Embryo transfer :)

We arrived at St. Luke's hospital yesterday morning at about 5:50am. We were so excited because we knew this was the day I could possibly be getting pregnant!! We have prayed and prayed and prayed for this day for so long. We were also very anxious to see how many of our 8 fertilized eggs made it to an embryo!

They put us back in the little room where we were Monday for our retrieval. They said josh could go in with me during the transfer and we were very happy about that. We got all changed and just waited a couple of hours. Our transfer was set for 8:00! Josh looked so cute in his outfit :)

Dr. Silber came in the room right around 8am and told us that all 8 fertilized eggs made it to an embryo! This was amazing news!! He then gave us this picture of the two little embryos we would be transferring! I cannot tell you how amazing it was to see this picture! How many people get to see their babies that early on?! It made all the hard work so worth it.

He said we have about a 70% chance of pregnancy and that he felt good about it but that it still is not 100% that it will work. Transferring 2 embryos does rasie the percentage some. It also raises the percentage of twins- which is 30%! We would be thrilled with whatever God chooses to give us! If it does not work this time, atleast we have 6 more that are frozen and we can try again. Freezing them does not affect the quality at all and they have a very good success rate with frozen embryo tranfers.

I feel like the hard part is over- the hard part for me was producing a lot of eggs and the retrieval... It was very painful for me. And the whole process was very emotionally draining. I am glad that I was in st. Louis during that time because I know if I was at home, I would have felt like I had to do this or that. I was able to really rest in St. Louis. The hardest part about the transfer was the fact that I had to have a full bladder and could not use the restroom after midnight. I was nervous about this so I set my alarm for 11:55pm so I could use the bathroom one more time!

Anyway, back to the actual transfer! We went back to the OR and got everything situated to get started. They said that if my body was relaxed the way they want, that it would only take 5 minutes. Dr. Silber talked to me the whole time he was doing it reminding me to just relax my whole body. It really helped so much that he did that because every time I felt like I was getting tense, he would remind me to just relax. Josh and I did not say a word the whole time because we did not want to distract him from what he was doing! He used a noodle-like catheter to transfer the embryos. I couldn't feel much and it was almost pain free. Very similar to a Pap smear....a little more uncomfortable though because of the full bladder. He said I did perfect and it was done before I knew it! I was so relieved!!!!! I did have a little cramping right after and he said that was normal. But within 30minutes I felt back to myself and we were ready to go! (Oh, and they let me go to the restroom as soon as the transfer was over thank goodness! They said the embryos would not fall out... I know because I asked if they would!)

They want me to just take it easy and relax the next couple of weeks. They do not want me on bed rest but nothing bouncy and nothing stressful. They also stressed to me how important the progesterone shots are right now. Josh gives them to me every night right about 8:30. They are still NO fun at all but I would do it every single day for the rest  of my life if it means a healthy pregnancy and baby. They did say that they did not want me working around chemicals/hair color either for the next couple of weeks. That has been so hard having to re book everyone again :( I have never taken 4 weeks off in a row like this but all of my clients have been very understanding. I also have a couple of friends who are doing some of my clients for me while I am out and that has helped tremendously!! They said that the embryos are very sensitive to smells and that the lab they had them in had it's own ventilation system. They told me of a different fertility clinic (they didn't say where) that for one whole month they did not have any successful ivf's. They linked it to the fact that the parking lot was being re paved and the whole building smelled like that. So they just do not want to take any chances and neither do I.

We drove home yesterday afternoon and it is SO good to be home!!!! Oh my goodness, I have missed my own bed so much and my own food! I am so tired of eating out. We will know in a couple of weeks if it worked or not. I keep reminding myself that God is in control no matter what. It is in His hands!