The egg retrieval itself doesn't hurt, as you're put under anesthesia. The post-egg retrieval is painful, but not in the oh-my-gosh-I-cut-my-finger-open-way. My retrievals left me feeling like my lady parts were on fire --- but I also didn't take the good doctor up on the Vicodin I was prescribed. I coped by coming home and sleeping for a good couple of hours each time and then laying in bed the rest of the day. I consider myself to have a pretty low threshold for pain, but the pain of the retrieval was manageable. I hope that helps. Good luck with your retrieval! Make the hubby wait on you hand and foot :)

The retrieval was the worst part, but that's not saying much because the rest was SUPER easy. You are under, so the procedure is easy, when you come out they already have you on meds or will give you some. I didn't take them because I felt good, but on the way home I felt some pain. I took vicodin and then switched extra strength Tylenol and felt much better. It only lasted the day and the next day I felt much better. It's not too bad, but you do want to just watch TV for the day.

Thanks ladies...just a bit worried as over here, they don't put you under a general anaesthetic. Usually the females are sedated, however my friend was with it enough to follow the whole procedure on the monitor (she is an ulatrasound tech so knows what she is looking at)..she said it was pretty painful.was that your ladies experience??..it just freaks me out!

They don't put you under?!?!?!?! I'm sorry ... that probably didn't help. I was fully anesthetized for my procedure, so I don't remember anything between when the told me to count backwards from 10 and when I woke up to the nurse taking my vitals.

Is there a reason why they don't put you under? You might explain to your doctor that you have a low pain threshold and are worried how you'll respond during the procedure. They might be able to make a special case for you.

I agree, I would ask. Maybe they don't put you fully under, but give you something lighter? I have heard that is kind of common. Maybe your friend didn't have enough or something. You should be fine, I would expect that they take care of you. Pain for you, means a harder retrieval for them. They don't want you moving around.

I wasn't put under because the IVF clinic doesn't staff an anesthesiologist full time. To bring one in would have been an additional $1,000. We weighed the cost difference and decided that I could try to handle it. I had two retrievals with minimal IV pain meds and Versaid. I'm not going to lie, it hurts but it wasn't the most painful thing I have experienced. My miscarriage and post laparoscopy pain were worse. But you look at that embryo picture and it's over sooner than you know it. I cried silently while the procedure happened from the pain and my husband wiped my tears and held my hand. And you rember most of it but the Versaid will help you forget some.
You'll do great and I hope everything goes good for you.
Hugs!

I wasn't put under either just sedated, so you don't really remember the pain. I remember the ceiling sort of swimming around and hating that, then I remember letting out a little growl from the pain and they pumped more sedative in to fix it, then I just remember wishing they had just let me cope with the pain because the sedative made me so sick!!! I hate drugs though, hate that feeling of being out of it!! obviously it helped a hell of a lot though because although I remember it hurting I cant really remember the pain clearly but I do remember the whole experience