If Only Boring People Get Bored...

Then I am clearly the most boring person who has ever walked the earth. 

I do not know if I can stand another moment alone stuck in this house. 

I have read the entire internet. Yep, you heard that right. Every word. 

I have watched every medical anomaly show: Born without a Forehead, My Life with Five Nipples, etc etc etc. 

I feel like I should be somehow "bettering" myself: preparing myself to be a parent. Or to not be a parent. Maybe I should write a book. But I don't know what I would write about other than a girl who is marooned on the couch, and that would be a very boring book. Trust me.

Luckily, this weekend I will be back on my feet, allowed to resume "full activity" (except for heavy lifting) and I have never been so excited about vaccuming and doing laundry.

SOMEBODY ENTERTAIN ME!!!

Say Cheese, Kids!

Here they are!

This morning we had 2 beautiful blastocysts transferred. The transfer was a breeze: I got all decked out in the ever-fashionable booties, blue puffy hair containment system, and lovely gown. We spoke with the Dr who was doing the transfer (not our Dr and not the one who did the retrieval either!) and he showed us the pictures of the little ones. He told us we have 2 beautiful quality blasts (shown here) that they are transferring, plus one compacting morula and 3 other morulas that they are going to watch for another day before they decide who to freeze. I popped the Valium (didn't really need it, I felt pretty relaxed anyway) and they took me back to the same OR where the retrieval was done. Dearest again got to watch the ultrasound on a screen, and it was over within 10 minutes. Then I had to be still for about 15 minutes or so and that was it. Hard to believe it, but this was probably the most simple part of this whole process. I should mention that the Gnarls Barkley song "Crazy" was playing in the OR during the transfer. I thought it was pretty much the perfect soundtrack to this whole experience.

So...I guess that's it. Now I just lay low for a week and give these little guys a chance to settle in. Doctor said we have a 50% chance of them sticking, so I am trying not to go to overboard with the optimism, but things throughout this whole experience have gone so smoothly, it's hard not to be a little excited.

The Magnificent Seven

You could have knocked me over with a feather when the embryologist's nurse called today at noon. On a Saturday? That surely can not be good news.

But guess what? It was good news. Very good. 

She said that "The embryos are all looking great, and Dr. B wants to change from a 3-day to a 5-day transfer." Hooray! We are going for a blast transfer! 

This news comes on the heels of an article that I read yesterday by a Dr. who will only do blast transfers. He went on and on about how the only reason embryos stop growing in the lab (assuming lab conditions are adequate) is due to a chromosonal problem, so any embryos that don't make it to 5 days in the lab will not make it in the uterus either. He sited some research, and when asked by a reader why any labs would do a 3 day he basically said that they do it to make themselves look better. In other words, if the failure to thrive happens in utero instead of in a petri dish then you will never wonder if it was something the lab did. It was a distressing thing to read, and it made Dearest and I really think about asking the lab to push for a blast transfer, even if that means that we only have one to transfer and none to freeze. They wouldn't have made it anyway, according to this guy, right? Anyway, I totally agree that not everything on the internet can be taken as gospel, and I have utmost trust and respect for my RE and the staff, so if they said 3 day was the way to go, we would have done it. But it was a huge relief to hear that they are all doing so well and I am hoping they continue to thrive so we can feel really good about the 5 day transfer. 

This is also good news because I feel like I could use a little more time to recover from the egg retrieval. I am still pretty sore, truthfully more than I thought I would be. It will be nice to be back at 100% before the next procedure. The only downside of delaying is that it means 2 more days of PIO shots. I have to tell you Nurse Jodi has been awesome, even coming to the house to do the shots. I am grateful to her, and I think Dearest is considering building a shrine in her honor since it means that he is off the hook in regards to darting me with the vicious 22 gauge 2.5" needle. Next to our shrine to Nurse Jodi I will build a shrine to Darvocet, my savior the past couple of days.

There's all today's news. Keep those good vibes coming for our little guys!

7th Heaven

I was not going to call the Doctor for the fertilization report.

I was going to let them call me.

Because, you see, I am not the demanding, high-maintenance type. Or so I kept telling myself.

But the thing is, it was 2:00. And my friend Kel started threatening that she was going to call them if I didn't. So I did. It was peer pressure, I swear.

Thankfully, the news was very good. Of the 10 eggs they retrieved, 8 were mature. And 7 fertilized.

Deep breath, followed by sigh of relief.

