IVF #8: Hospital stay #2

After being released from the hospital, Bryce brought me home and I went to bed. I didn't do much of anything for the next two days. Dr. N told me when I was released that I would still have some pain and discomfort and it would just take time to feel better.

So I kept taking my Tylonol with Codein (which didn't do much...) and drank gatorade as much as I could...coudln't get much down but I certainly tried.

Random pic: this was taken from my side of the bed in the morning. I love love love how curtains look with the light on them. I know it's not that great of a pic but I love it anyway. The reason I include this is because this is what I looked at for two days lying in bed. lol

The one bright spot was on Sunday when Carlos, the embryologist called to give us an update on our babies.

He said that during the transfer they had taken 21 follicles from my ovaries. From those 21, they got 18 good eggs. From the 18 eggs, 15 fertilized! And finally, from those 15 fertilized eggs, 12 were normal and met all the criteria to keep.

We were so so happy with the numbers! I was so relieved that all of this was at least giving us hope for the future!

He explained that he would go ahead and freeze all of them at that point since we were not moving forward to do the transfer. So he said he'd take very good care of them for us until we were ready. He'd awesome! We never met him in person but from talking to him and from everything we've been told by friends and the nurses at the clinic, we're so happy he's the one taking care of them. I call him our first babysitter. :)

Bryce went back to work on Monday and he'd call and check on me every once in a while. I really couldn't eat much of anything. Toast was my friend and that's about it. I'd have toast in the morning, gatorade all day and then a bit of soup at night. I slept and watched movies and crawled on my hands and knees from the bed to the couch and the couch to the bathroom and back again. I was still struggling so much. The swelling in my abdomen didn't seem to go down and almost felt bigger than before. (sorry if this is TMI but honestly these posts are more for me so if you don't wanna hear it, you can skip it, cause I'm not leaving much out ;) I was cramping, was constipated and couldn't even pee when I wanted to. I had the worst reflux of my life and was still dealing with the air pockets. I couldn't sleep any way but flat on my back but the reflux would get awful awful if I was flat, so I'd stay propped up to help with that. I can't believe how miserable it is to not be able to sleep on your side or stomach....

My nurse, Tiecha had given me her cell number the week before when she threatened me with my life to call her anytime day or night if I was worried about any symptoms. I texted her a couple of times but kept thinking that I was just being a baby and it would get better.

On Monday night, I ended up in the bathroom sobbing because I felt like I needed to get something out of my body some way but it wasn't happening! I hurt so bad and couldn't sleep because of the pain that started at my neck and filled my body down through my hips. Bryce found me in there and told me over and over that I needed to call Dr N but I kept saying that it was normal and it would get better.....as I bawled my eyes out and dry heaved over the toilet.

Bryce says I'm stubborn.

The next morning, he reluctantly left me to go to work. He kept checking on me and would ask every hour if I had called the Doctor yet. Around 10 he texted to say, “If you don't call Dr N by lunch I'm going to do it myself.”

Oh man....he was in trouble with me. I gave him a piece of my mind about bossing me around.

And then I texted Tiecha 20 min later.

She told me to come to their office asap. I called Bryce and he left work immediately, got home, changed and helped me grab my stuff. We went ahead and packed for a hospital stay just in case, hoping we wouldn't need to but wanting to be prepared, we did it anyway.

---------------------------------------->

That would be my stomach profile by the time we went back to the doctor. (And yes, my shirt says boobs. The full thing says "hearts beat for boobs". It was our team name for a breast cancer walk. 

Anyway, on the drive back to the office, every bump in the road had me grabbing for something to hold onto. I was a mess; I hurt so bad. I was nervous about sitting in the waiting room at their office. I looked....so horrible. Luckily I had at least showered that morning but it hadn't helped much. So I was worried because there would be other couples in the lobby waiting and I didn't want to freak them out. Lol Luckily, there was only one girl there during the time we waited. They pulled me back and the second Dr N came into my room she declared how horrible I looked. I couldn't decided if I was happy to hear my feelings confirmed by my doctor or if I should be offended. She said I looked worse than the first time she admitted me and said it was a really good thing we had come in.

