Like many of us women, when I was younger, I assumed I’d have kids by 35, yet here I am freezing my eggs in Barcelona. And I could not be more excited. Because as you probably know, I also wasn’t expecting to still be successfully traveling the world at 35 either.
And it’s not just the fact that I go to extreme, slightly dangerous destinations, and do things like gorilla trekking in D.R. Congo, expeditions to Antarctica, and visiting ex cannibal tribes in Papua New Guinea; but I am thoroughly enjoying the freedom and opportunities of being able to do those things. I want to keep showing people it’s possible to work from anywhere, to go to these allegedly dangerous destinations, and to live your life to the fullest.
I also want to keep waking up whenever I feel like it, only having to worry about feeding myself and my dog, and finally getting to spend my hard earned money on myself before devoting my life to a child.
Anyway, I’ll stop there because I have an entire blog post with my reasons for freezing my eggs, so I’ll just finish this intro by explaining what this post will entail. This is not like my regular guides, it will be more story-telling and journal format. Who knows, maybe I’ll end up turning it into a book so I can reach more women who don’t know about this amazing opportunity (lmk your thoughts on that).
Speaking of your thoughts; this is a subject and process that is very personal, so I’d love your support and love by just a simple comment here or sharing this with a friend or on social media. I wish I would have seen someone do this sooner because I definitely would have done it years ago and saved a lot of time worrying and feeling pressured!
Before I start, if you haven’t read my blog post about how the actual egg freezing in Barcelona process works, you should read that here so the days of the process make sense!
Yesterday was my first meeting with Fertilab, the fertility clinic I’ll be using for freezing my eggs in Barcelona. I’ve been in contact with them via email since February and have done the video consultation with the doctor, so yesterday was just to go meet them and have the meds explained to me. This meeting isn’t necessary in person, you can do it by video call, but since I’m in Barcelona, and documenting the process, I just went in.
Unrelated to egg freezing, it was a bit of a funny morning, and since this is a journal, I’ll go ahead and tell you about it. I had this grand idea that since I love riding motorbikes, I’d rent one of the electric ones they have here via app called Yego. I’m used to riding mine in Tulum, mostly on dirt roads, and so riding in a city didn’t really cross my mind.
Anyway, I got the app working, but of course, couldn’t get the bike off the kickstand (it’s the kind where you have to roll it on and off a stand), and by the time I did, the hair and makeup I did for my videos had all melted off. But I felt successful to finally get going. The next feat was to pick up my best friend Jenny who lives in Barcelona, which would be another hurtle since in the past, any time I’ve tried to put someone on the back, we just fall over. Long story short, I was able to do it (I forgot I’ve only tried this with men and Jenny is very small), so off we went!
By the way; one of the many reasons I chose Barcelona to freeze my eggs, is because I have quite a few friends here. Two girls have frozen their eggs here and gave me a lot of advice and support. And of course Jenny is like an emotional support human, and offered to be with me any part of the way, even if it makes us look like a gay couple trying to have a baby (this is a joke that you’ll hear in a sec).
The first stop was a local pharmacy close to the fertility clinic where the doctors had already called in my prescription for me to pick up. They had also sent it to me by email, and I was going to try to compare pricing in Mexico, France, and Italy, but I honestly was a bit embarrassed to do it, especially alone. While I’m very proud of doing this process, I’m still human and don’t feel like being judged, even though that’s likely all in my head.
We had to ring the bell for them to unlock the door, which means we likely were interrupting the pharmacists siesta time. This prove true when she came out grumpy AF half yelling at us in Spanish about what we needed. I gave her my name and she went to the back, reappearing with four boxes of meds. My first thought was that I was going to have to do four daily injections, which I was confused about, because I thought it was just one injection for ten days (both of which are wrong).
She grumpily scanned the boxes, and then I paid using the wallet on my phone (no one uses actual cards here) and she handed me my receipt, to which Jenny let out a huge gasp.
She said “Did you see how much that costs?!”, and I laughed and was like “Ya girl, it’s like $1k!” to which she said, “I thought it was going to be like $97, not $970!”. All of this made the pharmacist laugh, and then I told her “Estoy pagando mas tiempo” which means, “I’m paying for more time.” She laughed again and told me that’s the truth, and the whole exchange got me some empathy. Instead of shooing us out, she carefully put an ice block in the bag with the meds that need to be kept cold, then handed me everything and said good luck and to have a nice trip.
With two bags full of meds in hands, we walked a few blocks away to Fertilab, where my face did a little cringe at the sight of all the enlarged photos of pregnant women plastered on all the windows. I took it as yet another sign I am making a very good decision to wait on babies.
Inside the office was clean and chic, and I quickly learned that they have a mostly female staff which I personally feel more comfortable with. Oh, and as we were walking up, Jenny snickers and says, “Do you think they’re going to think we’re lesbians coming to have a baby?” To which I told her ‘probably’, since it’s actually something they market catering to on their website, which I think is pretty cool and inclusive.
We met first with the doctor that I did the video call with, who basically just asked if I had any questions. However every question I had, he just told me an assistant or nurse would answer it. I wasn’t sad at all to hear that he was going to be on vacation during my procedure, and I’d be having the female doctor instead. By the way, you can request a female doctor! I should have thought of that since I only go to female gynecologists, so I’m very glad it worked out like this!
He did explain the overview of the medication process, which resulted in me being like, “Sorry, WHAT?” Like I said before, I thought the process was just 10 days of injections, and then extractions.
I was also very confused and had mixed messages about when this starts as well. At one point I was told you can start injections at any time, and that it doesn’t matter when your cycle and period is. Then I was told it needs to start the second day of your period.
Now the doctor was telling me that not only does it need to start on the second day of my period, but the first injection goes in on that day, and then I have to wait 7 days for the next ones. The next injections don’t have a set period of time because they depend on how your follicles (egg sacs) respond to that first injection. So on day 7, you go back to the clinic and get another round of bloodwork and a transvaginal ultrasound (included in the overall price) to see how big they are and how many have come out. The goal of the meds is to get more follicles to come out than normal, so they can take as many eggs out as possible. If there aren’t a lot of follicles, the doctor will increase the dosage of the next medication injection, which means it will take more days. If there are a lot, you will do it for less days. They said it could be between 3-7 days of more injections before they do the retrieval.
So my mind immediately assumed I’d need the max amount of injections and days, and didn’t think of the suffering, just the one way, non-refundable flight I have in a few weeks to Uganda to start my thirty person group trip to see the gorillas.
He looked at the calendar and said calmly that I should be fine…as long as my period is on time…
I tried not to stress, since you know, stress can delay your period, and tried to internally thank my body for being punctual, and kindly ask it to do the same this month. Assuming the max injection days, I only would have two days max of my period being late to make this egg freezing process happen this month. Oh and by the way, it HAS to happen this month, because I won’t have enough visa days left to cover the amount of time it takes when I return from Africa, and then I won’t be able to come back to EU for 6 months. No pressure.
I tried not to think about that tid bit of information as we were taken to a nurse’s office for her to explain all of the boxes of meds. To be honest, I could have attempted this last month/period and had plenty of time, but at the time, taking my first “successful girl European summer” and hopping all over Amalfi Coast, Sicily, and Sardinia for a month just sounded like a way more appealing idea than freezing my eggs. That mentality is yet another reminder of why I HAVE to get this done.
The nurse pulled out all of the boxes and started with the one that needed to be kept on the ice pack. Again, I thought I only needed one medication and one injection for ten days. And in front of me were four different meds.
I’ll be writing this in bullet form or something easier to understand/reference on my main How to Freeze Your Eggs in Barcelona as a Foreigner post, so if it gets confusing just ignore the names.
So the first injection is a medication called Elonva. This gets injected into your abdomen, and she showed me how to measure three fingers away from your belly button, then squeeze the skin together, and inject in the middle of it. She also said if I don’t want to do it, I can come to the clinic and they will do it, which I actually might do to avoid feeling like I’m purposely torturing myself.
This first medication is just one injection that goes in on the second day of your period, when your follicles start to come out for that cycle. The second day of period is also when you have to get the preliminary ultrasound, which is gross, but is how they see the follicles. Anyway, this medication takes 7 days to work, but again, it’s only ONE injection.
