The Donation

I got a call one day from the donor coordination at Shady Grove to let me know that I had been finally matched with not one - but two couples! I think I had been on the donor database for about 4 months at that time. I was emailed my medication protocol and very detailed instructions on my dosages. I got a package in the mail with all of my medications, syringes, alcohol swabs, prenatal vitamins, and a sharps box to safely dispose of my needles. Overnight my refrigerator looked more like a  pharmacy... I started out taking my birth control normally, adding a prenatal vitamin once daily, and 7 days of antibiotics. During this time I was being cycled with the other two recipient mothers. This was definitely the easy part... After 18 days I went to SG for blood work and an ultrasound to make sure all was going to plan, which it did. For 7 days I took two shots a day in my stomach. It was definitely difficult to mix the medications at first, and to get the courage to stick myself. I took 225 units of Gonal F, and 75 units of Menopur. I can't remember which - I think it was the Menopur - burned like hell when injecting. Otherwise it was no big deal. As the days passed I started to feel physically a little different. I experienced no emotional/mood changes, but I started to get bloated.... VERY bloated.

I had heard about other girls getting an "egg donor bump" as the egg follicles grow... I definitely looked a little pregnant until the donation. It felt like someone had stuck two heavy oranges in my ovaries. As the days passed and I took more shots, I definitely had some mild bruising as you can see. Since fitting into my jeans was out of the question, I spent about a week living in sweat pants. You think sitting in a 2 hour lecture hall is uncomfortable? Try adding a few extra pounds of water to your belly. Sitting in class was definitely miserable for a few days. After day 7 I added a third daily shot of Cetrotide in the morning. I continued taking 3 shots a day, feeling very very huge, for about 4 more days. Finally, the day before the retrieval I took my trigger shot of Lupron (intramuscular... in the bum. Thanks to the friend who helped me with this one). Although the Lupron shot was HUGE, it was pretty painless. The next day I had a friend drive me to the clinic in Rockville where SG does all of their retrievals, and got ready for surgery. The whole procedure took about 15 minutes under anesthesia, and I don't remember a thing. I woke up feeling a little uncomfortable, mostly crampy, but was able to take pain meds. I slept pretty much the whole day, taking my Vicodin as needed. Over the next few days my bump deflated, and I was back to my old self!