Tuesday, April 29, 2008

2 Heart Attacks

I received a phone call from the clinic at 10:30 this morning. My heart jumped into my throat. They aren't supposed to call the morning of the transfer unless the transfer has been cancelled because the embryos have arrested.

Me: Hello?!!!
Clinic: Is this Denise?
Me: Yes! Is something wrong, you're making me VERY nervous!
Clinic: No, everything's fine. Are you on your way? You are signed up for acupuncture at 10:00am!
Me: Uh, no. My transfer isn't until 2.
Clinic: Really. Well, we had to move some patients around and so the schedule got changed.
Me: But my transfer isn't until 2.
Clinic: Hang on one second...well, sorry about that. Obviously no one told you that they moved you up.
Me: Uh, no.
Clinic: Are you on your way?
Me: No, we weren't going to leave for another hour.
Clinic: Okay, no big deal. That's okay.
Me: We can leave now if you want us to.
Clinic: Sure. Go ahead and come in now.

Heart attack number 1 averted.

We got to the clinic and were told to go directly up to the surgery center and they would do the ultrasound and blood draw up there. We were called back almost immediately by the acupuncturist. She was all ready to get started and I had to tell her that I needed an ultrasound first. What's the point of paying $225 for acupuncture if they cancel the transfer? Luckily, the nurse had already given me the valium, so I got the benefit of that no matter what.

Two ultrasound techs came in to do an abdominal ultrasound to check for fluid. And there it was. My friend the fluid. Still hangin around. They thought it was slightly less than Saturday's level, but didn't sound too positive. I couldn't get a good read from them as to whether or not it was too much. One tried to calm my fears by saying that it really depended on how I was feeling and since I'm feeling pretty good today, we'll see. They left us alone for a bit and my mind was racing. All I kept thinking was "I'm NOT going to cry. NOT going to cry."

Next thing I know, the acupuncturist came back in to say the doctor had given us the go ahead. Phew!!! Second heart attack averted.

Dr. G was working today and did my transfer. Jen is right, he is awesome. He came in to go over the status of the lucky 13. We are amazed by our embryos. Out of the 13, 11 of them were graded 4AA, the highest grade our clinic gives. Dr. G said the embryologist who did the grading is quite conservative, so for 11 to be graded this high says a lot and he has never seen anyone have this many with the highest grade. He said he even double checked with the embryologist. How cool is that?

We talked about transferring 1 or 2 and decided on 2. Dr. G said our chances of success if we transfer 2 would be 75% versus 50% if we only transfer 1. Chances of twins for transferring 2 would be about 30%, so we were willing to risk those odds. Of course, these are just statistics and I don't think they really take into account my lining, our prior failures, or the quality of the embryos.

B asked if he was concerned about the fluid and Dr. G said he wasn't, that it was really just a sliver of fluid. That made me feel much better. He did tell me to keep up the fluid intake through the pregnancy test. Enough that I'm peeing every hour. He also encouraged me to continue with the sodium intake for another couple of days. Then we got down to business.

The embryologist came in and showed us our 2 embies on the screen. First time I ever got to see any of our embryos, so it was really cool! She said one was compacting and one was "pulsing." I asked her what pulsing meant and she said something like "first they compact and then they start expanding. I assume that's a good thing? Dr. G had a bit of trouble getting the catheter in and had to switch to a different one. I really don't understand why this stuff isn't in my chart. I mean I had multiple IUI's there where they had to switch catheters and two transfers, the first one being difficult as well. The last transfer went pretty smoothly and I think it is probably because it was the second one that Dr. S did and so he knew which catheter to use and how to thread it through my roller coaster of a cervix. Oh well. Dr. G managed after a bit and the embryos were transferred in. The embryologist checked the catheter and gave us the "all clear."

Another session of acupuncture and I had to remind them that they were supposed to draw blood. Things were pretty disorganized today. After the blood draw, we were on our way home.

The embryologist told us that they were freezing the other 9 4AA embryos today and they would check the other two tomorrow. One had already arrested and the other was about 24 hours behind where it should be, so it doesn't seem likely those two will make it freeze. But that's alright. We know we'll have at least 9 more buns in the freezer again! And this time we know they are really high quality.

26 comments:

Duffy said...

