Egg Retrieval Log | Mainly about the record of how well I slept.

Today, I underwent my first egg retrieval (as part of fertility treatment).
I am writing this partly for my own records, and partly in the hope that it might be helpful to someone else.

Even if you have absolutely no interest in fertility treatment, please feel free to read on.
Ryo Asai titled his essay "Anal Log," where he amusingly chronicled his battle with hemorrhoids.
I have no plans (or desire) to undergo hemorrhoid treatment in the future, but I enjoyed reading it.
With that in mind, by turning this into a story, I hope to sublimate the hardships I've faced up to today.

By the way, for those reading this while wondering what fertility treatment is actually like... let's start with the basic premise of egg retrieval...
Normally, about one egg matures in the body each month, but when retrieving eggs for procedures like in vitro fertilization (extracting eggs from the body), medication (ovulation stimulants) is often used to help many eggs mature.

The ovulation stimulants are self-injected, but perhaps because my response was weak, I had to go to the clinic many times, only to be told, "It's not big enough yet," or "It's still a little ways off," and have to come back again (with additional injections each time). In the end, I went into the retrieval having taken:
14 doses of Gonal-f (pen-type)
6 doses of Ganirelix (injections with thick, long needles)
before the procedure.

I was truly terrified of injecting the Ganirelix, but I managed to get through it using the method I found in a note article:"Play Indian movie music♪"The overly cheerful music helped me immensely...

Also, since the pre-procedure ultrasound suggested that a large number of eggs could be retrieved (making the surgery longer), I opted for intravenous anesthesia for the retrieval.

Fasting from 9:00 PM the night before. No drinking from midnight.

No makeup, no contact lenses on the day of.
I didn't eat breakfast, couldn't drink water, and just had to wash my face; the preparation was incredibly easy.

When I arrived at the clinic at 8:30 AM, I was first guided to a room with beds called the "recovery room."
The several beds in the room were separated by curtains, and other patients (my companions) waiting for their egg retrieval would enter after me.
I had to remove all my underwear and change into a surgical gown.
The nurse was kind, telling me to go to the bathroom and then lie down.
After using the bathroom in the recovery room and lying down, another kind nurse came to give me an IV drip.
Around that time, I could hear from behind the curtain that the person scheduled before me was being called into the operating room.
Once the IV needle was in and the nurse left, saying, "I'll come get you when it's your turn," I realized I was still wearing my underwear.
I hurriedly took them off, but the drawer (with a lock) where I had put my heat-tech and other things was hard to reach with an arm attached to an IV...
In a panic, I stuffed my underwear into the pocket of my coat hanging on the wall.

While I was doing that, I heard the sounds and voices of the first person finishing their egg retrieval and returning in no time.
"Ms. XX, it's all over."
"Can you wake up?"
"Please lift your waist. Please bend your knees."
It seemed like they were brought back from the operating room to the recovery room on a stretcher.

From the operating room side, I heard my name: "Next, Ms. YY, please."
The curtain swished open, and I was invited into the operating room with, "Ms. YY, let's go."

The operating room I entered...
It was incredibly cold...
Air conditioning...?!
It felt cleaner than a warm operating room, but...
I thought it would be just one doctor and some nurses or staff, but the clinic director and another doctor I've been seeing were also waiting for me.
Before I had time to think, they confirmed my name, I lay down on the table, and my legs were secured. I believe my arms were secured too.
A cold pad to measure my heart rate or something was placed on my chest.
An oxygen mask.
At my feet, the cleaning had already begun, and a huge amount of water (?) was being poured over my bottom...
I was still conscious.
At this moment, I was shaking uncontrollably.
I was aware of it, and later the nurse asked me, "You were shaking so much, were you okay?"
My secured legs and hands were hitting the restraints with the shaking.

However, the next moment, I lost consciousness.
My last memory was the oxygen mask smelling like a sweet scent, something like what they use in 4D movies.

When I woke up, I was on a bed in the recovery room.
Or rather, I woke up from the impact (?) of being placed on the bed.

Huh...?
The person before me was supposed to have been woken up inside the operating room and had the "Please bend your knees" exchange...
I might have slept too much!

I could hear the voices and sounds of the next person entering the operating room.
When I looked at the clock, it was 9:30 AM.

Arriving at the clinic, changing clothes, getting the IV, waiting for the person before me...
As the rumors (?) suggested, the surgery itself must have only taken about 10 minutes.

The egg retrieval for the person after me also seemed to end in a flash, and again I heard:
"It's all over. Can you understand me?"
"Please lift your waist. Please bend your knees."
The exchange was happening.

Then there was one more person, the last one for egg retrieval, and they also returned safely in a short time.
They were clearly having the
"It's all over."
"Can you bend your knees?" exchange.

I was the only one...
the woman who didn't wake up at all.

I wonder how many times I was called in the operating room.
I'm sure they were repeatedly calling my name, saying, "Ms. ☆☆, can you hear me?!"
And I'm sure everyone else resting in the recovery room must have thought, (Ms. ☆☆ keeps getting her name called and isn't waking up at all...).

Having earned the title of the operating room's sleeping queen, I spent the time afterward quietly.
Everyone else pressed the nurse call button to make requests like "I'm cold, could I have a blanket?" or "I'd like to take a painkiller," but I stuck to my sleepy character and quietly pretended to be asleep.
In reality, my neck hurt and I wanted a pillow... but actually, I couldn't find the nurse call button.

I thought to myself, even in this time where I can't do anything, I should think of a tanka poem, think of one. But all that came to mind wasthe Burger King my husband was eating right in front of me last night.

I couldn't even come up with a tanka, and despite being so bored, when I looked at the clock next, it was 10:30.
An hour had passed since I returned to my bed.

The nurse would come to check on me from time to time and change my IV drip, so I decided to go to the bathroom at that time.
They accompanied me because there was a risk of feeling dizzy.
And when I returned to my bed from the bathroom, they had actually set up a pillow for me! Bless them...

After that, I fell into a deep sleep again, and the next time I woke up was at 12:00.
The nurse came to get me for the post-operative examination.
Perhaps because I slept so well, my body had recovered quite a bit, so this time I got up quickly, redeeming myself from the dishonor of being the sleeping queen.

As a post-operative check, they confirmed things like whether there was any bleeding.
Then, the number of eggs retrieved was announced.
The result was six.

I was slightly shocked, thinking that about 15 follicles should have been growing based on the pre-op ultrasound... but I reminded myself that quality is more important than quantity and left the clinic.

With the underwear I wore in still inside my coat pocket...

The Sophie Super Sleepy Shorts (napkin-integrated) they had me wear after the surgery were so fluffy and had no tightness, making them incredibly comfortable to wear, so I'm feeling like I want to wear these all the time from now on.

This is my egg retrieval diary.
Thank you for reading this long post.