I wish making a baby was as easy as making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (and as yummy!) It is a good bit more exciting though, so I will give it that.
Let's talk about the embryo transfer procedure for a minute. On (or around) August 16, the RE will be transferring two 5-day embryos into the loverly uterus (do not doubt that it is loverly, the doctor with the white coat said so....twice)
Here is a chart showing the progression of the embryo growth and cell division. Remind you of 9th grade Biology? (I'm feeling quite nostalgic as my 10 year reunion is this weekend.) We are using an Egg Donor so she will start stimulation meds on August 1st. The clinic will then monitor her pretty regularly and check for follicles to determine when they will do the egg retreival. This is predicted to occur around, August 11-13 and then 5 days from the egg retreival will be the embryo transfer...unless...the Embryologist sees that they are starting to fragment and then it could be sooner. We're sort of "on call" after the egg retreival and have to be prepared to fly to Dallas at a moment's notice. Otherwise, if things go as planned, we will just drive. The embryo transfer usually happens around noon and then I will move as little as possible for the next 24 hrs and then have bedrest for a couple of days.
Bed rest may sound horrible to some and I imagine more than a few days of it would drive even the most lazy of people crazy, but I am prepared for some R&R and while I love my children and my life, I am definitely looking forward to a few days in bed with DH waiting on me!! :) Who wouldn't!?!? I have a booked picked out, I plan to watch some Lifetime and indulge in some nice, guilt-free sleep...
I will also start PIO (Progesterone in Oil-Olive in my case) injections and they will continue for most of the first trimester. These are the intramuscular injections that I'm sort of dreading. Now that I am a Lupron-giving fool, I don't feel as apprehensive about it. It'll probably still hurt like hell, I'm not gonna fool myself, but at least I don't want to hurl at the thought of it.
Did you see my ticker? We're getting ever so close! AF came for one last visit and I'm off of the estrace for now. I continue Lupron and start estrace back up on the 28th. Then, the countdown really begins!
2 comments:
Bedrest for the transfer is WONDERFUL! It is just a couple days to feel like a queen. Enjoy it!!
The intramuscular injections don't hurt as much as you'd think they would. The worst part is breaking the skin. Once you're through the skin you won't feel a thing traveling through the fat layer. When you pierce the muscle you might feel a little twinge, but that's it. After two cycles I decided it's easiest to administer the shot while laying down on my side with my top leg bent just a little bit. (Before that I was sitting upright in a chair.)
Also, if your clinic is like mine you will get a phone call to finalize the appointment time a few (3-7) days in advance. The blasts really don't develop any faster than 5 days time. The only time they would transfer earlier is if it looks like the 3-day embies aren't going to survive in the dish to day 5. This indicates poor quality....
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