More Twists and Turns But They Are Home!!!

It would not be like Isabelle and Bob’s fertility journey without a bit of twists and turns.  But, all is well.

Today is our transfer day.  We went to fitness bootcamp like usual, but I was good with modifying my movements.  No jumping.  No running.  No lifting.  No abdominal exercises.  I maintained a very calm and happy mood for the whole morning.  Bob and I left at 11am to go to my first acupuncture appointment.  It was such a luxury to lie there for 45 minutes just relaxing.  We had plenty of time before our transfer so I began to fill my bladder by drinking water.  At lunch, Bob and I prayed before the meal.  Our prayer was for God’s will to be done, and we will follow.  Not even a minute after that prayer, I received Dr. No Nonsense’s phone call.  I was a bit nervous that he was calling me right before the transfer.  My worst nightmare was that he’d tell me that nothing survived the thaw.  Well, he didn’t say that.  Instead, he said that there was good news and a bit of not so good news.  The good news was that all of the embryos thawed beautifully.  The not so good news was that somehow the nurse with whom I called and double-checked yesterday about my order somehow had a miscommunication and passed on the wrong information to the embryologist.  In the order, Dr. NN wrote down “4” for the number of embryos to transfer, with the condition of us making one fresh embryo and thawing three frozen ones.  I called to make sure that the nurse and thus the embryologist understood that since we didn’t make any fresh embryos, I only wanted three embryos thawed.  She told me that she understood and would pass the message along.  Somehow, the message was not given.  The embryologist must have just looked at the original order and thawed four embryos.  So the dilemma now was, what to do with the last embryo?  My heart skipped a beat and sank for a little.  I just hate that every single time we are put on the spot to make a quick decision.  I mean, what are we to do with one final embryo?  I asked which embryo it was.  It was the three-cell grade one that wasn’t thawed.  It would really be silly to just leave one embryo hanging.  I asked Dr. NN how he felt about us putting all five in.  He said that it would be a wise decision.  He said leaving two embryos hanging would still not do too good.  He would recommend putting them all back in.  He asked if I was afraid of multiples.  I said I was.  He asked for my age again.  Then he said, given my age and my history of taking so long to make these embryos and all the failed cycles, the chances of having multiples are very slim.  If somehow we end up with twins, then it is meant to be, then we’ll count it a blessing.  I stopped my conversation and asked Bob.  We contemplated for a minute, then both said that we would just also thaw the last one.  Dr. NN seemed very pleased with our choice.  He said that this was not bad news at all.  We’re doing what we can to help you get pregnant, he said.  Then we hung up.

After that phone call, and after I wrapped my mind around the idea of five embryos, I was again at peace and happy.  God has made the choice for us.  And we followed.  I was also very relieved that the embryos thawed well.  We finished lunch and I downed two more glasses of water.  Then we walked back to the clinic and arrived very early.  We usually check in on 7th floor at the clinic and are sent to the 8th floor for the procedure.  When I waited for Bob to finish with the bathroom on the 7th floor, I saw Dr. Dry Humor coming into the clinic.  I said Hi to him and was a little puzzled why he was down on the 7th floor since he should have been upstairs waiting to do my procedure since he is the attending RE of the week.

We were on the 8th floor getting ready for the transfer.  My bladder was not overly full but was getting there.  Bob also had to put on this yellow gown that covered up his Batman shirt.  My choice of socks today was ones that my TTC friend gave me, Wonder Woman:

 

When I was waiting, I saw Dr. No Nonsense show up with his scrubs and gown.  I was puzzled by his presence, and it dawned on me that he was going to do the transfer for us!  Yesterday when we talked on the phone, I asked if we could talk about the embryos right before the transfer.  He said he might or might not be able to, but he would try.  I took it as that he could show up to talk.  He took it as him doing the procedure.  So it was a surprise and extra blessing that my own RE was doing the procedure.  It was like our journey at this clinic coming to a full circle.

Bob and I walked into the transfer room.  I sat on the table.  The embryologist verified my name and date of birth.  Dr. NN showed us our souvenir:

All five embryos all thawed beautifully.  At freeze, they were supposed to be 4-cell, 4-cell, 4-cell, 3-cell, and 2-cell.  It seemed like one of the 4-cell expanded into an 8-cell (that’s the one in the middle that looks like a flower and you have to zoom in to see the 8 cells).  The other 4-cell on the right became about 6-cell.  And the 2-cell had become a 3-cell.  In other words, they were all doing well.

I lay on the table with my legs up.  The nurse checked my bladder and found that it was full enough but not too full.   Yay no singing Jeopardy to release any urine!  I turned to Bob and asked if he wanted to take a video.  Dr. NN was like, What? Video?  Ha.  He is so different from Dr. E.  Dr. E was the one who insisted that we took a video of the transfer.  So yeah, since we had done it once, I was okay with not videotyping the transfer.  Bob was happy to be just sitting there and watch.  Dr. NN took some time to clean the inside.  And he did a trial run of putting a catheter in.  Everything seemed good.  The most uncomfortable thing was the nurse putting the abdominal ultrasound wand over my bladder.  I felt like I was almost going to burst.  Then Dr. NN announced to the embryologist: Let’s load!  She handed him the catheter.  He put it in.  And that was it!  The embryologist checked and announced that all the embryos had gone in.  We were done!  Six months of waiting, banking, and more waiting finally came to this point.  I felt tremendous joy to have finished this task.

We have truly done our best.  I am proud of us. I am proud of Felicity, Gabriel, Harriet, Ivan, and Jenny.  They are all inside me now.  I feel that we have a good chance.  When I went to my post-transfer acupuncture appointment, my acupuncturist said that I looked happy.  I am happy.  I really feel that we have done it regardless of the outcome.

So this will be a very long two week wait.  I asked my nurse and we moved my first beta to March 16th.  It is still a whole two weeks from now.  I opt to go to the lab associated with my clinic instead of Kais.er because apparently Kais.er does not do beta test STAT so the results would be next day. What the heck?  I can’t wait for the next day.  So I will pay out of pocket for that test.  Our next question is to POAS or not to POAS.  I am always against POAS.  So maybe I really won’t and I will just wait.  Time to think of something to occupy my mind.

We’ve done it!  I am so happy.  I already love the embryos so much.  Praise the Lord that everything went well.  May His will be done, whatever it may be.