When I posted last Saturday, I had just found out that 12 out of 14 of my eggs had fertilised overnight.
The embryologist called me on Monday to say they were still doing well so she wanted to let them go to day 5 and transfer them on Wednesday.
There isn't a standard timeframe for embryo transfers, it literally is a numbers game and depends on the quality of the embryos. If you have up to 3 embryos they usually will arrange transfer for day 2 or 3 as embryos do better once they are back in their nature environment. The only benefit of taking the embryos to day 5 is that it will give the embryologist a better look at choosing the strongest embryo to put back, but they only aim for day 5 if you have enough embryos to start with (as some will not survive that far).
So on Wednesday we went back to Oxford for transfer. I had to have a full bladder for the procedure as this allows the ultrasound to show the uterus better (apparently a full bladder makes the scan image travel through like a window). I was a little worried about peeing on them when they did the procedure - apparently this has happened before! Thankfully I didn't though.
Luckily we didn't have to wait too long to go in. The room is sterile so we weren't allowed to wear shoes, so Rick got to wear some wicked blue shoe covers and looked like something off CSI hehehe.
Before we started the embryologist came in to talk to me about the embryos. We had two really strong ones suitable for transfer, but she only recommended transferring one as whilst the chance of pregnancy would increase by 5-10% the risk of twins was too high and lowers the chances of getting to a healthy birth, which is what we are aiming for. We agreed with this so our other strong embryo would go in the freezer for us to use later if we need to - I call this my snow baby. (The other embryos were watched for another 24hrs but were not high enough quality to freeze as they wouldn't survive the thaw process).
She gave us a 50-55% chance of success, which is really good as the generic average chance we were told at open evening based on our age alone was 42%.
I had to lay on a standard ultrasound bed that was fitted with stirrups for my legs to go in. There was three ladies involved in the procedure, one holding the ultrasound probe over my uterus so another could direct a fine catheter through my cervix into the right place using the image on the screen. The third was getting the embryo ready in a tube that was then put through the catheter. We were able to see a little white flash on the screen when the embryo went through the tube, once they removed the catheter we could see a little white blob which was the embryo (and liquid they transferred it with) in my uterus. They flushed the tube to ensure the embryo was not still in it, which was clear.
It was really amazing and completely overwhelming.
Afterwards the lady who had completed the transfer sat with me and explained some do's and don'ts - basically only light exercise, no baths, no hot water bottles, eat as if you were already pregnant to avoid the risk of food poisoning etc. She also gave me an official test date for a couple of weeks time and a test kit.
The test kit is really funny it has a little pipette that you have to drop the pee onto the test with. It is like being back in science class!
After she left I got dressed and had a little hug with hubby. We were both a bit dazed as all the treatment went so quickly it didn't feel real that we had already got to transfer stage. The thought that I "could" be pregnant was a bit overwhelming.
So three days later, I have been chilling and enjoying a few days off before going back to work next week. I am really glad I decided to take the whole week off as, although not physically required, it gave me the headspace to deal with everything without being stressed out at work.
So now we wait!....... Please send me baby dust!
I would just like to say I am so grateful for all the support I have revived during my treatment (and last three years). I honestly couldn't have done it without everyone cheering me on. I know you will all be there no matter which outcome.
I have made so many TTC friends during this journey so far, some have had their dreams come true already and some are still trying to make it happen. TTC sisters can understand each other like no one else can and we all deserve it so much. I really hope it happens for us all xxxxx.
No comments:
Post a Comment