Children too are a gift from the LORD, The fruit of the womb, A reward. – Psalm 127:3

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Now we wait!

So, Tuesday Nov 29th was the BIG day. Transfer day!!!! I was sooo nervous I had a hard time sleeping the night before. And of course we still had the big choice to make of 1 or 2 embryos (praying that we had any to even use!). So here is how the day went!

We got to the Nashville Fertility Clinic (I don't think I've said where we have gone the entire time!) and checked in about 10:30, for an 11am check-in. I like to be early. They called us back and I had to undress waist down in the beautiful gown again. This time Ben got to wear some beautiful purple scrubs, booties, a hair net, and the mask. He looked super sexy!
So once my vitals were taken (158/89....very high for me, but I was sooooo nervous!), our nurse sent the Embryologist in to tell us the results from PGD. Out of 17 eggs they retrieved, 13 of them were mature enough for ICSI. Of the 13, only 9 fertilized. One of those stopped growing, so we were left with 8 before they tested for PDG. In the end, we only had 3 embabies that were balanced. They say 25% is the normal so we were right above that, which is great. But I was disappointed we didn't have more to be honest. Of the 3, we had 1 Grade A, 1 Grade B and 1 Grade C. The Grade C was left in the culture because it wasn't ready, and they were sure it would get to that point. (I got the call today, 11/30, that it didn't make it :(...) Grade A is above average and Grade b is average, so we had 2 amazing little embabies to use. Here is the first photo of them both :)
Grade B (left) and grade A (right)
After the Embryologist left, Dr Elben came in to help us decide to transfer 1 or both. She said with me being 23 and very healthy, she would suggest 1, only because the Grade A was so great looking. She was also afraid that by having 2 good embabies and transferring them both, one of them would split and leave us with triplets. She made a big point that we didn't want that, For health of myself and the babies. So in the end, we decided to transfer only 1. As far as I know, we transferred grade A (when I call tomorrow I will ask to verify) and we froze the other for another chance down the road.
So I took my Vicodin once all Dr's left my room, and then we just waited. We went into the OR maybe 11:50am and they got me set up and wrapped up in blankets. It was freeeeezing in there-I couldn't feel my toes! Ben was setting on a stool right next to me holding my hand the entire time! So sweet. They nurses used the Ultrasound machine to see if they could find my cervix and decided I needed to drink ever more (mind you, i had a big diet soda for breakfast around 10 and hadn't gone pee after 9:30am, plus drank a small bottle of water with my Vicodin. I really had to pee. And to drink water when you aren't thirsty? Well...it's hard). So 10 minutes later, Dr Elben came and we were ready to go. Ben got to look at the embabie in the incubator before they did the procedure. He said it was really cool. It was twitching constantly. I wish I could have seen it. The cervical stitch they put in last week helped out a lot for the transfer, although when they started tugging on it, I was thinking otherwise. I really squeezed Ben's hand for that one. But as soon as my cervix was straight and the catheter went in, the embabie was squirted in there and we were done. I'll be completely honest, it was emotional as I set there knowing that a baby was in me, it just had to latch now. We, at that moment were a family of 4, counting our fur baby :) Once cleaned up, I was wheeled back in my room and my bed was tilted back. I had to lay that way for an hour-until 1:13pm. It was a super quick process. I tried to lay there and sleep, but I was just so excited and hopeful. My mind was running wild. God willing, this was the first day I was with child. How amazing. I am so thankful science has come so far! 
I was on bed rest the rest of the day and today 11/30. It's been hard to just relax because I have things I need to do around the house, but they can wait. Ben has been very helpful, fixing food, helping with chores, and just snuggling with me. He will be a fantastic father!

I go back tomorrow morning at 10 for blood work to check my E2 and Progesterone levels. Then December 12th at 10am is the BIG DAY!!! It will be my first Beta test!!!! I am going to stick to my word and not take a HPT until after the appointment (of course I will only take the test at home if I don't get a negative at the Dr). This wait is going to kill me!!! But until then I will keep on looking at nursery ideas and making a list of baby names :)

Pre-Transfer <3

4 comments:

  1. Thank You so much!!! We really appreciate it :) Thanks for reading too!

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  2. So amazing that you all have got this far! I can't wait to hear how it goes and follow your journey. Thanks for sharing with everyone! Prayers headed your way!

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  3. We can't believe it either Dana! It's been a long process, but well worth it all!

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