The Transfer

Transfer day (October 11, 2013) came rather quickly after the retrieval!  I was still trying to recooperate and get rid of that insane bloat of a belly I had along with the cramping, but before I knew it, it was time to wake up super early once again and implant those babies! Why do fertility specialists do things at ridiculous hours of the morning!?

As nervous as I thought I was for the retrieval, I was SOO nervous for the transfer!! This was the big day...the big moment!

We had set up the day with our accupunturist so that accupuncture could be done both before and after transfer. 

This is the awkward I've got needles all over my legs, stomach and ears smile : )

And this is what Jon did to keep me laughing tne entire time before...it definitely helped keep my mind off of the upcoming events!

So after we did accuppuncture for about 30 minutes, it was time to chat with the embryologist.  We went into the morning thinking we had 5 little embies to work with, but only 2 had actually made it to the 3 day mark.  So 3 would be discarded, and the 2 remaining were what we would be implanting! 

 

I have to say, the fact that we only had 2, with none to freeze was really disappointing.  The thought of this not working and having to go through the entire stimulation program and retrieval all over again was overwhelming.  Or if only one took, then we'd be right back in this same spot working for baby #2 later (we definitely don't want an only child). 

 

But I tried focusing on the positive:

1.) We had 2 great embryos to work with.  Both were graded 1B, which apparently was the highest grading our embryologist gets...she never gives out As for some reason (and yes, being a straight A overachieving student this was slightly disappointing : (  On the flip side, Jon said they were already ahead of his game : )

2.) If this worked, we wouldn't have to deal with the huge decision on what to do with the remaining frozen embryos. I know several friends who have had to make this decision, and it wasn't easy for any of them!

 

So with our 10 cell and 6 cell 1B embies, we walked over to the transfer room which was the same room as the retrieval room.  The nurse brought us in, laid me on the table, and then left us for a bit.  With all of this....

If you're not already nervous at this point, seeing this tray of equipment right by your head will just tip you over the edge.  And I definitely had to remind Jon to take the picture but not hover over it or touch anything because it was all sterile. Gotta love the fact that it's all set up there to go up your hoo-ha!

After about 5 minutes of waiting, the nurse came back in, put my legs up on the stirrups, and put me essentially upside down.  The procedure itself took all of 10 minutes, and it was seriously one of the coolest things I've ever seen!  Now don't get me wrong, the catheter moving in and out of my cervix was certainly not pleasant, but we were able to watch the embyros shoot up through the catheter and land just where our doctor wanted them to!!!  Like my two little miracle shooting stars!

The first picture of our 2 little babies!  They are the tiny, bright white circles just slightly to the left of center.

Once it was done, I laid upside down for about 30 minutes.  I'm not sure why we don't have a picture of this!!!  Jon was probably trying to keep my mind off the fact that blood was rushing to my head and leaving none for my feet.

Either way, we got plenty of pics as I laid for another 30 minutes with accupuncture again, this time more flat and my feet didn't have to be in those ginormous stirrups!

This is what I call "Mrs Conehead got IVF"

Our friend, chiropractor, and accupunturist.  Clearly he is a pea in the Lerma pod : )

The first picture of the Lerma family of 4!

After the initial laying upside down and then flat period, I was sent on my way back home for strict bed rest x24 hours.  Once again Jonathan was the most loving, serving husband I could ever ask for!  He took such great care of me and did it all without one complaint.  It was my job to do nothing but let those little babies burrow on in. It was his job to do everything else...and he took this on like a champion!

 

With all of the big things behind us, it would now just be a LONG 2 weeks of waiting....oh boy!