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Our IVF Journey
I know I promised this post to you last month but it was such a crazy month! And to be honest these posts take a lot out of me both mentally and physically. They take a lot of time to put together because I want to make sure I get and remember every detail. And emotionally they are draining. I remember things about the journey that I might have suppressed or forgotten about. And it brings up all kinds of emotions. But better late than never!
I first spoke about our infertility journey in this post and left off at the point when we decided to start IVF. We had our appointment back in January of 2018 with our fertility doctor. In that meeting, we discussed moving forward with IVF. We were so excited to finally start seeing some results after so many let downs. They don’t take IVF lightly and they want you and your partner to be as prepared as you can. The process can be mentally, physically and financially draining.
After our initial meeting with our doctor we had to then meet with the pharmacist, nurse, financial department and a psychologist. Every appointment played their part in making sure you were as prepared as you could be. First up was the pharmacist. She showed us how to administer the medication properly. Kurt and I felt the most overwhelmed at this appointment. You realize at this time how many shots it really is. There is mixing of medicines together because some come as a powder form. And it has to be liquid to be injected into you. To be frank, we were lost and confused! Luckily, there is a great resource of online videos (www.freedommedteach.com) that shows you exact step by steps for each medication.
We met with the nurse to go over the schedule next. They give you a brief outline of what it will look like, but so much of it as all up in the air. They don’t know how your body will react to the medications and everyone’s amount/length of time that they are on them is different. For about a week, they will monitor you with blood work and an ultrasound every other day and once it gets closer to the egg retrieval, they will monitor you every morning. This was intense!
One of the more frustrating appointments was with the financial department. At the time our insurance didn’t cover anything to do with IVF and we were asked to pay a hefty bill before we could start the procedures. We felt so overwhelmed by this. It was a lot of money, but we had already decided we would move forward and that money can’t be in the way. Luckily, we did a lot of research and found that health insurances from an Illinois based company covers IVF procedures. So I was able to switch and get on my insurance at work.
Our last appointment was with the psychologist. This was a very interesting appointment because I’ve never had a session like this. It was such a good appointment! She eased our fears and helped us to talk thru some of our concerns. I was having so much anxiety about doing something wrong with the injections or giving too much medicine to myself. But her take on it was they wouldn’t let us do it at home if it wasn’t easy. They would force you to stay in the hospital for weeks and administer the shots themselves if they thought you could do harm to your body. Point taken. She made both of us feel so much more at ease.
Another concern we discussed at the appointment was our fear of twins. Honestly, I was ok with it, but Kurt had a different opinion. He was terrified of having two babies at once. The doctor made us feel like we were in control and if we only wanted to transfer one embryo at a time, that was our decision and not the doctor’s.
In the meantime, Kurt and I had a small weekend trip planned to Palm Beach, FL. It could not have come at a more perfect time. It was a relaxing getaway where we got to unwind before we started the whole process. On that trip, I actually got my period and I emailed the nurses letting them know. I remember sitting on the beach as I checked my email. My nurse had responded and my heart sank. I could feel my stomach doing flip flops. We were scheduled to start IVF on March 16th!
The weeks leading up to my appointment to start IVF, I had an insane amount of anxiety. I was anxious about the needles, administering the medicine, and also the thought of getting pregnant. After all these years and months of trying, I was still extremely nervous about actually being pregnant and welcoming a child. Don’t get me wrong, we both want it more than anything, but it’s a huge lifestyle change!
During these two weeks after our Florida trip and until we started the shots, I was on birth control. It is such an odd prescription to be on. But the doctors have you go on this so all of your follicles are even and will grow at the same time. I hated being on birth control again. It made me feel tired and a little depressed. I was not feeling like myself at all.