As the doctor said, on day 7, I will come in for bloodwork and an ultrasound, and the doctor will then tell me the verdict of how many days I need to do the next medication called **. There is then the third medication which is slightly confusing, because she said the doctor would tell me if I need to use that one as well. From what I gathered, if the follicles/eggs aren’t large enough, you have to inject this second medication, which means there’s a chance of two injections per day, for 3-7 days. Can’t wait.
The final medication is what prevents ovulation…I think. To be honest, my ADHD started to kick in after she said they were going to just tell me what to do next at the next appointment. Luckily Jenny does not have ADHD and is highly organized, and made me write on the medication boxes when each of them needs be taken, and if they need to be cold or not. Yay for good friends.
Jenny also went ahead and asked if drinking is allowed during the process, since we have heard mixed answers, and she also wants me to be able to go out while I’m in town (haha). The nurse said it isn’t really recommended, not because it has an effect on the eggs, but because the meds will likely make you feel sick. I told Jenny to limit me to max 2 drinks if we go out and she of course said, “Ok, how big can the glass be?”
The last topic was very interesting, and something I was already thinking of in regards to avoiding it; NO SEX. I had told Jenny earlier that I’m not allowed meeting any of the very cute guys in Barcelona this month because if they even come close to me I’ll get pregnant. The nurse confirmed this, but worse; she basically said it would be possible to have multiple pregnancies. Can you imagine?! The meds make twenty usable eggs pop up then thousands of sperm attack them and you end up with a litter of babies?! #nothanks. Abstinence for me this month.
By the way, I’m not sure if I mentioned it anywhere, pretty sure I didn’t, but contrary to what most people think, just because I am often traveling solo, does not mean that I’m completely single. And also, I am not freezing my eggs because I “can’t find a guy who wants to have a baby”, it is actually the exact opposite…
My last boyfriend (the Colombian) basically demanded a baby ever since we started dating, and was actually trying for it. Luckily he knows absolutely nothing about the female reproductive system, so I simply avoided him on my ovulation days, but I felt a lot of pressure from him to have one. Luckily I didn’t though because he’s toxic AF and being stuck with him forever would be devastating to my extraordinary life.
Now, I am very cautiously dating a guy from Madrid who I met in Tulum. He’s extremely kind and caring; he even waters my plants in my apartment while I’m not there and is storing my motorbike in his garage. BUT we have only been dating a couple of months and he already has said he wants to marry me and have a baby. Luckily he also said “when I’m ready”, which makes me feel really good, because it’s like I have the option to have one now if I really want to, and I can decide with clarity if I do or if I don’t. So it’s not a concern of “when will I find someone”, because I have someone (and to be honest, with the men I’ve been meeting lately the options seem to be increasing), but that last statement in the parenthesis should give you a hint to one of the many reasons why I’m deciding to keep waiting. If you didn’t get the hint, it’s that I’m not fully sure if my current guy is the one, and as much as I’d love to selfishly take the ease of settling with someone who ticks the boxes of what I need, I’m just not sure yet if he has what I want. But, we’re also going traveling together in Spain after my Africa trips, so I’ll keep you updated, and will also keep him away from my ovaries.
Ok so that may be a little TMI, but if you’ve read my book, you’ll know that when I really write, I write it all. Especially since a lot of things I do not show on social media.
Oh there’s more. It doesn’t have to do with men though, it has to do with how good I’ve gotten at my job. My job is one of the main reasons I’m delaying babies. I’ve spent nine years building my brand as a travel blogger/influencer/figure/author/group trip company, and I don’t give myself enough credit, so I’ll go ahead and brag here. I’m basically so established and so good at properly marketing my clients through collabs, that I can get almost anything I want as a collaboration in exchange for marketing. You can probably guess where I’m going with this.
Initially I was fully prepared to pay the low price for my egg freezing in Barcelona. These days a couple thousand dollars for something important to my health and life is nothing. But then the boss lady brain of mine went and emailed the clinic asking if they had a referral program where I could earn a commission if I post about my procedure and people book it through my link. I knew other women would be interested, and if you’re reading this, I’m not wrong. They came back and said they’d never done it before but could look into it, but then they went ahead and also asked if I’d be interested in doing a standard collaboration, where my procedure would be free in exchange for posting about it.
Since I was going to post about it anyway, this seemed like a great deal for both of us, and I gladly accepted. So basically, my main reason for freezing my eggs has gotten me my eggs frozen for free, and that’s the universe telling me I am definitely making the right decision! (Just to note, I am still paying for all travel, accommodation, medications, and the preliminary bloodwork).
So now it’s Friday, we already went out last night with a bunch of friends, and I’m planning to do as much and drink as much as possible this weekend before I start the meds next week….HOPEFULLY on Wednesday…
Next up I will share how the injection went, and the reaction my body has to the first medication!
Right now I am trying not to think about my period starting…or lack thereof, but wait yes I am because I’m sitting here writing about it. Anyway. My period has started exactly on the 24th for the last few months, but of course it has decided to postpone the one time I need it to be on time.
Again, this is problematic because the medication must be started on the second day of your period, and then you have 10-15 days of meds before the extraction. And my flight to Uganda is on August 15th. Which means I have just a few days of wiggle room.
Manifesting that it comes by EOD.
Wellp, so far nothing is going according to plan yet. My period is now 3 days behind which is of course stressing me out. I was also not supposed to meet any men, yet here I am about to go on a second date with a very handsome man who dropped that he wants marriage and babies on date uno.
I’ll have to casually mention to him today that I’m planning on starting my egg freezing meds soon, which means no more wine and dine dates, and definitely no sex. I’m sure he’ll pass on that quite quickly, and I’m not sad about it since I really need to keep men away from my ovaries right now.
Anyway, Fertilab asked if I would do an interview with the Spanish Press today about being a foreigner who came to Barcelona to freeze their eggs. It was supposed to be perfect timing where i’d go to the clinic for the interview and then have the nurse do my injection, but of course I’m still waiting!
I mentioned in the interview that something for visitors to consider if they want to do this is that their period might also not be on time. I asked if that’s why I heard it’s suggested to start birth control before the process, and the doctor said yes; so that you can literally plan exactly when your period will come. Oops. Well at least now you all know for future reference!
The interview asked questions like why I chose Barcelona for the procedure, what I thought of the healthcare here VS USA, and if I thought the ease of the process would entice more women to eventually have families in Spain. I said the obvious reason is because it’s nearly half the price to freeze your eggs in Barcelona than USA, and also because I consider this one of my homes.
Which got me thinking, that I really would consider living here as my primary base in a few years when I decide to unfreeze my eggs. So, right after I finish this, I shall resume my real estate hunting here! Even though I won’t even have time to do the 6 month digital nomad visa process for another two years thanks to my fully booked work-travel schedule! But overall, I feel like I’m getting a glimpse at what kind of timeline and future the universe has in store for me. And I am liking it mucho.
Early this morning I was having one of my usual lucid dreams (I have chronic lucid dreaming every night by the way), and in it someone asked if I got my period yet, and I said no. In the dream I was super stressed out, way more than I am in real life, and I actually woke up with hives on my abdomen because of it. Yes, my dreams are so realistic that they cause my physical body to react sometimes.
Luckily though as I said, I’m not as stressed in real life, and my body rewarded me by finally shedding the dead uterus lining of the last menstrual cycle, and giving me the green light to start the first injection tomorrow! That means I’ll have more than enough time to complete the egg freezing process before my flight to Uganda on August 15th!
I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to get my period! Well, besides a few times last year when I was dating the toxic Colombian guy who was actively trying to get me pregnant for about 8 months. Thank god some men have no idea how the fertility window works.
Anyway, I used my menstrual cup like always and carried on back to work. By the way, if you haven’t tried a menstrual cup, it is one of the things I highly recommend, not only as a traveler, but as an environmental protection advocate. I’ve been using the same cup (easily sterilized in boiling water) for a couple of years, which means I’ve saved probably thousands of dollars on not buying tampons, plus have eliminated tons of waste! Check out my blog post about them and try them out!
Today I’ll definitely be popping a bottle of Rose Cava and heading to watch the Barbie movie with my girls in Barcelona to celebrate!
