Just two more days...

I was prodded for the last time yesteday. Well, the truly last one will be the surgey itself but I will be under, so it doesn't really count. I have twelve eggs on the right, eleven on the left. Not all of them were fully mature yet as each has to be bigger than 1.4cm to be considered so. I did some quick math in my head - if I have twelve on one side and if the average diameter is 1.2cm for each egg, it is almost like having a tennis ball inside me! That kind of explains why I feel pregnant.

The only complaint I have so far is the inability to sleep on my front. My breasts are sore, my ovaries are sore, so the only option is to sleep facing up. Not even on the sides :\

Anyway, when Dr C was measuring the follicles and I was staring at the black/white screen with wide-eyed fascination, I completely forgot to ask her for a picture of my full-blown follicles. dammit. I suppose I will have to donate my eggs again to get that snapshot! I have included a picture of some random woman's follicles for your viewing pleasure though. Don't they look like an x-ray slide of a cluster of bubbles? Just barmy.

*

I had two injections earlier today. First one was planned for 6:30pm - Decapeptyl 1ml - which I suspect is to prevent premature ovulation and Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS). I got home only at 6:40pm and by the time I poked myself, it was 6:50pm. Oops. Dr C specifically said I have a window of 15 minutes for the injection. Funnily enough, she called me promptly at 8pm to say that the surgery will be postponed by half an hour so the delay was perfectly ok! Phew.

The second jab was planned for 9pm (was originally slated for 8:30pm). This is the really important one: Ovidrel 4500IU. It helps follicles mature and triggers the release of mature eggs from the ovaries. It has to be timed 36 hours exactly before the egg pick-up but my beagle was bothering me (howling non-stop) and by the time I poked myself, it was 3 minutes past 9pm. I hope Dr C can forgive this slight transgression!

So now my follicles are releasing the eggs, giving them the first "freedom" at making it in life. Literally. Mind-blowing awesomeness!!

Poked #7

My ovaries are starting to feel very bloated. It's an odd sensation, as if my period is coming but the fullness is felt at the sides instead of the middle. I have been feeling nauseous all day too which made my little venture to Causeway Bay an uncomfortable affair.

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I came across this blog on egg donation (based in the U.S.) and interestingly enough, the blogger wrote "...in England, it is legal to donate eggs, but illegal to pay anyone for doing so. And, of course, no one ever donates eggs."

It's funny that she thinks this way because I am donating my eggs for free. Totally free, no strings attached. Really. In any case, it is illegal to pay anyone for their eggs in Hong Kong. I find it quite odd that a fellow egg donor like her wouldn't think that someone would be altruistic enough to donate eggs for free.

I suppose making egg donation a commercial venture is probably the best way to address the severe shortage of eggs in Hong Kong but on the flip side, I can also see many issues that can result in an exploitation of young, ignorant uninformed girls who are desperate for cash. In my (very humble) opinion, a more focused and nationalised approach will be best - the government should create more public awareness which will enable women to voluntarily go forward and donate eggs.

For me, I think the best reward is in truly helping another human being. That is, very simply, priceless.

Poked #6

I'm now poking myself with three different drugs in one single jab: Menopur + Gonal F + Cetrotide. Here's a little introduction to what the three different drugs do:

Menopur: stimulates the follicles and also helps the eggs mature and release.

Gonal-F: helps to develop more eggs in the ovaries; essentially it is a hormone identical to follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) produced by the pituitary gland

Cetrotide: helps control the body's hormonal responses which affect the development of eggs. It assists the delay of a hormonal event known as the "LH surge". If LH surge occurs too early in a cycle, the eggs will be released before they're expected and that's no good as we want the eggs to be released on the day of the surgery.


It all sound a little oxymoron-ish to me but at this point, I just want to stay as healthy as I can and get to the big day without any drama!

Side-effects of gonadotrophin injections

It will be my fourth jab later this evening but thankfully I have not experienced any serious side effects (so far!) as there is a teeny weeny chance that I may get Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome, which is defined as a serious complication marked by chest and abdominal fluid buildup and cystic enlargement of the ovaries that can cause permanent injury and even death. Sounds super scary, innit.
The only drama I'm getting from my body is a slight "fullness" around the abdomen. I like to think that my follicles are like little ant workers working really hard, producing more and more eggs by the hour.

Oh, and an update on the thread I posted on the maternity website: I have since received four more enquiries! These are real women who desperately want donated eggs; yet I cannot help them even if I wanted to because of some law in Hong Kong that prohibits more than three 'live births' from the same donor. I truly feel so sorry for them because their only other option is to wait for their turn on the donor list. One of them is desperate enough to ask if I would like the procedure done in Singapore. I will have to think hard about this one.

