I can't say I was not warned about OHSS. The Dr. told us there was a risk of this if we were to immediately implant after the 5 days of fertilization. The way to avoid it was to freeze the eggs for a couple of months, let your body calm down from all the stimulating drugs, and then implant. Seriously, after going through everything we had so far, I'm curious to know if anyone has the self control to wait two months before implanting. I know I did not have the patience.
And I paid the price.
The Sunday after the implant I started feeling a lot of pain. Gradually, and then it just kept getting worse and worse.
I went into the doctors office and they told me that my ovaries were the size of tennis balls and they would probably keep getting bigger before they got smaller. (She was right, they got up to grape fruits) But also some good news, that this probably was happening because the IVF worked and I was pregnant.
I was put on a Gatorade diet. I had to drink around 64oz of Gatorade a day to keep my electrolytes up. I did some blood tests and went home.
I can't remember exactly but I think I was in that office at least every other day for a while. The nurses all knew me and they took good care of me. There is really not much they can do for OHSS, but I also had a lot of fluid built up in me because my kidneys were not fully functioning. The only relief they could provide was if there was big enough fluid pockets they could "tap" me. Basically they would stick a catheter up to where the pocket was and let it drain. I had two taps, and a total of about 3 liters of fluid taken out. The relief only lasted about a day, but it was worth it.
I also ended up taking a bunch of work off. I would go in about 2 or 3 days a week at most. It was incredibly painful to sit or do anything. None of my clothes fit because I had two grapefruits and fluid inside me, and had gained around 20 pounds in a matter of about a week.
The OHSS eventually went away. They tell you it lasts 10 to 15 days, mine lasted about a month. I did eventually loose the 20 pounds, along with another 10 pounds because I could barely eat anything.
But in the end I was pregnant with twins.
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