Your egg retrieval will take place 36 hours after your trigger injection. You will be instructed what time to arrive in the office the day of your retrieval. Usually you are expected to arrive 45 minutes prior to your procedure.
What do you bring the day of egg retrieval?
A photo ID and a responsible adult over the age of 18 to drive you home. Someone should stay with you when you get home. If you and your partner are having procedures the same day you will need a third party to drive you both home and stay with you!
What do you wear to the office?
You will want to wear comfortable clothing, no scents and no contacts .
Can you eat breakfast?
No you are to have NOTHING to eat or drink after midnight the night prior to your retrieval. (an exception to this is an over the counter product called Pepcid AC that anesthesia recommends for stomach acid post op) You will be given instructions on taking this prior to the procedure and also instructions on taking any other medications you may take for other medical reasons daily. You may be told to hold these medications until after the procedure.
When does your partner collect his sample?
He will collect here unless you have arranged to bring the specimen in will you. If you have arranged to produce outside of the office you will need to bring the specimen, in our approved collection cup, into the office within 30 minutes of production. Please keep the specimen at body temperature.
How long will you be here?
You can expect to be here approximately 1 ½ -2 ½ hours. The procedure itself takes approximately 20-30 minutes.
A typical retrieval day for our patients
You will arrive at the office at your scheduled time. You will meet with a nurse first to go over what will take place that day and review the consents and post op instructions. You will then be asked to change into a surgical gown and your personal belongings will be locked up in a locker. You will then be moved to the pre op/recovery room. There, you will meet your nurse anesthetist who will take a brief health history from you and have you sign consents. They will then start an IV. This IV is needed to administer medications during the retrieval.
When it is time to take you into the procedure room we will take your partner to collect his semen specimen (unless you are using frozen or donor specimens). You will then be escorted to the procedure room for your retrieval. The anesthetist will hook you up to the blood pressure and pulse oximeter machines and place a nasal cannula on for oxygen during the procedure. You will be monitored throughout the procedure. Before you get any medications the embryologist will ask you to state your full name. The embryologists are in a tiny window off to the side in the procedure room.
The retrieval is done by the physician using a transvaginal ultrasound similar to the ultrasound that is used for monitoring during your cycle. During the procedure the anesthetist will be giving you a combination of medications to keep you comfortable along with an antibiotic. The physician will aspirate the fluid from the follicles using the ultrasound guidance. The fluid they aspirate is passed through the window to the embryologist during the procedure. They will then start looking through the fluid for eggs. You will be given the number of eggs retrieved prior to discharge.
Post operatively you will be monitored and given something for cramping. (usually 2 acetaminophen and a heating pad). Prior to being discharged you will have eaten some crackers, drank some water and received post op instructions. These instructions are also on your portal. You will also be given information on when to call the emergency line.
This day is very exciting for you. We understand that some of you are very anxious and nervous and may have waited a while to get to this day. We as a team will keep you comfortable and informed. Happy Retrieval Day!
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