Embryo Transfer September 12, 2017

The day for our transfer was finally here!! We were so excited and so nervous! My appointment was scheduled for 1:30 and it seemed like it would be forever until it was time to go. After 2 weeks of constant appointments all early in the morning this would be how you felt too.

 I got everything packed since I was no longer going to be staying with Randy's Grandma and into my car and then traveled to my aunt's house who lived only a few miles from where the transfer was going to take place. My mom met me there as she was who was going to be accompanying me to my transfer appointment since Randy was unable to make it due to work obligations.

About an hour before my appointment I took a Valium per my doctors orders (prescription she'd given for just the 1 pill). This is to help relax you and keep your uterus calm during the transfer so they can get the best placement.

It was finally time for my appointment and we got all checked in. They took us back to another room and had me get undressed from the waist down. My doctor came in and talked to me and told me the Day 5 Fertilization Report. We had 14 surviving embryos! With 5 more possibly if they met the criteria the next day. (They did not and were not frozen.) So she wanted to know how many we were wanting to transfer. Randy and I had discussed this and had decided that we wanted to transfer 2. My doctor tried to talk me down to just 1 since I was young but with my mom's help I held firm. We just had a feeling we needed to transfer 2. So the embryologist got the 2 embryos ready for transfer.

The top 2 were the ones transferred!

An embryo transfer is fairly similar to how an IUI is done. Though they use an ultrasound at the same time while doing the transfer. They use a really long syringe type thing and stick it up into the uterus and place it in a predetermined area (based off of your water ultrasound). So we got to see the exact moment the 2 embryos were released. That was pretty cool and super exciting! The embryologist checked the syringe to make sure that neither embryo got stuck to it and didn't make it in. Luckily they both had successfully been placed. They then tipped the table so my hips were elevated and I had to stay like that for 20-30 minutes. Once the time was up I was able to get dressed and we were able to leave.

A picture of the ultrasound. You can kinda see the "flash"

 of the embryos being deposited.

I was now PUPO (pregnant until proven otherwise) and the waiting game began. I was instructed to begin my progesterone suppositories starting that night and then to use them morning noon and night until instructed otherwise. I was put on strict bed rest for 2 days after the transfer. I spent those 2 days at my aunts house watching The Office with her and crime shows and chick flicks when she was gone. Then I was finally allowed to drive the 7 hours home.

We had 10 days from the transfer day before my blood pregnancy test. By the time I was able to get home we had about a week before we would have to drive back down for the test. This time seemed to drag on forever!! After having a very strict schedule now I had nothing to do but sit and wait and pray.

Til next time!
Becca

Egg Retrieval

I am so far behind on these updates! But better late than never! I started this blog so that I could remember my thoughts and feelings as we were going through it all and be able to look back on it later. If it helps someone else going through the same thing then all the better. So because I'm so far behind I'm going to be a writing fiend the next little while to get all caught up!

September 7, 2017
My egg retrieval was scheduled for 7:40 am. The drive there was not comfortable at all. Any way I sat hurt. When we finally arrived it was such a relief to stand up! At least for a second. Then I was uncomfortable and in pain again in a whole different way. We got inside and got all checked in and then the waiting for my appointment began.

This picture shows the way I had to sit in order to be comfortable, to some it may look uncomfortable but it was the only way I could find relief!

 For those who do not know what they do during an egg retrieval, here's a very good picture showing exactly what they do. They basically stick this big long needle through the walls of your vagina over and over into the ovary and into an egg sack. They then agitate the egg so it releases from the egg sack and they suck it out. I was lucky in that my doctor chooses to do general anesthesia while doing the retrieval. Other doctors do not and just have their patients take pain medication beforehand and then do the procedure. Props to those ladies because I can barely handle the pap, I couldn't even imagine having this big long needle stuck into me over and over and over to collect eggs!

It finally was time for me to go back. Randy was there with me and was able to help me stay calm. Unfortunately he couldn't stay once they began the procedure. Another good reason why I was happy to be knocked out! I vaguely remember my doctor asking me to get into position before I was out!

When they were done they walked me to the recovery room where Randy was waiting. This room is basically just a small room with a couple reclining chairs.They sat me down in the chair and got me comfortable with a heating pad. Then they gave me my clothes along with a pad because spotting was expected afterwards. (Duh, you can't be poked with a needle and not bleed lol). They then told us how many eggs they had been able to retrieve, 32! 32 eggs retrieved!! Needless to say I was shocked. I hadn't wanted to get my hopes up too high and thought that we'd MAYBE get 10. So 32 was amazing!! For those who did not know, a possible side effect of Endometriosis is poor egg quality or low egg count. So to have this number was a huge blessing. They then gave us my after care instructions and what to watch for. Once I was dressed we were allowed to leave.

Once back to where I was staying I got settled in with a protein shake. They told me to drink this along with lots of fruit nectar to help flush my body of the fluid that would collect in the empty egg sacks. They also encouraged me to eat fast food as the salt would help soak up the extra fluids as well. Mainly they were trying to help me prevent OHSS which is Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome. This is potentially dangerous and in some cases can become life threatening. OHSS can be mild, moderate, or severe. I did not develop this or if I did it was extremely mild. Though others do develop it and it can cause you to have to wait and do a frozen transfer instead of a fresh transfer. Because a fresh transfer when you have OHSS symptoms can actually cause those symptoms to worsen.

Now we were in the waiting game. They told us they would call with the results of the fertilization report the next day. We chose to do ICSI due to Randy's low count. This basically just means that instead of putting all the eggs in one petri dish with the sperm they would pick out the strongest sperm and inject them into each egg individually. It did cost us a little more but we believe it was worth it.

September 8, 2017
Day 1 Fertilization Report
Of the 32 eggs retrieved, 29 were mature enough to fertilize. 21 made it to day 1.

This was a little scary for us! To see the number drop from 32 to 21 overnight!! But we still held on to our faith and our hope that that number would not drop to 0. Still a fear due to my endometriosis. Since we had lost 11 overnight we feared that we would lose them all by day 3.

September 10, 2017
Day 3 Fertilization Report
On day 3 they look to see which embryos have 6 or more cells.
We had 20!

We were so excited that 20 had made it this far! Some people choose to transfer or freeze their embryos at this point. Our fertility clinic does not offer this option. Partially because studies have shown that day 5 transfers are more successful because embryos that make it to that point are more likely to keep growing into a full term baby.

My recovery at this point was going fairly well. I could sit and sleep better though I still had to use a rubber band on my pants. I blame this on the fact that I was SO SO SO bloated. I'm going to be a little TMI here, I had not yet pooped since the retrieval and it was taking it's toll! So a little tip if you're reading this as you're preparing for your retrieval, start taking colace or some form of stool softener beforehand!!

I was also given my Embryo Transfer time for Day 5. They would give me the Fertilization Report that day while there. I was scheduled for September 12, at 1:30pm.

Stay tuned for the Embryo Transfer! Trying to get these all caught up as quick as I can!

Til next time!
Becca