Embryo On Board

Today we transferred one grade AA blastocyst. I need to go read up on the different categories but according to my doctor this is good. There are two other embryos that may be eligible for freezing, they will let us know in a day or two about that. But I'm hoping we won't need the frozen ones, I am hoping this one is a keeper.

The hubby and I have talked a lot about how many embryos to transfer. Ultimately we decided that if we had one perfect embryo then that's all we would transfer. The reason is because multiple pregnancies are higher risk. Any pregnancy of mine is already going to be high risk because of the placental issue that caused my son to die at 36 weeks. Add that factor (even though they say it was a fluke and not likely to happen again) to a multiple pregnancy and you're talking super high risk. I know first hand that bad things can happen even in perfect uneventful pregnancies, but we want to try and lower our risk of future losses if possible. Mentally we need to have the lowest risk pregnancy possible. So we're happy with our decision to only transfer one today.

I've been a ball of stress for a couple of days now. I think that somehow when you try not to think about something or stress about something it makes you think about that thing and stress about it even more. At least that's how it works for me. So I was just a bit grumpy and not so pleasant to be around on the ride over. We got to the office with my semi-full bladder and waited. Good thing I wasn't bursting for a pee because we waited about a half an hour after our scheduled time before we finally were called in.

I got up on this table and assumed the position. Giddy up! I've missed those stirrups. In the UK most clinics don't have them and you just have to put your feet on the table and open your knees. We had come into the room using one door and there was another door on the other side of the room. It reminded me of when you go to the vet's office (random thought I know). The doctor comes in the door we used and gets everything ready. Then the embryologist comes in from the other door. That's the door to the lab, where my embryos are. She confirms my identity and the fact that we're only transferring one embryo. Then she leaves.

Once we're all ready the nurse goes back in the lab door and says we're ready. Back comes the embryologist with a long skinny metal thing that is holding our embryo. The procedure itself was not painful at all. It hurt even less than my IUI. It is all over quickly. That is until when they check the skinny metal tube they discover that my stubborn little embryo is still hiding in there. So back into the position I go and they have to do it all over again. This time as we're watching the ultrasound we all see the little thing go in. Well we see something that looks like a worm or line and the nurse who can read ultrasounds tells us that's our embryo going in. Tube checked and the embryo was no longer in it. Second time was the charm I guess.

I'm now on bedrest for the next 24 hours and have to take it easy for a couple more days after that. I'm feeling tired and a bit crampy. I think the crampy is from the procedure today and the tired is a combination of jet lag and the stress leaving my body. So I guess we won't be doing as many of the touristy things in Washington DC like I'd hoped. But that's OK with me. We didn't come here for that. Although we will be going to a baseball game on Friday night.

It's weird to think that there is a little embryo floating around inside me. For the first time in almost a year I have to worry about what I eat and drink again. I need to eat healthy and give up wine not because I'm on some kind of diet or health kick, but because I'm trying to grow a baby in here.

I know that what happens from this point on is mostly out of my hands. I suppose this is where the "faith" part of taking a leap of faith is all about. As George Michael says, "Because I gotta have faith, oh I gotta have faith."