Transfer day

We showed up at the RE's office this morning for our 8:30am transfer still not knowing if we would actually get to transfer today. Let me tell you, holding your pee from the night before is not fun. I forbid my loving husband from drinking any of his water, I figure if I have to suffer than he can thirst to death for about 30 mins. So the RE takes us to his office and I am feeling pretty lucky at this point, based on the news yesterday. Alas disappointment was waiting. One of our 7 embryos was no longer dividing so that left us with 6, then he proceeds to tell us that 2 more embryos had slow cleavage and were probably not going to divide, so now we were down to 4 embryos and one of them he is not so sure about, it seems to be a little wonky. So we are left with 3 embryos, but he says they are dividing nicely and were very good quality. We had all agreed we would transfer no more than 2 embryos as more than 2 babies was not a risk we were willing to take. After listening to our RE and all his wisdom we agreed with him that our best chance of pregnancy was to transfer those 3 good embryos today. He honestly felt that it was not irresponsible to do so given my age and the low rate of achievable pregnancies for woman in my situation. It was almost a relief, yet disappointing at the same time. The Embryologist will keep an eye on the other 4 embryos in culture for the next 2 - 3 days to determine if they might possibly redeem themselves for cryo, stranger things have happened.
At this point its time to get this show on the road. Hubby gets to sit in the waiting room with my purse and I am taken back to the same pre-op/recovery-room from the day of retrieval where I am instructed to strip once again...oooo but I get to keep my bra on this time. After I change I am led into the OR room again but this time I have to get on the table with my butt hanging off of a wedge shaped pillow. It is placed at the foot of the bed and I scoot to the very end so my butt is up in the air and my feet are resting on the end rails of the bed and my head rests on a flat pillow....get the picture, not exactly the most comfortable position to be in. In the meantime I had a great nurse who talked me through the procedure right along with my RE. He always makes sure I understand what it is going on. So with a full bladder they press on my belly with the ultra-sound wand to make sure my full bladder is out of the way so he can see my uterus. He takes a quick peek to make sure my ovaries are fine, and they are. The nurse really likes me, I get the warm gel and the warm speculum...yep you have to be special to get one of those. I hate to have my cervix messed with so the next part, the part where he uses King Kong q-tips to clean the cervical mucus out of the way was my least favorite part of the procedure. It seems the cervical mucus can get in the way and cause the flexible tube they use to get hung up. Finally after what seemed like forever but was probably no more than 10 mins from the time I walked into the OR my wonderful embryos were brought in and were transferred into my hopefully sticky uterus. The process of the transfer only took about 60 seconds and I didn't even feel the tube and there was no pain involved. I asked the RE to hang a "Home Sweet Home" sign in there so that my embryos might feel more welcome and want to stick around....LOL The embryologist then checked the tube to make sure my embryos were in fact no longer in the tube. My bed was wheeled into the recovery area with my butt still in the air but now covered by a blanket. I was instructed to try and stay in that position for at least 20 mins but an hour if I could manage it without peeing myself. I was able to read my book and the RE was nice enough to let hubby come back and sit with me as long as he wore a pretty cap and some booties. I was afraid I wouldn't last 20 mins I had to pee so bad, but our nurse came back to hang as we were the only patients and she had locked up the front office. The RE checked on me 2 more times before he left and we hung out with our nurse. She was great, she and her husband are going through their own trial with infertility, hubby and I really felt for them as she told their story. Sometimes I don't feel I really belong to that club of infertile woman, I mean I have two beautiful children already. As the RE said numerous times, if I was 10 yrs younger I would not be in his office, I would not need his help. I have age related secondary infertility and sometimes I feel very selfish for wanting one more child. It's not just for me, its for hubby too. We learned the almost all the people that work in the office are or have been patients of my RE, so they all know what it is like to battle infertility and all the physical and emotional ups & downs that go along with it. Anyway, I made it an hour, time actually flew by. I was finally able to pee and was assured that the embryos would not fall out. With instructions to stay off my feet we headed home where I stayed in bed and napped on and off all day. Every commercial, show, website I happen upon is about pregnancy, and multiples, not sure what it means if anything, probably nothing. I am sure I am just extra sensitive right now. We are to continue my PIO shots nightly until a positive pregnancy test or until advised to stop. I took my last dose of the antibiotic this morning. We are scheduled for a pregnancy test on Feb 7th so hopefully we will get positive news at that point. Our chances aren't great, they aren't bad. Its in God's hands now. So for now I lay my hand on my abdomen and say a prayer for sticky eggs and a sticky uterus.