Brief Overview of IVF
Before I get into everything, I want to take a step back and explain how the process works because I know a lot of people have no clue. You administer shots of medicine every night to grow your follicles. The type and dosage you are on is different for every person. And the dosage can change on any give day, which is why they watch you so closely. They may increase or decrease the medicine depending on how your body reacts. The doc is trying to grow as many follicles big enough in order to retrieve as many eggs as they can.
You go in for monitoring every other day and then every day towards the end. And at these appointments they perform a vaginal ultrasound and blood work. They are checking the size and amount of follicles you have. And that afternoon the nurses email you instructions on what dosage of medicine you should take that evening.
Once they deem your follicles are long enough you take a trigger shot. This shot releases the eggs from the follicles. And then a couple of days later the doctor performs surgery to retrieve all of the eggs. This is called the egg retrieval. Once they have the eggs the doctors can inject the egg with a sperm to make the embryo. These embryos grow in the lab for up to six days. It’s normal to see eggs die off and also to lose some of your embryos. The ones that make it to be frozen are the strongest!
Some women can have what they call a fresh transfer. This happens a few days after the eggs retrieval and the embryo is then inserted into your uterus. You are considered pregnant until proven otherwise! If you aren’t able to have a fresh transfer, all of your embryos are then frozen. This gives your body time to get back to normal and after you get your next menstrual cycle you can begin prepping for the frozen transfer.
My IVF Diary
^^ my medicines I was to take! And this wasn’t even all of it. There were a few that had to be refrigerated.
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March 16th was my first appointment for blood work and an ultrasound and at this appointment they would tell us if we were cleared to start the shots that night! I went in for the appointment first thing that morning and was a ball of nerves and anxiety all day long! I was constantly checking my email to see if the nurse had cleared us to start. And I was also extremely nervous because that night would be our first night of shots. I still had that fear in my head that we were going to do something incorrectly.
Finally, the nurse emailed me back and we were cleared to start! She gave us specific instructions on how much medicine to administer and at what times. That night we watched our videos and stopped and paused them when we needed to. Truthfully, those videos were a life saver! The shots (I had to take two shots every night) didn’t even hurt that bad, it was more of a mental thing I had to get over. It was actually pretty easy and fool proof. I felt a little silly for having so much anxiety over them for the last few weeks.
The morning after, I felt some bloating and cramping. You could defiantly feel the medicine working and doing it’s job. Although the cramping wasn’t unbearable, I still felt a little uncomfortable. The nurses stressed that you could go about your normal routine while taking the shots. You just couldn’t exercise, drink alcohol, lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk or have intercourse. Seems pretty easy. Since it was St. Patrick’s Day and all of my friends were out drinking green beer and I couldn’t partake in any of those activities, I did what I love to do- shop!
While out shopping, I bought this flower pot and carried it up from the car to our apartment. I knew I shouldn’t have been lifting it since it was heavier than a gallon of milk, but I had only done the shots one night at this point. My follicles couldn’t be that long yet, so I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. I went to the bathroom after and there was blood everywhere. It totally freaked me out! I emailed the nurse and she said this was common after going off the birth control. I didn’t tell her about lifting the heavy flower pot, but it freaked me out a bit. At that point, I thought to myself I guess I better take all of this a bit more seriously.
(I kept a little diary in my phone every day on how I felt during the shots and up until our transfer, so these are all of my notes!)
Thankfully Kurt was able to administer the shots for me. I’m not scared of needles like a lot of people, but I always look away when someone is injecting me. The thought of me having to do this myself made me so much more nervous. And Kurt thankfully stepped in and did it. I think towards the end he actually liked jabbing me but he was a good nurse!
Day 2
The second night of the shots was much easier. One of them burned a lot going in which I didn’t remember from the previous night. I had no anxiety taking them tonight.
Day 3
The shots were no biggie anymore. I was getting used to it. It helped a lot to add an ice pack immediately to the injection site right after Kurt pulled the needle out. The cramping today was almost non-existent. I go back to the doctor’s in the morning and I have a feeling they will change up the dosage on my medicine.
