Pretty much all you can say after today. I know it's been a while since either of us posted anything here, so here's a Cliffs Notes version of where we've been over the last month or so: we decided to start IVF this month, which meant two weeks' worth of medicine for Laura - injections, medicine mixing, you name it; it would have made a pharmacist blush - and we scheduled an egg retrieval for this morning.
At which point a problem appeared: there were no eggs to retrieve.
This, in the words of our doctor while Laura was still recovering from anesthesia and had no clue where in the world she was, isn't good.
One of the medicines Laura was taking is supposed to suppress ovulation. Basically, each egg grows in its own follicle, and when it matures the follicle ruptures and the egg(s) start making their way down the fallopian tubes. For IVF, you have to beat the clock, because the procedure involves pipetting out the stuff inside the follicle and retrieving the egg in the process. After ovulation, it's impossible to retrieve the egg - and the medicine wasn't strong enough to keep ovulation from occurring.
The doctor said that this happens about once a year. Lucky us. That'll be $Texas, please.
So we'll regroup and try again at some point. The timing is totally up to us, but will need to wait for a menstrual cycle to complete, so no earlier than early January or so. And this time, they'll change up the medication to the extra-strength model, which will hopefully do the trick.
Going through this today reminded me of how important it is to have two partners walking hand in hand on this journey. This morning, I was a wreck. I mean, doing everything I could to just keep from breaking down and bawling with the doctor in the room. It's really the first time in this whole process where I've come close to losing it. But Laura, bless her, was generally OK - broken up and upset, yeah, but strong enough to prop me up.
Yes, the roles have been reversed at times. I've had to be the stiff-upper-lip type more than a couple times during this whole process when she was really upset. Today, it was her turn.
You never know when you're going to need a shoulder to lean on. But without question, you'll need one at some point. Having that around makes all the difference in the world, and today it made what could have been a super crappy day only a sorta crappy one.