She did another ultrasound and determined there was a whole lot more fluid buildup in my abdomen than the other day. It was up high—near my liver. I don't understand all of it but apparently that's bad. She measured my waist again to see how it compared to the first time. She decided I for sure needed to be admitted again and would likely need to have the fluid drained if they couldn't get in under control. She wanted me in a bigger hospital with more access to the care I might need so she did all the paperwork for me to go to the hospital in Plano (15 min away from their office).

This time though, she kept me there at the office until everything was completely set up so that when I arrived I wouldn't have to wait....and have another panic attack. (Oh Cherise......)

While we waited there, Tiecha and Amber came to say hi and stuck around and chatted with us for quite a while. We talked about the transfer and how it went and about the embryologist that was taking care of our 12 little babies. They were so sweet and excited for us. It was so nice to talk about something happy and think about our future. I love those girls so much; I'm so grateful to have such amazing women to help us through this process. I feel incredibly blessed!

Dr N got everything ready for us and said she'd be by to see me the next morning so we could decide what needed to be done.

We headed to the hospital and I called Jana to tell her what was going on. She and Jen got the info to the rest of the family for us. They got me back in a wheelchair while we signed in. The hospital was HUGE and really pretty inside. Again, we had a great experience with them. They put us on the women and infant floor. Our room was nice, although it left much to be desired when it came to the bit of a couch/bed for Bryce. :) But otherwise, again, everyone was amazing.

They took me down and got a chest xray that Dr N had wanted. They needed to check for fluid in my lungs.

Mom called just as they were putting in my IV. I talked to her for a minute but needed to go since they were putting it in. Just as I was passing her off to Bryce, I heard her quickly say, “Cherise, wait! We're coming!” Huh? I told Bryce to find out what she was talking about. Apparently she and Dad decided they couldn't just wait around at home (in Arizona) and hope I'd be ok. So within 20 minutes they had bags packed and were getting in the car to drive the 14 hours down to be with us at the hospital. So by the time she was telling us about it, they had already been on the road for a while. Oh how I love my parents!!!! I never would have asked them to do that but oh how grateful I was that they were coming and that I was loved enough for them to do that for me. I'll forever be grateful for all they sacrifice for me and for all their children and grandchildren!

They got me settled in with an IV, meds for the reflux and pain meds and of course, drew more blood for labwork. They had me fasting....again. Yuck. But really, I couldn't eat much anyway. The worst was how thirsty I got. So I got to swish and spit for the next 24 hours. Cute. I know.

Here's me showing Bryce how happy I was to be on pain meds. Seriously hilarious. I love my drugged up self... :)

Bryce helped me text a few people to let them know what was going on and call into work and let the YW leaders know I likely wouldn't be able to help with Mutual on Wednesday. Once my pain meds really kicked in (best feeling ever!) he left to grab food from Walmart to last him while we were there.

Ricky and Elisha came again that night. They're angels, really. Again, it helped so much to have friends there. Even if they were under orders not to make me laugh. They did it anyway. :) Love them.

Dr N called to let me know the chest xray showed some fluid buildup in my lungs but not enough to cause real concern. The nurses were awesome. The nurse I had through the night was so sweet and scheduled my bloodwork and meds so that she wouldn't wake me up and just had me call her when I was ready instead. Bryce was up with me every time I had to get up. I'd never experienced being so helpless and I wasn't happy about it. Each time I had to get up, I'd try to make it as far as I could alone. The time or two I got all the way to the bathroom without having to wake Bryce up was like winning the lottery. Bahaha. I was proud.

Here's a pic I took in the middle of the night while I was waiting for my nurse to answer my page. Lol I just wanted a pic of that dang machine that sat next to me all night. :) I think I may get sentimental when I'm drugged up....

The next morning, my friend and fellow YW leader came over to be with me in case Bryce was going to go to work. (Bryce decided not to and stayed the whole time) Again, it was so nice to have company. Bryce's parents came by for an hour and brought Bryce some candy and stuff to do. Bless them. I can't imagine being in the hospital more than a couple days....let's hope that's not something I'll have to experience any time soon. :)

Dr Noorhasan came around 11 like she had said she would. It was at that point that she decided I definitely needed the fluid drained. She scheduled a Paracentesis for 1pm and would be in touch with the radiologist for results right after and would talk to me after that.

