This is the post I have been waiting to write all along and it's finally time! Transfer Day was yesterday at 8:20am Chicago time. Ben and I were so relieved to not have to pack the kids and their belongings because my mom decided to come to our house for the day since we were leaving so early in the morning. Ben and I both had to work the night before so we didn't get out until late, got the kids home, finished up my homework and I was in bed by 11:30. Of course my mind was going a million miles a minute and the last time I looked at the clock it was 12:30. Ben didn't get home until 1am so he had even less time to sleep. Lets just say we were both exhausted and felt like zombies! I woke up at 4:30 so I could make sure we had everything we needed and I wanted time to straighten my hair. These days I never get to straighten my hair due to lack of time so it was nice even if I had to get up earlier to do so. Ava woke up when my mom arrived at 4:45 and sat there dazed while making all her cute sounds an playing with Nana. We left by 5:30 and the only thing open was McDonald's so we went through the drive thru and got something small.
I swear until about 8am when the sky was a dull bright it was the most boring drive to date. I was so out of it tired and kept riding the line in the 3 lane segments as if I couldn't decide which I wanted to be in. We finally got past the Chicago Skyway and I could feel my stomach tingling with a little nervousness. I'm glad we left as early as we did because we ended up merging off on I90W instead of I94W taking us about 15 minutes out of our way round trip. The IVF procedures are done at the main campus location so our drive was about a half hour longer and we had never been there before. When we got back on track it was a breeze to get to and we were finally getting off the official exit. My stomach was rolling by this point.
<---------Chicago!
Ben and I walked through the main entrance of the hospital only finding out the IVF Center was on the other said of the building in the medical office. Walking into the medical office there is no one to great you and no diagrams directing you where to go. All we knew was the suite number B400. We walked up the stairs 1st floor 100's, 2nd floor 200's, 3rd floor 300's.........wait? There isn't a 4th floor! WTH!? We walked back through the halls on the first floor (no one in sight) and found some double doors with the number B400 on them. YES! We Found It! We walked in and a huge sign when you walked in (in pink) said Breast Center. Huh? We told the receptionist we were lost but of course she had no idea where we needed to go either. GREAT! We decided to go back to the lobby and try the basement. I absolutely did not want to be late so I was walking pretty fast in order to find this darn office. Finally! We found another door that said B400. Thank Goodness and we were exactly on the dot 8:20. Too Ironic. We walked in and the scenery was completely different than the entire hospital look. The office was on the smaller side and it has bamboo lining the walls top to bottom. It looked like we were on an exotic island in a tiki hut. Ha!
Ben and I sat down on the fluffiest couch ever (more likely sinking not sitting) and were relieved we were there before E & A. I don't know what it is about being last but I didn't want the awkward walking in right on time and them staring at us thinking "cutting the time rather close huh?" It was so nice to see them again and have faces to speak to rather just words through an e-mail or a voice through the phone. None of us knew what to expect so we were all pretty anxious for the next steps. A nurse called my name and at first I was a little confused whether I go back or all of us went back. I ended up following the nurse while Ben, E, and A stayed in the waiting area. I was told to go into a small room (the size of a elevator it seemed), with a small half table/chair and some shelves. The nurse said, "down to just bra and socks, open in the back (pointing to the hospital scrubs on the chair), belongings in the drawer". Oooookayy. I asked something about the scrub outfit because there was another white sheet next to it and I wasn't sure if I needed to do anything with that and again she said, "down to just bra and socks, open in the back (pointing to the hospital scrubs on the chair), belongings in the drawer". Obviously very procedure, no "Hiiii!!!" or personality involved but I just did what she said both times and sat in the chair waiting for the next step.
As I was waiting I couldn't help but take a picture of how ridiculous I looked in the scrubs!
