ice pack first) The shot itself stung more than the other medications and I've been drowsy for the past 36 hours.  Where before I felt bloating, with the trigger I feel pressure.  Not painful, but not comfortable.

Simple instructions - comfortable clothes, no eating or drinking starting at midnight last night, no chewing gum or smoking, and no perfumes.  The procedure should last 2-3 hours, and someone needs to give you a ride home and be with you 8 hours after.

I'll report back after!  Six weeks of my life in slo-mo.  All for my little egg babies.  Solidifies my decision that I'm not quite yet ready for the real thing.

Injection Demo

It's been seven days of shots so far.  It's amazing how easily it becomes routine.  It's still not pleasant, but not horrible either.  I'm lucky - I've been sticking pretty closely to a plant-based, whole grain, no alcohol diet and haven't experienced any weight gain.  I've also been bullish on sleep.  One of the major side effects of the medication is insomnia, and while falling asleep has been easy, staying asleep is difficult some nights.  For me drinking herbal tea and reading a book/magazine, rather than grabbing my iPhone helps.

Since the doctor's appointments have remained the same (ultrasound and blood test every 3-4 days), there's not much new to report.  Instead I filmed the injection routine that I do every evening.  It takes about 10 minutes total - 5 vials, 2 medications, 1 shot.

Doctor Visit #6: Being Tea Bright

I watched Being Mary Jane last night.  She's freezing her eggs on the show.  If you haven't watched the show, Mary Jane is a journalist and for the live taping of one of her newscasts, they filmed a doctors visit where she found out she only had 4 follicles and wasn't a good candidate for retrieval.  It was clearly dramatized lol.  As many Doctors appointments/ultrasounds I have (every few days) I'm not going to be shocked to find out much of anything!  I definitely know what's going on.  I'm getting closer to the finish line, thank goodness - my little egg babies are finally growing close to optimal size - there are a lot of them so I'm starting to feel a serious bloat.  I also started a new medication (two shots now - ughhh).  My doc said that curbing sugar (including white bread, pasta, and potatoes) would help the bloating.  Considering I was planning to start a low sugar diet soon for bikini season, no better time than the present.

Just a little pin prick

There is no pain you are receding
A distant ship, smoke on the horizon ~Pink Floyd

I expected worse.  The needle sank into my skin, the metal tip melting, disappearing, as if my belly didn't mind being penetrated.  The wince on my face wasn't warranted until I felt the sting of the liquid pouring in as I pushed the syringe and counted slowly to 10.  And then it was over.  If it wasn't for the one drop of blood that slowly bubbled up, I wouldn't have known exactly where I'd pricked.  

The prep work took the longest - 15 minutes of measuring and screwing and disolving the 1 vial of water and 4 vials of powder into a single dosage of hormones.

I'm resting now.  I'm not super moody, just lethargic.  My appetite is also waning.  I just feel kinda blah and bloated and PMSey.  I'm sure it affects everyone differently, but so far totally tolerable.

Doctor Visit #3: To Destroy or Not to Destroy

This visit I was supposed to come armed with my notarized consent forms (eggs are serious business) as well as my medication.  The medication weathered literal storms and arrived on my doorstep at 8pm the night before the appointment.  I waived the signature to make sure they'd leave it on my doorstep but had I known how expensive it was...the copay wasn't terrible but apparently it's $4K worth of drugs!

Prior to the appointment I had to sign documents that determine the fate of my eggs in the event of my demise (or non storage payment).  There's donation to a couple, donation to research, or just destroying them altogether.  Something to think about.

The appointment was normal - I'm getting rather used to them.  Ultrasound, blood test, and a call in the afternoon with a green light.  Rinse, lather, repeat.  The main difference this time was a demo on the shots.  I honestly don't mind needles much if someone else is sticking me.  But the thought of self-inflicted pain weirds me out.  The practice was sort of fun - almost like a science project or Episode of Breaking Bad.  Mixing vials of chemicals and injecting them into a rubber sphere that mimics belly fat.  But actually shooting myself up...eeekk! 