Oh, and as for the date. LOL. He first sent a minute long voicenote explaining that he needed to postpone because he was so tired since he stayed out until 3am the night before (red flag 1), and then the cloudy weather was making him feel tired (red flag 2), but wanted to do something the next day. I said I had movie plans and to feel better, and a few hours later…he texted asking if I wanted to meet him at a swanky bar for a drink (red flag 3). It was too many red flags for me, especially from a guy in his 40’s, and I’m definitely not trying to deal with all that drama while pumping my body full of excess hormones, so I’ll definitely be archiving that one for at least 2 months!
Instead, I am making chill yet fun plans with my girl friends for the weekend (who all know about my meds starting so they know not to entice me with endless wine and cava), and next week I am scheduling apartment showings, spa sessions, new dog parks to visit, and who knows, maybe I’ll finally resume writing my second book!
Today is one of the big days! I emailed Fertilab to let them know I’d be starting my injection today and asked if I could come into the clinic to have them do it for me. They said yes, but at 4pm, and that interferes with my plans to have lunch by the beach with my dog, so I’m opting to just watch the YouTube video they sent me and do it myself.
She also sent me my schedule for the rest of the procedure, which is pretty helpful, especially because they send links to youtube tutorials for the injections:
| Friday 28th of July, from the 2 nd day of the cycle: ovarian stimulation must begin with : ELONVA 150UI, 1 subcutaneous complete injection every in the evening Video Tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKGR6-zsMVA On next Wednesday the 2nd at 11.30 am, on Friday the 4th at 12 pm and Monday the 7th August at 12.30pm, our DR. Fulvia MANCINI will do your follicular controls consisting on: Blood test for Estradiol, LH and Progesterone dosage (no need to be fasting) Transvaginal ultrasound to control the appearance and thickness of the endometrium and the size of each follicle present in the ovaries. Important: Please bring the original documents of all the consents hand signed to your 1st control These follicular checks should be repeated every 2-3 days, so it will normally take between 2 and 4 complete checks. From Friday the 4th of August, the 9th day of your cycle, please continue your stimulation with : GONAL-F 300UI, 1 subcutaneous injection every in the evening Video Tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAXShFEFCPc You will be able to choose the schedule that suits you best between 21:00 and 23:00, keeping it unchanged throughout the stimulation – When the doctor considers that the conditions are optimal, we will tell you: When to add Orgalutran 0.25mg, 1 subcutaneous injection every 24h (if necessary). Video Tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYaLLOkP4mU When to inject Decapeptyl 0.3mg (3 ampoules of drug powder dissolved in a single solvent), 1 single subcutaneous injection that will trigger ovulation Video Tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyiYPf8wVr0 When will the egg retrieval take place Important: If for any reason you have not performed the Decapeptyl injection on the day and time indicated, please inform your medical assistant team as soon as possible. – Between 48 and 24 hours before the egg retrieval: Covid-19 swab Antigen test (5€) Copy of the Covid surveyImportant: the sending of the completed questionnaire is an essential condition to be able to proceed with the intervention. On the day of the egg retrieval: You must be fasting (neither water nor food) from 8 hours before the intervention . You will need to arrive to our operation room (Carrer Alt de Gironella, 58) . You will need to wear a surgical mask (patient and possible companion). Avoid perfumes, spray deodorants, body lotions, jewelry, piercings, makeup, enamels, and contact lenses. We recommend that you be accompanied once the procedure is completed and that you return home at the earliest 24 hours after the procedure. – The day after the egg retrieval: we will inform you of the number of mature eggs that we have obtained and cryopreserved Important: please, be aware that during stimulation it is common to experience certain symptoms, the most common of which are:· Redness or bruising at the injection site· Abdominal swelling· Temporary weight gain· Heaviness in the legs· Mood swings· Sensation of pressure on the ovaries· Vaginal dryness· Breast discomfort Have lovely reception & hope the read from you ! |
So as I mentioned, I opted to go to the beach over going to the clinic to have a nurse do the injection for me. Most people do it at home anyway, so I just watched a few YouTube tutorials (the one they sent was in French and not helpful) and then of course, made my own.
I set up a little medical station on the floor in front of my giant mirror and finally got the Elonva out of the refrigerator. Well, before that I set up two tripods so I could film the process in vertical and horizontal frames. Then washed my hands for the third time, and since I forgot to get rubbing alcohol, I used one of Oscar’s antiseptic wipes I use for his feet after walks on the dirty Barcelona streets for wiping my abdomen area.
Then I sat in front of the mirror so I could see what I was doing, even though it really just required looking down. I’m glad I watched the youtube tutorials, because the nurse at Fertilab just kind of said to “measure three fingers away from your belly button, squeeze the skin, and poke”, but I wasn’t sure if that meant at the same level as your belly button, or below it. In the videos it looked like they were all doing it below the belly button, so that’s what I aimed for.
Putting the needle on the Elonva pen thing is really easy. Well, I was also a veterinary technician for several years, so it felt familiar. You simply spin off the cap of the pen, unscrew the needle, twist it onto the pen, then take off the cap. I was very happy to see how small the needle was when I took off the cap.
I noticed a pretty large bubble in the liquid, and knew to flight the side of the pen to try to get all of the air to the top. Another thing I remembered from my vet tech days is that injecting air subcutaneously can be dangerous, so I wanted to make sure to get it out. Usually what we would do with pet injections is push the plunger until some liquid comes out and the bubbles are gone. The nurse at Fertilab gave very clear instructions not to let go of the plunger once you start pushing it, so I was a little bit worried about attempting that, but I also didn’t want to inject the bubble, so I carefully pushed it out, and it was fine.
With my pen-needle ready, I measured three of my fingers away from my belly button, and then also three fingers down. Then I pinched that area of skin like instructed with my left hand, and poked the needle in with my right hand, holding it like you’d hold an Epi-pen; grasping the shaft with my hand and pushing the plunger with my thumb.
It didn’t hurt at all, but it was a bit slow getting all of the juice in…or maybe I was just slow because I didn’t want to mess it up. I was also talking to the cameras the whole time about the process so trying to do that and remember the next steps was a little confusing. I remembered one video said to start releasing the pinch as you push the plunger, so I did that, and when it finally got down to the bottom, I thought, “Is it done?” gave it a little more push, then instinctively let go an WHAM! The plunger springs backwards like a pinball machine handle!
Immediately I was like, “Oh. That’s why she said make sure to keep pushing it all the way to the end or it will be useless.” I examined the pen to try to see if I missed any juice before the recoil happened, but I’m pretty sure I got it all. The whole thing was completely painless, and supposedly I’m not supposed to feel the after effects for a few days.
But, I did feel bad for artificially manipulating my body, so I took her to the spa for a massage, bought her some new clothes, and made a feast of food to make up for it!
Now I’ll have my one (or two) glass of wine, watch some random rom-com, and continue to look for real estate here in Barcelona, since my eggs will be living here soon anyway!
Video of how to do the injection coming soon!
Today is day two of my egg freezing process, and I’m pretty sure the nurses who briefed me for it would say I’m doing bad. They advised to not exercise, not drink too much, and definitely not to have sex, and so far I’ve only not done one of those things (unfortunately), but being in Barcelona doesn’t make it easy!
Oh, I guess I should start with how I’m feeling with the medications first. I feel normal, as I was told I would feel for the first few days. It does feel like my ovaries are already heavier than normal, but it could just be my mind knowing that the meds cause more follicles to pop out than normal. I don’t think I’ll really be able to tell the effects of the meds on my body until after my period since the symptoms are allegedly similar.
Ok now onto my day, in case anyone is interested…if not feel free to wait a few days until my next doctor appointment and injections.
It is basically impossible for me to be in Barcelona and not have something social to do every day. I honestly thought I’d be super emo and hiding on my couch watching movies and crying for ten days, but since I felt great today, I went to meet up with several friends at the beach. Of course said friends all had my current favorite drink; cava rose, which I had to try very hard to limit myself to two-ish glasses.
So that was self control part one, but part two was harder, which is actively trying NOT to meet anyone I’m interested in. Of course one of their friends happens to be a tall, dark, handsome, TRAVELING man, who also happens to be fun, nice, and extremely handsome. It took a lot to convince my poor little hopeless romantic heart not to fall in love with him. Luckily my brain won that competition, by reminding my heart and ovaries that right now I could accidentally have a litter of babies, and also that I have to leave Spain in a few weeks anyway due to my visa running out. Sigh.
