Delayed Transfer + Post-Transfer Update (OOPS!)

I have been really bad about daily updates. That was one of the reasons I wanted to blog about our journey. I’ve just been exhausted. I can’t summon enough brain power to blog or do anything. I will do some reflecting later on.

I last left off on Friday, which was when we got our embryo update. Saturday and Sunday weren’t anything exciting. I did exactly what I had been doing—sitting my fat ass in the recliner and moving as little as possible. I felt okay, just tired and crampy still. I’ve had a little nausea. I started taking my Metformin again, and when that starts…nothing comes out solid….yea. Super fun. I yelled at Austin on Sunday…yay hormones.

Transfer Day

Monday was our Day 5 transfer day! We were so excited! I had to go in with a full bladder (the nurse said “emphasis on the full bladder” when scheduling). I slept in, we ate a little, and then we were off to OKC. I had to insert a vaginal progesterone pill 2 hours before the transfer. I assumed we would be in a regular exam room, just like the IUIs, but we were taken into the egg retrieval room (which I remembered NOTHING about). **started this post on Thursday, but this was where I left off** So while the process was similar to an IUI, it was much more precise and slower. I waited on the exam bed until the doctor to come. I also saw the embryologist. He gave us the picture of our little embryo and told us that it was graded as 4AA (which is considered excellent, we Googled later). He told us there were 2 that they would try to freeze tomorrow and a few more they were watching. The doctor explained every thing that he did (touching my leg, entering the spectrum, etc). He did a mock transfer to make sure the catheter went in correctly and where he wanted. Then, cleaned the cervix with the same fluid the embryo was in. Then, he put the embryo where he wanted and took the catheter out. They too it to the lab to ensure the embryo didn’t get stuck in there or something. We were given post directions, and I was told to get up. I guess research has shown with transfers its better to get up immediately after than to lie there for a while. While we were there, we had the nurses check where Austin has been doing the shots and draw circles in Sharpie where he could do them. Then, we left!

There is a superstition about eating McDonalds fries after transfer in the TTC community, so we got some on the way home. When we got home, I went to the bathroom. I had been feeling nauseous so I was hoping that would help. While Austin was in there, I got extremely nauseous and ran to throw up. We have one bathroom, so I had to do it in the sink. So yummy. As I was throwing up, Austin held my hair. Then he cleaned up my vomit. He’s the best! After that, I still felt nauseous but better. The rest of the day, I ate salt in crackers and drank Powerade. I actually started craving soup. I hate soup. HATE. I only eat it when I’m really, really sick. So it was super strange that I was craving it. Since I was feeling so sick still later that night, I decided not to go to work the next day.

One thing the nurse said, that I loved, was…now, whatever is supposed to happen will happen. There’s nothing that we can or can’t do at this point that will help or hurt our chances. There are some restrictions, but they are mostly to help with our minds. We go back on the 13th for our blood pregnancy test.

Day After Transfer

I totally forgot that the clinic would be calling us to update us on the freezing. So I was unprepared with writing utensils and my recorder. Luckily, I had the IVF planner next to me. They were able to freeze FOUR embryos!!!!! I was SHOCKED. They were graded 3BB, 4BB, 4BB, and 4BC. We are so excited!! Hopefully, we won’t have to use them, but we have some great ones if we do. Our doctor told us that a successful cycle would be transfer one and freeze 1-2.

This day (Tuesday) and Wednesday I stayed home from work. On Tuesday night, Austin was working late, so I had to give myself the progesterone shot. This was tragic. I have a video to show you how horrible I was at this. Makes me so much more grateful for Austin! There are 2 more nights I will have to do these myself, and I am NOT excited! But it brings us closer to holding baby A, so I’ll deal!

Post-Transfer Wait…

This has probably been the hardest. I think this is why it’s been hard to motivate myself to blog. I’m really not sure. This TWW (two-week wait) is different. It’s shorter. I’m still struggling with my mentality through everything. Of course, I’m trying to stay positive and hope for the best. I’m also recovering from surgery and getting nightly shots of hormones. The progesterone itself has the same side effects of early pregnancy symptoms, which doesn’t help. With IVF, this time is different. That’s what I keep telling myself. It’s a bit terrifying because the one part science doesn’t control is the stage we are in—the embryo implanting & continuing to grow. After all of the action of the last several weeks, being in this waiting period makes it feel even stranger. It’s actually gone by very quickly. I only worked 2 days last week and the weekend is over! We have 4 more sleeps until test day. We are working on our plan for that day—positive or negative result. They will take my blood at the appointment, and then call when they get the results. They usually do all of their labs in the afternoon. Austin and I have taken off so we can be together all day.

During this wait, I’m going to try to blog some and process through things. Comment and let me know if you have any questions, want to know anything, want more details on anything, etc!