It worked!

I never thought the day would come that I would see 2 lines on a pregnancy test, but at 7 days post 5 day transfer I got a positive test, confirmed by a blood test at 11 days post 5 day transfer.

Embryo transfer and freezing

Embryo transfer was set for Friday morning. My acupuncturist recommended at least 1 treatment that day so I ended up taking the whole day off work. I know from IUIs and the mock transfer that I can have pretty bad cramping after intrauterine procedures, and would end up being at work for just over 4 hours (over lunch so even less work time) so it just made sense to take the day off so I could relax at home.

My husband also took the day off so we put on our matching-ish Game of Thrones t-shirts to go for the embryo transfer. I had to drink 2-3 cups of water 1 hour prior to transfer, and I actually measured it out to make sure I had enough, but not too much so I wouldn’t have to pee too badly.

Once we got to the clinic it was back into the nightgown, shoe covers and hair cap for me, and the shoe covers, gown, hair cap and mask for my husband. The transfer was performed in the same room (and even same position on the table) as the retrieval. No meds for the transfer. The embryologist came in first to talk to us about the embryo. We had one day excellent looking 5 day blastocyst that was already hatching to transfer. The embryologist said that four of our blasts looked great and would be frozen that day. The other two needed another day of growing before they could be ready for freezing. The embryologist was sure at least one would be ready to freeze but she wasn’t sure about the second one.

The RE came in once the nurses and embryologist had everything ready. One nurse worked the abdominal ultrasound to visualize my uterus while the embryo was placed and the other nurse assisted the RE. The RE inserted a speculum and then cleaned my cervix to make sure no bacteria were transferred into my uterus. Then he treaded in the catheter and once it was in position the embryologist brought in the embryo. We could sort of see it get placed in my uterus. The embryologist checked that the embryo had been transferred before the RE removed the speculum.

We got a picture of the embryo and a picture of my uterus with the air bubbles around the embryo visible, which is pretty freaking cool.

The day after the embryo transfer we got the call from the lab that both embryos were ready to freeze which means that we have 6 embryos in the freezer, and that all 7 of our embryos made it!

Embryos and Egg Retrieval Recovery

I had the Monday off after my egg retrieval because it was Victoria Day, so I was able to spend the day relaxing on the couch, drinking water and eating salty foods. I had constant abdominal discomfort. This got better as the week progressed and by about Thursday I only had pain if I twisted the wrong way.

I started progesterone suppositories Monday morning – 2 pills (200mg total) 3 times a day – to prepare for embryo transfer. I also picked up antibiotics that I would take the day before, day of, and day after embryo transfer. The progesterone suppositories are messy but I know from my IUI cycles that I need 400mg a day to prevent my uterine bleeding so I’ll do whatever necessary if it means I don’t have any bleeding.

The lab called the day after the egg retrieval to talk about the eggs/embryos. All 8 eggs were mature and fertilized with ICSI. 7 of them started to divide. With more than 4 embryos they recommend doing a day 5 transfer because there is usually a higher rate of success than a day 3 transfer, and with so many embryos it is likely that at least 1 will make it to day 5. For a day 5 transfer they don’t check the embryos on day 2 so the next update would be day 3.

I was prepared for a drop in the number of embryos on day 3 because I know it’s typical for there to be pretty significant drops in embryo numbers during an IVF cycle, but my husband was convinced all 7 would still be growing. He was right! I got the call on day 3 that all 7 embryos were still growing away and that they looked excellent, so my transfer was set for day 5