I was feeing ok when I first got up this morning, I thought "I've got this. A couple of Tylenol and I am good to go." Hah! By 10:30 I was literally writhing on the couch. I took a Darvocet at 11 and by 11:15 I was back to feeling really good. I guess I am going to stick with the Darvocets for the rest of the day, because I have a pretty high pain tolerance but this morning was uncool. 

I have made it through this afternoon thanks in no small part to Kel's company, not to mention the delicious grilled cheese sandwich, tomato soup, and strawberry cake that she brought from my favorite local sandwich shop. (It's called Cheeser's Palace. Brilliant!) Now I'm going to take a little snooze and dream about our 7 little ones who are hopefully continuing to flourish in an incubator across town.

Perfect 10

Everything went great. Thanks to all for your thoughts today. 

Got there at about 6:45, they took me back to prep for surgery and Dearest to make his contribution pretty much right away. I looked so absurd in my gown, blue cap, and booties, it was hard to be dramatic. The nursing staff was top notch. They asked me about 75 questions and got my IV in and fluids started and then Dearest got to come back and sit with me while we waited for the Dr to be ready to go. I was not feeling too nervous (ok, a little) but I was shaking! 

Before you know it they took me to the OR, and Dearest to a little room where he could watch the ultrasound on a screen. He said it was pretty awesome to watch. The anesthesiologist (who did not mention our tardy payment at any point) told me I would feel a little burning where the IV was in and then I would be out. I remember the burning, I was just getting ready to crack a joke about it, but I was out before I got the chance.

The next time I opened my eyes, I was back in recovery and Dearest was holding my hand. I think I asked him how many eggs they got, he replied 10, and then I apparently demanded to be put back under. No such luck. I was pretty sore, truthfully, but once the nurse saw I was awake she said if I would eat some crackers I could take a Darvocet. I did, and that took the edge off. By 8:30 or so I was on my feet, Dearest helped me get my street clothes back on, and I again asked how many eggs they got, because I was very groggy the first time I asked and I wanted to be sure. He confirmed 10.

So now we have 10 little sparks sitting in a petri dish 30 miles away. (Boy, we left 'em with a babysitter young!) I can only hope that one of those sparks grows to be a flame. We will find out how many fertilized tomorrow. For now, I'm doing just fine. 

Normal is the New Weird

Triggered last night. Woke up this morning, prepared for the worst. But it was even worse than the worst. Because I felt nothing. Like (physically) this whole thing never even happened. My belly was flat. No more feeling like I had swallowed two lemons. I was not queasy, and everything about me that had felt very strange this week felt "normal". I did what any self-respecting IFer would do, and by that I mean I freaked out.

I have really tried not to make myself neurotic. But this morning I made up for it. I was in tears, telling Dearest that this had all been for naught, that clearly my body had somehow decided to re-absorb all of those beautiful eggs and it was game-off. Went to my 9:15 pre-op this morning and told the Dr. my concerns. "Nope," he said, "nothing to fear. That is a normal reaction. Your body is just so used to being pummeled by hormones that it starts to settle down at this point for some women." WHAT?!? You should WARN a sister when all of her symptoms are going to disappear!!! I almost had a coronary!

Anyway. Everything is fine. Today I go fill scripts for the new drug regimen to begin tomorrow, which includes: tetracycline, medrol, darvocet, valium, and a vinegar-water douche. Yes, you read that correctly. The nurse said that to me and I thought to myself, "That's it, cancel the retrieval. I am not sure I want kids enough to douche." Who does that? I thought that was one of those 80's trends that had died with hair crimping. So I guess I have to go to the store and buy that. Would I be out of line to tell the check out lady (guy, actually. You know it will be a guy.) "This is for a medical procedure, not because my cooch is stank." Maybe they give you that valium to take before you go buy the douche, so you do not feel the pain of humiliation. 

Guess it's game-on. I go in tomorrow at 6:45, should be leaving the joint around 9 or so if all goes according to plan. Then I will snooze all day under Dearest's watchful eye until I have to meet nurse jodi at the school for ass-shot #1. Can't wait until it's over!

Tuesday, Part Two

It's really happening!

Got the message from the RE this afternoon, my E2 level is >2700, I am triggering TONIGHT! 

I go in tomorrow morning for the pre-Op check up, then if everything is looking great the surgery will be Thursday morning. Seems like this has been so long in the making and now everything is happening really fast. 

So, I will be off of my feet Thursday and Friday, and hopefully I will be back in full force by Saturday.

That's the update. :)