Transfer Day

2 of our 6 littles did not make it to transfer day. 

I was given explicit instructions to make sure that when we showed up to the clinic that I had a FULL bladder. Since I didn't plan on getting up any earlier than I really had to I figured I needed to start drinking like I was in the desert from the time I got up till we arrived at HRC. I drank a 16 oz bottle of Gatorade and approx 750 ml of water! At first I was really worried that I wouldn't have enough liquid in my bladder and that it could cause problems. Then as the minutes ticked by and it was 15 minutes past our appointment time I started to feel like there was a good amount of liquid, then we hit 20 minutes and I started to think "uh-oh" I may have had too much to drink, at 30 minutes past I looked like a little kid doing the potty dance... finally at 45 minutes past I began to feel like my bladder would actually explode! I kept squirming in my seat telling Paul I didn't think I could wait any longer, that it was painful to sit there with a bladder so full. I walked up to the counter and explained how long it had been and couldn't I use the bathroom to release just a little bit of the pressure, I was given the ok and told to count to five and then stop. I ran down the hall to the bathroom just in the nick of time. As soon as I got back out to the lobby they called my name to get ready for the procedure at which point I started to wonder if I had enough in my bladder again. 

We found out later that it was because 8 of us patients all belonging to Dr. W were having our transfers done. One of the other patients had blood in her uterus which cancelled her transfer (any blood in the cavity  can mean the demise of any embryos and Dr. W will not waste any embryos with that possibility), because of this it took a little longer for the doctor to get her situated and move on to the next patient. 

My nurse got me all set up with my gown and booties and asked us to verify some information. I got situated on the table and then Dr. W came in to discuss the littles and how they were doing. We were told we had the best looking embryos out of all of the 8 patients. Fantastic news for us to hear. The lab guy who cultured our littles for the last week brought them up and took one last look under the microscope and signed off on them. Dr. W got all of his tools set up and the embryos set for transfer. The nurse got out the ultrasound wand and started pushing around on my belly to get a good picture up on the screen which is very important because this is how the doctor sees where to put the embryos, and placement means a lot. Paul stood by my head with a hand on my shoulder and our eyes were transfixed on the monitor. I had very minor discomfort due to the tools he used for the procedure, the ultrasound wand being pushed into my bladder was more bothersome. 

We watched as the catheter moved in so it could be seen on the screen and then as Dr. W pulled it back slightly you saw a bright dot emerge, then it pulled back again and a second bright dot emerged. There they were, our babies. The reason we decided to transfer two is because of how long it has taken us trying to conceive we wanted to give ourselves better odds of having one stick. After the procedure I laid on the table for about 15 minutes before being taken to a recovery room where I laid flat in a mostly dark room listening to music that was being  pumped into the room to help relax the patient for another 30 minutes or so. I was finally allowed to use the restroom, I went only after I asked for assurance that they weren't going to fall out or anything. Then we signed some final paperwork and headed home with instructions for me to lay with my feet up as much as possible though I was allowed to sit up to eat. Then I was told to just take it easy for a few days before resuming light activity. Then begins the long wait before you can go in for a blood test, the dreaded two week wait (sometimes longer if your clinic doesn't do blood tests on the weekend). 

We even got a picture to take home