IVF 7

At what seemed like the crack of dawn on Monday morning after a broken sleep we battled our way through Bangkok traffic to the hospital (our home away from home these days). At 9am after being prepared I was taken to the operating theatre. Hands and faces fussed above me, skillfully positioning my body, robes, arms with bloodpressure band and finger with heart monitor. An IV was inserted into my hand.. nurses were rattling metal preparing the instruments (that looked scary enough) and the anaethesiologist leafed through a magazine behind my head as we awaited the arrival of my doctor. A squeeze on the arm and a 'sweet dreams' was the last thing I remember as the room began to swim before falling into a dark pit of oblivion. I woke up at 9:45 (there was a clock in front of me) with a deep thudding pain similar to a bad dose of menstrual cramps. Lifting my legs eased the pain slightly. I became aware of a nurse writing on my chart and two other women in the room. I drifted off to sleep knowing that I was to spend possibly two hours in recovery. So, with nothing else to do I pulled the blanket over my eyes (I hate those flourescent bright lights) and nodded off.. the tight squeeze of the blood pressure band awaking me every 20 minutes. Just over an hour later I was asked to sit up and move to the wheelchair.. the pain had subsided and I felt very coherent. I was wheeled to the IVF room where Amandio was waiting for me (he had already given his 'sample'... twice :-) The operation was actually pleasantly straight forward (expected some blood when going to the bathroom.. but wasn't any). Amandio took me home and put me to bed for some rest. I felt fine and actually spent the next few hours reading (Madame Bovary.. fantastic book!) until the munchies struck and off I went to the kitchen for some food. I am afraid I pigged out a bit (had been fasting for over 24 hours at this point) on bread and cheese. I don't know if this is what caused it but since then I have been suffering from severe bloating and tenderness in my whole stomach area. The next day I lay by the pool and was fairly active, talking to the building manager to hand in our notice, visited my neighbour friend and did some interneting. I got a little worried about the swelling when it didn't go down but a phone call to Amandio reminded me that I had had the same after my last operation (the anaesthetic wearing off). Today I decided to take it easy and haven't left the house, though I am sorely tempted to meet Amandio after work for dinner (it may be my last chance to go out in a while as I will be confined to my bed for a while after reinserting the embryo). I will probably not be able to update my blog for a while. The big day is on Thursday at 8:30 at we are both really looking forward to it!! We have no idea how many eggs have been fertilised, how the development of the embryos is progressing and will need to decide soon on how many good quality embryos we want to insert (twins?!) and freeze. Amandio will be present this time in the operating room (we thought that was important, afterall.. this is the conception of our baby :-) .. with a camera...

On a different note, things in Thailand seem to be getting progressively worse but funny how our own private concern takes precedence and overshadows the political turmoil that is ravaging the city. Fortunately, despite declaring the city in a state of emergency, nothing of this is reflected in our lives and things go on as normal. It is really only the area around the Government Building that is effected.
We also signed the contract of our new town house.. well, Amandio did.. last night. So, a move is imminent and on the horizon for November.