Bryce's parents left and my parents arrived around noon. Mom was crying before she finished hugging me. Love her! It was so so good to see them and have them there with us. I'm so glad they got there when they did. We had about an hour to chat, catch up and explain everything that was going on before the radiology nurse came to get me.Again, I'm so grateful for such wonderful nurses! He came to get me and said Bryce could come as well. He had blankets for me, which was awesome. One over my lap and one around my shoulders. As he pushed me in the wheelchair and Bryce followed, they chatted about fishing (of all things). Lol He was so friendly and nice and made the whole thing so much more bearable.
I was excited to get all the fluid out but it was still a little nerve wracking knowing they'd be sticking a big needle connected to a hose into my stomach! So it was nice to have such a friendly nurse bringing us down there. When we arrived they helped me onto the bed and offered blankets again. I didn't feel like a really needed one but he kept saying I'd want one anyway, so I gave in....

He put THREE HEATED blankets over me. It was the Best Feeling EVER. I hadn't really even wanted one but man, I was so happy to have all three! The warmth helped my body relax so much. I was in heaven. 

Then he offered one to Bryce, saying that only real men felt comfortable enough to take one. He took one. :)
The radiologist's assistant took over from there. She explained exactly what they would do and how. Pretty much, it's a good sized needle--not as big and scary as I had expected--that they insert into my abdomen just above my right hip on the side of my body. The needle is connected to a hose that they draped up and over me where it lead into containers down on the left side of the bed. She said they'd do a local anesthesia to numb me up a little. At that point, they'd run the ultrasound to guide the needle. The last thing they want to do it puncture another organ so they had to be especially careful since the fluid was up near my liver. She did a quick pre-ultrasound to see where the fluid was and measure the amount.
The radiologist came in. Bryce said the second he walked in he knew he was Mormon. So funny. We got chatting with him after the procedure and found out he was! Crazy! Especially for Texas!

And seriously, they even took pics with me! I told them, "I know it's stupid and probably really weird of me but will you take a picture with me? You guys have been so nice!" Bahahaha!! I loved them. 

Anyway, he was also extremely nice. :) They did the anesthesia and then did an initial draw to make sure all was well. 

He paused.

And asked, "Is there a reason there would be blood in your abdomen?" He was worried.

I explained that during the egg retrieval, my left ovary had bled but as far as I knew it wasn't a whole lot. They got it under control before they finished. That satisfied him pretty well but after that he was extremely cautious.
He told me before he continued that the blood had mixed with all the fluid so instead of the almost clear liquid we had expected, it would be dark red instead.
He said it doesn't take a whole lot of blood to make it look really dark. Especially since it was old blood--four days old by then.

So when he knew I understood, he went ahead. Definitely Not what I had expected. It looked like pure blood. As you can see in the pictures...

Luckily blood doesn't bother me....but when they drain it out in a tube going across your stomach...and it just keeps coming. It's a little disturbing.

The entire procedure took probably 15 minutes or something once they started. They got just over 1 Liter of fluid out of my abdomen....Yes, that should have been CLEAR. 

Problem was that they couldn't get all of it. Their guess was we got about half out. Here's the reason why:

(PS-I'm certainly not a doctor and I don't actually know anything besides what they explained. Forgive me if my explanations are lacking in scientific fact. :)

You can think of the fluid as being in two pockets in my abdomen. One on each side and vertical. They were kinda connected at the bottom so it was essentially one large pocket but it would pool down into two separate areas. This also explains the pain and constipation and reflux because with all that fluid on the sides, it pushed my bowels into the middle. Then that all pushed upwards making it hard to eat food and causing the reflux and sometimes shortness of breath. 

So fun.

Anyway, so because they pooled into two areas he could only get what was on the right side. 

One might say why not just turn onto your right side so the fluid would move over and then drain it?

To that I'd answer that it wasn't an option and I don't know why but I trust them completely.

Also, he did have an option of doing a second Paracentesis on my left side but he felt strongly that they fewer times I was poked the better. Especially with all the blood in the fluid. He wanted to talk to Dr. Noorhasan before doing anything else. 

As much as I just wanted it all out, I was grateful not to have to do it again. 

The cool part during the procedure, was obviously the relief I felt immediately when they drained it out. I felt like a balloon deflating. And all my organs started moving around back to where they should have been...so so weird.

After finishing up completely, and patching the hole they had put in my side, they did me one last favor and took a pic of me with the love of my life. 

I was sent back to my room with orders to lie on my right side, so I'd put pressure on the site to help it close up nicely. (which it did, you couldn't see anything there at all within a week!) Dr. N called my room within 10 mins of getting back in bed. 