In case anyone has not been to the local beaches in Barcelona, it is basically like hot guy overload. Six packs everywhere, easily spotted because they love to walk around and show them off, or play with a soccer ball, or volleyball. Definitely reason #847 why I plan to move semi-permanently to Barcelona in a couple years.
Anyway I left to go see some other friends at another beach, but it was two couples, and as much as I love seeing my friends, at the moment I didn’t want to be around couples when one of the many reasons I am freezing my eggs is because I haven’t found my perfect mate. Or maybe I have and he was just back at the other beach. Yes, I ended up going back to the other beach.
But! Before I left, I was really happy to chat with one of my friends who is actually from Barcelona, but spent many years in USA before moving back. She was one of the people who froze her eggs in Barcelona and constantly encouraged me to do it. Unlike most people from the US who respond to my stories saying how hard their experience was, and even some saying not to do it because “you bloat so badly”, my friend has always ensured me it’s really not that bad. In fact the only thing she really mentioned that was “hard” was how horny you get during the last few days….so I will definitely be avoiding the beach on those days!
As you can see, I skipped day three and four, because I didn’t really feel any different, and also I was busy working or socializing.
On Sunday (day 3), I went back to the beach with friends and my forbidden crush. Then later some other friends were at the Sunday party at The W, so I met up with them for a bit, but since I was trying not to drink, I didn’t stay too long. Yes, it is a little hard for me not to drink when there are bottles of Dom Perignon at the table. Luckily though they quickly ran out, and since I don’t drink liquor, I was on my best behavior.
The next day was day 4, but all I really felt was tired with a headache. I’m not sure if it’s from all of the beach activities, or the lack of drinking, or if the meds were finally kicking in, but I felt something! Nothing to prevent me from working all day and then meeting up with a woman who is going on one of my group trips in Africa in a few weeks though.
So today is day five of the hopefully twelve day or less process, and I can definitely feel something happening in my ovaries. I’m taking it as a good sign, since the first medication is meant to make more follicles pop out than normal, which can make your ovaries feel some pressure. I definitely feel like my ovaries are “heavy” or something.
It doesn’t hurt, it just feels like a slightly uncomfortable cramp. I’m also extremely in tune with my body, so any slight change internally, I usually can feel. In fact, I have gone to get an ultrasound several times because I thought I felt a cyst internally…but it usually turns out to just be my follicles growing during the beginning of my cycle. This is a different feeling though, I just feel like I have a lot of eggs inside of me, which hopefully is true!
I’ll be finding out tomorrow how many follicles the first meds made come out when I go in for the first ultrasound and blood work appointment. The doctor will be able to see how many follicles there are, and also how big they are. Not only do you need to have a lot of them, but they also need to be big and juicy. The second medication is what can make them bigger I believe. Tomorrow the doctor will explain more, and also tell me my dosage, and hopefully around how many more days I have to do the injections/treatment for.
Since I didn’t have a ton of eggs during my normal cycle during my preliminary ultrasound, and also since my periods are short, and I don’t have a great genetic history of baby making, I’m assuming I’ll need the max amount of injection days. But I’m still manifesting to the universe that it’ll only be around four or five days!
Today I had to go in for my first of probably three ultrasound and bloodwork sessions. All I could think the whole way there was “Guys are so fucking lucky they don’t have to go through shit like this,” but then tried to stop, because it will only make me resent men. Instead I changed my mindset to, “The guy that I finally choose to impregnate me is going to be extremely lucky and amazing.”
Anyway, I feel the same as yesterday; like I have a lot of extra eggs in my ovaries, and the suspense was killing me the whole motorbike ride to Fertilab to find out exactly how many eggs the meds had made pop out. This is a bit nerve wrecking, and depending on how bad you want a baby, it can be extremely stressful.
For me, I am still undecided if I want a baby or not, or if the universe has planned it for me or not, so I’d be happy with just a few good eggs, and I’m just keeping the mentality, “Well at least I tried”.
I got to the clinic and was seen by my new female doctor, Dr. Mancini, right away. In case I didn’t mention it already several times, I’m extremely glad/grateful my male doctor went on vacation and I was switched to a woman, because this procedure is still very personal, and I don’t think I would have felt as comfortable with a man probing my vagina then telling me about my ovaries.
Sitting with your legs in stirrups is never comfortable, but the doctor and nurse had good bedside manners and made light of the situation, telling me to just “Keep sliding down until it feels like I’m going to fall off”.
Next came the probe up my you-know-what, which was even more uncomfortable than usual, I assume because my little ovaries are packed with follicles. The doctor showed me the screen of the ultrasound so I could see my uterus, and then finally the right ovary.
I was like, “Are there a lot of follicles?” Because to me it only looked like 4-5 on the image, but she then hit some buttons on the computer that made a 3D image of all of the follicles, and I could see that there were actually 10 of them on that side! That’s more than both of my ovaries had combined during my preliminary ultrasound in Mexico without the meds.
Next she did the left ovary which only had 8. So in total I currently have 18 follicles, but the number doesn’t necessarily determine if that’s enough or not. It also depends on the size and health of the follicle, which indicates if the egg inside of it is able to be fertilized or not. The ideal size is 17-19mm, and right now most of mine are 10-12mm, which is normal, since I still have about six days left for them to grow. She said that it was a good sign that most of the follicles were around the same size as well. I won’t know for sure until after the extraction how many potentially usable eggs I made, which again, is a little nerve wrecking, but again, “I tried.”
By the way, the nurses, doctors, and people of IG have mentioned doing a second round of this process if you don’t get your ideal amount of eggs out the first time. I will not be doing that. Not only am I unsure if I even want a baby, but I feel like if it’s meant to be it will happen, and if not, I would love to look into adoption one day (in my mid-40’s).
After the ultrasound was over, I did the awkward slide off the stirrups, wrapped the gown around my bare ass, and cleaned myself like an infant with the baby wipes they had. Again. Men have it SO EASY.
Next up, was the blood draw, which I honestly was dreading more than the probe. Although after feeling the discomfort of the probe near my swollen ovaries, I’m not sure which was worse. Dr. Mancini is very easy to chat with, and I told her I was dreading the needle, so she immediately started talking to me to distract me, which worked, because I didn’t even realize when the nurse was done and the needle was out.
The purpose of the blood work is to monitor my hormone levels and make sure everything is safe and going accordingly with the medications I’m taking. She explained a lot more about that but I had flashbacks to my biochemistry classes in college and slightly zoned out.
Since my follicles are already pretty big (#bigeggenergy), the doctor told me to start the medication injections called Orgalutran tomorrow. This med prevents the eggs from bursting and prevents the uterus lining from shedding. It was one of the meds that initially they said they wouldn’t know if I would need until they did the first ultrasound, so I’m strangely glad I need it, otherwise I would have wasted a few hundred dollars.
She also said the hormones are going to kick in soon mood-wise, so I’m now off to check out some apartment showings, and see my friends just in case I’m not feeling up to doing anything this weekend!
PS: Thanks for all of your comments! They really are giving me motivation to keep writing in full detail about my process!
This morning I procrastinated starting the next injection as much as possible. I did my normal morning routine of half waking up around 7am, checking my phone for any important emails or texts, then covering my eyes with the blanket to attempt sleeping for as much longer as possible.
I don’t normally sleep super late, my goal is usually 9am, but I only have about two weeks left before I need to be waking up every morning at 6am for my back to back group trips in Africa. Have I mentioned that I’m allergic to early mornings? It’s a real thing, and I’ve been allergic to them since I was born. If I am forced to wake up before 9am, I will legitimately get morning sickness. And definitely not the pregnancy kind (obviously).
I’ve never really understood why it’s such a big deal if some people sleep later than others, but I’ve encountered a lot of people who think it’s a problem. Namely my ex boyfriends. Well, and my mother, and some of my friends. But honestly, unless we’re trying to get somewhere before the crowds, or get to the included hotel breakfast that ends at 10am, why the hell does it matter to other people what time I wake up?
Some people also need more sleep than others. I am one of those people. My brain does not rest or shut off. Ever. In fact, I’m writing this at 12:30am because my brain is still highly active, and then I’ll need my 8-9 hours of sleep to get some actual rest since most of those hours are going to include my brain still being active during my nightly chronic lucid dreaming.