Day 4
I headed to the doctor before work for blood work and an ultrasound. That afternoon the nurses emailed me with instructions. This was the normal process after every appointment. I was right and the doctor did change up my dosage. That night after Kurt injected me, I could feel it work instantly. Immediately after, I felt bloated. After we did the shots that night, Kurt and I laid in bed to watch TV. It was so strange because Addie curled up as close as she could to me and she laid her head right next to my tummy. And Charlie wanted to be right next to me too. He wanted to be right on my tummy, but the thought of that made me wince, so he laid right next me on the other side. The animals know something is going on!
Tonight I also had an acupuncture appointment. I hadn’t been in two weeks and I was craving it. I instantly fell asleep and it was so relaxing. At tonight’s appointment she added electrodes to the ends of the needles. This was to help increase blood flow even more. This was my first appointment where she used this and it felt a little strange. It was very small vibrations pulsing thru my body. But you could hardly feel them.
Day 5
Lots of cramping and bloating today. I felt like I was having the worst period cramps ever. I can definitely tell the meds are working differently now. Today I have a slight backache which is a common symptom of the shots. The bleeding I had a few days ago is now almost entirely gone. I’m feeling pretty uncomfortable today. You can feel that your ovaries are in overdrive and are expanding and growing.
Day 6
Another appointment for an ultrasound and blood work, but they are running very slow today. And my impatience is at an all time high! I’m still having a backache and not as much bloating today. This morning I had a really bad headache, but I also didn’t sleep very well so it’s hard to say if it’s from lack of sleep or the medications. The nurse emailed me this afternoon with the results from the appointment. My follicles are all less than 10mm but I am still on track and they are happy with the progress.
Day 7
I was instructed to start another shot called Ganirelex which makes it so I don’t ovulate. This was to be administered every morning and it hurt so bad! The needle is much thicker and because of that Kurt has to really jab it in there. And it stung. So now, I’m up to three shots a day. One in the morning and two at night. My back is still really bothering me and my belly feels sore today. I am starting to get very sensitive in my belly area. It doesn’t feel painful, just very sensitive.
I had acupuncture again tonight. I’ve increased my appointments from once a week to twice a week during the shots. My acupuncturist recommended this because it helps produce blood flow. I was so excited to relax and take a nice nap at my appointment tonight.
Day 8
I have a little scar on my belly from last night’s shots. Maybe it’s because we gave the shots in the lower abdomen and there are follicles growing there? We try and change up the injection site every night, but maybe we should stay higher. The morning shot (Ganirelx) hurt so bad again. We can’t seem to figure this one out. I had another ultrasound and blood work done today. I’m feeling like a pin cushion. Another headache and another backache. And I’m starting to feel really uncomfortable. I can see the swelling start in my lower belly. I have a little pudge and I’m not happy about it. But the doctors did say this was normal and that it would happen. I feel gross and just not myself today. My stats came back that my largest follicles were measuring at a 10mm and 11mm.
Day 9
Actually feeling pretty good today. Not as much bloating or I’m just getting used to it? I still have a headache but it always goes away once I take Tylenol. The shot this morning went much smoother. Kurt pinched my skin instead of me doing it and it was much less painful.
Day 10
Another doctor’s appointment today for blood work and an ultrasound. Feeling very fat and bloated. My largest follicle today is at a 13mm and I have 16 measuring between 10mm and 13mm. They want me to come back in tomorrow for blood work and an ultrasound. This is good news! That means we are getting close to the retrieval when they want to monitor me daily!
Day 11
Ultrasound and blood work again today. My largest follicle is a 16mm and I have 16 more measuring between 15mm and 11mm. It’s crazy how fast they grew overnight! I’m getting more and more sensitive in my lower tummy area. It feels like very bad period cramps but like I got punched in the stomach because it’s very sensitive. I had to take Tylenol today for the pain. Acupuncture appointment tonight and the same routine. She used the electrodes to increase blood flow. I couldn’t relax at all at tonight’s appointment. I am having anxiety about the egg retrieval and starting to get nervous for that procedure.
