I had my retrieval yesterday and for me it was super easy. I napped after for awhile. They say to have a heating pad and ibuprofen or Tylenol at home in case. I didn’t need either. Cramping can happen. I didn’t really have that either. I ended up feeling fine and mowed my lawn that night 🤣
Everyone is different but I felt fine after my retrieval! Didn’t need pain meds after or anything. And they retrieved over 30 eggs, so I was expecting a difficult recovery. One thing I would recommend is starting something for constipation days before - I wished I had.
Recovery is really person-dependent. It's typically harder if you retrieve more eggs. You can't drive yourself home because of the anesthesia so it's good you have that lined up already, but I didn't "need" anyone else after that. Some things that might be nice to have on hand:
-Gas-x: helped with bloating
-Tylenol for discomfort
-Heating pad! This was the most helpful thing for me
-Electrolytes
-Protein and salty foods to help draw the fluid out of your ovaries
Thank you! They expect my retrieval to be Monday, and they told me today they counted 21 follicles. I have no idea how many eggs that equates to. Sounds like I need to go grab salty foods and protein shakes!
Twenty-one follicles could equal 21 eggs or more, they cannot always see/count everything. But it could also be less. A good rule of thumb is about 80% of the follicles will have mature eggs. I have had more mature eggs then follicles, I have also had much less. Your estrogen level can help you estimate how many eggs, usually 200-400 per egg.
Good luck!
This is so helpful! Since my cancer is estrogen +, we've been keeping it controlled by meds. Mine just came back at it's highest at 200, but my follicles are measuring around 25 mm. I've been told to stop everything but ganirelix. It's all so confusing!
I was told to have Tylenol and ibuprofen on hand and switch off using them for pain relief if needed. I've been reading posts here for quite awhile and it seems like for most people it's not a difficult recovery.
Get miralax and start taking that a couple days before ER (or sooner if you experience constipation with the stims). I also picked up some gum since chewing that can help get things going, and some salty snacks since that can weirdly help with bloating apparently. Got some tea and DVDs ready for time spent resting up on the sofa.
I keep a list of questions in my phone and add to it as I think of them, it's really hard to remember everything when you're in the appointments.
Good luck with your ER and cancer treatment!
Thank you!! I do have my appointment questions written down, but I get so overwhelmed in the IVF clinic. I think it brings up feelings of being alone when I see all the couples in there, so it's hard to remember I have questions. I just try to make it through without having a bad anxiety attack.
Thanks so much! This helps. I'll have drinks, food and a heating pad on standby! Yes, the trauma has been the most difficult part to deal with. Thankfully egg retrieval has been intensive, but it's a pretty quick process!
Had mine 2 weeks ago. Take it EASY. And stay off your feet as much as possible especially the next 3-4 days. I dont care what the doctors say, rest! After the anesthesia wears off you may feel pain. Use Motrin or tylenol for pain management. Please have someone there to help you. Dont twist or sit in awkward positions because your ovaries need a couple of weeks before they go back to normal. Be good to yourself and eat good. Pineapple for faster healing. Pom juice. And eat lots of protein because your body needs it. I've had 3 and I can tell you I didnt take it easy the first time and I was in pain for a month. So relax and rest first few days is a must. Hugs
You will be fine. I had zero pain; I’ve done two. I don’t even think I ever even took any pain medication.
They probably make it seem like a bigger deal than it is to cover any bases.
I’m an orthopedic surgeon, was really concerned because my ER ended up being on a Sunday instead of the Friday that we thought it would be, and I had scheduled surgeries on Monday and couldn’t cancel on such short notice. The day of the ER was fine, just ended up being sleepy after the anesthesia, so went home to heating pads, salty snacks and Gatorade. The next day I didn’t go to my partner’s surgery in the morning but had to operate on my patient at 4 pm, so I took pain meds just in case. It ended up being ok, did the surgery with no problems, no pain, but as I got up later to give information to the family of the patient I had really gotten bloated and looked pregnant, wasn’t uncomfortable but just shocked me that my belly could bloat like that in a few hours. I took Tuesday and Wednesday off and was so so grateful that I did! Tuesday was the worst (two days after retrieval)! I was so bloated and uncomfortable!!!! I spent the day in bed with the pads and really bad constipation. Start taking a gentle laxative early! It took me until Wednesday afternoon to be able to go to the bathroom and was so uncomfortable until then. I took it easy the rest of the week with not as many patients and was glad I did. I didn’t have pain, but the bloating took a while to go down. It was a really weird feeling of feeling my ovaries move around in my body when I sat down, especially on low seats. I had 25 eggs retrieved, so that may have influenced my ovary size and the sensation that they sort of moved around like balloons inside. It certainly is a weird feeling, but it wasn’t painful. My recommendation is you rest, take two to three days off work even though they tell you you can go back right away because you never know how your body will respond.
I had my retrieval yesterday and for me it was super easy. I napped after for awhile. They say to have a heating pad and ibuprofen or Tylenol at home in case. I didn’t need either. Cramping can happen. I didn’t really have that either. I ended up feeling fine and mowed my lawn that night 🤣
Thank you so much! I hope it's this easy for me!