I haven't bit my nails in over a month now so I sat there picking at them little by little because I was so anxious for the transfer to happen. As I'm in the room the only thing I am thinking is what in the world Ben is talking to E & A about in the waiting area. Knowing him I was thinking about all kinds of jokes he would be making like he was doing on the drive down. After the transfer he talked about shaking A's hand and saying, "Congratulations on impregnating my wife!" Oh Jeez! I told him we wont know until 10 days later whether I am pregnant or not so he agreed to wait until then, ha! There was a knock at my door and in walked E! I was relieved that I didn't have to go into the procedure room alone. She had to put on scrubs over her clothing. The embryologist came in along with the nurse and the F. Dr. poking his head in as well all with E and I still in the room. (Did I mention that this room was tiny?) Good thing none of us were claustrophobic! They wanted to meet us personally and I had to sign a paper stating the amount of embryos that we would be transferring.
Oh Goodness, IT'S TIME!
E and I were the only ones to go back into the procedure room while Ben and A stayed in the waiting area. We went through a few different doors and walked into a dark room with one bright beaming light a piece of equipment let off. The room looked straight out of a movie scene! E and I both felt like we were on a reality TV show wondering where the cameras were at. I was asked to lay back on the table and I put my legs up on stir-ups instead of my feet. I can't remember exactly how many people were in there because I was trying to focus on the one man (He did the 3D ultrasound during the transfer guiding the F. Dr, where to place the embryos) He was speaking to me so fast it seemed telling me what the were going to be doing and what I can and cannot do after the transfer. Something a little like this, "You may not use a hot tub, take hot baths, or exercise because your body temperature rising could affect the embryos. You may however; cough, sneeze, poop, pee, burp, fart and the embryos will NOT fall out!" Ha! I had to giggle at him saying all of this. The F. Dr. came into the room and I believe asked me how I was doing (so much going on I can't remember what he said) He tells E and I the news that they choose the best 2 embryos they had for the transfer. He said, "Embryos #1 and #7 are the ones we are implanting today" What A Coincidence! My lucky number is 17 and has followed me throughout my entire life bringing good luck! It never fails! My mother was pregnant with me at age 17, my mother and I were born on the 17th, my sister and I are 17 months apart, I graduated at age 17, I was married on the 17th, and the embryos are 1 and 7. Then the ultrasound man says, "We will waiting for Manny (the embryologist) and only when he is ready we can go ahead" Thinking we would be waiting at least 10 minutes.
Frozen Embryos ------->
All of the sudden I felt something ice-cold touch the side of my leg letting me know they were beginning. Oh My Goodness....Breath....It's Happening....Relax....Stay Calm....Don't Cry (because of emotions)...I have to pee so bad...Look at the monitor....Listen to the man talking about the monitor. All things going through my mind! Then the Dr. started things as they would do a PAP Smear --best way to describe it-- E and I are looking at the screen as they are showing us the 2 embryos in the petri dish. They magnified the embryos to show them up close and back to the original size. It was so hard for me to concentrate on the man talking and the screen considering the Dr. was putting the speculum in at the same time. E sat right next to the table watching the screen with me. We see the catheter going toward the petri dish and FOOOM FOOOOM! There go the embryos one at a time into the catheter. We look on the screen below that one and this is when the man (who did all the talking) put the 3D ultrasound right on my bladder, eeeeekk. We now see a full picture of my uterus and we are watching the catheter go through the thin line right down the middle. It was so interesting to see my uterus this time. When I first began getting the ultrasounds it was very thin and small like a perfect oval. This time it looked like a football with way too much air inside! Ha! Too Cool! Extra Fluffy little friend of a uterus!
Getting back to the transfer, I feel nothing as the catheter enters my uterus and the man begins to count; 1, 2, 3......FOOOOM, the embryos shoot out of the catheter! We see the actual embryos go into my uterus! I seriously wanted to cry! It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen! The F. Dr. pulled the catheter out and then had to tug on the speculum a few times which made me cramp up quite a bit not feeling the greatest. I hear E beside me say, "That's It!" We were both so shocked that the actual procedure was less than 5 minutes and they lifted me off the bed. I didn't have to stay lying for a period time or anything. I completely forgot by this time that I had to pee. As I walked out of the room, the F. Dr. was standing there to greet me and he says, "You did a great job! You are doing an amazing thing for this family, Thank You!"
