This morning was my Day 5 Blastocyst Transfer..it went relatively quick and easy compared to the Egg Retrieval. So to give you a lowdown on how everything went today...
...Firstly, I didn't sleep well at all, ugh! I think it was the excitement and anxiousness I felt since I knew I was going to get my embaby and keep getting paranoid that I'd oversleep and miss my appointment, lol. The progesterone injections are still leaving me w/residual soreness which is really...frustrating as it's not really painful but it's sore...like a bruise...like...someone threw a softball/baseball at me a$$ ...it feels like it'd be black and blue, but there is no sign of anything on my backside...yet the soreness is annoying and with some tips and advice from other IVF ladies, I bought a heating pad today and Gregg and I decided to warm the PIO to help it dispurse more evenly throughout my butt region...lol...so hopefully this along w/the massaging will help relieve it.
...I woke up at about 7:30am...and got showered and ready. Vanessa still doesn't know that I had gone through the IVF procedure YET she does know something is up! She is suspicious but because she doesn't know enough about what any of it is, she doesn't really ask any questions. All we keep telling her is that I'm trying to find out WHY I'm having trouble getting pregnant and she realizes that this has been ongoing in the last 3 years so she gets that I want to get to the root of everything and hopefully find a solution to my infertility.
I know she is very hopeful of me getting pregnant soon and hopefully we will have great news on the 29th after my beta blood test but for now, I will have to keep her in the dark until after the first trimester which would be some time in July....I hope I can hold out that long...OR hopefully I'm not having perpetual morning sickness which I think would be a sure giveaway sign to her as she knows I had 5 months of it when I was pregnant with her...Keepin' my fingers crossed!
My appointment at the center was scheduled for 11AM so I scheduled my PRE-Embryo Transfer Acupuncture w/Lauren at 9AM and we did it at her house. I have to tell you, I LOVE my acupuncturist, am so lucky to have found her and I know we will become great friends! I brought Vanessa along to the session as Lauren has 2 young boys and Vanessa was going to "keep an eye" on them while she treated me. It was quite hysterical as she had me lay in her master bedroom as she treated me and then she laid her son's thin Spider Man blanket over me to keep me warm, lol...I will have to post the pic she took as it just looks so funny to see needles in my head and face as I'm lying beneath this cartoon sheet.
Afterwards, Vanessa and I went home to get Gregg and we dropped Vanessa off to her friend's house for a playdate! Thank goodness as we didn't know how we'd take her there without her catching on to what was going on--thankfully she has a school friend that played here yesterday and so I asked if Vanessa could play today as our tentative plans for Vanessa fell through....The schools are on spring break anyways and I think both girls were equally getting cabin fever playing on their own so it was refreshing for them to be able to play together 2 days in a row.
We got to the center and got situated. John, our Nurse, came to explain to me exactly what was going to take place. He made sure to ask if I had a full bladder for the ultrasound and I had been drinking water for about an hour already and was on the verge of bursting so I had to take a little tinkle to hold myself over. The doctor doing the transfer came to meet me and also explain the grades of my blastocysts and to discuss what our options were in terms of implanting 1 vs. 2 and the pros and cons of each. Gregg and I had already decided that had we had a Day 3 transfer, we would've done 2 embryos and on Day 5, we'd only do one...unless instructed otherwise by the doctors which they completely agreed that doing one would give us the best chances. She explained that all 8 of my blastocysts have developed quite nicely, some better than others...yet none of them have arrested at all which was a very good sign...2 of them were of supreme quality she said and then 4 were at an intermediate blastocysts stage and 2 were at an early blastocyst stage.
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LEFT blastocyst is what we implanted
w/a "3BB" grade. |
Once we agreed to implant the BEST one of the 8, she then informed me it was a "3BB" grade quality and showed me pictures of all 8. It is truly amazing what technology can do and I couldn't help but get a little emotional just seeing the picture of my blastocyst...Embaby Davis! I have to say once I compared them to the many blastocysts pix I've seen online, I am very impressed w/Embaby Davis and am so excited for he/she to implant themselves into my uterus nice and snug like the Nurse said, "between two slices of PB & J, it ain't goin' anywhere!"
After our agreement w/the number of blastocysts we'd transfer, we then signed the consent forms and proceeded w/the transfer. With the assisted ultrasound, the doc prepped me for the transfer...Samantha, one of the embryologist, came in to confirm who I was and that I would be transferring one blastocyst. She brought that specific blastocyst into the room, Doc implanted it and we could see everything on the ultrasound...and then they double checked what they did but checking to ensure that the blastocyst was in and not dragged back out...once confirmed, everything literally was done.
I got the at-home instructions and pretty much am on "bedrest" for 24 hours and then can resume normal activity tomorrow afternoon...and we will do our bloodtest next Friday, April 29th! This is truly so amazing and exciting!!!
Once I got home, I had some lunch and a little bit of down time, but then had to hop in the car and drive over to see Lauren at her office for the AFTER Embryo Transfer Acupuncture appointment and that was so needed cuz I literally fell asleep there...Researchers have shown that acupuncture treatment performed before and after an embryo transfer increases the chances of implantation by at least 35% if not more...so why wouldn't you do it just to help improve your chances? I've already come this far, might as well and it's such a bonus as it's so relaxing and it definitely helped me to wind down from my busy morning.
So now it's a waiting game..we wait....and we will know next week what will be our fate! In any case, I have to keep an open mind and heart and know that whatever the outcome is what is best for me even if it's not what I want or agree with...but I do feel really good about it!
Stay tuned for news and once it's official, then I can move onto blogging about mommyhood and pregnancy which I think will definitely be alot of fun!
Elise_PG_Wannabe
