Egg Retrieval and Embryo Transfer

I have had a few questions about how exactly does the egg retrieval and embryo transfer work.  Here's how it went for me,  it was very similar for both IVFs

Egg retrieval:

The night beforeegg retrieval day,  I was to have nothing to eat or drink after midnight.
I arrive at the clinic one hour before retrieval time,  a nurse calls me in and we head to the recovery room.

The nurse then hands me a gown to change into (well 2 actually one forwards and one backwards so that at least you are covered) along with booties to go over the feet and a bonnet to cover the head.  My husband changes into scrubs, booties, bonnet and given a face mask.

After getting changed,  we go to our curtained area where I get a nice comfy lazyboy type chair to sit in and my poor husband gets a nice stiff wooden chair.  The nurse then gets us to double check the file she is holding to make sure that it's ours.  We are then given ID bracelets which gets double checked every time someone comes to see us.

Hubby then gets sent off to "do his business" and produce a sample. (No pressure, ;P).  While he is gone,  the nurse checks my vitals (temperature, blood pressure, pulse ox).  After then she gives me a shot of Versed in the bum to help me to relax.  I personally don't feel much of a difference with that stuff but whatever.  Next the nurse has the pleasant task of trying to find a vein to put in an IV.

Once the IV is in,  they give a bag of saline to rehydrate plus another bag that has antibiotics I think.

Usually around this time,  hubby comes back.  Doctor then comes in and walks us through what will happen and answers any questions we might have.

Then it's time to start,  on our way to the procedure room,  I stop by the washroom to empty my bladder (needs to be empty for them to see properly)

I then go into the procedure room and lay down on the gurney,  prop up the legs in the stirrups.  The nice meds are administered pretty much right away.  This time I was given Fentanyl and Ketomine.  Fentanyl makes you feel almost drunk ish and Ketomine,  well that stuff makes you really out of it,  if only it would have lasted longer before wearing off just as the procedure was starting!

The embryologist, nurses, and doctors (both time I had 2,  it's a teaching place so fellows often take part) all come by and introduce themselves.  Blood pressure and pulse ox are monitored throughout the whole thing

This next part I am a little fuzzy on,  I am usually a little out of it with the drugs or in so much pain I try to shut it out.

Doc comes in,  puts speculum in and washes everything out.   Ultrasound probe then goes in and egg retrieval needle thingy is attached.  They go through the vaginal  wall with the needle to get to the ovary and then go in every follicle to drain it.  Not sure what kind of container the fluid goes into but after every follicle someone is going back and forth handing it to the embryologist how counts out every time they get an egg. From the time they get the follicle to when the first egg is confirmed is about a minute?  The whole thing doesn't take that long,  seems long to me but probably 5 minutes max of the actual aspirating part?

When all is done,  I get to sit up and get a ride back to recovery in a wheelchair.  Usually in about 5 minutes we then get our final count of how many eggs were retrieved.

In recovery,  blood pressure and pulse ox are still on and constantly measured, saline is given through IV the whole time.  We are in recovery usually for about an hour where I get to drink juice and eat cookies.  You also have to go pee before you leave or they won't let you go home. Oh and they have a warmer for sheets which are awesome,  they constantly give you nice warm ones plus a folded warm one to put over the belly which helps with the cramping / pain.

If everything is normal then you get to go home at the end of the hour :)

Well this was pretty long winded,  sorry about that.  I'll come back later to describe the embryo transfer.