Retrieval Day

After very little sleep last night we awoke bright and early and made our way to the RE's office. In spite of the traffic we arrived on time and ready to go. Surprisingly enough I was not nervous, maybe a little anxious, but not nervous. I was at the "let's get this over with" stage. I had to fill out some paperwork for the Anesthesiologist and then they took me back, while hubby got to sit in the waiting room with my beloved jewelery in one pocket and his special reading material in his secret pocket. This special reading material was to be used to encourage him to make his deposit for our IVF. I understand he was successful. As for me, they took me back to a pre-op room where was shown a bathroom with lockers for my clothes and given a gown, socks and a lovely lunch-lady hat. After changing the nurse, who by the way was super sweet, started my IV. I have always had them in my hands but they prefer to put them in the arm, actually in the crook of my arm. At first it was uncomfortable but once they flushed it and started the saline I was fine. After a brief discussion with the Anesthesiologist I walked into the OR suite. That was a little weird. I have only had a few surgeries, but each time I was given a sedative first and then wheeled into the room. So anyway I hop on the table, lay down and they proceed to get me set up, strap my arms down (didn't freak me out) and check to see if my legs in the stirrups were comfortable (they kept me covered as it was cold in the room). I started to feel a little woozy and asked if the Anesthesiologist had given me something, I remember his response of yes and that was it for me. I was out, or at least I think I was. I recall hearing a woman screaming and was grateful to learn later it was not me. I awoke fully a little later to the sounds of the same woman moaning. Nurse checked on me repeatedly and told me that while groggy I offered to sing for them but didn't...LOL. I really felt fine at that point, just sleepy. After I assume an hour or so had passed I was allowed to dress and was taken to the exit where hubby was waiting with our van. He had already received my post-op instructions so we were on our way home. I was soooo thirsty so we stopped and got me a drink and some hashbrown cakes. I made some calls to my Mom and son to let them know I was ok. We made it home with no nausea for me. I got changed and took some Tylenol and watched tv for about 30 mins. After that the effects of the anesthesia that still lingered told me it was time to sleep again. I did use a heating pad for my lower abdomen and lower back, alternating between the two. After sleep much of the day and evening I was able to do my son's homeschool stuff for the next day and eat dinner. I was only able to take one dose of the Doxicycline today as I was told to wait till I knew I could keep it down. At this point (12:28pm) I am still having mild to medium cramping and lower back pain. I took some Tylenol PM for pain and to help me sleep. I am supposed to work tomorrow, it's a desk job. Fortunately hubby is the boss so it's up to me if I go in.

Ohhh, I almost forgot the most important part. I was told the other day that we had 12 - 15 follicles which made me feel pretty good. Anyway after procedure and on the way home I tell hubby that no one told me how many eggs were collected. He tells me that RE informed him that they collected 7 eggs.......yep that's it. RE is not sure how many are mature. We never found out exactly how many follicles I had, but if the initial count was correct then almost half of my follicles were empty. How depressing is that. The RE told my hubby I was showing my age at this point. I was too groggy to be disappointed this morning but early this evening I had a minor crying jag with hubby on the phone (he was picking up dinner and kids). Hubby said he feels good about this cycle. And he reminded me that we have enough for 3 -4 transfers and that it only takes one egg, but 7 and that is before we know if they are any good. Although the office called today to ask about the Follistim we were trading in exchange for cryo. So maybe that means we have enough for that option. I know, I know, it only takes one and we really only want one. I just feel weepy, probably due to all the meds, the anesthesia, and a little disappointment at only having 7 eggs. We are supposed to get a call from the office on Sat. to let us know when transfer is, but hubby was told it would probably be Sun.
So there we have it.....7 eggs as of today.