Which brings me to the main point of this entry; last night I had a horrific lucid dream thanks to my stress about doing my next injection on time this morning. The dream was that I went to my next ultrasound, knowing I had been moving around too much and causing stress on my overgrown ovaries, and when she pulled the gross probe out, a liquid sac came out with six of my follicles in it! Since it was a dream, the follicles were of course the size of fingers, which is how I knew there were six of them, but I remember being like, “Nooooo! I ruined the process, now I have to start over! …But maybe they can just get the others still in there instead?” Yes. That is what my dreams are like.
Needless to say, I woke up real quick after that and bolted to the bano to make sure I wasn’t bleeding or something. All was fine, and I took it as a sign that the universe and my body was telling me to stop procrastinating and get that injection in before my follicles actually do fall out.
So I set up my little zen-med zone in front of the large full length mirror in the bedroom, and opened the next package of medication injections. It’s still a bit weird to me just having a bunch of needles with the responsibility of injecting myself with them, but I tried not to think about it.
I actually took a bit more responsibility and got proper alcohol wipes to sanitize my hands and (now bloated) belly, and did the same three finger measurement technique. The Orgalsomething injections looked a bit easier than the first Elonva one, because they come pre-needled, without the retraction spring, so all I had to do was twist off the top, jab, and plunge.
To be honest, I was feeling quite confident up until I saw the needle. Suddenly it looked much bigger than the first one. But with the recurring image of my finger-sized follicles falling out of me in my dream, I got over it and (a little too slowly) pushed the needle into my abdomen. As I expected, I could definitely feel this one more than the first. Ouch.
So much so that I forgot again what to do next, because I was so preoccupied with thoughts of if the needle was even going in or not. Finally I made the plunge, literally, and since it was a lot less than the first injection, it went by very quickly. Watching the needle go out of my skin was equally as weird and painful as it going in, so I think tomorrow I’ll try to just aim and not look.
Since my doctor told me yesterday that this medication might be itchy and red, I cleaned it with alcohol again, then left it open to breathe and not get agitated. This first one didn’t itch, but did get a little red. However, I am also still going through an histamine issue, where I get hives at night thanks to the stress of my dreams and lack of freezing cold AC, so I am taking antihistamines as well. But that’s another story. And yes, my dreams are so stressful that I break out in hives in my sleep.
After my injection, I went straight to work per usual, except today my ovaries were feeling extra full, making it a bit uncomfortable to sit in the desk chair, so I opted for the couch. As a work-from-anywhere business owner, I try to set boundaries, and the couch is supposed to be for relaxing and not working, but it felt more comfortable to have my legs up and lean back.
I didn’t have any mood swings, just the slightly uncomfortable feeling of larger than normal things inside of my body. It made me realize once again how strange and uncomfortable it might feel to have an actual living thing inside of there…
But anyway, I was able to get all of my work done very diligently per usual, which I honestly wasn’t expecting based on the feedback I’d heard from other women. In fact I finished a ton of work in advance that requires interacting with other humans, just in case I did have drastic mood swings. But I haven’t yet, and at most have just been antsy to go do things like usual.
So it shouldn’t surprise anyone that when one of my friends dropped a voice note that she was heading to Born in a couple of hours with her dog, that I immediately wrapped up work, washed my hair, put on an outfit that hides my bloated belly, and jumped on a motorbike with Oscar slung across my lap.
I probably shouldn’t write about this next part, because I totally lied on my IG stories, but it’s pretty funny so oh well. If you saw my story with my friend and our dogs that said we were having bravas with our doggos and drinking water…that was a 1/4 lie. We were definitely having bravas, and with our doggos, and there was a glass of water. But we definitely were also hiding a chilled bottle of cava rose under the table. She was hiding it because her new boyfriend doesn’t drink that much, and she usually does every day (socially, as most people do in Barcelona), and I was hiding it to avoid those handful of people who respond to my stories like, “I thought you’re not supposed to drink!!!!”
I prefer to listen to the people (and doctors) who say, “Keep living your life, just don’t over do it.”
So here I am, not over-doing it on the couch with a glass of water, watching Gossip Girl, and making allllll the plans for the weekend after my procedure. Well, that was also a half lie, I’ve also made plans for the beach and sushi Saturday and Soho House on Sunday. Oh and also now potentially NYE in West Africa!
Anything to keep my mind off the fact that tomorrow I have to stab myself with an injection in the morning, then go back to the clinic to get probed and pricked again in the afternoon, and then jab a second injection in the evening. Sounds like an absolute FriYAY. CANNOT WAIT.
As you can see, I skipped two days of journal entries, which to me is a good thing. That means I was too busy having fun to sit at home and write, and that is accurate.
On Friday I went in to get my second ultrasound, and to be honest I was a bit late because I still get lost riding the motorbike to the clinic. I think my doctor was a bit annoyed about it because the exam went super quickly and quietly, which is fine, since I’d prefer to get them over with as soon as possible.
The ultrasound showed that my follicles had grown a lot in two days, and most of them are still growing at the same rate, which is a good thing. A couple were already reaching 16mm, which is close to the ideal size of 17-19mm. They did the blood draw again as well to test my hormone levels, and everything was normal.
After being probed and pricked I like to treat myself to make me feel better, so I went home to pick up Oscar, hopped on the motorbike, and went to Barceloneta beach. We sat at one of the chiringuitos that was playing good music and not too crowded, and enjoyed the beautiful day while I made an obnoxious Instagram post telling the people who are complaining about the new $7 fee to enter the EU to stay home and not come here.
I was fully prepared to just stay in that night, since I had to start the Gonal injections in the evening, but then a guy who I also have a bit of a crush on texted me asking if I wanted to catch up. Part of my brain was trying to remind me that I’m not supposed to be getting involved with any men during this process, but most of my brain thought that I felt fine, and it’s not like I hook up with people anyway unless we’ve been dating for several weeks, so what’s the harm in being social rather than sitting at home waiting to jab myself.
Well. Meeting up for a drink turned into also eating, and eating in Spain lasts for many hours. Especially if it’s with someone who shares the same strange ideas of you, like conspiracy theories. In fact I’m pretty sure two of the six hours were spent discussing and watching videos of MH370, 9-11, and Titanic related theories. That being said, I slightly irresponsibly didn’t get home until 2am, and still needed to give myself the Gonal shot. But at least I remembered to do it!
The Gonal shot is the other medication that has to be kept refrigerated, so it’s been in my fridge for the last week, right next to all of my cheeses and vegetables. Thank god I haven’t had any dinner parties because people would think I have a drug addiction or something.
Anyway, I set up my little at home clinic area in front of my full length mirror and followed the instructions that the nurses had told me earlier. The Gonal injection looks like a pen, and all you do is pop off the top, twist a knob to your indicated dosage, which is dependent on your follicles (mine was a dosage of 300), and then you put one of the little needles on the top. The needles are super super tiny so I wasn’t dreading this one as much as the morning one. I cleaned the area with alcohol, jabbed, plunged, and was surprised at how small the dose was!
The next day (Saturday, day 9), I woke up not feeling anything different still besides the slight bloating pressure. Like I can definitely feel my ovaries being larger than normal. It doesn’t hurt or anything, it just feels…full.
So I did what I thought would be impossible. I put on a bikini, hopped on my moto, and headed to the beach to meet up with my friends (…..and my other crush, but I decided he doesn’t like me because he only asks to do things as a group). We had a long fun beach day, and I even played volleyball without any cramps or issues.
Now today is day 10 and I only have one more Orgaltran injection, and two more Gonal injections. I still haven’t experienced any mood swings or sadness, or severe cramps, so I’m going to head to Soho House to meet up with a fellow content creator who lives here. She also did the egg freezing process in Barcelona, and had only great things to say about it! So it’ll definitely be nice to chat with her.
I’m extremely grateful I don’t have any mood-alterations today as well, because I have an hour long Zoom briefing with my 30-person group trip to Zambia/Zimbabwe/Botswana later today as well!
Tomorrow is my final ultrasound and blood work before the extraction process…and I’ve also said yet to scheduling a photoshoot around town with a local photographer even though I’m a bit bloated. Wish me luck!