That was the conversation when she declared me her problem child. 

She makes me laugh.

So she said she agreed with the radiologist. No need to stick me again. With the amount they got out, it was enough to put me into recovery mode and so my body could disperse the fluid buildup back into my system on it's own. They felt it was much safer this way. I was ok with that. 

They kept me there the rest of the afternoon and finally let me have FOOD.....

Unfortunately, the only thing my tender stomach could handle was the Italian ice and some other sherbet type thing that was quite delicious. So Dad gladly ate my steak and veggies. :)

I got a new nurse around the time of discharge. She actually left it completely up to me to decide when I was ready to go. She said I could stay another night if I wanted/needed to. 

So we attempted walking the halls to see how I'd do. Bryce walked with me and we took a romantic stroll around the nurse's station..... 

Super Tender.

Actually, it was.

I was a slooooow walker and had to put a lot of effort into standing up straight but I was able to do it!

Deciding when to head home was a difficult decision to be left with. I worried I'd get home and things would just get bad again and I'd be right back here again. But they all felt confident I'd improve so I wanted to trust them...But they said it was up to me. Talk about anxiety. 

Dad and Bryce gave me a blessing after I told them I was anxious. 

It helped a lot and I felt confident enough to head home. So Bryce packed our stuff up and help me put my own clothes back on. (I had kept my pink pajama pants on under my gown the whole time. So so nice! 

Getting home and sleeping in my own bed was wonderful. I could sleep on my side for a little bit if I was really careful when I turned and honestly, everything still hurt like crazy but I was home!

Speaking of being home, this is what my life was about for the next two weeks....

Gatorade, injections, pain meds, nausea meds, meds to decrease the size of my ovaries, meds to end my cycle, tumms, laxatives and water. 

Lovely.

But Mom and Dad were there! We'd been wanting them to come visit since we moved down here but it's so crazy out of the way, it just never made sense for them to come all the way down. But they finally had a reason and I'm so happy they got to come! I got to tell Dad where to go running the next morning. It's so beautiful here and I knew he'd enjoy it. Mom and I watched a full two seasons of a TV show in Netflix over the next 3 days. It was awesome.

I didn't even take one dang pic of the two of them while they were here! I'm so mad!

Dad was able to stay another day after we got home but then headed home to see to all his church duties and get back to work. He's amazing. He drove the entire 14 hours back home ALONE so mom could stay with me. I couldn't ask for a better dad!

So mom got to stay and take care of me so my honey could get back to work too. We had alot of fun hanging out and watching TV and talking and she cooked a ton for us! It was great! :)

Plus, she made me laugh really really hard. That woman is hilarious. 

I love her! Again, I couldn't ask for a better mom!

Oh! She even helped me with this:

We finally got Bryce's pants patched up! SIX patches, people. I can't get him to buy new ones. He loves these ones SO much. So mom helped me patch them for him. (along with a pair of short with just as many holes and a couple t-shirts. That boy is hopeless...and adorable)

So this was the pic mom took for me to send to him to let him know we'd done it! 

And this is Big Boy:

 He's Brian and Cindy's cat. They're our fabulous friends and landlords. Cindy came and checked on me almost every day and even put food and POPCICLES in my fridge for when we got home from the hospital! She's a lifesaver! Bryce and I decided a long time ago they are our adopted aunt and uncle or second mom and dad. They take really good care of us; we've been incredibly blessed to have them in our lives! 

So, Big Boy: He comes and takes naps with me when I'm home alone. So after mom left, he kept me company while I was on modified bed rest for the next week and a half. 

Bryce....oh my honey. He was wonderful to me through it all!

This is him giving me a foot rub while he watched his man tv on the computer. 

I still struggle with everything that's happened and I'm still processing a lot of it....and it's been a month already! But again, I've been so blessed with so many amazing people--friends and family and coworkers that have been so loving and charitable to us. We feel so indebted to everyone. This hasn't been the funnest trial to go through, but I'm sure grateful to be on the other side of it and have those positive feelings about it because it gave us the opportunity to come closer to our loved ones and closer to each other as a couple. 

I'm so excited to move onto the next phase here in the next couple of months. Bryce is going to be an amazing father and I can't wait to experience all of those moments with him, good and bad. I'm blessed to have him.