A Little Pregnant

Transfer day! Eep!

I went to work for a couple of hours this morning, and was happy to see that it was pretty quiet. At 10 we started heading up to Portland, making sure we had plenty of time so we wouldn't feel rushed, which was really nice because we were able to spend about half an hour sitting outside a coffee shop and people-watching. (The people-watching is so much better in a big city than in my little town!) (I noticed ankle boots are super popular this fall. Heh.)

We went up to the waiting room 15 minutes early, and I was surprised that they ushered us back almost immediately. They gave us a little room with a bed and a chair and a window, and I changed into a gown and some paper slippers (over my lucky socks!) and started working on my liter bottle of water.

After I'd had 2/3 of my water, a nurse came in and did a quick ultrasound to see if my bladder was full enough, and it was completely empty. She suggested I try to walk around a little to get things moving, so I spent the next several minutes wearing a rut on the floor, back and forth the three paces it took from corner to corner of the room. It felt nice to get some of my nervous energy out.

Then the embryologist came in with a Valium for me and chatted about the morning she had with our potential babies. We had two straws of two embryos each. The first one that they thawed looked dark and grainy - not good at all. So they thawed the second one (our last two embryos) and they looked great, and they were ready to transfer. I asked why the first two might not survive, and she said they never know; it could be that they just weren't strong enough to survive the freeze, or that the external environment wasn't optimal. At any rate, after she left I spent a few more minutes letting that sink in - this is our last chance with this original set of embryos, and if we have to try again it has to be from scratch - the expensive kind of scratch.

A second ultrasound about 15 minutes later revealed a still-empty bladder, so I had to drink another 12 ounces of water. (I told her at that point that I knew my bladder was just a little slow - this has happened twice before - but she gave more water to me anyway.) After that, I started to feel my bladder starting to fill up and I knew it wouldn't be long now. I'm pretty sure that as my bladder took its time, though, my neighbor in the next room had her transfer time switched with mine. Sorry, doc.

A third ultrasound revealed a nice full bladder, so I waited another couple of minutes for the doctor to be ready and then they wheeled me into the transfer room. The bed they had was really cool - the middle drops out and the edges raise up and have pockets for your feet. That way you don't have to move hardly at all, and can stay flat the whole time. Anyway, the doctor inserted a speculum, cleaned the cervical mucus off my cervix, did a quick practice transfer, and then did the real transfer. As soon as the embryologist checked to make sure the embryo straw was empty, he gave me... not sure, an Endometrin (I think?) suppository, and then they put the bed back together and wheeled me back into my little room, where Cory was waiting. It was barely 10 minutes (I'm sure more like 5) for the whole thing.

Back in the room, I kind of surprised myself with the tears. I'm trying to remember the last time this happened, and I think I had maybe one tear the first time and nothing the second time. This time - I don't know, it was a combination of letting out some of the nervousness from the last few days, and knowing that this is a huge big deal because we're getting older, and these are the last embryos we have.

I had to wait for a little over half an hour, still lying flat, and I made it about halfway before I needed to use a bedpan. I was really hoping I wouldn't have to, but I tell you, you might as well be comfortable while lying in bed for half an hour after a transfer. I'm sure I said this last time, but it is REALLY hard to pee lying down.

After my lying-in period, the nurse came back in and gave us some more progesterone suppositories for use after a positive pregnancy test, and told me what to do for bed rest for the next two days. I was surprised about the length - at OHSU they only requested being still and quiet for the rest of the day after the transfer. But I'm not complaining, I'm happy to do anything I can to help these little guys along.