49 Shots + 5 Ultrasounds = Egg Retrieval Eve

Ladies and gentleman we have made it!! I feel bruised, bloated, emotionally unstable and have a serious case of general malaise. I have come to one conclusion, IVF is not for wusses!!! We've become champs at the HMG injections/ultrasound/IUI routine, but IVF is an entirely different beast all together! You can see by the pic (please excuse the bloating, I have a lot of follicles growing) a glimpse of how intense it has been.
This being said, however, we went back to Chatt on Monday for another ultrasound. Although the follicles grew, we were still at an "iffy" phase for follicle size. Some were large enough, but a few were lagging behind. So we left Chatt Monday feeling befuddled. We were again waiting for the phone call regarding my labs before we knew if we'd have to undergo another round of stim injections or move on to the trigger shot. Who knew so much could be riding on an Estrodiol level??
I have been quite tired lately (is this a normal side effect of all the drugs/growing all these eggs??) so I dozed on and off on the couch after I dropped C off at work. I don't know his boss, but I'd like to hug him for being so understanding with all of these appts. It's a blessing to have him by my side and not forced to face the barrage of appointments alone. Finally, the phone rang and it turns out my Estrodiol was over 4000 so we were indeed ready to trigger. We shot up with the HCG injection (our 49th and final injection of this cycle) at precisely 10 pm.
I've been cleaning, doing laundry and gave the dog a bath just to occupy my mind because I can't believe I'm going to have an egg retrieval tomorrow! Ah! I went in for a deep tissue massage today to prep for tomorrow. If this lady wasn't utterly amazing with her hands I may have puked on her (I was feeling nauseous all morning). Here's a small interaction at the beginning of the massage:
Masseuse: Any areas you want me to avoid?
Me: Yes, my abdomen. I've been going through IVF so it's quite sore from injections.
Masseuse: Does that have anything to do with fertility?
Me: It sure does. Told her what it stood for.
Masseuse: You're back is full of knots! No wonder why you're having problems getting pregnant. It's so important for people to relax while trying to have kids. It happened to my sister; after 6 years of trying they gave up and then she got pregant!
Me: Rolling my eyes through the little face pillow and thinking you're lucky this feels so damn good, Peaches.
Normally this kind of interaction would bother me, but I felt so relaxed and calm I let it roll right off my back with the rest of my stress. She was a young thing, probably only 20 years old and she had no idea what she was saying. She did inform me my back was so knotted that I should really consider getting massages at least once a month. If she had any clue what I have been through, she may know just why my back was so knotted. Amazing massage minus Peaches ignorant comment.
So for the first time in 3 weeks we're not doing any shots today! What a rush! Nothing to eat or drink tonight after midnight for me. Tomorrow morning we're rushing off to Chattanooga at 8:15 for the retrieval. I'm apprehensive about the retrieval. I'm worried about Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome, a needle possibly going through my abdomen (talked this over with the RE yesterday and feeling slightly better about it) and the general risk of dying (after all Michael Jackson died from Propofol so it could happen to me).
Wish us luck, say a prayer or keep us in your thoughts tomorrow please! It's going to be an intense day for both of us.
Until you hear from me again, Happy Egg Retrieval Eve!!