The Calendar

If you are the kind of person who is waiting for the 'right' thing to happen, you might wait for a long time. It's like waiting for all the traffic lights to be green for five miles before starting the trip. ~Robert Kiyosaki 

My doc gave me my calendar, so I've scrubbed the deets and provided you with a sample of what to expect. I'm in pill mode for awhile.  Comment below with questions!

London Scout: Making My Ovaries Twitch

I'm obsessing over pics of cute kids...especially this curly-hair fashionista.

#paparazzied in Stella McCartney from @minimodelgallery (oldie but goodie). Tap for outfit details.

A photo posted by London Scout (@scoutfashion) on Jan 25, 2015 at 4:25pm PST

#TBT to one of our most pinned photos on Pinterest! Don't forget to follow us there as well😘😘 Scoutthecity.com

A photo posted by London Scout (@scoutfashion) on Jan 22, 2015 at 7:37am PST

Still trying to attempt the kissy face🙈 dress from @kanakids Scoutthecity.com

A photo posted by London Scout (@scoutfashion) on Dec 18, 2014 at 9:59am PST

I have literally seen this photo everywhere! Our most pinned photo on Pinterest! Completely flattered since I made this skirt myself. Hopefully Scout and I can get it together and shoot an easy DIY tutorial. scoutthecity.com

A photo posted by London Scout (@scoutfashion) on Dec 16, 2014 at 4:55pm PST

Q&A with Dr. Lynn Burmeister & The Fertility Diet

I also found this cool Fertility Diet on her site.  Sounds like a standard "clean eating" diet that's probably good to follow anyway.  I'm terrified of gaining weight during this process, so I'm eating as clean as possible.

Fertility Diet

Ideally when you are trying to conceive you should be between BMI 20-25. This applies to both male and female. Being overweight and underweight reduces your pregnancy rate.

It is important to hence follow a healthy eating pattern and to participate in regular exercise.

Try and cut down on simple carbohydrates (see list below). Also eat fresh organic food if possible. Avoid alcohol and caffeinated drinks and orange juice.  Avoid foods containing lots of sugars and refined carbohydrates and cut down on wheat containing foods such as bread, pastry, cakes and biscuits. If consuming dairy products try and consume nonfat products and avoid ice-cream. Avoid foods containing artificial sweeteners and carbonated sodas.

THINGS TO AVOID

CAFFEINATED and CARBONATED DRINKS - if you cant live without coffee no more than 2 cups a day

ALCOHOL – no more than 5 standard drinks a week

SMOKING AND ILLICIT DRUGS

REFINED CARBOHYDRATES

ARTIFICIAL SUGARS

HIGH GI FOODS - French fires, white rice, sugar, honey chocolate, sugared cereals, rice cakes, white bread and rice and pasta, baked potatoes, carrots, parsnip and sweet potatoes.

FOODS THAT ARE GOOD

OILY FISH - mackerel, salmon, herrings and sardines. These foods provide the good saturated fats.

ESSENTIAL PROTEIN - avocado, chicken, fish, low-fat yogurt and milk, cottage cheese, tofu, cottage cheese, eggs, baked beans, kidney beans.

LOW GI FOODS - apples, plums, pears, peaches, cherries, apricot, grapefruits, all pulses such as lentils and chick peas, green leafy vegetables such as broccoli, mushrooms, onions, garlic, asparagus and wholegrain or rye bread, nuts, and oat biscuits.

EXAMPLE DIET

Try drinking lemon and ginger first thing in morning. To make this, cut up lemon and ginger into teapot, leave for 2 minutes strain and pour - it’s delicious.

Drink 2 litres of water during day. You can also drink herbal teas, dandelion coffee and fresh vegetable juices.

