It is recommended by some fertility clinics to stay away from anything scented the day before the transfer and a few days after. That being said, my hair went unwashed for 3-4 days and I used a non-scented glycerine soap from the health food store, instead of my usual stuff. I wanted to be scent free for this embaby! Apparently they don't like strong scents, so I figured why not be extra careful. So just a warning, my hair is crazy in the following photos.
I've been on a hot water and lemon kick lately so the night before the transfer I sipped back on a few and relaxed. I have not been stressed at all. It's not how I expected to feel leading up to this, but I have been totally calm and stress free, which is ideal for achieving pregnancy.
When I woke up the morning of the 25th I was so unbelievable happy. We had waited for this day for years and it was finally ours. We had a great drive to the clinic. Our embryo transfer was at 11:00 and we had to arrive at 10:00. We left at eight just to be safe. This is not for the faint hearted but on the way I had to administer my Progesterone injection. I have given it to myself in the car before but I was always pulled over for obvious safety reasons. We wanted to get there on time so I told Mitch to keep driving...big mistake! It all went in smooth after we pulled over. I have to say it probably looks sketchy to look in a vehicle and see someone drawing up an injection haha.
When we arrived, we checked in and put our booties on in the waiting room. We were brought into our room soon after that. There wasn't much to the room, other than a bed and an ultrasound machine. I signed some forms and got changed. One of my favourite sonographers came in and did an ultrasound to check my lining and to see if my bladder was full enough (you need a full bladder for the procedure). She is European with a beautiful accent and she was just so happy about my bladder and uterus. She kept saying over an over, "this is perfect, I wouldn't change a thing", "so beautiful". She was cracking me up!
Mitch surprised me with "FET" (frozen embryo transfer) socks, which is popular in the fertility world. They say warm feet mean a warm uterus! No joke I have been in socks all of August.
After the ultrasound was complete, the embryologist came in to talk to us about our embryo and what will happen in the procedure, which is only about five minutes long. He told us that the thaw was 100% successful and that the embryo looked great and was expanding as it should. I was SO proud and thanked him for his hard work. He said they thawed him at nine and that they allow the embryo to expand over a few hours in the warm culture medium. He said once the Dr. was ready to proceed, he would bring the embryo into the room in a large baby incubator. They use the same incubators as those used in delivery rooms. Mitch was always bothered by how cold the embryos are, being cryo frozen, so the thought of our embryo being warmed up brought great joy to him.
When he was finished his discussion, the nurse came back and offered me an Ativan. I declined as I was not nervous or anxious at all and I didn't want it in my system. When he left, I looked at Mitch and said, "Do I look like somebody who wants to drug my baby???" He was like, "Kendra"! He didn't get the "What to Expect When Expecting" movie reference haha. Although he should as I literally watch it every week.
Not to long after, the nurse, sonographer and doctor came into the room to begin. Followed by them was a big beautiful incubator. We both started to cry immediatly and I sat right up so I could see it clearly. In the middle of the incubator was a little dish with a light on it, and a large screen with the embryo magnified. It was so incredibly emotional. Our little embryo, God's creation, already earth side, coming back home where he belongs. I could barely read out my name and birthday for them all to hear, I was crying so much with joy. Our embryo looked beautiful.
The procedure was completely painless and only took a few minutes, we were able to watch the whole thing on the ultrasound screen, as the procedure is ultrasound guided. After the embryo is placed, the embryologist checks the catheter to make sure it is no longer there. You can also see on the screen where the embryo is placed. It was so hard to stay still as it took everything in me not to cry throughout the whole thing.
After it was complete, everyone left the room and I was able to stay lying down for an hour. We immediately prayed over our embryo. We were SO happy. I still can't believe it happened.
There is our little Bryo ^! We call the little guy, "Bryo" which sounds like embryo without the "em".
We headed home and ordered some Thia food to celebrate! My clinic recommends taking it easy for 48 hours where other clinics recommend bedrest for three days. Just to be safe I am essentially a couch potato for three days with the exception of light walking and making food. The studies show the exact same pregnancy rates for those mothers who stay in bed and those mothers who continue with regular light duties, so I figured it couldn't hurt to just stay put.
The plan now is to wait for nine days before I can take a pregnancy test. We are in the "two week wait" which for us is actually a nine day wait because we did a frozen transfer. On September 3rd I can take a home pregnancy test. I will probably test early as many women do, because the earliest I have heard that HCG can be detected is six days after transfer. A lot of the time the line will be faint and get darker every few days, so I think that would be awesome to see. I bought more than enough pregnancy tests on Amazon so I am covered!
If I am pregnant, then I go in for my beta HCG levels on September 6th. We are praying that those are good values and above average, the higher the better! The real test will be two days after that on September 8th where I will have a second beta test taken. Those numbers need to have doubled from the original result for that test to show a viable pregnancy. We are remaining hopeful, trusting and believing that this is possible! God will carry us regardless of what happens, but we know without a shadow of a doubt that this is POSSIBLE!
"If you can?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for one who believes."
- Mark 9:23
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