Day 12
Ultrasound and blood work. It hurt so bad today when she drew blood. My vein is so bruised from the daily withdraws. Feeling pretty good today just super bloated and still very sensitive. My belly looks like a war zone. I have so many bruises and cuts from the daily shots.
Today the nurses confirmed I was at risk for OHSS and we will most likely have to freeze the embroys and not do a fresh transfer. Our doctor warned us about OHSS when we first met with her. Basically when you have a lot follicles growing, they secrete fluid into your abdomen. This fluid swells the ovaries and can become dangerous to the woman. It occurs after you have your HCG trigger shot (so after the egg retrival) and you can experience rapid weight gain (more than 5 pounds in one day), severe abdomen pain, vomiting, decreased urination, etc. I knew I was at risk for this syndrome but after hearing from the nurse today that it could occur, I’m a little freaked out. My largest follicle today is at 18m and I have 25 smaller ones ranging from 16-10mm.
Day 13
^^ this is how bloated I was towards the end of taking all the shots! I actually had it pretty easy because a lot more women gain more weight and bloating than I did. I wore loose fitting clothing during this time to hide it more easily.
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Ultrasound and blood work. I had them switch to my left arm today for blood work because it hurt so bad when they drew it yesterday. I’ve had them do the same arm every day because my left arm usually bruises so badly. I should have let them continue with my right arm because now I have a huge bruise on my left arm. It looks much more painful than it actually is. Super bloated today.
The nurse recommended I start eating a high salt and high protein diet. This helps prevent getting OHSS, which I do NOT want to get. I also was told to start drinking Gatorade over water. I hate drinking this stuff. It makes me more thirsty and so full. And I hate all the sugar it has in it! But having the electrolytes in your system helps to prevent OHSS, so I’m chugging it as much as I can. I have these weird little twinges of pain in my abdomen. It’s a weird and funny feeling. My stomach also feels very heavy. When I’m sitting for a long period of time and get up, it almost feels like I have to lift my stomach up too. You can feel the extra weight!
The nurse confirmed today that I have 33 follicles which is a lot all ranging from 17-10mm. And I will definelty have to do a frozen transfer because my estrogen is through the roof. Feeling a little defeated today. I knew it was likely we would have to freeze the embroys but now we will for sure have to. I’m just sick of all these appointments and getting poked and I want it to be over with. And not being able to do a fresh transfer means it just delays us getting pregnant.
Since I’m at risk for OHSS the doctor changed up my trigger shot which is the last shot we take to release the eggs from the follicles. I had to deal all evening with the pharmacy and they are so annoying. I don’t understand why it takes so long to process a request. FYI you can’t get these medicines from a normal pharmacy. So, I had to deal with a specialty pharmacy the whole time. They deliver the medicine to your door which is nice, but if you’ve ever worked with FedEx you know they aren’t that reliable. This gave me so much anxiety. What if I didn’t have this shot delivered on time? This was the most importable one!
Day 14
Ultrasound and blood work. Feeling very heavy today in my lower abdomen. You can feel how big everything has gotten. Super bloated and already over drinking this Gatorade. The nurse said I should switch to G2 which has a lot less sugar in it. And finally tonight is the night we take the trigger shot. After days (weeks) of taking 3 shots a day AND having my blood drawn almost daily, this is the last shot!! We were given strict instructions to inject this shot at 10pm. And if you know me, you know that is super late for me! I usually go to bed around 9pm. But it’s the last shot so I will do anything they tell me! Our egg retrieval is scheduled for Saturday March 31 (the day before Easter) and we could potentially have 18 eggs!