I wonder, if I encourage my friends to donate their eggs will they think me mad? It's certainly not the same as donating blood! Then again, it's just giving up a part of yourself, your cells, your genes; only this procedure is more tedious and potentially more dangerous.

We sure need a egg donation centre of sorts in Asia.

Prodded - Part II

So my period finally arrived on 14 March, Saturday. I called the clinic and made an appointment on Monday to see Dr C again. And again, she prodded me. I think I'm somewhat getting used to being a cow.

This is the day I start my daily gonadotrophin injections and it will go on for roughly 10 days. Essentially, gonadotrophin kick-starts my ovaries to make many, many eggs so when it is time for the surgery, they can harvest a maximum number of eggs (usually 20 or more). That also means I will be super fertile. It sounds so strange, doesn't it? Ho hum.

A very nice nurse taught me how to poke myself. I have to say, I'm not terrified of needles but of course I'm not a fan either (who is?). There's just something so sinister about a needle... but like the nurse said, if a grandma with diabetes can poke herself everyday, I surely can too.

Poke poke poke.

Waiting

Period still not here. Never have I been so keen to have it.

Prodded

I was literally poked, prodded and jabbed at. I had a full physical exam, blood test and transvaginal ultrasound. The latter was uncomfortable and painful, much worse than a PAP smear, but it was really cool to see my uterus on the small black and white fuzzy screen. Dr C said I have a heart-shaped uterus (???) and she pointed out my bladder, my ovaries, my bowel and other... things. I suppose this is the closest I will ever get to experiencing a baby ultrasound and to be really honest, it was an amazing feeling. I wondered how much more amazing it must be to see an offspring, heart beating, curled up in the womb... *pushes all maternal thoughts aside*

Now all I have to do is to wait for my period. Last period was on 11 February but my cycle is always in a mess - it can be one day late or it can be 2 weeks late :|

Crossing fingers, all the same.

I was counselled

Talk about a complete contrast to Dr C. The doctor who "counselled" me sure needs some counselling himself. He was so stoic it was actually quite scary. I mean, this is a doctor who will look and examine your most private parts! At the very least, I will want a doctor who is more personable.

Ah well. Another check on the list, another step closer to donating my eggs.

First visit to the doctor

Dr C is such a lovely lady. She has excellent bedside manners, is gentle, approachable and when she looks at you, you can almost feel all the ruffles and anxieties all smoothed and hushed.

I presented all my questions to her, which were mainly on the legality of egg donation in Hong Kong (information on this is very scarce on the internet). I got confirmation from her that the woman who gives birth to the child will be the legal parent and the egg donor will have no parental rights whatsoever. It was such a relief for me to have that in black and white, and to have it in bold on the documents.

M mentioned in our correspondence that if I wanted to donate eggs, Dr C said I cannot be a virgin. I raised this with the doc because it just didn't make any sense to me. The first thing that came to me was "Why not?!". A quick search on Google seems to point to the fact that there are religious/ethical issues and implications to be reckoned with if a virgin donates her eggs. WTF? As if donating eggs or sperm isn't already subverting all the religious norms. Well, I am a staunch atheist and I don't really care about that; much to my delight, Dr C said it's not because of the religious or ethical issues but because it will be too painful for a virgin to undergo a transvaginal ultrasound. Not once, but several times along the procedure. Ahhhh, so das ne!

There will be a compulsory counselling session with another doctor and after that I will have to go for my first transvaginal ultrasound, full physical exam, blood tests and the whole shebang.

Here we go!

I've got a reply! In case you're wondering, here's the post I put up on the forum:

Hi,

I am a healthy, 27 year old Asian female, non-smoker, university graduate, etc.. and I would very much like to donate my eggs. Does anyone know which clinics or hospitals I can go to?

Are fertility clinics in Hong Kong allowed to advertise for egg donors?

Thanks.
F.

==

M replied to my post, asking if I would like to donate my eggs to her because she is born without ovaries. I was immediately moved for some strange, inexplicable reason. Here I have, a stranger, a complete stranger who knows nothing about me (aside from my ethnicity and age), asking me for my eggs. How cool is that. I really liked the idea of helping another human being - and not just the superficial, give-up-a-seat-on-the-subway kind of way. This is truly helping someone else, giving a part of myself unconditionally to her.

I'm now communicating with her - she has her doubts about why I would go all the way out to help a stranger, understandably, and I on the other hand, am quite afraid of the child growing up and finding out about me and will look for me and want to start a relationship with me. Eeps. Too much TV, perhaps?

Anyway, I'm due to meet her doctor for a consultation on 18 February. Here we go!