My Perfect Appointment

Today was the day-I finally got my perfect appointment! We arrived at the clinic and only had to wait about 2 minutes before I was called back to get blood drawn. We then waited another 2 minutes before being called back into the surgery center. I changed into a gown and the acupuncturist came in. She put two needles into each ear, one in each hand (wrist), one on either side of my belly, one in each shin, one on the top of each foot, and one on the top of my head. She then turned on my ipod for me and put one of the ear buds into one of my ears. She left the room for 10 minutes while I listened to my "relaxation" playlist and B sat next to me watching a movie on our laptop. The acupuncturist came back in, twisted the needles in a bit more and left for another 15 minutes.

After the acupuncture, she sat me up in the bed to continue drinking water. A nurse came in and gave me a valium. By that time my bladder was pretty full and it was a relief when the U/S tech came in to check my bladder. Upon confirmation that it was full, I was allowed to go pee into a cup, but that was it. It was a little difficult to stop mid-stream, but I felt better afterwards. The doc came in and confirmed we wanted to transfer 2. The U/S tech then checked my bladder again and said it was still pretty full so I was allowed to go pee into 3/4 of a cup.

Then the embryologist came in and told us we had 3 good embryos to choose from. One was a 6-cell, better than perfect embryo. The other two were both 5-cell that she also referred to as "perfect." She said the 5-cell that they would transfer was what they usually refer to as "perfect," but that the 6-cell was even better and that they were excited because it is rare to see an embryo of that high quality. I was a little confused as to how anything could be better than "perfect," but I'll take it! I asked them if they would take pictures of the embryos for us and they said they would if we wanted to, but they prefer not to expose the embryos to more light than is necessary. Figured I would trust them and forgo the pictures. B got to look at our 2 embryos through the microscope and I was jealous. When I asked him what they looked like he said, "I don't know. Two blobs of circles over circles." Exactly what I was picturing.

The doc had a little trouble getting the catheter through my cervix (no surprise to me). He said it was a bit of a "winding road." I already knew that. I had a little cramping, but it was over in about 10 minutes. The doc said he was very pleased and that my lining looked fine (note he didn't say great, but he didn't say bad either). He agreed with my concern about waiting another week and was in agreement that it was best to go ahead with the transfer this week. Nothing like a little validation (and taking back a little control of your own healthcare). It felt really good. The U/S tech also noted that they didn't see any fluid in the lining anymore, which is good.

The embryologist then asked us what we wanted to do with the third embryo. She said they could discard it or that we could let it grow and refreeze it if it makes it to the blastocyst stage. We chose to refreeze if possible, so we should get a call in a few days letting us know if it made it to freeze and if it has rejoined its 14 siblings in the freezer.

They let me rest for about 15 minutes and then let me use a bedpan to empty my bladder. Not very pleasant, but necessary.

The acupuncturist came back in for round 2. She put one needle in my forehead, two in each ear, one in each hand, one in each thigh, and one in each leg. She came back in after 10 minutes to readjust and left again for another 15 minutes. I continued listening to my relaxation playlist on my ipod through one earphone. She took the needles out and then the nurse came back in and went through my instructions. Continue all meds, strict bedrest for today and tomorrow and then resume normal activity on Thursday (except no aerobic exercise, avoid climbing too many stairs, no caffeine or alcohol, limit sushi intake, and just take it easy, etc.). I have actually taken the rest of this week off of work so I can relax and focus on getting these embryos to stick.

So I am now resting comfortably in my bed. B is downstairs with the dogs and my Mom is sitting with me keeping me company. Our nurse called a couple of minutes ago to let me know the results of the blood work. My estrogen is at 926 (they want it over 300) and my progesterone is at 35.4 (they want it over 20). So everything looks great and we don't have to add any additional meds at this point. Yay!

Thanks to everyone for all the positive comments and well wishes. Let the 2ww begin!