Embryo Transfer

IVF Cycle Day 54 : Poke Count:82

Today was the day! The day we had been anxiously anticipating for so long! Today we went in for our embryo transfer.

Sexy hospital gown selfie!

Last night was far from restful. I had a dream that they thawed all of our embryos, only one of them survived and I didn't even get pregnant. I woke up at around 3:00 this morning and I don't think I ever truly went back to sleep. I would nod off and then wake right back up again. Finally around 7:30, I decided to just get out of bed for the day. I woke Brian up at 8:00 to do my Progesterone shot and took my Valium & Estrogen at 8:15AM. We had to be at The Fertility Center at 9:15AM and the embryo transfer was scheduled for 9:45AM.

They took us right back to get changed into our gowns and went over a paper of instructions for the rest of the day. Within 5 minutes we were headed to the procedure room. They confirmed my name and date of birth and then had me confirm that we would be transferring one embryo. Dr. S let us know that they only had to thaw one embryo and they still have 3 healthy embryos frozen for future transfers! They even handed us a picture of our embryo that we got to see! It had just been thawed so the edges are pretty rough. She said as moisture continues to enter the embryo, the edges will even out.

I layed there for a minute just looking at the picture and waiting for everything to get started. Out of nowhere Brian started laughing and singing along with the music they had playing in the procedure room....Marvin Gaye's "Lets get it on". Appropriate for an embryo transfer, I think! The nurse started laughing along with him and soon we were all giggling like idiots. After only a few moments it was go time!

The nurse used an ultrasound to look at my uterus while Dr. S threaded a catheter through my cervix. Dr. S told the embryologist she was ready for the embryo and they brought it in from the lab right next door. Dr. S had us look at the monitor on the ultrasound and we saw a little white flash where the embryo was pushed out of the catheter. Dr. S said the embryo will implant into the lining of my uterus over the next few days. Then she took the catheter out and it was all over. It all happened so fast! We went to change back into our clothes and I actually asked the front desk receptionist "So, we can just go? That's it?" I expected to have to lay there for a while before we could leave. I guess I thought the embryo would fall out or something! We wound up walking out the door at 9:42AM, that's 3 minutes prior to our scheduled procedure time!

We spent most of the day at home.  Around 1PM, I got restless so we went out to grab some lunch. I was still feeling a little "off" from the Valium this morning so I layed back down when we got home. We have had so many people reach out today to let us know we are in their thoughts and prayers. We appreciate it all so so so much! The next 10 days are going to be absolute torture waiting for the blood test!

-Emily

IVF Cycle - Day 34

Day 34: October 12 Poke Count: 62

I have been taking the Lupron Injections for almost 2 weeks now and so far I haven't noticed any side effects. This has been a nice change from the Menopur and Gonal - F. Other than the results of the embryo biopsy, there has been almost nothing going on with our IVF Cycle. Just the injections and a whole lot of waiting around.

There has been one big decision weighing on us since we got the results of the embryo biopsy; "how many embryos do we transfer?!" Since we started this whole process, we have gone back and forth between one embryo or two. In the back of our minds the plan has always been 2. We would be thrilled with twins and it would give us a small increased chance in conceiving. We started questioning our decision to transfer 2 embryos when we got the news that we only have 4 healthy embryo's.

I spoke with our nurse, Ashley, on Monday and she thinks we should start with one embryo. If I do not get pregnant the first time, this would leave us with 3 healthy embryos. This would also decrease the chances of me becoming pregnant with twins. While Twins would be a welcomed blessing, multiple pregnancies come with additional risks for the mother and the babies, There has been an increased number of IVF patients who are choosing elective single embryo transfer (ESET) in recent years. ESET has shown a decrease in multiple births, but has not shown a decrease in live birth rates. My young age and relatively healthy body give me a higher chance of becoming pregnant, so my doctor and nurse think one embryo will be enough for me to become pregnant.

The doctors can give us guidance in how many embryos to transfer, but ultimately it is our decision and we have no idea what we want to do. We have the doctors advising us to transfer one and everyone else telling us we should transfer 2. Everyone wants us to have twins! I am praying for guidance and confidence in whatever decision we make. At this very moment I am leaning towards 1, but that could all change in about 20 minutes.

I started taking estrogen pills today. I will stay on the estrogen for 21 days before the embryo transfer. I have an ultrasound on October 24th and we will need to let them know our decision on the embryo's at that time. That leaves us 12 more days to change our minds over and over again.

-Emily