Preparation for Egg Retrieval

First off I would like to say my butt still hurts from that shot yesterday. I e-mailed my IVF Nurse to make sure this is ok and she said it could hurt for 24 hours...walking up stairs is just killer I feel like I have a gun shot wound to my butt or something.

Since I dont know how I will be feeling tomorrow I thought I would post a little bit of information about the Egg Retrieval (ER) and Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) which will be taking place tomorrow at 7am.

Egg Retrieval

Egg retrieval is a minor surgical procedure that is performed under deep sedation by an anesthesia provider. A vaginal ultrasound probe along with a thin aspiration needle is placed into the vagina and under ultrasound guidance the needle is inserted through the back wall of the vagina into the ovary. The doctor then punctures each follicle with the needle tip and aspirates the fluid from the follicles. The fluid is collected into sterile test tubes that are passed along to the laboratory where the contents are screened for an egg. The egg retrieval should last about 20-30 minutes. Not all follicles will have an egg and not all eggs will be mature, but hopefully we will have somewhere around 12-15 mature eggs to work with.

Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI)

Because we are working with a limited supply of sperm that Dan banked prior to starting chemo we are using ICSI. This procedure takes a single sperm and injects it into an egg. Dan's sperm are currently frozen still but will be thawed first thing in the morning. They should survive well from the process but since we are using ICSI they will just select the best ones they can find.

I found this cool video on youtube to show you how its done under the microscope.