Oh No, That Did It! Here Come The Water Works! -->
I was directed to the bathroom finally relieving my bladder and got my self together emotionally before returning to the room. I got dressed and made my way back to the waiting area to see Ben, E, & A. We decided after all the suggestions on where to go sit and eat to go to a bagel shop not to far from the IVF clinic. After that is Ben blurting out, "We could get coffee, Didn't you want some today Chelsea?" Ha! He will kill me fore telling you this. I said, "Ben, I can't have coffee anymore, that is why I was excited to have my last one yesterday". Silly man! At the bagel shop we sat, ate, and talked about what happened in the procedure room and about our lives in general.
How would you feel if we got pregnant with twins? I asked E. She replied with, "I would just be sooooo happy!" It was nice spending some time with them before we had to make the drive home. I was emotionally and physically exhausted the way home with less than 4 hours of sleep from the night prior. It was too hard to sleep in the car so Ben sang his heart out and we kept talking about the transfer and E &A.
I was ready to be home, see our children, and go to bed. My mom wanted to know how everything went so we told her the story and I took an hour nap. Woke up for dinner and reclined on the couch until 8 o clock rolled around. I couldn't seem to relax and my head was so congested so I took one of the Valiums given to me by the clinic. 8:30 rolled around and I was out for 12 hours! I stayed in bed until about 9 or so and then made my way to the couch. Ben reminded David (our son) that I was fragile for the next few days and he couldn't rough house with me. He understood and had sympathy as we explained to him the embryos were placed in my belly.
How Am I Feeling? Well, I woke up this morning to Ben already being up with the kids, laundry was in, breakfast dishes were done, and I relaxed --I'm feeling pretty darn great! Wouldn't you? I don't have any cramping or bleeding and my congestion is better than yesterday so I'm pretty near perfect! Besides not taking a shower or making any effort to get around today that is, ha! Ben took the kids over to his mom's house while he is watching the Lion's game and I am relaxing in bed writing my blog and reading some literature.
Quotes of the day -- David: "What if there are 2 girls? Ugh! I want them to have boys!" ... "Stick Embies Stick" (so far we are calling them embies for short and it is a cute childish nickname for David to relate)
2WW (2 week wait)! -- October 23rd I am able to walk into my OB's Lab and get my BetaHCG blood work done. We will have same day results but that doesn't mean I will be able to wait that long. I have read that after 3-5 days of implantation you may take pregnancy tests to try to see results BUT a negative doesn't mean a negative because my HCG levels aren't guaranteed to be high enough for the home tests to read so we shall see! Hoping for a BFP!!!!!
Previously in the story--When E & A made their entrance into the clinic they were holding something in a plastic bag. Interesting! As the conversation grew they began telling us about how they heard that pineapple increase your chances of pregnancy and when they were going through their egg retrieval cycles --not knowing at the time she would not be able to carry a pregnancy-- she ate pineapple like it was going out of style! So they brought me some pineapple to help our odds! ;) Too Cute! This was the e-mail I received this morning from E -- "Hope you guys got back in good time! A and I were so emotionally exhausted yesterday. What you are trying to do for is is so amazing and we are so lucky to have you guys by our side . . . eat that pineapple:) xoxoxox E"
Love! I ate it on the way home, for dinner, and breakfast this morning! Goes to show that we are all for doing anything possible to help relax their worries and to do as much as we can to make this a good experience for them as well. I know I would love it if someone did things the way I would carrying my child(ren).
Eat That Pineapple:) --------------->
I am now going to rest for the next couple days and then go back to work but taking it easy. I will not be lifting anything heavy because of the risks of miscarriage or too much stress on the embryos. I will be continuing the estrogen patches, suppositories, and P in Oil injections to further thicken my uterine lining. With those I also continue the baby aspirin and the prenatal vitamins.
Updating the abbreviations in the right hand column!
WE DID IT!
Love,
