April 2017 - FET #1, The Test & The Transfer

The weeks of lead up to transfer went by slowly.  I started the estrogen on March 8 (pills and patches), then took my first progesterone in oil shot (in the upper butt...think love handle area) on March 23.  Michael has been giving me those every evening since, partly due to the awkward angle and partly due to the 1.5-inch needle that has to go into my muscle in order to do it successfully.  He is really good at it, and I rarely feel much more than just pressure.  There's definitely residual soreness.  Kind of like a flu shot is, but in your lower back.  At this point (11 shots in as of Apr 3 morning) the dull ache is pretty evenly distributed on both sides.

The Monday before transfer (March 27), I started Lovenox, which is a blood thinner.  It's politely packaged in a pre-loaded syringe, and it even has a nifty little safety mechanism which pops out and covers the needle after you've given the shot.  The first one went fine.  I gave it to myself, since it was a stomach injection and those are no big deal anymore.  Then it hit.  About 1-2 mins after the injection, it stings like a bee sting.  Weirdest thing.  After about 10-15 mins, the sting fades away.  Lovely.  Michael and I had just joked the night before about which we would prefer...a shot like the progesterone, which doesn't hurt much when being given, but leaves sore muscles for a couple days after, or a shot that hurts while giving it, but then after that not at all.  Well folks, I have a bit of both worlds!  And if this transfer is successful, we will keep going on both of these until 10-12 weeks of pregnancy.  Here's hoping for lots more shots!

The transfer was scheduled for March 29 and we were told to arrive at noon.  The day before, I added in prednisone (a steroid), which is supposed to help encourage the embryo to stick.  I also had a special pre-transfer acupuncture appointment.  As I sat in the dark with the tingle of the electro-stimulant machine tickling my lower abdomen, I thought about Schrodinger, our target embryo for this transfer.  From what they told me on Monday, Schrodinger would be thawed (defrosted?) on Tuesday morning, sampled for genetic testing, and the sample sent off to the lab for 24-hr turnaround results.  They said the lab would call if something bad happened, so no news was good news.  My brain was cycling on this as I laid there in the dark listening to zen music.  Was Schrodinger ok?  Would he/she be normal?  Could I cope with it being abnormal quickly enough to turnaround and be positive about having to thaw and use The Lone Ranger instead?  Ugh...why does time go so slowly?

I was worried about Schrodinger, but was assured by my nurse that we would get a call the morning of the transfer with the results before we had to come in, so we could deal with it in private if we needed to.  Sometime between 9am and 11am Michelle would again call.  This was a small blessing.  If it was bad news, I didn't want to find out when we were already there.

I didn't sleep too soundly the night before, but that's pretty routine for me when it comes to these procedures.  Too much to think about, too hard to relax.  I woke up around 3am and couldn't go back to sleep until 6.  Michelle called at 9:48am.  Schrodinger tested NORMAL!!!  Such amazing relief!  I laughed and cried, she was so happy to give us the good news.  After hanging up, all the tension about this step released and happy tears poured down.  Michael was thrilled.  The good news made facing the imminent transfer so much easier.  I started chugging water (full bladder required for the procedure) and hurried to shower and get dressed so we could get down there and put Schrodinger IN!  

Of course, the day of transfer was a day of thunderstorms and tornado warnings.  We left a little time to spare, but this isn't the first time we've been heading to Piney Point (just west of the Galleria area) in a storm.  We got there in plenty of time, checked in, and for the first time, they brought Michale and I back to the prep room together.  We changed into transfer attire.  Michael wore a lightweight, white jumpsuit and hair net (sorry, he wouldn't let me take a picture), and I wore a hospital gown and some big, warm, fleece-lined purple socks.  The acupuncturist said to keep my feet warm...warm feet = warm uterus.  I took a 800mg ibuprofen they had prescribed when the nurse gave me the go-ahead.

Our RE came in and gave us both a big high-five.  We were due for good news, he said...it was about time!  He walked us through the procedure, asked me how my bladder felt, and said we'd get started soon.  All 3 of us were smiling ear to ear the whole time.  It was at this point he gave us a photo of our lovely, little, hatching Schrodinger, looking awesome and still thriving in the dish.

Schrodinger, hatching.  The part that will hopefully become the fetus is the dark black blob.

He left, and it wasn't long before the nurse came to escort us into the operating room.  I had been in this one at least once before, maybe twice.  It's hard to keep track.  I assumed the position on the table, and they deployed the leg braces.  It was so much better with Michael there.  We were both happy, he held my hand, I didn't have to be IV-ed this time, and before too long, our embryo would be where it's supposed to be! 

I've heard it said, "Well, it takes 2 to make a baby!"  In our case, on March 29, it took 6, thankyouverymuch.  Our RE, the ultrasound tech, the embryologist, his assistant, and of course, Michael and me.  I asked our RE if anyone had ever peed on him during the procedure, he said, "Not yet."  "Oh, so I might be the first, eh?  Also, where's the Barry White music?"

The ultrasound tech, a tall guy named Nate, pressed on my bladder with the device until he could get a good picture of my full bladder and, below it, my uterus.  Lining over 14mm.  Last measurement was March 17, when it was over 9mm and they were happy enough with the progress not to require measuring it again until the procedure.  Our RE positioned the speculum and then a small tube to open my cervix.  Similar discomfort to a pap smear, really, only a bit prolonged.  He said, "This will seem anticlimactic, but in a minute, the embryologist will bring in your embryo in a small tube with some fluid, I will position that tube in your uterus.  Then if you blink you'll miss it, I'll push the embryo, some fluid and a few bubbles into the far corner of your uterus."  Nate was looking at me with some level of concern, as he was still pressing firmly on my full bladder.  Perhaps he took me at least partially seriously about the peeing...  "Don't worry, Nate, I'm ok, do what you've gotta do to get a good view," I said.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, we saw it happen.  I couldn't feel anything special or unique about it, but there it was.  The embryologist took the tube back into the lab to check it under a microscope and be certain Schrodinger had been evicted (the embryo is smaller than a grain of salt at this point, so good to check thoroughly to be sure...it is an expensive little thing!).  He confirmed back a couple moments later. "And we're done!"  The whole thing lasted about 20-30 mins.

This is a tough one to decipher, but here's the ultrasound scan of the embryo after having been placed in my uterus.  There is a small white arrow (near the center of the image), which points at the little white mass.  Please don't worry if you don't see it.  We were there listening to the instructions and watching it in live motion, and it was pretty challenging to see.

Large black oval in top right is my full bladder, below the white horizontal streak is a small white arrow they added.
It points to the cluster of bubbles and liquid that contains our embryo after it was placed successfully in my uterus!

We told them all thank you as I was transferred to a gurney and moved to the recovery room.  I was to lie there for 15-20 mins, full bladder...giving it time to settle in, I suppose.  At that point, the nurse allowed me to put my clothes back on and escorted me to the restroom.  Michael signed the discharge papers and took me home.  It was a little before 2pm when we got in the car and headed out.  It all seemed so easy and brief compared to an egg retrieval and strange to be fully conscious and un-drugged after a procedure!

As usual, now there's just the waiting.  I'm pregnant until proven otherwise!!  I'll keep up with the shots, pills, and patches through Friday, April 7, when I get to take a blood test to see if the embryo has taken the opportunity to hang on for the next step.  Hopefully we get to keep going from there.  

Thank you to everyone continuing to root for us and for Schrodinger!