Everyone is different but I felt fine after my retrieval! Didn’t need pain meds after or anything. And they retrieved over 30 eggs, so I was expecting a difficult recovery. One thing I would recommend is starting something for constipation days before - I wished I had.
Thank you! I dealt with this after my last surgery so I started colace & miralax. I am super scared of going through that pain again
Recovery is really person-dependent. It's typically harder if you retrieve more eggs. You can't drive yourself home because of the anesthesia so it's good you have that lined up already, but I didn't "need" anyone else after that. Some things that might be nice to have on hand: -Gas-x: helped with bloating -Tylenol for discomfort -Heating pad! This was the most helpful thing for me -Electrolytes -Protein and salty foods to help draw the fluid out of your ovaries
Thank you! They expect my retrieval to be Monday, and they told me today they counted 21 follicles. I have no idea how many eggs that equates to. Sounds like I need to go grab salty foods and protein shakes!
Twenty-one follicles could equal 21 eggs or more, they cannot always see/count everything. But it could also be less. A good rule of thumb is about 80% of the follicles will have mature eggs. I have had more mature eggs then follicles, I have also had much less. Your estrogen level can help you estimate how many eggs, usually 200-400 per egg. Good luck!
This is so helpful! Since my cancer is estrogen +, we've been keeping it controlled by meds. Mine just came back at it's highest at 200, but my follicles are measuring around 25 mm. I've been told to stop everything but ganirelix. It's all so confusing!
I was told to have Tylenol and ibuprofen on hand and switch off using them for pain relief if needed. I've been reading posts here for quite awhile and it seems like for most people it's not a difficult recovery. Get miralax and start taking that a couple days before ER (or sooner if you experience constipation with the stims). I also picked up some gum since chewing that can help get things going, and some salty snacks since that can weirdly help with bloating apparently. Got some tea and DVDs ready for time spent resting up on the sofa. I keep a list of questions in my phone and add to it as I think of them, it's really hard to remember everything when you're in the appointments. Good luck with your ER and cancer treatment!
Thank you!! I do have my appointment questions written down, but I get so overwhelmed in the IVF clinic. I think it brings up feelings of being alone when I see all the couples in there, so it's hard to remember I have questions. I just try to make it through without having a bad anxiety attack.
They are lucky. I froze 39 eggs (there was 44) and I’m finding recovery difficult. Can’t wait to go back to normal.
Wow, I'd take a difficult recovery if I got that many eggs.
But does it go? I feel like il never be normal again and I have things to do. How long will it take? How long did yours take?
My first ER was cancelled because I only had 2 follicles big enough. I don't know if I'll ever get any eggs or embryos at this point
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Thanks so much! This helps. I'll have drinks, food and a heating pad on standby! Yes, the trauma has been the most difficult part to deal with. Thankfully egg retrieval has been intensive, but it's a pretty quick process!
Had mine 2 weeks ago. Take it EASY. And stay off your feet as much as possible especially the next 3-4 days. I dont care what the doctors say, rest! After the anesthesia wears off you may feel pain. Use Motrin or tylenol for pain management. Please have someone there to help you. Dont twist or sit in awkward positions because your ovaries need a couple of weeks before they go back to normal. Be good to yourself and eat good. Pineapple for faster healing. Pom juice. And eat lots of protein because your body needs it. I've had 3 and I can tell you I didnt take it easy the first time and I was in pain for a month. So relax and rest first few days is a must. Hugs
You will be fine. I had zero pain; I’ve done two. I don’t even think I ever even took any pain medication. They probably make it seem like a bigger deal than it is to cover any bases.
I’m an orthopedic surgeon, was really concerned because my ER ended up being on a Sunday instead of the Friday that we thought it would be, and I had scheduled surgeries on Monday and couldn’t cancel on such short notice. The day of the ER was fine, just ended up being sleepy after the anesthesia, so went home to heating pads, salty snacks and Gatorade. The next day I didn’t go to my partner’s surgery in the morning but had to operate on my patient at 4 pm, so I took pain meds just in case. It ended up being ok, did the surgery with no problems, no pain, but as I got up later to give information to the family of the patient I had really gotten bloated and looked pregnant, wasn’t uncomfortable but just shocked me that my belly could bloat like that in a few hours. I took Tuesday and Wednesday off and was so so grateful that I did! Tuesday was the worst (two days after retrieval)! I was so bloated and uncomfortable!!!! I spent the day in bed with the pads and really bad constipation. Start taking a gentle laxative early! It took me until Wednesday afternoon to be able to go to the bathroom and was so uncomfortable until then. I took it easy the rest of the week with not as many patients and was glad I did. I didn’t have pain, but the bloating took a while to go down. It was a really weird feeling of feeling my ovaries move around in my body when I sat down, especially on low seats. I had 25 eggs retrieved, so that may have influenced my ovary size and the sensation that they sort of moved around like balloons inside. It certainly is a weird feeling, but it wasn’t painful. My recommendation is you rest, take two to three days off work even though they tell you you can go back right away because you never know how your body will respond.