Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Retrieval-Eve

Sidenote: Some of my longer-time readers might remember that I have the same birthday as Harry Potter...July 31st.  Well I don't know how I missed it the past 6 years I've been teaching it, but I have the same birthday as Juliet too!  The nurse says "Come Lammas Eve at night shall she be fourteen."  Lammas Day is August 1st.  (Naming this post "Retrieval-Eve spurred that digression in case you were wondering...)



But that is not the point of this post.  I want to talk about preparing for retrieval.

One of my IVF graduate friends had a doctor who called for very low carbs and high protein during the entire stim period - with special emphasis after retrieval.  Apparently this has been shown to lower the incidence of OHSS (which she still had a severe case of).

I asked my office about this and they said that it can be good, but didn't not stress it in any way.  They just said to avoid caffeine and alcohol (or maybe they just said alcohol!).

I chose to eat healthy, but somewhat normally during the stims.

But I am now hearing that I need to prepare for extreme constipation after anesthesia.  Awesome.  My first hint of this came from a blog mentioning another blogger's "poop" post and saying that prune juice didn't cut it.  Then my acupuncturist asked her secretary to go over the "retrieval diet" with me.

To prevent a painful situation, I am eating as easy-to-digest foods as possible.  I forgot about it until after I had bought a lamb gyro last night for dinner.  And I kind of forgot when my student offered me a cupcake this morning.  But now I'm on track.  I even gave away my organic (high fiber) apple.

Mid-morning snack: plain bagel with low-fat cream cheese (I haven't had a plain bagel on purpose in years!)
Lunch: Chicken Noodle Soup
Beverage: Grape G2 (and water)
Dinner: Regular pasta with olive oil (I'll have to see if I have any non-whole wheat pasta!)

I'm probably going to just pretend chocolate is easy to digest for dessert.

Then, no eating after midnight...retrieval is at 10 am.  Arrive at 9.

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By the way, I REALLY appreciate all the well-wishes!  It's really nice to have a sort of "team" cheering me on.  Yesterday I had 430 some page views.  Incredible!  Thanks for the support.

-Sarah 
(That's my name!  I think I'm going to start using it now...  But you can still call me Mrs. Green Grass too.)


26 comments:

  1. Best of luck to you!! I have everything crossed for excellent numbers for you tomorrow! I have also been hearing about this post retrieval constipation. When and if we get there, I will pick your brain on what worked and didn't work! Can't wait to get your update tomorrow! *hugs*

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  2. Thank you! I totally forgot my post retrieval colace until I read this!

    Now...on to more important things. I am sending you lots of good retrieval vibes. I just know you'll do great tomorrow. You've made it to the more exciting part of this process. Good luck!!!

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  3. Good luck for the retrieval tomorrow, here's hoping for some great numbers and quality eggs!
    Happy ICLW :)

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  4. Hi Sarah ;-)
    I just wanted to let you know that I'll be thinking of you!!! FX.

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  5. Yea retrieval eve! :) I'll be thinking of you tomorrow. And for the next two weeks. I'm sure it'll be a long TWW. GOOD LUCK!!

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  6. oo...exciting! Sending postive thoughts your way and good luck!

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  7. Good luck!!!! I can't wait to hear tomorrow -- sending all sorts of positive vibes your way :) Also, a Shakespeare quote on medicine that I felt very appropriate, especially given the title of the play...

    I have seen a medicine
    That's able to breathe life into a stone,
    Quicken a rock, and make you dance canary
    With spritely fire and motion.
    "All's Well That Ends Well"

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  8. Good Luck on your retrieval!

    I had no idea about following a special diet during stims.

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  9. Ahhh this is so exciting!! I'm definitely thinking about you and cheering you on!

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  11. I have been following your odyssey because my 31-year-old daughter is also battling infertility. I retired last year after 34 years of teaching English - mostly freshmen - and I still have a few R&J resources that I would be happy to share with you.

    Feel free to email me at

    alicefournier@ameritech.net

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  12. Good luck good luck good luck from your dear friend who is going to comment as "Anonymous" from now on until you tell me otherwise :) Thinking of you!

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    1. You can use your real name - first name at least! It will kill me not to know who my "dear friend" is! : )

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  13. Good luck SARAH. Squee! Is the constipation thing a result of the procedure, or the anaesthetic? Maybe I'll be glad to just have twilight sedation, as much as it's completely freaking me out. ;)

    By the way, I figured out that my Friday morning = your Thursday mid-afternoon, so looks like my body really wanted to go through an egg pickup the same day as you & Hapa!

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    1. It's from the anesthesia and progesterone. So you'll be better off but not totally safe.

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  14. Your diet sounds good. Hopefully you won't have to contend with any constipation annoyance.

    Good luck with your retrieval! You'll be in my thoughts!

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  15. Come on girls, let's DO this thing!

    And I had pasta for dinner - thanks for that little wisdom nugget.

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  16. Oh, I definitely remember the post-retrieval constipation from last time. I don't know if it will help, but I've been trying to stay well hydrated the past few days in anticipation. Haven't changed my diet though. I had a good friend recommend milk of magnesia and gatorade post-retrieval, and by was she right! I've also read that eating lots of protein after retrieval is good for helping prevent OHSS. Good luck tomorrow!

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  17. Wishing you all the best tomorrow! Keeping you in my thoughts!

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  18. After my retrieval anything with electrolytes helped A LOT!

    Good luck - you are going to do awesome! :)

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  19. Best of luck for the retrieval!! It's all happening in your world right now, so I;m not surprised you've had so much attention in the bloggosphere too! I tagged you for the lovely blog award! Here are the rules: 1. share who gave you this award to you with a link back to their blog. 2. write down 7 random facts about yourself. 3. give this award to 15 other bloggers.

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  20. Best of luck! And I have given you an award. Check it out on my blog. xxx

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  21. I just started following your blog a few days back...Good luck Sarah! Sending you lots of positive thoughts your way!!

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  22. I hope everything went well, and you are recovering nicely as I write this. Thinking of you...

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