Day 15
I was told to start weighing myself and if I gained more than 5 pounds in a day to let them know. If I did gain more than 5 pounds, it is a big indicator that I have OHSS. I went in today for just blood work, no ultrasound. They wanted to make sure the trigger shot I took last night worked. And they confirmed that it did!
I woke up this morning with a pounding headache. Luckily it goes away when I take Tylenol each time. It’s either because I didn’t sleep well last night or it’s the extra hormones in last night’s shots. I had to start an oral antibiotic this morning. This will help with infection from the egg retrieval. Hoping today flies by because I’m so anxious to get these eggs out!
Day 16
^^ I snapped this shot before we headed to the hospital for my egg retrieval. I was so happy to get this part over with!
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Surgery day!! I am so ready to get these eggs out and to start feeling like myself again! I’m not feeling any anxiety about the surgery, just ready for it to be over with it. My ovaries are feeling very enlarged and painful today.
The nurse and team were all so sweet to me today. I really bonded with my nurse because she has a daughter who is really into fashion like myself so we chatted about that for awhile. I don’t remember anything from the actual surgery. You walk into the exam room and they make you climb onto this table that has these enourmous stirups you put your whole legs in. If you think the ones at your gynos office are bad- you should see these! A person then peaks their head thru this little window and confirms your name and date of birth. After that, I have no recollection of anything. I was out!
Once I woke up from the surgery, I had some intense cramping and bloating. The nurse gave me a higher dosage of pain pills. And at this time I was also able to start eating and drinking again. Kurt texted my mom a disgusting picture of me for proof of life lol.
Once we got home, I relaxed for the entire day. I could barely keep my eyes opened and took about a four hour nap that afternoon. Once I woke up, I felt completely normal again. No pain at all! The doctor had strict orders to maintain the high salt diet, so Shake Shack for dinner- but who was even complaining about that?!?
We ended up getting 14 eggs which was a great number!
Day 17
^^ this was the day after the egg retrieval and it just so happened to be Easter. Kurt and I joked the whole day how ironic it was that they were harvesting all of my eggs right around Easter-ha! I felt so much better the next day minus some bloating and I was still swollen from the surgery. But other than that I felt almost back to myself. It’s amazing how fast your body recovers!
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Today we got an update from the embryologist. We had 14 eggs retrieved yesterday, 11 were mature and as of this morning 10 were still good. They will then inject one sperm into each egg and grow them in the laboratory. We will get an update later in the week as to how many embroys they are able to freeze.
I’m feeling very bloated today, but a lot better than I have been. I keep catching glimpses of myself in the mirror and not feeling or looking like myself at all. I keep asking Kurt if I looked like this before we started all the shots and maybe I’ve just forgotton lol. He was laughing at me so much and truthfully told me that no, I did not have this belly before.
It took a few days but evenatually the swelling and bloating went down and eventually went away. I finally felt like myself again. I emailed the doc today that I was feeling better and more like myself and she confirmed I could start weening off the G2. At this point I couldn’t drink anymore of it so I was so happy to hear that!
Day 20
At the end of the day on Wednesday (my surgery was on a Saturday), I noticed some small bleeding. Could this be my period already?!? The nurse said it was still too early, so although I was hopeful, I kind of already knew it couldn’t be it yet. It was probably just from the surgery and my body recovering. I am anxious to get my period because that meant we could then start prepping for the transfer and possible pregnancy! But I guess we were going to have to wait a little bit longer.
Day 22
By Friday of that week we got a call from the embryologist. I had been glued to my phone all day and of course I run to the bathroom only to come back to a missed call! He sent me an email and confirmed we had 3 blastocysts that would be frozen today. 3?!?!?! All that work and we only had three! I was so confused because everyone made it seem like we would have so much more than that.
I was feeling a little upset by this so I emailed my doc who personally responded to me. She said three is exactly within the realm that they were looking for based on how many eggs we had. She was very happy with our results! So therefore I was happy too! I remember going home that night and crying into Kurt’s shoulder. This whole process was so overwhelming. I was tired, scared, hopeful, confused- you name it. The hardest part of the whole process was finally over.
