What's Happening

Now that the egg transfer procedure is done the hardest part of the entire process has begun...

The two week wait!

Up until now I have been busy taking a variety of pills, gels and a nasal spray that had to be administered 5 times a day.

In short, I didn't really have time to obsess... now I am quickly making up for lost time.

For three days before having the transfer we were receiving a daily update on how our eggs were doing. Now I have no idea how they are doing or even if they are still developing.

As it is pretty much all I can think about, I have been researching what should be happening.

As I had a three day transfer our fertilized eggs still need to develop and turn into a blastocyst (what it is called when it is made up of around 150 cells).

By about 4 days after the transfer (Tuesday or Wednesday) the blastocyst will break out of its 'shell' and hopefully implant into my uterus. Some women will experience some cramping and spotting, however, last time I didn't experience anything.

So unfortunately there is no real way of knowing until I have the blood test on March 12 which is...

two very long weeks away!

The Procedure

Chris and I arrived at the Regional Fertility Clinic for 12:00 yesterday.

I was feeling anxious, but Chris did a great job calming me down and even managed to make me laugh. On the drive there he made up a variety of 'imagine if' scenarios and even started chanting "Triplets, Triplets, Triplets!"

It was completely ridiculous, but it worked!

A few minutes after arriving we were called back, asked to verify our names and given gowns and booties to put on... including Chris.

Then we were brought into the procedural room and again were asked to verify our names, as well as identify our names on the petri dish which contained our embryos.

The embryologist who has been monitoring our eggs then informed us of some good news:

One of our 6 celled embryos had become a 7 celled embryo!

This means there is still hope for that little guy. Our doctor then decided to implant just two of the embryos- the one 8 celled and the now 7 celled embryo.

So now we don't have to worry about triplets... not that I was really concerned.

The transfer procedure itself was very similar to an IUI procedure except this time the doctor used an ultrasound to visually place our embryos into my uterus.

Similar to receiving a pap smear, my legs were put into stirrups, a speculum was inserted, and then a catheter was inserted into my uterus. Once she got the catheter into place our embryos were put into a syringe and then released into my uterus. Other than being a little uncomfortable it was completely painless.

The really amazing thing though was that we were able to watch all this take place on the ultrasound monitor. Although the embryos are too small to see, we were able to clearly see the air bubble that they were inside.

They then checked to make sure that the embryos were in the air bubble and not stuck somewhere in the syringe. Once that was verified they left me to relax on the bed for a few minutes.

Before leaving, Chris and I were given a photo of our two embryos. Chris also took a picture of the monitor which showed our embryos (or rather the air bubble) in my uterus.

Imagine how cool it would be if we do become pregnant and these turn out to be our first official baby photos!

It is so surreal to think I have two embryos floating around inside of my uterus. I know that there is a chance that they will not continue to grow or that they don't end up implanting, however, I am trying to remain cautiously optimistic.

*They will continue monitoring our other embryos for four days and if they make it to the blastocyst stage they will freeze them for possible future attempts.

Day 3 Transfer

Just after six o'clock this morning I received a phone call from the Regional Fertility Clinic. As soon as I saw who it was I jumped out of bed realizing if they were phoning that early it probably wasn't the best news.

It wasn't.

Only one of our fertilized eggs have made it to 8 cells. (Each day after fertilization the cells are expected to double.)

We have one 8 cell, two 6 cell and two 5 cell embryos...

So they want me to come in at noon today to have my transfer.

She asked me if I would be comfortable with transferring three... The one 8 cell and the two 6 cell embryos. I said yes, but she then informed me that the decision will ultimately be that of the doctor who will be performing the transfer.

So after a good cry with my mom over the phone, I've taken a few big deep breaths and am now prepping for the transfer. Which means:

At 11:00 I need to 'void' my bladder and then drink two-three glasses of water so that I will have a full bladder.

I was also asked not to wear any perfumes or use strong smelling bathing products.

So if you are reading this I'm asking for your prayers and best wishes.

p.s. The other two 5 cell embryos will be monitored to see if somehow they continue to grow, although it doesn't look good and she told me that they don't anticipate being able to freeze them.

Still Developing

This morning I received another update from the Regional Fertility Clinic. 

The technician told me that our 5 fertilized eggs were developing and growing. She explained that they are hoping to have the transfer on Monday, however, it will depend on how our eggs are doing.

If they are not developing as they would like they will do the transfer tomorrow.

After doing some research online I found out that there is some evidence that a 5 day egg transfer is more successful than a 3 day transfer.

By day 5, the healthy fertilized eggs should form a blastocyst. However, if they are not developing as much as they like by day 3 they will still try transferring them as there is some evidence that some eggs will not fully develop outside of the womb.

They will call me tomorrow morning to let me know how they are looking and when the transfer will occur.

