Transfer! March 2020

I began my next set of meds the day after my last appointment. My first new medication was progesterone in oil (PIO). This is given as an intramuscular injection in the upper outer hip/buttock. My dose was at 1 mL. I had to do these to myself as Randy does not like needles. It wasn't that big of deal to me as I had had to give myself shots for our original IVF cycle. The only thing I was worried about was the shot placement, as the shots I had done before were all in my stomach. Thankfully, they weren't near as hard to do as I was expecting. The side effects were not the best though. Immediately after each shot I would get slightly dizzy and nauseous. I also had a major acne breakout within a couple of days. I only had to do these once a day at the same time every morning. The next medication was a Zpack. Pretty simple and easy. They have me take this to make sure that I am as healthy as possible for my transfer!

That next week, I received the phone call confirming the time of my transfer, as well as, the instructions for what I needed to do before the transfer. We all traveled down, me, Randy, our twins, and our dogs the day before our transfer was set for. The roads were clear thankfully and we made it to my in-laws house safely!

The next morning we went on our way to our appointment!! Once there I was told to take my valium, this is just to help me stay relaxed as it's fairly common to get really anxious. I didn't even feel any difference in my anxiety, which to me means that it probably wasn't even there to begin with. We waited for our appointment time and to be called back. Finally, that time came! The doctor came in and told us that the very first embryo they had defrosted had been successfully thawed! They then gave us a picture of it.

Our little embryo!!

I got ready and my doctor came back in and explained what the process was. The embryologist showed us a video of the embryo under the microscope just before she prepared the transfer tube by putting the embryo in it. While she was doing this my doctor was preparing me for the transfer. There was a nurse in there as well who was ready with the ultrasound so that the doctor could see where the catheter was at for the embryo placement. The embryologist then came in with the transfer tube with the embryo and passed it to my doctor. My doctor then placed this through the catheter and in with the ultrasound guidance and we were able to see the "flash" of the embryo being released!! The flash is the air bubble that the embryo is attached to that we are able to see on the ultrasound.

The Flash

We then had to wait while the embryologist confirmed that the embryo had not gotten stuck to the catheter as they removed it. Thankfully, this had not happened and my doctor was able to remove all of her instruments. Then they laid me back and had me stay there for about 30 minutes. Once that time was up I was allowed to get dressed and head for home! I was officially, PUPO (pregnant until proven otherwise)!!

On our drive back to Randy's parents house after the transfer we saw a total of 7 different rainbows! It was so awesome!

One of the rainbows!

That night I began yet another medication. This was a progesterone suppository. The suppository was a 50mg dose. Almost immediately after my transfer appointment I began to have cramping. This continued as pretty intense cramping throughout the next day as well and then began to taper to just a light cramping over the next few days. I also developed some shortness of breath after a couple days that would show up after just walking to the bathroom and back. Thankfully, most of these symptoms began during my princess days so I was able to just take it easy. Princess days are days that my doctor wants me to take it easy, kind of like a modified bed rest. Now it was time for the waiting game. My blood pregnancy test wasn't for about a week and a half.

Til next time!

Becca