Tag Archives: egg transfer

Embryo Transfer

26 Tuesday Nov 2013

Posted by in 2WW, Diminished Ovarian Reserve (DOR), Donor Eggs, Infertility and step-kids, IVF, Results

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Yesterday I had my embryo transfer and it went better than I could have possibly imagined!

My step-daughter is in town so she and DH dropped me off at the clinic and went GeoCaching. It sucks that he wasn’t there for the transfer but it would have been really boring for her, and we don’t want to tell her what’s going on. Right now we just say that I have something wrong with my tummy, it doesn’t work quite right, and the doctors are trying to fix it.

Anyway, I got my acupuncture (the needles in the ears hurt like a mofo!!) and then they sent me into the operating room and sat me in that weird “hang upside down by your feet with your legs spread” contraption. As I was getting settled the doctor said,

Dr: “I have some good news, but we have to talk. 5 of your 6 embryos made it blastocysts (!!!), and 2 of them are perfect 5AA blasts. You and S had mentioned that you want to transfer 2. I need to warn you that these embryos are of excellent quality, and if you transfer 2 you have a very good chance of getting pregnant with twins. A good chance like 55%. Is that still what you’d like to do?”

Me: …..Valium stare…..

Dr: “I would advise that you transfer 1, but I understand if you want to transfer 2. But I need to know that you understand the risks that we previously discussed.”

Me: “2. Yes. We want 2. The path of least regret for us is 2.”

Dr. “Ok.2 it is.”

Then the embryologist comes out and tells me that in addition to the 2 perfect little guys who are already hatching and are going into the oven today we also have 2 4BB embryos and an early blast that they think will progress nicely and be frozen along with its siblings. So, 2 go in and 3 go on ice!!

My bladder wasn’t quite full enough (easy for them to say) so the transfer took a while, but I finally saw the 2 little dots of light on the ultrasound go into my uterus and settle in. I can tell you as a fact that I once worried that I wouldn’t feel like donor eggs would be mine – that the children wouldn’t feel like mine – but I felt every bit as protective and excited about those little dots of light as I did when they were from my own eggs. The only difference is that this was tinged with an almost overwhelming gratitude for our donor, who made this possible. If anything, it added to the feeling of wonder.

They wheeled me out and then I had more acupuncture (ouchie ears!!!) and then home for a Valium induced sleep.

I am still tired today, and my stomach is upset from the antibiotics and all the other meds, but I am over the moon!! 2 in the oven and 2-3 as a back up!! Better than I could have ever expected! I’ve included a photo below of our 2 5AA hatching blasts. Sorry for the quality – it’s a phone picture of print out so whaddyagonnado?

 

Our 5AA hatching blastocysts, currently in the oven.

Our 5AA hatching blastocysts, currently in the oven.

Because I’m a POAS addict, and because we have a back-up plan and because I live right next to a Dollar Store I’ve decided to start testing on my own pretty early, probably 3dp5dt, PM. I feel like with hatching blasts people usually get a BFP (if they’re going to get it) starting around 5-6dp5dt.  In the meantime, I’m just going to try to relax and stay off the internet (yeah, right).

*On a different note – we’ve filed an emergency custody order to get my step-daughter away from her pregnant druggy mom who (3 days ago) threatened suicide, again. We have her for the whole week of Thanksgiving so it’s likely she just won’t go home again (of course, her mother is currently homeless so she doesn’t actually have a home to go back to). We could go from 0 kids to 3 kids in 3 weeks! Wouldn’t that be something.

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Egg retrieval and transfer

07 Sunday Oct 2012

Posted by in IVF

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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.