Thawed Eggs

Yesterday morning Chris went into the Regional Fertility Clinic in order to provide a sample of his sperm.

They then thawed our eggs and used a process called ICSI to inject one of his sperm directly into each of the eggs.

This morning I received a phone call to update me on how everything was going so far.

I was excited to find out that all 6 eggs thawed successfully and that
5 of them are fertilized!

They will continue assessing these fertilized eggs and if all goes well we will be doing the embryo transfer either Saturday or Monday.

They will call me again tomorrow morning to let me know how our eggs are developing... fingers crossed that our embryos continue to divide and grow!

I will update again tomorrow with whatever I find out.

Ultrasound News

This morning I had my ultrasound to check the lining of my uterus.

Up until today I have been taking my different medications automatically and haven't really being feeling a lot of stress.

This morning while driving to the Regional Fertility Program's clinic I had what felt like butterflies with baseball bats slugging it out in my stomach.

The thickness of my uterus lining has always been good so I'm not sure why I got so nervous- other than my body doesn't seem to react well to some of the different medications I have taken.

The ultrasound was not done by my doctor, but by one of the fertility doctors on staff. (As I've mentioned in previous posts the doctors are on a rotating schedule and patients see whomever is working that day).

As this was an ultrasound to check my uterus lining it was done vaginally- I'm pretty sure I've had around 40 of these now so they no longer make me cringe.

The first thing that the doctor mentioned was that he could see something in my lining... which is when my heart and mind started racing.

He then went on to say that the thickness of my lining looked good.

Great news!

Although, to be honest I barely heard that as all of my attention was focused on what did he see and wondering if it was going to prevent us from proceeding.

I immediately asked him if it was uterine fibroids, but he said it looked more like adenomyosis.

'Adenomyosis is a condition in which the inner lining of the uterus (the endometrium) breaks through the muscle wall of the uterus (the myometrium). Adenomyosis can cause menstrual cramps, lower abdominal pressure, and bloating before menstrual periods and can result in heavy periods. The condition can be located throughout the entire uterus or localized in one spot.'

- WebMD

I then asked if he thought it would interfere with implantation. He told me that it is unknown whether or not it affects fertility. Again my mind started spinning, but then I realized that there is nothing I can do about it.

So I've decided to focus on the positive and that is that my lining is good!

My updated schedule looks like this:

Friday, Feb. 17th- (Today) I continue taking my ASA, Suprefact, Estrace and prenatal vitamin.

Tuesday, Feb. 21- I will start taking 2 antibiotics a day, 16 mg (4 pills) of Medrol and an evening dose of Crinone (starting tomorrow I take 2 doses a day 12 hours apart)

Wednesday, Feb. 22- Chris goes in to provide his sperm sample to fertilize the eggs and they thaw our eggs

Thursday, Feb. 23- We should be given an update of how the fertilization process is going. I also take the last dose of Suprefact.

Friday, Feb. 24- We will be given another update of how the fertilization process is going.

Depending on how things are going we will be looking at having the transfer on Saturday the 25th or Monday the 27th.

The new drugs I'll be taking are:

Medrol- This steroid hormone is sometimes taken when the Assisted-Hatch procedure is being done in conjunction with the Embryo transfer. It is taken to suppress any inflammatory reaction that might occur between the embryo(s) and the endometrial lining.'                                      -Family Beginnings

Crinone- Progesterone gel
     

Getting Ready... Again

In order to prepare for this donor egg round there was several things I needed to do first.

Of course there were the usual blood tests that I needed to have done. Those were to check my hormone levels of which I was told looked 'good'.

I also had to have another sonohysterogram.

To say that I was beyond scared to have this one would be an understatement.

Thankfully this time it was a completely different story. I can't believe that I'm saying this, especially after all the pain I experienced last time, but it really wasn't that bad!

The technician and doctor told me that my uterus looked 'normal' and they would verify with my doctor that I was ok to go ahead with this round.

When I asked about my uterine fibroids they said they didn't see any... they mentioned it looked like I may have adenomyosis, but otherwise my uterus looked good.  I guess fibroids really can disappear?

Once I was given the all clear I had to wait to start my period so they could put me on the pill. Although this seems contradictory they do this to regulate my period and have a clear timeline.

After a month on the pill and another period, I then had to start taking Suprefact nasal spray 5 times a day. The Suprefact stops my body from producing my own hormones. I also started taking one lose dose Aspirin and prenatal vitamin a day.

Then 17 days later I started taking 2 Estrace pills twice a day. The Estrace is a form of estrogen that I need to take to build up my uterus lining.

On the 17th I will go in to have an ultrasound to check my lining. If everything looks good we may be having the transfer on the 24 or 26.

I have some other medications that I will need to take, but I haven't been given the timeline for them.

I'll update again when I have more information.