Oh Denise,

I have been thinking of you all day and sending you lots of good thoughts. Your embryos are superstars!!!! Wow!!! I am so excited things went well after so much juggling and potential chaos. Now we endure the wait together.

I hope you have an easy, comfortable and blissful bed rest.

Big hugs!

annacyclopedia said...

YAY!!!!! I'm so happy for you! I sort of had a good feeling that the transfer would go ahead, but I didn't want to say that before in case I was wrong and it just made you more disappointed. I love being right, but more than that I love that you have two perfect little embies in your ute right now!

This is so excellent. Even more than it being a beautiful summer-like day here. Woot!

T said...

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jen said...

I am so glad everything went well, catheder aside.

And yes, I heart Dr. G.

So nine blasts in the freezer and two in the oven? That's fantastic!

Thinking everything fabulous for you!

Rhonda said...

SSSSWWWWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEETTTTTT!!!

I am so happy for today. I started reading and then...thought OH NO, but it got better as I read along.

XOXO

Melanie said...

75%??? Those are some seriously fabulous odds and, by the sound of it, some outrageously excellent embryos. I can't tell you how pleased I am for you. Wonderful news!

Maryanne said...

WHOOOOOHOOOOOO!!! I have been praying for an excellent outcome for you guys!!! So far so good- so I will keep praying!!!

Natalie said...

Wow, you got awesome results - yay for you! HOping it keeps going so awesome and you get the good results:-)

Morgan said...

Such great news, Denise! Man, all of this sounds so good. I'm excited for you. :)

Meg said...

Hopefully you are resting well. I am so glad your embies are perfect and I really hope this is it for you Denise!

JJ said...

Wow what a day!! Sounds like a success all around--despite the heart attacks!
Incredible that you have 9 to freeze!!!

Io said...

Denise! I am so glad I decided to read blogs tonight! That is so amazing - I'm so glad it sounds like everything is going well! You'll be in my thoughts.

Paula Keller said...

Wow, Denise!!! That's fantastic!!! You must be on cloud 9!

HeidiM said...

So glad to hear that your embryos are top quality!! I'll pray that they cozy in and thrive!

luna said...

wow, congrats on your amazing embryos! so glad everything went well. and now the wait begins. ~luna

Nadine said...

Amazing embryos! that's great that you have so many superstars, now we will all be waiting with you, and your little one.

Makingpeace said...

Wow girl! That is awesome! I'm glad I checked in on you today...I'm sending you sticky embie vibes right now! :)

Maria said...

Congrats! You made it to transfer!! YAY!

Sorry about the two potential heart attacks. I think the clinic was just trying to spice things up a bit for you!!

Unknown said...

Denise, I have such a great feeling for you for this cycle! I can hardly believe your Super Embryos! You two really came through this cycle, and I just know it's going to pay off!

Kristina said...

Great news! Crossing my fingers!!

s.e. said...

What amazing odds!! I didn't even know they could get up to 75 percent! I am so happy this all went so well for you (although organization may have kept your blood pressure down!) Now you can rest and hold your belly knowing that you have something growing inside. Congrats on your embryos!

Alison said...

WOW! This is such awesome news!!! He gave such high percentages too. You must feel good?

Ms. J said...

WOW, you have some good eggs, Chickie! WOW again!!!

Glad the doctor was able to reassure you by calling it a "sliver" of fluid, too. Word choice is very powerful, eh?!

BTW, you cracked me up in your response to my blog entry about getting our vaccines -- LMAO! OMG, it was so bizarre and hysterically funny, wish you could have been there for "happy hour," wait, make that "YELLOW FEVER HOUR!" It was so surreal I'd have sworn I was drunk if we hadn't come straight from work, LOL!

Keeping good thoughts for you and your kick ass eggs ;o)

~Carrie said...

That's an amazing amount of awesome embies!!! I am so happy for you!! You were able to freeze nine blasts?! Nine?! Fantastic! YAY! Stick, stick!

Miss Tori said...

Denise,

Yea!!! Even with the little twists and turns of the day, you did great! I'll be keeping you in my prayers for a successful two week wait!

Tori

Shinejil said...

Fantastic! I'm sorry you had such a frenzied time, but what great news! I'm rooting for all three of you. :)