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    Embryo transfer: Check!

    December 12th, 2007

    I think I slept the worst last night than I had in a long time. I fell asleep past 1am, woke up right at 6am and had dreams about spiders that made me wave my hands around my head. I freaked out poor Neko (our kitty) who was cuddled up next to me.

    I was just as nervous, if not worse, about the day 3 report than the first day call. At this stage there are 3 ways this call can go:

    1. “Sorry, none of them made it”,
    2. “Yep, we’ve got just enough, come in today”, or
    3. “Your embryos are rock stars and really like partying out in our Petri dish. Come get them on day 5!”

    Obviously the last call is the best, but I wanted anything except call #1.

    …BUT the report was good. This morning at 8am all 5 embryos were still around and kicking. 2 made it to the 8 cell stage, 2 to the 5 cell stage, and 1 to the 6 cell stage. We were to report to transfer at 11:00am. As Hubs and I were getting dressed we thought, “How do you only get 5 cells?” Well it turns out that although cells continue to divide, not all do it at the exact same time. Apparently, embryo cells, much like the humans they could develop into, like to move at their own developmental pace.

    The protocol for an embryo transfer involves drinking tons of water an hour before the procedure and showing up with a full bladder. The full bladder is important because it straightens the cervix to make the guiding the catheter (where the embryos are) easier. Yep, nothing feels better than a nurse pressing down on your belly to verify if it’s full enough when you’re ready to spring a leak 🙂
    I also took some Diazepam. This is an optional step, but I decided to take for no other reason then I was a nervous wreck sitting around in the waiting room and ready to hurl.

    Once my bladder was confirmed to be sufficiently plump, our Doctor came in to review the results and go over our final decision on how many embryos to put in. Turns out our little 6 cell guy, also turned into an 8 cell embryo in the span of 3 hours. I’m excited! Hopefully the remaining ones will keep growing and we’ll have something to freeze.
    Also of the two that were already 8 cells, one had started to compact. This is actually a good thing because it shows that it’s going for the next stage of development.

    By the time our Doc was telling us all this, I was sufficiently loopy on my meds. It’s kinda like hearing interesting news when you’re just at the right amount of buzzed.

    We agreed to transfer two embryos back. We chose the two that were at the 8 cell stage in the morning. I’ve always wanted twins, so the possibility of both developing is actually exciting to me. Also, given the lining of my uterus and the early stage of transfer they doctor also suggested two.

    So here are the ones we put back. This picture is of OUR embryos.

    Our embies

    If we’re lucky, some day I’ll be showing-off a baby book to my kids’ Date and going “And here s/he is only at 8 cells big!” Then I’ll show all the nude sitting on the potty pics 🙂

    The catheter going in was really painless. I was expecting another balloon inflation, but luckily there was none of that. It was also wonderful that Hubs was in the room with me the whole time. He held my hand.

    Here is when we wait… again. It won’t be until late December that we find out if we’re pregnant or not. I have purged myself of all home pregnancy tests so that I’m not temped to pee on a stick daily. Also Hubs and I have agreed that when the clinic takes my blood tests they’ll call HIM with the results. I’ve decided that this way if the news is bad there’s no one else I’d rather hear it from than him (and also get a chance to sob in the privacy of my own home rather than work). However if the news is good, then he gets to experience a “first” for a change.

    So that’s where we are. Oh, the new chant is now “Implant! Implant!”

    Oh, before I forget: I heard the cutest thing from my nephew this week. I don’t know what how much he knows or what he’s overheard so far, but at he busts out with “Aunt Ava laid 8 eggs the other day!”. Yeah, I wonder what image he had in HIS head 🙂 From the mouths of babes….. but it’s adorabe!!! I love it!!!