Egg donor blog

I have been matched successfully through BHED and am starting to get nervous! I am concerned about future fertility, which I’ve been reassured isn’t an issue. I am also worried about scheduling- do the doctors and nurses work with you as far as appointments go? I can’t miss work or school, but have time off every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Do they assign times and dates or do they work with you to find a time that works for everyone? My last question is, I’m about to hire a personal trainer and fix up my diet. I am doing this because when school starts in a couple weeks, I need an outlet and I need to pay special attention to my fitness. Will I be able to work out how I want to? I noticed you said you couldn’t run, does that go for all types of workouts?

The thing about all of this is that your schedule is definitely taken into consideration, but once you start meds, it’s all about how your body reacts, and it will trump your schedule, unfortunately.  If you are locked into work on Thursdays and cannot get away, it will definitely be a problem should your estrogen levels be high and the doctor requires you come in to be checked out.  You will have to go in and be checked out. At the end of every one of my cycles, the doctor would be concerned about my levels, and I was sitting in the waiting room for bloodwork and an ultrasound every morning for 7 days.  Here’s the thing:  You’re under a contract.  And like anything else, a contract means they own you, and you kinda can’t call the shots until it’s all over.  So, unless your schedule is very flexible, then it could be a problem, yeah.  I’m just being honest.  But I’ll also honestly tell you that all you have to do it go have a sit down with your HR department and let them know that you are undergoing a procedure and you will need some leway with your schedule.  Most companies have a policy for medical leave, and as long as you have a note from your doctor, you will be allowed to do what you need–that’s just a suggestion.  I donated 6 times, and I did the same thing every time.  I gave them enough information for them to get it that I was doing what I was saying I was doing, but not enough info that they understood that it was not up for discussion.  Make sense?

As for the working out, here’s the best way I can describe that:  You know how you listen to your iPod, or you’re wearing your ear buds to use your cell phone, and you take them out of your ears and put them down and when you pick them up,  the cords are in a knot or tangled up?  And it’s like, how did that happen?!, all I did was place them on the counter!  Well, that’s kinda like your fallopian tubes.  They are really thin, long strings, and they can get tangled.  And when there is 3 pounds of fluid-filled-sac dangling from them, it can happen far easier.  You will feel your ovaries. It is the weirdest thing–super cool, but totally weird.  They will be heavy and they pull down.  You won’t want to run.  You won’t want to walk fast, for that matter.  I do Pilates, and ab work is very hard towards the end of the cycles because your ovaries take up so much room in your abdomen. You’ll know what you can and cannot do based on how you feel.  But don’t push it.  No running, stick to fast walking.  No jumping jacks, stick to walking up stairs.  Take it easy.  That’s all I can advise.  I’m very much in shape and very athletic, but about 6 days into injections, I am wiped out and the most I can muster is a power walk just to wake me up and burn off some steam at the end of the work day.  Between the way you feel physically, and the fatigue of the hormones (it’s like being on intense period–you just feel exhausted at the end of every day) you will be sleeping and taking naps instead of worrying about your fitness, I promise.  BUT, when it’s all over and you’ve recovered from the retrieval, you will be back to running and working out in about 10 days.

That’s another thing:  If work is an issue, you may have trouble when it comes time for the retrieval.  You will need a few days off from work, if not a whole week.  My cycles were a BREEZE…I ran until about the 6th day of a 12 day cycle, I was NEVER cranky or in pain, or disabled or slowed down in any way.  But after the retrieval, I was out for a week.  I tried taking two days off, but then, I ended up calling in and taking the rest of the week off because it was a solid 5-days of rest that I needed before I felt like I could be back at my job 100%.

I am so happy for you that you’ve been matched…welcome to the BHED family.