False alarm, today was not my final day of injections. After my final ultra sound and blood work, the doctor decided I needed one more day to let my eggs grow before retrieval.
The ultrasound showed my follicles are all getting really big; it’s cool to be able to see the difference in size in just a few days…and also have proof for why my belly is so bloated. Some of them are at the ideal size between 17-19mm, but many still need a few millimeters (according to me, the non-doctor).
So, since I finished the 5 doses of Orgalatran that comes in the box, I have to buy a single dose, and the doctor also prescribed me another medication to take at the same time as the final injection that starts ovulation. I’m not fully sure why I need two medications instead of one for the ovulation, but I’ll make a mental note to ask.
The new medication is called Ovitrelle, and I am instructed to take the whole dose (it comes in a pen like Gonal where you can adjust the dosage amounts), at the same time as the final Decapeptyl. Both of these have to be taken at an exact time, because it has to be exactly 36 hours before the retrieval, otherwise it can mess it up. So my plans for the evening are all revolving around being home an hour before my injection time at 9:30pm. Imagine that whatsapp group chat, “Hey guys! Yeah I can meet up but I have to leave by 8:30pm to go take my final egg freezing medication!”
The extra dose of Orgalutrun (which prevents ovulation), and the new Ovitrelle (which triggers it) together cost about $80 at a pharmacy near my apartment in Barcelona. The nurses told me to go look for it ASAP because many pharmacies don’t readily carry hormone meds and they might need to order it. She was correct, and I’m glad I listened, because the pharmacy did need to order it, but I was able to pick both of them up in the morning. Also, Ovitrelle (along with Gonal) MUST be refrigerated, so keep that in mind if you’re planning to come here! You’ll need a hotel with a refrigerator, or an apartment.
By the way, I just checked prices for the USA equivalent of the above two medications, and they cost about $375!!! How ridiculous!
Oh! Also at my appointment, I asked Dr. Mancini what the goal “good egg” amount was for my age, so I could correctly give you all information. We ended up talking about it for half an hour because there’s way more factors than you may think. Well, I certainly didn’t think about the ones she mentioned.
I’ll add this in a more digestible reading format on my main post, but in short, she told me it depends on several things. How many kids you want is of course one of them. If you want more than one, you should definitely do multiple rounds of egg freezing. She also mentioned to keep in mind that only about half of the usable eggs make it through the unfreezing process, so to keep that in mind. Then she explained how it’s not just the WOMAN who needs to be worried about if an embryo can be made from the eggs! It has a lot to do with the male partner’s sperm! If you’regoing that route.
If you’re planning or hoping to use a male partner’s sperm for your eggs in the future, it actually has a lower chance of working than a donor’s sperm. This is because donor sperm is tested and treated in the lab so they know it’s “good sperm”. With a partner, they need to test their sperm (so yes, they have to go through a process too, just not as invasive or painful) to make sure they have a good shape, movement, and genetic composition. All of this can be done at Fertilab, along with the actual IVF process.
To sum it all up, from what I gathered (I was like, “Ok, give me a ball park number with all of these factors), the ideal amount of usable eggs to retrieve is between 10-20. This does not mean eggs in general. It means the ones that they test in the lab afterwards to see if the mature egg is capable of being fertilized. So just because my ultrasounds are now showing I have about 24 follicles with eggs inside of them, that doesn’t mean all of them can be used. I won’t know until the day after the retrieval how many good eggs I got.
My conversation with Dr. Mancini made me confirm that IF I decide to have a baby, I would likely try naturally first, and be using my frozen eggs as a back up just in case in the future my eggs lose the quality they need to be fertilized (this is the main concern with waiting to have babies). Well, and it also made me feel good to know lab sperm works well…just in case I still haven’t found my forever-human and feel the need to have a baby. But I think I’ll be taking a lesson from my own upbringing without a father, and keep manifesting a healthy two-parent family.
I was still feeling fine after my appointment, so I went ahead and did my photoshoot around town with a Ukrainian photographer who is seeking refugee here. She’s around my age, and has a 12 year old, which is mind-blowing to me (I still cannot imagine how different my life would be like if I had a child early on). We did one of those “flying dress” shoots, that sometimes women do for maternity shoots, and I told her it was my “Maternity-postponement shoot”, and that I felt pregnant anyway because of all of the eggs in my ovaries. It was funny to me.
Anyway, tomorrow is OFFICIALLY my last injections! Yay! So I’ll let you know how they make me feel, otherwise, wish me luck for the retrieval in two days!
Yesterday I finally did the two injections that trigger ovulation, and those were also finally my last two! Yay! I made a video to show how to mix the Decapeptyl, and from it realized it took me about 7 minutes to do it, so be sure you prepare it with plenty of time in advance so you don’t miss your designated time.
I did the injections on video as well, and you’ll see that I was clearly not expecting the slight pain that came from the Decapeptyl injection. Assuming it was because there were three vials of solvent in one vial of solution, which made it a little harder to push it out of the syringe, and again, it did slightly sting. But only for a moment! Once I took the needle out it was fine. The Ovitrelle injection was painless.
Today is the day before my procedure and the first day of ovulation. I was expecting to finally have the mood swings or extreme bloating, but I still haven’t had much change. My stomach is still about the same size of bloated as it has been the last few days, and my mood is normal. Well, I did get agitated at some idiot men who commented on my egg freezing IG post, but that’s also completely normal.
I still had a full work day, went on errands, and forced myself to decline meeting up with friends (mostly because my procedure is at 9am and that’s currently very early for me).
To be honest, after hearing from a few women that they felt bad about themselves for not finding their partner yet, or feeling lonely, I worried I would feel the same way, but due to my extremely epic travel schedule next year, I have to say that I don’t feel that bad. If anything this procedure has made me feel like now I have more time to wait for my perfect partner, rather than continuing to settle for the wrong men just because they say they want marriage and a baby.
It also helps that I have a lot of friends here though. I think I would have felt a lot more lonely and sad if I didn’t. That being said, if anyone is thinking of freezing their eggs in Barcelona solo, and wants somewhere to be there for them, check out my main blog post to see how you can have your entire trip planned by my team, and have my friend Jenny accompany you to the procedure (or if you want to go explore the city!)!
Preface: I am writing this post-anesthesia, on pain killers, and with brut rose. If it doesn’t make sense or rambles, that’s why.
As you can probably imagine, I did not sleep much last night. Per the nurse’s instructions, I had to start fasting at midnight, and in order to not be tempted by water (I drink A LOT of water), I attempted just going to sleep.
BUT, my overactive, non-tired, non-wine-induced brain had other plans. By the time I realized I was still awake with millions of thoughts racing through my brain, it was already 1:30am. I relied on one of my typical mind-calming techniques, and politely asked my brain to chill the f* out, while counting continuously to as high as possible, then starting over when I lost track.
Finally I fell asleep, but only to wake up at 6am due to recurring dreams that I was checking my phone and it said I was late. Very annoying dreaming that your phone says 7:30, only to wake up and realize you could have slept another hour. So I laid awake and let my brain resume having 800 thoughts per minute, except for the first time, they were the anxiety-inducing kind.
Suddenly I was panicking at the thought of going under anesthesia. Namely because I’d be unconscious with my legs in stirrups while someone sticks a probe up my vagina alongside a needle to suck the eggs out of my ovaries.
I’m the type of person who always has complete control over my consciousness (why I don’t do drugs, drink hard alcohol, and won’t even do “natural” drugs like ayawaska), and it has kept me safe my whole life and throughout all of my travels, so having to go under is absolutely terrifying to me.
So those were my thoughts all morning. But I still got up, showered, removed all makeup, lotions, piercings, etc as I was told to do (except later I found out I missed the nailpolish part, more on that in a sec). I walked Oscar, fed him, and cuddled him for moral support while I waited for Jenny to arrive to chaperone me.
When Jenny rolled up on her scooter, she surprised me with a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of cava rose for after the surgery. Such a great bestie! Especially since she was extremely hungover and still woke up early to come with me! We left her scooter at my place and shared my rental motorbike, which is how I’ve been getting around town and to all of my apartments, for only about $3/day (it’s called Yego and I LOVE IT).
