jenn_unplugged (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jenn_unplugged) wrote2007-07-03 02:24 pm
jenn_unplugged) wrote2007-07-03 02:24 pm
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Embryo transfer day!
I got the call at 9:15 this morning that today was indeed the day for the embryo transfer! I called Doug and headed down to pick him up and go over to the clinic. I had to stop and pick up a bottle of water on the way, because they do the transfers with a sonogram to guide the doctor, and it's best to do those with a full bladder.
We got to the clinic around 10:00 and they took us back to a room and gave me a valium. Then we waited for the valium to kick in and for everything to be ready. It's funny that the ET procedure is basically identical to an IUI, and I've had about 8 of those and never needed a valium. But this morning I was so jittery and excited that I was very glad to have one. :-P
The embryologist came in around 10:30 and gave us a picture of the two embryos, which was really cool:
Aw, aren't they cute? They have my mitochondria! ;-) Right now they're still the same size as the egg cells were, about 1/10 of a millimeter across.
The embryologist also gave us the report on how the embryos were doing after three days. We wound up with three grade 1 embryos (which basically means they're perfect), four grade 2 embryos, and the rest were grades 3 and 4. There is a great explanation here of what all those grades mean. They told us they wanted to implant the two very best embryos. We asked them if our chances would be any better with three, and they said no, not really -- and that implanting three would mean we had a very good chance of having triplets. So we said yeah, two is just fine!
After that, we got dressed, Doug in his scrubs and me in my gown, and just waited until it was time.
They came to take us back around 11:00. We went back into the surgery room, where I got arranged on the table. There was a screen on the wall showing the microscope view in the clean room next door. We saw them put down a petri dish with "SMITH" etched into it, and there were two little brownish blobs in it -- our embryos! We watched the embryologist suck them up into the catheter, and then she brought them into the OR. After that, we watched the sono screen. The doctor pointed out where my uterus was and showed where the catheter was coming in, exactly where he dropped the embryos.
After the transfer, the embryologist took the catheter back to the lab to check that the embryos hadn't got stuck inside. When she gave us the all-clear, they lifted me onto a gurney and took me back to a room to relax for 45 minutes. Of course, I had to pee pretty badly by then, so that was a long wait! Around 12:00 we were released. I'm supposed to take it easy today and tomorrow, and we continue with progesterone shots for two weeks. I'll have a pregnancy test a week from Saturday, so all we can do until then is wait.
So that's it! I'm hopeful, but trying not to think about it too much. Even if the test comes back positive, I don't think I'll really believe it until I'm released to an OB/GYN, which happens (I think) around 10 weeks.
At this point, it's kind of surreal to think that those two little embryos are inside me. This is the closest I've ever come to being pregnant. We opened a very nice bottle of wine last night, with the idea that it might be the last time I could drink wine for a long time! With any luck, that will turn ut to be true. :-)
We got to the clinic around 10:00 and they took us back to a room and gave me a valium. Then we waited for the valium to kick in and for everything to be ready. It's funny that the ET procedure is basically identical to an IUI, and I've had about 8 of those and never needed a valium. But this morning I was so jittery and excited that I was very glad to have one. :-P
The embryologist came in around 10:30 and gave us a picture of the two embryos, which was really cool:
Aw, aren't they cute? They have my mitochondria! ;-) Right now they're still the same size as the egg cells were, about 1/10 of a millimeter across.
The embryologist also gave us the report on how the embryos were doing after three days. We wound up with three grade 1 embryos (which basically means they're perfect), four grade 2 embryos, and the rest were grades 3 and 4. There is a great explanation here of what all those grades mean. They told us they wanted to implant the two very best embryos. We asked them if our chances would be any better with three, and they said no, not really -- and that implanting three would mean we had a very good chance of having triplets. So we said yeah, two is just fine!
After that, we got dressed, Doug in his scrubs and me in my gown, and just waited until it was time.
They came to take us back around 11:00. We went back into the surgery room, where I got arranged on the table. There was a screen on the wall showing the microscope view in the clean room next door. We saw them put down a petri dish with "SMITH" etched into it, and there were two little brownish blobs in it -- our embryos! We watched the embryologist suck them up into the catheter, and then she brought them into the OR. After that, we watched the sono screen. The doctor pointed out where my uterus was and showed where the catheter was coming in, exactly where he dropped the embryos.
After the transfer, the embryologist took the catheter back to the lab to check that the embryos hadn't got stuck inside. When she gave us the all-clear, they lifted me onto a gurney and took me back to a room to relax for 45 minutes. Of course, I had to pee pretty badly by then, so that was a long wait! Around 12:00 we were released. I'm supposed to take it easy today and tomorrow, and we continue with progesterone shots for two weeks. I'll have a pregnancy test a week from Saturday, so all we can do until then is wait.
So that's it! I'm hopeful, but trying not to think about it too much. Even if the test comes back positive, I don't think I'll really believe it until I'm released to an OB/GYN, which happens (I think) around 10 weeks.
At this point, it's kind of surreal to think that those two little embryos are inside me. This is the closest I've ever come to being pregnant. We opened a very nice bottle of wine last night, with the idea that it might be the last time I could drink wine for a long time! With any luck, that will turn ut to be true. :-)