The worst part of the wait

Today I am 7DP5DT, or 12 DPO.  I'm very anxious about the outcome of this cycle, as you can imagine! I've been sleeping fitfully and dreaming about peesticks.  But, I'm trying to hold off until my beta, which will be Wednesday.  I'm going in around 8AM for the blood test and will probably get the call around 1PM.  I plan to leave work at noon, because I know that, good or bad, I'll have a lot of phone calls to make.  If it's bad news, I don't know how I'll take it and I don't want to cry in front of my clients (been there, done that).  I'll check in on Wednesday once I have my beta!

Frosty report...

We got 5 frosties!  Four were frozen yesterday, and one was frozen today.  So that's good news too!

Officially PUPO

The transfer was earlier today.  I arrived at the clinic at noon with a full bladder (but luckily not uncomfortably full).  We were brought in the transfer room and the nurse checked my bladder with the external ultrasound and found it to be full enough.  The doc and embryologist came in.  The embryologist advised me that we still have "several" growing embryos, but the two best were an AA and a BB grade (I think that's what she said).  They gave me the option of transferring one or two.  I chose to transfer one, which is what they advise for my age.  We signed the consent and the doc placed the outer tube of the catheter through my cervix, which wasn't a big deal.  Once it was placed, he sent the embryologist to pick up the embryo.  She came back with it and he asked her what she had.  She said "One blastocyst for [my name here]."  It was very official.  We watched on the external ultrasound while the embryo was transferred.  Very cool!  I thought they would give us a picture of it, like many clinics do, but they did not.  I laid there for 30 minutes, then finally pee'd and headed home.  I've been trying to relax as much as possible today, though I can't help but do laundry.  I'll start the estrogen pills tomorrow, bloodwork on Thursday and then the beta will be Tuesday!  But, I will consider myself PUPO (pregnant until proven otherwise) until then.  We'll get the freeze report tomorrow.

Transfer will be Monday!

Things are going very well this cycle!  We have 8 embies still growing as of today (which is day 3).  So, we will have a 5-day transfer on Monday at around noon.  I'm feeling OK, still not 100%  I still have cramps, lower backache, and kind of a constipated, gassy feeling in my abdomen (sorry if TMI!)  My belly is so swollen that I can't lay on my stomach at night, though I haven't gained that much weight.  I'll have acupuncture on Tuesday, so that will be good timing.  I'm surprisingly relaxed about this process and not stressing too much.  I downloaded some guided meditation podcasts, so I'll be listening to them over the coming weeks as much as possible.  I'll check back in Monday after the transfer!

Fertilization report

Just got the call from the clinic.  Out of my 12 eggs, 6 were ICSI'd and 6 were allowed to fertilize naturally.  Of the 6 ICSI'd, 5 fertilized.  Of the 6 natural ones, 4 fertilized.  So, we have 9 embies in the running.  I'm excited and relieved.

A dozen eggs, please!

The retrieval was today, and they got a dozen eggs.  The doctor said that it went "perfect" and that 12 is just what they were hoping for.  I'm please about that number too, because it will give us a lot to work with.  If some don't fertilize or aren't good quality, hopefully we'll have a few that are and some left to freeze.  I'm hoping for a 4 or 5-day transfer.  They have a very nice setup in their IVF center.  I hadn't been there before, as it's separate from the rest of the clinic.  They even gave me a nice fleece blanket with their logo on it.  They will ICSI half of them and allow the other half to fertilize naturally.  Bunny's sample was very good.  I'm feeling crampy and tired, so taking it very easy for the next 2 days.  I'll check back tomorrow once I hear the fert report.

Triggering tonight - retrieval Wednesday!

Sorry for not updating more, it's just been a bunch of ultrasounds and bloodwork.  I took my last stims last night and went in this morning for a final ultrasound.  I have about 15-17 good follies (mostly all on my right ovary!) and will trigger tonight at 10PM.  The retrieval will be Wednesday morning at 9:30 AM.  I imagine the transfer will be Saturday, Sunday or Monday, depending on how the embies do.  I've done well as far as side effects go, but as of this evening I'm starting to feel somewhat uncomfortable.  I can feel a lot of cramping and pressure in my ovaries and lower back.  I was told to be very careful with my physical activity due to the large number of follies - I guess they're worried about torsion or OHSS.  I'll check in Wednesday after the retrieval!

Onward and upward...

I had my 2nd scan today, after 4 days of stims.  24 follicles!  Righty seems to be an overachiever, with 15 follies, and lefty lagging behind with 9.  The largest was about 9mm and my lining was 5mm.  I'll stick with the same doses and go back for another scan Thursday.

Baseline scan today....

I had my baseline scan today.  21 antral follicles so far!  I'll be starting 275 units of Follistim and 2 vials of Menopur tonight, also continuing with 5 units of Lupron.