We arrived at Fertilab’s separate Operation Room office, and I have to say, the entry was zen AF and really boosted my spirits! I checked in and waited until my main nurse Lola arrived, who, if I haven’t mentioned already, is really amazing and has made me feel very calm, comfortable, and informed during this whole process.
She offered Jenny the option to leave to get breakfast and she would text her when I was waking up, but since the hangover was real, Jenny opted for a less-than-comfy waiting room chair. Again, such a great friend!
Lola then took me into the back area where I put on a super cute hair net, shoe covers, and a face mask, then she showed me to my “extra large suite” to start the prepping. I haven’t been in any other prepping rooms, but I’m pretty sure mine actually was pretty big, and I thought it was sweet that Lola was doing her best to make the experience seem luxurious rather than terrifying.
I changed into what Lola also called, “a very beautiful dress”, and was very happy that it was actually a proper fitting gown, that also looked quite classy! It was navy blue and properly fit at the neckline and sleeves, plus wrapped around in the back enough to not show my ass when I stood up. Oh! And it also had a little waist belt!
Once I had the gown on and finished making my videos, I waited on the portable gurney bed for them to come back in.
When Lola came back in, there was another nurse with a terrifying tray of needles and tubes, which they told me was for the IV. For some reason it didn’t occur to me that I’d have to have an IV in my arm, and I also didn’t realize how scared it would make me. The needle is one thing, but the thought of leaving a tube in my vein while liquid is pumped through it had me on the verge of a panic attack. All I could think was “What if I start to have a panic attack and have to rip this thing out of my arm?”. At least they put it in my inner-elbow though instead of my hand like I’ve heard many people had to do. I don’t think I’d have been able to handle seeing it or feeling it in my hand.
The needle prick wasn’t too bad, but my overly sensitive body and mind could definitely feel that IV tube in my arm the whole time. Lola said I needed to wait at least fifteen minutes until enough of the liquid went into my body before the surgery. So I convinced myself that at least I was getting hydrated since I wasn’t allowed to drink any water for the last nine hours.
Lola sat next to me and talked about random things to keep me distracted since I probably looked like I was about to freak out, and every now and then she would poke her head in the operating room to see if the patient before me was done. The woman in there must have had a lot of eggs because she made my starting time delay by about 25 minutes, which was 25 minutes longer than I would have liked to be conscious with the IV in my arm.
With my mind now thinking of all things, I started asking Lola questions. I asked her first to remind me to ask the doctor if I could use my menstrual cup with my next period, or if that would be dangerous for my cervix after they poke the needles through it. Which led me to my next question; where exactly does the needle go to get through to the follicles?
Since I was a biology major in college, I assumed it had to go through both the cervix wall and ovary wall, then into the follicle. So of course thinking of that made me even more nervous, and feeling sorry for torturing my body which has been so good to me.
Lola went to the operating room to ask the doctor (who is the director of the entire Fertilab) to come talk to me to clarify everything. She said the menstrual cup would be fine to use in a few weeks, and then explained the procedure. As I expected, they use a long but thin needle to go through the wall of the cervix and into the ovaries. Then they aspirate inside of the follicle to suck all the juice out inside of it, including if there is an egg. Not all follicles have eggs in them. And not all eggs are usable. More on this in a sec.
I asked what she uses to see where the needle is going and she said they use the same exact equipment as the ultrasounds I have been getting. So basically the needle goes in with it, she sees it on the screen, and knows where to send it. She actually said it was a really easy process for her, and it usually takes not more than twenty minutes. Then I asked what the recovery time for my cervix would be if she as going to poke holes in it. But she explained that the cervix wall is very thin and elastic (makes sense when thinking about sex right?) and that the needle hole closes up as soon as it is removed, however there might be some light bleeding.
I was satisfied with all of my questions, and when they asked if I had any more I just said “can you put me under yet?” I’m not exaggerating when I say I hated that IV. Well, and of course the thought of being unconscious with a needle inside of my vaginal.
Finally they had me walk into the operating room, which I was a bit dramatic about because of the IV. Lola was carrying it as I walked, but every slight move of my arm or the tube and I was like, “Ahhhh my arm!!” This lasted all throughout my very slow and careful process of climbing up onto the operating table, which included stirrups for my legs. When I was finally settled, another nurse checked under my gown and told me to scoot my but down to the end of the table like five times. Finally I told her to just pull my non-IV hand to scoot me down to where I was supposed to be, which felt like I was going to fall off of the table.
By the way, in case I haven’t already said it (multiple times), I am so beyond grateful that the entire team I worked with throughout this process was females. I would have been freaking the fuck out, and feeling extremely uncomfortable if it was a male nurse peeking under my gown at my vagina and telling me to scoot down, and even more uncomfortable if it were a man sticking the ultrasound wand inside of me. If you feel the same way, and plan on having this procedure done, don’t forget that you can ask for an all female-team and doctor!
Everything started to go very quickly once I was on the table. The new nurse did a quick ultrasound probe to make sure “the follicles were still there”, which of course made me be like, “What?! Are they? Let me see!” So she spun the screen around to show me the giant black blobs inside of my ovaries.
Then Lola said they were injecting something into my IV that wasn’t the anesthesia, just something to make me calm, and that it should make me feel like I’m really tipsy. I wasn’t mad about that at all, and definitely started to feel a super happy buzz. I asked Lola to take a picture of me on the operating table with a thumbs up (and also not getting the lower half of my body) so she whipped her pone out and got some. The last thing I remember was her telling me to think of a happy thought, so I started thinking about Oscar, and the next thing I knew, I turned to her and asked when they were going to start the anesthesia.
“You’re already done!” She said. And I was! I couldn’t believe how magical the anesthesia was! They pulled the portable hospital bed up next to the operating table and instructed me to lift my butt up and move it onto it. They must have known I’d be worried about the IV string because they were already holding the IV stand on the other side of the bed so it wouldn’t pull on my arm or get stuck. I maneuvered onto the bed and they wheeled me back into my little suite. Lola asked if I wanted water finally and I said YES!! So she brought me some along with apple juice, and a bag of fresh mini croissants!
I couldn’t feel the IV in my arm anymore, but what I could feel was some pain in my ovaries and cervix. Well to be honest, I’m not 100% where my ovaries are, since in my head they are probably way bigger than they actual are (the eggs can only be seen with a microscope), but I had some pain in my abdomen, let’s just say that.
The IV nurse asked my pain level from 1-10, and I said a 5 compared to some of the accidents I’ve been in, which resulted in me having to get another bag of IV fluids. But at least this one contained a lot of pain medication. After about twenty minutes, I couldn’t feel the pain anymore (and they didn’t even charge me extra for it!), so they finally removed the IV and taped gauze tightly over my poor vein. Then they made me go try to use the bathroom to “make sure everything is working properly”, and Lola seemed a little concerned when I said I still felt a little loopy.
When I went to pee, I could definitely feel the pressure in my punctured organs, which is something a few women had told me about. It was uncomfortable but luckily the pain meds made it tolerable. I went back and changed, and asked if I could see where they store the eggs, and surprisingly they said yes!
There were about fifteen big metal barrels and one massive silver vat in a room, and one of the lab techs came to show me how she adds liquid nitrogen to them to keep them frozen. She has to open the lids, stick a huge metal hose inside, and blast it with the nitrogen. They do this three times a week to keep the eggs frozen. She pulled up one of the trays inside briefly to show me all of the tiny tubes that store people’s eggs as well. There were so many of them!
Then she showed me the giant metal vat, which was the sperm bank. Of course it was 100x bigger than the egg storage vats, and had even more times as much sperm in it. She pulled out one column of sperm storage and then one thin tube to give me an idea of how much they have. It was probably close to 1000 tubes in just one column (with about 100 columns), and hundreds of sperm in each tube. Men have it so easy.
After my tour of my eggs’ new residence, Lola walked me out to the waiting room. On my way out, I definitely passed a guy who I knew was there to sell his sperm. All I could think was how lucky men are again that all he has to do is jerk off in a cup, but meanwhile I had to do two weeks of injections, then go under anesthesia and get a needle poked into my ovaries. He had the audacity to smile at me and all I could think in my head is, “Stay away from my eggs bro.”
