The morning of the egg retrieval I put on my knee socks with the orange skulls on the top and S and I giddily rolled up to the RE’s at the crack of dawn.  After all, we’d never made it this far before and we had at least 3, maybe 4 follies to work with – a fighting chance!  After some shenanigans with trying to get the IV in (one thing I’ve learned from this IVF crap is that I have tiny veins that like to roll around and are prone to collapse) they wheeled me in to the operating room. I remember saying as the meds hit my system “Ahh, this is like having a margarita after all this time of no alcohol” and the next thing I remember is S stroking my hair and telling me that they got 2 eggs.  2?  What about 3?  Or even 4? I’ve read those stories on other blogs where they saw 3 follies and they managed to get 7 eggs! Why only 2? But ok, 2 > 0 .  Be positive.  We’re still in the game.

We went home and I spent the day in bed feeling huge and bloated and uncomfortable. S took excellent care of me, bringing in soup and juice, checking in on me, helping me to the bathroom. We were both on tenterhooks though – only 2? What if neither fertilizes?  What if neither grows?

We got the call next day – 1 had failed to fertilize, the other was doing fine. We’re to come in for the transfer tomorrow.  What? I thought the options were 3 day transfer or 5 day transfer. The nurse explained that they keep the embryos in the lab more days to see how well they grow, and then they put back the highest quality ones. Since we only had 1, we may as well put it into its natural environment ASAP. Of course I immediate consulted Dr. Google for the next 3 hours about 2 day transfers. It’s a mixed bag.

Anyway, we go in for the transfer and this time my step-daughter was in town so she’s with us. She doesn’t know whats going on – we told her my tummy was broken and the doctors were working on it to make it better. She immediately laid down on the hospital bed next to mine and started clutching her tummy and saying hers was broken too, could the doctors fix her too?  S and DD left and the embryologist came out and told me that my 1 lonely egg looked great – it was a 5 cell (usually they expect them to be between 2-4 cells – overachiever here?  That seems appropriate). I took my Valium (they say it’s to relax the uterus, I suspect it’s to calm frantic patients) and my RE wheeled me in to the OR. She asked what type of music I’d like, classical maybe? Spa? I asked if she could put on the Grateful Dead. She did, bless her, and she did the transfer to “Fire on the Mountain”.  I always kinda assumed? feared? suspected? I would get pregnant to the GD, so I was pleased as punch. The transfer wasn’t much to speak of – the cold speculum goes in and then they run a catheter up your cervix into your uterus and push the little sucker in. Viola, PUPO (pregnant until proven otherwise). Then another day of bedrest. And so begins the 2WW.