Managing expectations

Remember how last time I was expecting (hoping for) four eggs and ended up with six?

Well, this time Nurse Perfect seemed pretty confident that we wouldn't get more than 2, and maybe not even that many.

So thank you so much for all your prayers and encouraging thoughts directed towards my right ovary, because we actually got (drum roll please)..... FOUR!!

And I didn't have to be intubated this time, so they didn't need to give me the extra level of anaesthetic - in fact, if they hadn't insisted on keeping me until I had a normal temperature reading (the room was really hot again and my temperature when I asked if I could go home was over 38C/100.4F), I could have been home at a fairly decent time.

I did tell them that we'd had the same problem before I went down to theatre last time, but rules is rules, so the window was opened as wide as they could manage it, the heating was turned off, my blanket was confiscated, I was told to drink lots of cold water (the full cup of water I managed to spill all over my bed probably helped a bit too) and keep my draughty hospital gown on, and the fan was turned on full blast. After an hour and a half of that, I felt that hypothermia was about to set in, and my temperature was declared normal.

In keeping with my determinedly relaxed approach to this second cycle, and thanks to the delay in me being released from the hospital, our friend drove us straight from the hospital to the... errrrm... pub! We do a pub quiz once a fortnight, and tonight was the special Christmas Quiz, so we couldn't let our team down. And sure enough, we won - this week's winnings were only £32, but still a healthy contribution to our team Christmas dinner on Saturday week.

I do have a lot more cramping than last time - partly, I think, because they didn't give me a heat pad this time in recovery, and I really found the heat helped to keep everything relaxed. And DH is off my Christmas card list, as when I asked him to carry my bag out to the car from my hospital room (you know, having just been under a general anaesthetic and had nasty things poked in my bits) he said I was "milking it".

But I'm really pleased with how it went today - and now I'm praying for a good fertilisation report tomorrow lunchtime.