And Now We Wait

Here it is, folks. The blastocyst transferred today. As funky as this image looks, the doctor said that this blastocyst looked "fabulous." So fabulous, in fact, that they only transferred one. We have one other "fabulous" blastocyst and 9 other potentially decent looking embryos that might be frozen for future transfer. Seems so strange, looking at this little image, to think that our life and our hopes and all of those appointments and shots... well, they are all resting right there.

And now for the dreaded 2 week wait. We have our beta test on November 30th. Until then, I'll follow the doctors directions. :)

The Great Divide

Saturday embryo update: ALL 11 embryos have made it to the next stage - dividing 2 or 4 times! Looks like I'll be having my transfer on Tuesday! (Day 5, blastocysts, and more likely to implant!)

Update

Dr. B just called (yep, the ACTUAL doctor!) and said how happy she is with the results thus far, and that my eggs are looking good! All 14 fertlized, but three of them were showing a second nucleus and therefore will NOT be used for implantation. So, we have 11 fertilized eggs at this time.

We'll get another call tomorrow to update us with how many have divided 2-4 times, b/c these will be The Ones.

Lapse

It's been a few whirlwind days that have kept me from my wonderful blog. Tuesday G and I went in, and found that I had 11 follicles that were measured at 16mm up to 20mm. Dr. B and Julie (who was doing the probing) both remarked at how beautiful and wonderful my follicles looked. Hooray for my uterine growing ability, I suppose. What is the proper response to someone remarking about your ovaries and follicles?

Well, they printed off a copy of the follicle sizes for me to keep and sent me on my way. That same day they gave me permission to take the trigger shot - 10,000 hCG - that night. So, no more injections other than the massive one that G gets to aim at my tush. Exciting, right? Next step... and we were ready for the next phase.

We took the shot at 9:45pm Tuesday, and our egg retrieval was exactly 36 hours later - this morning at 9:45am. G and I got there at 8, as they asked, and got all prepped to go in. G turned in his sample, they hooked me up to an IV, and then we waited. At 9:45 exactly they led me into the operating room, where I sat down on the exam table. You can't even imagine the yoga I had to do to get myself into the pose they needed. But just a moment after I laid back, I had an oxygen mask on and... well, that's all I remember. I woke up about 30-40 minutes later back in the recovery room.

The good news: 14 eggs were retrieved!

The bad news: the "mild" discomfort they claimed was an understatement. I can hardly walk upright! I'm hoping that a good night's sleep will be just what my uterus needs to start rejuvenating.

We will get a call tomorrow between 12 and 3 to tell us about those precious eggs and how many fertilized!

Day to Day

Yesterday I had another monitoring appointment in which they measured quite a few follicles that were approaching 10mm. They told me before I left that I'd probably be coming back on Monday and to make an appointment for then. Well, when they called me with my blood results in the afternoon, they said that my E2 jumped up, and that they wanted me to come back today - Sunday - for more bloodwork and ultrasound.

Well, today when they measured me, they saw that I had 10 - 10 follicles - that were OVER 10mm's each - their mark for noting in my chart. One person is working the ultrasound while the other enters the data into the computer - and when you hit the 10mm mark they say "5 over and 4 under" meaning that I have 5 follicles over 10mm's and 4 under."

So things are looking good. The bloodwork results showed only about an increase of 100 E2, so they have increased my meds to the original dose (I took a modified dose last night).

I go back tomorrow morning to check growth. Today the largest ones were at almost 17mm's- a growth of 6mm's overnight! So I'm hoping tomorrow will be the day they tell me to take the trigger shot. I'm feeling awfully "full" down there and am ready for the next phase.

Update soon!

The Count

Today was my first monitoring appointment since starting the Gonal-F Pen and Menopur. I have been on it for three days (today will be 4), and so far everything is looking great!

The Doc said that my lining was starting to thicken up a bit, could use some more but we have time. He also checked out the ovaries - finding 10 follicles in the right and 8 in the left. 18 possible follicles so far.... hang in there little guys! Keep growing!

Delivery

Here it is. Baby-making in a box. This doesn't include refrigerated items, but you get the idea. Keeping it all straight is a full time job.

Yesterday was my Lupron evaluation, (beta, estrogen and ultrasound). Beta is negative, of course, Estrogen is 39 (expected), and ultrasound shows normal measurements of lining and ovaries. So far so good! I got the big OK to begin the HCG and Menopur. I am taking Gonadotropin pen injections at 150 iu, and Menopur at 75. I have lowered the Lupron from 20 units down to 5 units.

I go back to check progress of follicles on Tuesday. Here's to happy and healthy growing...