I shared this experience on Facebook and thought it was worthy of sharing with you all too. Here goes.

So... OHSS. A few friends have asked me recently what the deal is with the fact that I'm *still* recovering from my last bout of IVF. They've been kind and curious, and I don't mind the questions. But here's what's up.

OHSS (ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome) means my ovaries got too stimulated from the IVF drugs. As I understand it, this caused some of my ovarian capillaries to begin leaking fluid into my abdominal cavity after my retrieval procedure (5 weeks ago). I was instructed to drink loads of electrolyte fluids each day, but I was barely peeing -- because all of that fluid was going into my belly (which you can see in these insane photos). My belly was painfully distended.

It causes shortness of breath, I ran a 100+ fever for a couple of days, I was nauseous, and I had bad headaches. Not to mention being ridiculously uncomfortable because I felt like I'd swallowed a beach ball right after undergoing my IVF procedure (and thus already being sore).

It took 2 weeks for this swelling to subside. I keep thinking I'm feeling "back to normal," but the fact of the matter is that > a month of inactivity (my ovaries were HUGE and they were worried about torsion), I'm exhausted, stiff, and still not feeling like myself. My hormones are still haywire, and I'm still getting lots of other symptoms from doing 3 rounds of IVF in just 5 months.

I've had to cancel lots of plans lately, sleep more than usual, and take some pain meds. But I'm good, happy, and healthy. And this is all a reminder of how strong my body is -- it tolerated >100 needles, dozens of vaginal ultrasounds, 3 procedures under anesthesia, and tons of medical intervention. A few years ago, I wouldn't have believed myself capable of this. So if I need to cancel brunch, and a workout, and a few other plans, I need some gentle reminders from y'all that it's OK. Because I did this!

I love you all. Thank you for the support.