Breakfast
• porridge with low fat milk or non-toasted museli
• rye bread toast with butter ( avoid margarine)

Mid-morning snack
• raw carrots / celery sticks

Lunch
• salad and salmon / advocado
• apple / nonfat organic yoghurt

Afternoon snack
• pear/ almonds/pumpkin seeds/ sesame seed/walnuts/cucumber

Evening meal
• organic chicken fillet / vegetables - brocoli/spinach/raw carrot/asparagus/ mushrooms

Before bed
• have a relaxing herbal tea such as peppermint or camomile.

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Doctor Visit #2: Breaking the Bio Clock

Today was visit #2 at the doctor's office. Wait time was much shorter (total plus). I was also 15 minutes late, so meh. 

You have to call on Day 1 of your period - TMI (well I guess this whole blog is) and go within 2 days later, so it's a bit inconvenient if you have a job, but luckily the doc office was flexible, so we made it work. 

I had an ultrasound and blood work done. Doc checked out my lining and uterus and stuff with with ultrasound, and then we counted my follicles (soon to be eggs) in each ovary. Yes, I participated haha. She said normal was 5, I had 8-9. Seems like a good sign, but kinda scary for when we pump these suckers with hormones to make them grow. 

The blood work was easy. I'm not squeamish so that helps - regular needle in the arm. Fill a tube with blood, repeat a couple times. They were testing all the hormone levels and had to make sure I wasn't already pregnant or had a non-baby friendly disease. Spoiler alert: Pregnancy test came back negative. 

I then got a prescription for birth control and was directed to start taking it once they called me and let me know my tests were good to proceed. I got a call from the nurse - which I missed, and then a voicemail from my doc which basically said my estrogen levels were higher than normal, but for now, it's "game on". Next step is an email from the doc with my very own baby-making calendar.

I've decided to go the route of egg freezing only, no embryos.  Personal choice, but I'm not ready to make that type of decision yet.  Funny enough I also got my Ancestry DNA results today, so now I have some idea of what ethnicities I'm passing along to my future little ones.

Doctor Visit #1: The Consultation

Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself. Says, George Bernard Shaw.

For me, I'm taking it quite literally. Because I'm a woman and I'm awesome and I can. So I'm setting myself up to create a future little one. All my life I've known I've wanted to be a mom. I've questioned it briefly, a few times, but I've always arrived at the same answer. The problem is I'm single and selfish. Maybe they have to do with each other, but that's another blog. And kids are a lot of work and time and money and work. So I've decided that I'd like to delay motherhood a bit. As in, I'd like to stick in a bookmark and come back to this page in approximately 4 years. In the meantime, I plan on traveling a ton, getting a dog, learning how to play the stock market, buying a condo, and falling in love. This guy who's equally-as-awesome-as-me will then marry me and become my sperm donor.

Best case scenario, I never need to use my frozen egg babies. And this will have all been a very grown-up science experiment. However, $&*t happens.

Plan A: Love, Marriage, Natural Birth, Baby Carriage.
Plan B - X ????
Plan Z: Frozen Egg Babies

If you're like me and like to have a Plan Z, then this blog's for you. I'm documenting my process to hopefully encourage my friends and other twentyandthirtysomething women to explore if it's right for them. 

Step 1: Discuss with your bestie who happens to be one of the smartest people you know and is also a medical doctor. (I know I'm lucky.) 

Step 2: Make an appointment to see a Reproductive Endocrinologist. I found my doc on ZocDoc. If you're in LA, her name is Dr Kari Sproul, and she's awesome - professional, funny, informative, super nice - everything you'd want from someone that will see it all. 

Step 3: Go to your appointment. I got a slide show explaining the process and fancy terms for women parts. I took some notes for myself, not on the fancy terms, but the important take-aways: 
- Do you want to freeze just eggs or embryos too? 
- Send your last pap smear results to new doctor 
- Check to see how much will be covered by insurance, and how much you'll need to pay out of pocket (I work at a cool Tech company and my insurance covers pretty much everything - told you, I'm lucky) 
- Call the Office on Day 1 of your period 

That's it. Nothing invasive. This appointment was was a lot of information but just a talk.  A totally worth the copay talk.