When to Pee on Things?

Today I spent the whole day convincing myself that I was experiencing implantation cramping. I am. I refuse to believe otherwise. My two embryos have to still be alive....

So tomorrow, if I remember I will test out my trigger. Then how soon is too soon to start testing for real? John doesn't want me to test at all.... Not happening!!! Maybe Saturday?

No Frosties :(

Well, I take it that we have no frosties since we haven't gotten a call from embryology. I'm so sad that none of the four made it to freeze. Who knows how the two that were transferred are doing. All I can do is hope that they continue to grow and are strong. I can't imagine how I'm going to survive eight whole days until my beta.

I just want to go home and curl up in a ball and snuggle with my dogs. But they'll be all romp-a-room when I get home. And I have to teach lessons tonight.

The progesterone is making me feel nauseous... and crampy... and leaky. And I keep waking up with headaches. I'm a real joy to be around right now. Ugh. I can't even stand the sight of my complaining in this blog.

Progesterone sucks.

It is messy and gross. And makes me feel like my period is coming any second. I know that it isn't possible at this point, but it is really annoying. I feel crampy and nauseous. And I'm leaking. Gross.

PUPO!!

The most beautiful 14 cells I have ever seen in my entire life <3

I am officially PUPO (pregnant until proven otherwise)!! I called the lab this morning and they told me that the transfer would be today. I wasn't exactly thrilled at first that we were having a three day transfer, but you know what... Everything has always gone perfectly in the past and it didn't work. So what if this isn't ideal? It is still a million times closer we have ever come to actually achieving pregnancy! I hope so hard that this works.

The two above pre-embryos are the strongest two of the six. They are 7 cells each (normal range for day three is 6-10 cells). The remaining four embabies are still in the lab being observed. They are slow growers and are each 4-5 cells. Hopefully they will catch up and make it to freeze. We will find out if we get a call on Sunday or Monday [no call means they didn't make it :( ...].

To my dear embryos,
Please, please, please stick around. I promise to give you the best I can for the rest of my life. I love you!!
Xoxo,
Mama

Keep that Phone Quiet

My doctor told me after egg retrieval that if we get a call from him within the next five days, we should sit down because it's not good news. My heart leaped into my throat this morning when i was driving to work and the phone rang. Thank god it was just a colleague calling to ask me to cover her morning duty!!

So far, so good. No calls from the doctor or embryologists. I have to call tomorrow morning at 8:30am to find out if we'll do a 3- or 5-day transfer. From my understanding, if there are less than four embryos at that point, then we will do the three day transfer. If four or more remain, then they'll let them keep growing until Sunday and we'll transfer the best two embryos. Nervous doesn't begin to describe how I feel!!

I keep using Google Maps on my phone to point myself in the directions of my embryos and send them all the loving, growing vibes I can :) I even asked John to wave as he passed by the exit on his way to work. He said, "You're not going cooky on me, now are you?" Ummmm.... have you been paying attention recently?! LOL.

Six Little Embies Growing in a Dish

Yesterday was the egg retrieval, and things went very smoothly from what I can tell. John & I arrived at the office at 8:25am and were taken back to prep for surgery about 15 minutes after that. I had to change out of my clothes and empty my bladder three times before going into the OR. I didn't even know my bladder had anything in it because I hadn't had anything to eat or drink since about 11:00pm the night before!

The nurse sat down with me and went through all of the pre-opp paper work. I got a lovely sticker for my forehead (a thermometer) and a hair net too. She did a baseline of my vital signs and asked if I exercised a lot. John told her that I was a marathon runner which explained my low resting heart rate. I was instructed to take Pepcid and Vistaril the night and morning before to help with nausea (I had some wicked nausea after the laparoscopy). Then came the most dreaded part: the IV. Yuck, yuck, yuck, I hate IVs. It hurt. And remained uncomfortable the entire time it was in me. Even still, I have a bruise. I was given some Tums to chew (as my breakfast, haha!) and then off we went to the OR.

When I got in there, they were working so efficiently to get me set up. It was really overwhelming! The anesthesiologist started asking me questions about my honeymoon (presumably to distract me and get me talking so she could do her job). "We went to Hawaii... Maui, Kauai and one day on Honolulu... we did it all: scuba diving, helicopter ride, zip lining..." OUT COLD!

Next, I was waking up in the recovery room. The nurse came in to report that they retrieved 10 eggs! Yay!! After a few minutes, the nurse propped me up a bit and gave me some ginger ale and crackers. John was starving so I shared with him (why didn't he think to have breakfast?!?!) and I'm happy to report that I felt no nausea! The doctor came in to speak to us. I asked him why we only get one call from the embryologist. He said that we don't want a call especially from him within the next five days. If he calls, we should sit down. Yikes! Ok, please don't call me!!

After emptying my almost empty bladder yet again, the nurses instructed me to get dressed and I was released. I sent a few quick updates to the Dreamers, and when we got home, I knocked the eff out!! I tried to have some more crackers while lying in bed... I literally fell asleep mid-chew. When I woke up, I had half an eaten cracker in one hand, a glass of water in the other, and a mostly chewed but not yet swallowed cracker in my mouth. LOL!

I was awake for a few hours, and gave some more updates to the Dreamers and the IF and 3T boards on The Bump. My friend even shouted me out on SAIF! So much love was pouring in!! Then I knocked out again and was out for the rest of the night (thankfully no crackers in my mouth this time).

I woke up this morning, and checked my ringer about 10 times, charged my phone, and then sat and stared at it until it rang. I was supposed to get a call between 8-10:00am this morning from the embryologist. This would be the only call that I would get unless they instructed me to call again. Otherwise, I wouldn't get to speak to the embryologist until the day of transfer.

The call came quickly: 6 mature eggs, 6 fertilized (3 with ICSI and 3 with traditional IVF, therefore we will not need ICSI in the future). I am to call the Somerset Office on Friday morning at 8:30am for an additional report. If there are two that stand out at that point (ei: if there are less than four remaining...) then they'll do the transfer on Friday. But if they're all looking good, then we'll do the transfer on Sunday.

Ideally, we will make it to a 5-day transfer. I am hoping, wishing, and praying that our six little embryos are growing stronger by the minute. I MISS THEM!!! I feel so weird knowing that they're not in my body anymore!!

Dear Embryos,
GROW, EMBIES, GROW!!!!
With so much love it makes me want to cry,
Your Mama xoxo

'Twas the Night Before ER

I couldn't be more excited right now! It's CRAZY to me that in 12 hours from now, I'll be getting prepped for ER. In 24 hours from now, I should have embryos! As far as I know, we have never had embryos before... I already love them so much, and they're not even here yet.