Home from Transfer

Well, we are home from the transfer. Everything went pretty smoothly, which for us is a miracle in and of itself. Get prepared, this is kind of a long blog.

We started driving up there at 7am. The roads were horrible, we had this blizzard the night before and the roads were soooo slick. We were running late and I was stressing a little about missing the whole thing. Debbie, one of the nurses called me at 8:55 and asked how close we were. I told her we were still about a half hour away and she said that was perfect. That I should start drinking my 32 ounces of water at 9 and have it completely finished at 9:15am. We would proceed with the transfer when we got there at 9:30. I guzzled my water and surprisingly didn't feel full or uncomfortable from the full bladder, which was nice.

We got there at 9:30, I had to really go to the bathroom at this point, but still not really too uncomfortable. My nurse comes into our exam room and checks blood pressure, pulse, etc. Everything was fine and she said the dr. would be in momentarily. We waited for what seemed like forever - at this point I had changed into my little smock, robe, sticky backed socks, and lovely blue hair net thingy.

The doctor finally came in and had our little picture of the embryos that he was planning to transfer. 3 little embryos......

That's right people - we transferred back 3!

My dr. said that they thawed (and I am using the word thawed because when I explained this to my sister, I used the term defrosted and she thought while funny, maybe sounded a little weird).
Anywho, there were 3 embryos in that straw and all of them thawed beautifully. They were all 3 high quality, grade 1 AA or 1 1 A or whatever the best grading is. The dr. said they were really great quality, he was excited that they looked so great. Then he started to leave....Um, wait a minute there doc. I quickly asked him how many of the 3 he planned to transfer back (he hadn't mentioned it yet), he looked at me and smiled and said, "well all 3, of course", as if putting 3 beings back in my body should have been a normal daily occurrence or something.

Bobby and I sat stunned for a moment, then I double checked about the 3 embryos. The dr. said that a frozen transfer has a slightly lower chance of success and since they thawed 3 and all 3 looked great, they wanted to transfer all back and not waste one. Plus he had seen some "rocky terrain" in my uterus the day before at my ultrasound which meant that I did indeed need 3 to hopefully have the chance at one. We smiled and said, ok. What else can you do?

So a couple of minutes later, they came and got me and sent Bobby to waiting room. They took my back to the little operating room and had me lay on the table for an ultrasound. They needed to check to see how full my bladder was and if it was pushing my uterus into the proper position. Well my bladder was overfull. So they sent me to the bathroom with the little plastic keg cup and told me to fill it once, dump it, fill it again, dump it and come back. So I did...don't try it at home - it is not fun to start and stop that many times when you really got to go.

I went back in, they did another ultrasound, still too full. They told me to fill the cup twice again. Ugh! Back I go to the bathroom. The remarks about how I have a huge bladder and I'm a rock star for holding that much liquid didn't help, but did make me think it must be from those days at the U of I :-) I get back for yet another ultrasound and....still too full. Are you freakin kidding me!?! This time she draws a line on the cup. I am to fill the cup to the line, and then stop. That should be good, she says. Easy for you to say...so off I go for yet another bathroom visit. I get back and this time, we are good to go. Hallelujah!

They put my legs in the large leg stirrups, hit the overhead lights, and turned on the va-j-j spotlight. They tell me to look at the monitor on my left (I am familiar with this procedure since we've done this once before, but still it was nice to be reminded of what to do). On the monitor on the left they show me my name on this petri dish and in the dish, forming a perfect triangle, were my little embryos. They verified that it was indeed me, and those were indeed my embryos (don't want to put the wrong item back on the shelf, if you know what I mean.)

So I wait while the the dr. cleans everything "down there" and prepares my body for the transfer. I see on the monitor that the embryologist is sucking the embryos into this large needle, and then I look at the door and in walks the embryologist with said needle. He hands the needle to the dr., who puts the needle in the catheter. Now I am instructed to watch the monitor on my right (this is the ultrasound monitor). I am about to witness the embryos being put into my uterus. I see the end of the needle come up on the monitor and then I see this gush of liquid being pushed into my squished down uterus. That's it. They are in there.

After the procedure, they have me lay in the recovery room for 20 minutes. Bobby came in and we tried to make small talk. We've been here before...we are excited, nervous, excited, hopeful, did I say excited? After 20 minutes, they let me use the bathroom (finally I get to finish going), and then they send me on my way.

I have my instructions to get my progesterone and estrogen levels checked on Monday the 15th. I can do this at the blood lab at the Pullman hospital. My Beta Quant. (first pregnancy test) was scheduled for the 19th. Unfortunately we are going to Boise that evening (Bobby has tickets to the NCAA) and since the first 2 pregnancy tests have to be done at the same lab, we had a little issue. It was decided that I would take my first pregnancy test in Boise at St. Lukes hospital on Friday morning (the 20th), and then if there was need (ie, if the test is positive) I will take the second test there on Sunday. Reminder: the first test has to show elevated numbers, and the second test has to show the numbers are doubled. Last time I didn't make it to the second test. Let's hope that isn't the case this time.

I no longer take all the pills that I was taking. My new regimen is now: 2 Estrace at 7am and 7pm, 1 baby aspirin, 1 prenatal, and my progesterone shot. The rules are: No sex, no exercise, no caffeine, no alcohol, no hot showers or baths or anything that will disrupt my core temperature. So that's not too bad.

We went to a hotel in Spokane. The dr. says to rest for the day of transfer and they don't like you to travel for more than an hour. So my mom flew up to take care of Connor and Bobby and I had a mini vacation at a hotel in Spokane. We rented 3 ppv movies and layed in bed. It was nice, but it's hard to lay in bed when you are feeling fine and antsy. The dr. says you can resume normal activities the next day. I have decided to rest, alot. Last time, I resumed and had spotting and no pregnancy. I think I know my body well enough to know that I need to take it easy. So for the next few days, while I am not on bed rest, I am taking it really easy. No work, no DG, no lifting, no stress... Hopefully that will help.

I will blog again in a day or two to let you all know how it's going. This is a day by day thing now. Every twinge I feel is ultra-analyzed by Bobby and myself. I am always checking for spotting. Do my boobs feel sore today, is that I good sign or a bad sign? Hmmm, I feel more tired today - what does that mean? At least that is the process we went through last time. Maybe I will be more laid back this time.


In the meantime, here is a picture of our 3 embryos :-)