Two weeks ago today, I started this crazy journey. I stood in my kitchen with my friend Heather, cheering me on as I braced myself for my first self injection. The process took 9 days from my first shot through to my egg retrieval, and while I’m not even close to feeling normal yet, the oocyte cryopreservation cycle is officially over.
My girls (eggs) are now comfortably chilling in liquid nitrogen at temperatures of -196°C, waiting for me to hook them up with some quality man juice (don’t hold your breath ladies, this could take a while!).
And so, as I sit here 4 days into recovery, high on Percocet, holding a heating pad on my tummy, what else am I to do except reflect, and create a little infographic of the crazy things my body (and bank account) has done in the past two weeks?
Below is the wrap up.
I clearly overcame my fear of needles and actually learned to enjoy giving myself shots.
I’ve spent enough time at NYU Langone Fertility for it to feel like a second home, and I’ve seen more doctors in the last 14 days than most people see in 14 months.
And how could I forget, my estrogen levels went through the roof because my over-achieving ovaries were super responsive to the Follistim and Ganirelix (thanks girls).
The procedure itself was a bit scary, but like the anesthesiologist predicted, at least I had a very good nap.
My ability to recover has been less than stellar. Of course my mom blames it on the fact that I wasn’t properly fattened up prior to the procedure (but not to worry, she’s doing everything she can to make sure I’m 15 pounds heavier by the time she flies back to San Diego – I have a feeling I’ll be at Barry’s more than ever once I recover).
And of course, it wouldn’t be a proper egg freeze wrap-up without laying out the costs (I had to include transportation costs – the clinic I went to is not conducive to public transportation, and given recent weather conditions, Uber was really the only civilized way to get to NYU).
But as I’ve said, it’s all been worth it, because while I know this is not an insurance policy, it does make me feel incredibly good to know that my 36 year old eggs are safely suspended in time until I’m ready to use them. The results:
Header Image Sourced From Pinterest
Congratulations on completing this journey (at least for now) and thanks for sharing. I really enjoyed the infographic-style wrap-up! What’s next for you (and your blog)?
Thanks Molly. I’m going to continue to write about this topic, but will switch gears to talk about the issues women are facing, and how we can change and improve fertility awareness. And I’m hoping that some of my brave friends who are getting ready to go through this journey will share on frozenplease.com.