Prepping for the Transfer
After the surgery, the waiting game begins. Since I wasn’t able to do a fresh transfer right away, I had to get my period first and then we could start the whole process of prepping for the frozen transfer.
After a couple weeks had passed since my surgery, I still had not gotten my period. Now I was beginning to think that the bleeding I had almost immedialty after the egg retrieval was in fact my period. The nurse asked that I come in for blood work. And later that day she confirmed that I did in fact already have my period. Ugh, not again! I was so mad and frustruated. In my heart, I knew it was. And I wish I would have pushed them a little more on this. But we can’t go back in time and so we just had to wait a couple more weeks until it shows up again.
Finally my period came and I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited to see it! We can finally start the whole process of prepping for the actual transfer! I was excited and so nervous. The nurse told me this was the easy part and a lot less monitorying. But I wish they would have warned me about the side of effects of estrogen that I would be taking. I was taking estrogen pills twice a day and what this does is helps to thicken the uterine lining and also make it so you don’t ovulate naturally this cycle.
The entire time I was doing the shots, I had bad headaches and they even continued after I stopped them. I would take Tylenol (safe for pregnancy) and they would go away. But while on the estrogen they were on a whole other level. I could barely see straight and couldn’t concentrate at work at all. There were a couple of days I almost went home sick because my head was throbbing so bad. I emailed the nurse one day to see if there was anything else I could take because the Tylenol just wasn’t cutting it anymore. She confirmed I could take Aleve but only until my next appointment. They didn’t want anything in my system to mess up my likelihood of getting pregnant.
As if the migraines weren’t bad enough, then the nausea started and persisted for about a week. One night, Kurt and I were relaxing at home and I kept telling him I didn’t feel good at all. I thought maybe it was from the migraines or because I took too much medicine that day. That day, I was taking anything I could get my hands on because they were so bad. I was sick all night, but never threw up.
This persisted on for the next few days and it was the worst feeling ever. Why did no one warn me about this phase?!? Honestly, I would have taken doing the shots all over again over taking this tiny pill every morning and night. Feeling sick all day is the worst feeling ever.
I had my weekly acupuncture appointment that I had been keeping up on and I was looking for some relief. I told her about how I had been feeling and miraculously the next day I was completely fine. No migraines and no nausea! Maybe my body had finally gotten use to the estrogen in my system or maybe it was the awesome benefits of acupuncture! Either way I was so happy to be feeling better.
Two weeks after I started the estrogen, I went back to the doctors for a quick check of my uterine lining. Unfortunely, it was still not measuring where they want it to be. I was at a 5.25mm and needed to be at a 7mm. Thru all of the IUI’s I was measuring over 7mm and even during the shots I was at 9mm. But of course when I really needed it to be thick, it wasn’t! I was instructed to take one tab of estrogen vaginally day and night and also continue taking them orally. This should be interesting! Luckily, none of my nausau or headaches came back, so I was very thankful for that.
At this point, my transfer wasn’t canceled but I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed with not being on schedule. I had to keep telling myself that without a thick enough lining, I wouldn’t be able to support a pregnancy.
^^ Celebrating our 4th wedding anniversary. We had so much to be thankful for!
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My appointment to get my lining re-checked was also our fourth wedding anniversary. I was a ball of nerves. This could either go one of two ways. All could check out normal and our transfer would be scheduled for five days later or it would be canceled this month. A lot was riding on this. But to our elation my uterine lining was thick enough at 7.25mm and I had not ovulated. Which were all requirements to proceed and schedule the transfer! On top of the excitement of celebrating our anniversary, we also got to celebrate that our transfer was finally scheduled. Something we had been waiting for!
