Embryo Transfer

Yesterday was not only my birthday, but more importantly, it was the day of the embryo transfer.  I drank lots of water as we drove up to Columbia to ensure I had a full bladder as instructed.  Upon arrival, we stopped by the pharmacy to pick up my prescription for Valium and took one of the pills.   The nurse then took us back to get ready for the embryo transfer and gave us the most recent stats on our embryos.

1 was an Expanded Blastocyst Grade 1
2 were Blastocysts Grade 1
2 were early Blastocysts Grade 1
1 was a Morula Grade 1
1 was a 10-cell embryo Grade 1
2 fell apart and arrested to develop

The embryologist and the doctor recommend we transfer two embryos - the Expanded Blastocyst and one of the other Blastocysts.  They were going to freeze the other Blastocyst, the early Blastocysts and the Morula.  They decided to discard the 10-cell embryo since it was so far behind at this point.  The nurse gave us a photo of the two embryos that they were going to transfer -- our first future baby pictures!

Once we signed a form stating we agreed on the number to be transfered and frozen, they wheeled me into another room.  It was actually the same room where the retrieval took place.  Jared sat by my side as the doctor got everything set up.   The doctor reminded us that he only has 20 seconds to get the embryos from the lab to the uterus.  When he was ready, he called for the embryologist.  The embryologist came in, confirmed our names, and gave the doctor our embryos.  The doctor then quickly inserted them into the catheteter and into my uterus.  Jared was able to see a little speck on the ultrasound.  It was really exciting and overwhelming!  We were thrilled to be at this point. 

 

I was then wheeled back into the original room where I rested for 30 minutes.  This really surprised me -- reading other blogs, it seemed like most patients were kept at the doctor's office for up to two hours!  I was scared to get up this soon.  Not to mention, we had an 1.5 hour drive back to St. Louis.  She said I would be fine, just needed to be on bedrest for the next 48 hours.  I had to trust that she knew what she was doing.  She also wanted me to empty my bladder as well.  I was super paranoid -- I didn't want to lose these embryos!!  She laughed and said I had nothing to worry about. 

 

I laid down in the front seat of the car during the ride back and then spent the remainder of the day sleeping in bed.  That Valium really knocked me out.  Today, I plan on resting on the couch.  Being on bedrest is definitely not fun -- Jared has been a big help though!  Can't wait till I can start moving around again.  The nurse gave me an order to get a pregnancy blood test done on 11/25.  If it comes back positive, she'll want a retest on 11/27.  So now we have a 9 day wait....better than a two week wait though!  Gosh, we really hope this works...so much anxiety and stress right now.  We will be devasted if neither embryo takes.