We walked into the waiting room to get Jenny, who said she was just scrolling through TikTok for 3 hours, and we gave her the rest of the mini croissants. Then I used the FreeNow taxi app to get us a cab back to my apartment. As we were waiting outside, I saw the sperm-selling guy come out shortly after (again, men have it so easy) and he smiled at me again which made me cringe.
When we got to my apartment, I was feeling pretty great! Still loopy from the anesthesia, couldn’t feel a thing thanks to the pain meds, so I made us some smoked salmon bagels and jenny popped my celebratory cava rose. Oh wait, before going upstairs, we stopped by a pharmacy because my discharge papers said to get *** pain medication to take every four hours.
After two glasses of cava and watching a mindless show like Below Deck, both Jenny and Oscar were passed out on the couch, and I tried to stay awake with one eye open so I wouldn’t be awake all night. I was also trying very hard not to work. It’s the one day off I’ve given myself in probably nine years, aside from a couple of days where I was so sick that I slept for 24 hours.
Of course that didn’t last long, because my very unorganized tour operator for my Africa trips texted me asking about a final invoice followed by “I hope you are now relaxed after the surgery”, as if I was supposed to magically just bounce back and be ready to work a few hours after being under anesthesia. He then proceeded to write in the group trip chat that people could get a visa on arrival after I told him 200 times not to tell people that or it will cause everyone else to wait for 2 hours, so I had to spend hours arguing with him since he doesn’t seem to remember any conversations we have.
I then found out he was also arguing with my assistant/co-host separately all day because he waited until last minute to check everyone’s departure flights, and found two that are “too early because the border doesn’t open until 6am”, as if we were supposed to know that. Anyway, this is irrelevant to you, but it did cause me to stay up until 2am stressing since our trip is in 5 days.
But back to the actual recovery. I still had slight discomfort when going pee, and definitively a lot of bloating. Likely because I just ate a ton of food all day, and Jenny also said pain meds make you constipated.
Finally though I fell asleep and slept for about 10 hours.
I actually received my egg count yesterday, which I was surprised and impressed about, and also glad I didn’t have to wait too long. To be honest, I was expecting like 5 eggs, so I was happy to hear that I got a total of 10, with 7 of them being ready for fertilization.
As I’ve said many, many times, I do not plan on doing this process twice, and I would have been happy with whatever egg count I have, since I’m still not sure if I want a baby or not. I’m saying this because when I posted on IG that I was excited I got 10 eggs, I definitely got about 10 DMs from women giving their unsolicited input that I should do a second round because that’s “not enough”. And people wonder why there aren’t more women who publicly share their egg freezing journeys, haha.
Anyway, I am extremely proud of my body and happy with my results! I still have a feeling I’ll end up getting pregnant naturally, but I can’t help but be intrigued to try using my frozen eggs to see if it actually works. Perhaps later in life.
As for the recovery, I definitely had some pain and pressure in my cervix/ovary area, so I kept taking the Paracetamol even though I think it makes me bloated. I went to the beach and hung out with friends, and played volleyball, but I definitely started to feel the cramping and bloating later in the day (likely because I forgot to bring the pain mends to take every four hours).
I will definitely say that I am more bloated AFTER the retrieval procedure than I was at any point during the hormone injections. And I definitely have discomfort whenever my bladder gets full, and also when I actually sit down to pee.
The first (male) doctor I had kept telling me that most patients recovery immediately after surgery, and many even fly home the next day. I would like to go ahead and say that’s not entirely my experience, and that I’m now on day 3 of recovery, and still bloated with discomfort, so I would not recommend flying home the next day at all.
Instead I would recommend just resting for a few days…and maybe avoiding gassy foods! …Not that I have done either of those things, as I am about to leave for brunch and then back to the beach for more volleyball with the cute men of Barcelona!
This officially concludes my journal for freezing my eggs in Barcelona, so I just want to make a list of some key take-away points!
Freezing My Eggs in Barcelona Key Take-Away Points:
That all being said, I am very well aware that freezing some of my eggs doesn’t have the highest chance of actually working, but knowing that I tried, and I got some, has eased A LOT of stress from my mind and body.
I now feel less pressure to lower my intense travel schedule in order to find a man who wants to settle down, and instead can resume waiting to find the right man who can travel with me. After all, if I do have a family, I want it to be the kind that travels all over the world, and I know it’s rare to find a partner who can do that, but at least now I feel like I’ve bought myself more time to find him.
If you have any questions please comment them below! Also if you’d like help planning your trip to Barcelona to do the egg freezing process, and have my friend Jenny accompany you to the procedure, please fill out the form on my main post: How to Freeze Your Eggs in Barcelona as a Foreigner!
…and now, I’m off to Uganda, Rwanda, D.R.Congo, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana!
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Great read! Thank you for being so transparent and sharing info that can help so many women! As a childless 33 yr old woman I definitely relate to the pressure of having kids. Before all my mom would tell me was to make sure I didn’t get pregnant, now all I hear is “you’re getting so old, what are you waiting for to have kids”
You and Jenny WOULD have a beautiful baby though! Really though I’m so excited for your journey and have always admired your ability to connect with others through your writing ❤️ I’m sending good vibes to you in this process! And $1k for “buying more time” is TOTALLY worth it ~IMO
Lmaaaoooo thanks Jannette, I'm sure she'll love to hear that hahah! And yes, buying myself more time and less stress is totally worth it! Next goal: get me one of these sexy Spanish men to be the baby daddy ;P
Your dating stories are hilarious. I spent 3 months living in Barcelona last summer and dating there, so I completely understand what you are dealing with. It's interesting that the men there "fall in love" on the first date. Maybe that's where the latino men get it from (I am also from Miami) haha but I think the latinos in Miami have become more Americanized. It ends up being too much at once. Some of the men in Barcelona were always trying to make last minute plans like "see you in an hour" which is a big no-no in my book. Fortunately, I ended up meeting my boyfriend while he was on vacation in Barcelona. He is from Morocco but lives in Belgium - and let the flame burn gradually :)
Ohhhh I love that love story for you!! And YES I know exactly what you mean! All of the men I've dated recently have mentioned marriage and babies on like date 1 which is why I'm like "BRB gunna go freeze my eggs" haha
Love, love, love that you are sharing this! So interesting and transparent! Two questions which obvs feel free to ignore. Is it true that dating in Spain most people kind of expect sex immediately? (Read that on some blogs about international dating). Also, can you just not use condoms or is that still considered to risky? Like in general, not you specifically.
Most of the guys I've met in Spain have actually not tried to have sex immediately, however I also always make it clear before even meeting that I'm looking for a long term partner and eventually maybe a child. If you're like out partying or using an app, they might expect it but I haven't personally experienced that. Not fully sure what you refer to in the second question, I think you mean "can you use condoms" not "can you not", and I think in regards to during the treatment? The nurses told me in addition to it being a pregnancy risk, it's also dangerous because your ovaries are already very sensitive, as are the enlarged follicles, so sex in general can be dangerous in rupturing something as well!
Hope all goes as you planned. Try not to stress and keep calm.
I got an IUD in Malaga last year and I wish I would have known how easy things are in Spain before that! Thank you for sharing this because I’m considering going back to Spain to freeze eggs too!
You should! It's been an amazing experience so far! I'm on day 7 of 12!
Hey Alyssa! Thank you so much for sharing your journey in such details! It’s been really useful and after doing a lot of research of my own and talking to doctors you’ve helped me settle on Fertilab as well. I’m so glad you’ll be able to freeze your eggs before your next group trip in Africa!
I can’t wait to follow the rest of your eggsicle journey!
Thank you so much Julia!! Not sure if you already did, but if you mention me they will give you an additional discount on your procedure! I'm excited to see how it will go and will continue to update about it on here!
OMG its really interesting story about life planning to have a baby! so anyway i think you still syper young for frizz eggs all my girls in Nyc did it around 45 and they still have ovulation and want real life moment ) so you never know ! but to have a baby it’s probably stop travel
The doctors advise to do it by 35 to preserve the quality, but yes you can definitely still have a baby naturally in your 40's! I hope to one day travel WITH a baby, and not stop traveling, but for the type of travels I do right now, I do not want to bring a baby to, haha!
Funny and insight article; even as a man to read.
It’s crazy how successful you’re business is doing; actually - it’s not because you been manifesting and working hard for years.
Good luck in everything you do !
Haha thanks Clement, always appreciate your support!