During this time frame I was also instructed to start my progesterone in oil shot daily. By now I was use to taking shots and Kurt felt comfortable administering them. We got ready for the first shot and watched the video on Freedommedtech.com (they are a really great source if you ever need help!). And after watching the video I was terrified!!!! You had to stick the needle ALL the way in your butt. And it looked super painful. Ok we just had to get it over with. The first one is always the worst anyway. He injected the needle and I kid you not, I couldn’t feel a thing!!! The video made it look way worse than it actually was. That morning I did have some tenderness in the area but only to the touch, so it wasn’t that bad at all.
The weekend came and went. It was Memorial weekend so we were super busy and I hadn’t even thought much about the transfer.
Transfer Day
^^ Transfer Day! I was a ball of nerves that day. Anxious, excited, nervous, happy, sad- and I really had to pee!
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Finally the day came for our embryo transfer, May 30th! A day I will never forget. The procedure was scheduled for noon and I was instructed to arrive by 11:45 with a full bladder. They wanted it to be uncomfortably full so they could see exactly where your uterus is and make sure they drop the embryo in the perfect location. I started chugging water around 11 and by the time I got to the doctor’s office I was doing the ‘I have to pee dance’!
All morning, I wasn’t event the slightest bit nervous, but by the time I got to my appointment, I was a ball of nerves. I couldn’t sit straight and couldn’t stop moving. I was so anxious to get this over with and find out the results.
Once I arrived to the appointment, we were called back into the room where a nurse first checked my bladder to make sure it was full enough. And she happily said it was! We were also informed my doctor would be performing the transfer. I was beyond excited for this! When we originally scheduled the transfer, it was going to have to be done by another doctor. I was a little disappointed at first because my doctor was already booked. But at the same time, we didn’t want to prolong anything. So you can imagine my excitement when they said she would be doing it! You feel a level of comfort with your doctor who has been there every step of the way.
Next up, the embroyolgist came in to check my name and date of birth. She then went back into the lab to prepare the catheter with the embryo which would then be insterted into my uterus. As they prepped the catheter we were able to ask our doctor some questions. The embryo we were transferring that day was graded 1.1. The highest ratio! And we were able to clear up one lingering question we got from a lot of people. There is a national law that if you are under 37, they will only transfer one embryo at a time. A ton of people always ask us that. Either way, we only wanted to transfer one at a time. No twins for us!
And then the procedure started. I was in these massive stir-ups that your thighs hang in, which was slightly uncomfortable. You are fully exposed! The doc inserted the speculum which all women can attest that this is the most uncomfortable thing and the only part of the procedure that I had any discomfort with. She did a test run with the cateter making sure she could get to my uterus. And then we waited what seemed like days!!! The emrboyligist was preparing the embryo in the catheter, but I swore it felt like centuries. Finally the embryo was brought into the room and it was swiftly inserted. And just like that we were done!
^^ Our perfect embryo inside my uterus. It is the dot in the middle of the heart. And the only reason it is even visible on an ultrasound is because they put an air bubble around the embryo- it’s that small. Not many people have pictures of their babies when they are THIS tiny haha.
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We were able to watch the entire procedure on the TV in front of us. She even printed us the ultrasound picture of our tiny little dot in my uterus! I was completely overcome with emotions at this point and broke down into tears. Still to this day, it was one of the most emotional experiences of the whole process. I couldn’t get over how simple this part of the process was. It was a breeze and when it was all said and done the procedure only took 20 minutes tops from start to finish- I kid you not! It is so amazing what science can these days. And you think about all the time, energy and money that has gone into this simple procedure. I will forever be grateful for our doctor and her staff. They were so sweet and reminded me that these were tears of joy!
I’m going to stop now and update you on our next steps in another post since this one has already gotten a bit long! I will say that my next post will not be a pregnancy announcement- we’ve had some hiccups along the way. Thank you for reading and following along with our journey! Stay tuned for more updates as we continue on this journey.
xoxox Amanda
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