This is my IVF story Part I.

It was the morning of April 3, 2012, just one day after we transferred two, beautiful embryos back to me.

I woke up feeling great. That day would mark just another day where I followed every single order my doctor gave to me.

My IVF Story Part I

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“Step 7 (IVF – Pre and Postoperative Instructions)” Outlined

After the embryo transfer:

Rest at home the remainder of the day after your transfer as well as the day after.
You may get up to eat and shower, but rest the remainder of the day. Your position (sitting, laying) doesn’t matter.
Abstain from intercourse until instructed otherwise.
You may return to your usual non-strenuous activities. Avoid any activity that is strenuous, involves heavy lifting, has a risk of jarring motion, or risk of falling or being injured.

Side note for full reference: IVF = In Vitro Fertilization

The only thing I would do all day is jump on a 9am Twitter call with the agency I worked for back then.

The Pain Begins

About 8:45am, my stomach started feeling full and bloated. I am no stranger to bloat (obviously), but this was different – much different. I got up to go to the bathroom, thinking maybe it was just gas pains that I could find immediate relief from. No relief.

At 8:50am, the pains began to get more intense. I went to the bathroom again, but I knew I had a call soon, so around 8:52am I plopped myself on the floor of my office. By this point, I was holding tight to my right side. I began sweating, so I laid down, still clenching to my side.

At 9am, I knew I had to be brave and dial in for the call. I dialed in, softly spoke, “Hi, it’s Sarah Kay Hoffman,” and then placed the phone on mute while I waited for others to join.

The pain was ultra intense, and by now I was feeling extremely nauseous.

As I waited, I grabbed my garbage can. I was sweating in agony and was having a hard time breathing. I started throwing up around 9:01am. By then I had no choice, but to immediately hang up the phone. No Twitter call would be happening for me.

I fumbled and stumbled to my bed. Ryan was gone working about 1.5 hours from where we live. At the time, I only knew of one person I could call. I could barely talk the pain was so intense. Ryan and my friend Shondra (who had been a major hand holder to me for a couple months) told me to call 911. There was no way I was calling 911.

I bit the bullet, and texted that one person I knew – Jackie, our dog “nanny.” I knew I was playing with fire if she didn’t respond.

Emergency Room

“Can you bring me to the emergency room?” That was all I had the energy to say.

A few moments later, by the grace of God, she responded, “I’ll be there in 5 minutes.”

I brought my “puke bag,” and Jackie got me safe and sound to the emergency room.

The emergency room at Sutter Hospital in Tracy, CA would turn out to be a nightmare, literally…..and to this day, I have no problem telling anyone and everyone about the horror that was Sutter hospital.

I was alone, all alone, when I was posted up in my room. With just a hospital gown and pain so awful, I held back tears because feeling any emotion was physically so painful on my insides. As I waited for Ryan to come, I prayed to God that everything would be okay and that the hospital would take care of me.

Silently, I also prayed, “Please let the embryos be okay.”

My IVF Story Part II tomorrow.

This is all a part of a series for National Infertility Awareness Week.

Xox,
SKH