Operation Jellybean

Back in NYC, when Justin and I were first dating, our friends tried to come up with a nickname for us, since we were practically inseparable. First, we were The Kennedys, because apparently being in marketing and banking made us the power couple of the group (ok?)... but it was decided that was too tragic. A few suggestions were batted about that evening at Moe's (our beloved neighborhood bar, where we first met and spent many a night with our fascinating circle of friends), but one stuck. Just like Bennifer and Brangelina, our names would be smooshed together to create... Jelly. It was instantly ridiculous and fantastic. We would enter a room or one particular backyard BBQ to the resounding shouts of "Jelly!" Our friends are insane.

So, Operation Jellybean is well underway! After having 6 or 7 mature-looking follies on Sunday, plus 9 others that were in a much smaller "cohort", it was decided that we would trigger that night for retrieval on Tuesday! Given those numbers, I can only expect maybe 6 to be mature and go on to fertilize, and I'm totally comfortable with that result. Working on Monday was complete misery. Heck, WALKING was like a mild form of torture because my ovaries felt like two tennis balls in my gut. I was soooo looking forward to getting these eggs OUT. Of course, I couldn't sleep on Sunday or Monday because of the nerves and anticipation, but on Tuesday morning, I was ready to roll.

When we got to UCSF, we were greeted in the waiting room by Angela, the nurse who was so fond of us for being silly during her IVF injection training class while the rest of the class sat there stone-faced. It's amazing how comforting a familiar face can be! She started my IV (joy) and got me in a gown and before I knew it, I was being whisked away to the procedure room. A minute later, that warm and fuzzy drug haze descended upon me, and the last thing I remember saying was, "oh man, that feels greeeeaaaaat!" Next thing I know, I'm lying in a recovery bed and Angela is bringing Justin to see me. It was done! First words out of my mouth were, "how many did we get?" She told me to look at my hand, and on it was written the number 16 in purple sharpie (which still won't come off, by the way)! NO WAY! THAT'S FREAKIN' AWESOME! Mind you, we have to wait until the next day to find out how many are mature (remember, I'm expecting maybe 6), and then how many actually fertilize, but I was pleased. Around 3:30 the next day, as I convalesced on the couch, I got the call telling me that 14 of the 16 were mature and ALL 14 fertilized! Utter disbelief. Can we really be this lucky? Yes. Yes, we can.

And as I wait to have 2 of the best-looking embryos transferred back in tomorrow morning, a few words for our jellybeans a.k.a. potential children...

Dear embies,

I hope you're doing well in your petri dishes! Daddy and I love you already, if you can imagine that, and we really want to meet one or two of you in about nine months, and then another one of you in a couple of years. The rest of you will be donated to nice families who can't make embies of their own, so I want you all to be strong and multiply! I'll get to see two of you tomorrow and I am so excited! I hope you're excited too.

With much love,

Your Mommie-to-Be
xoxoxox