Only During Your TWW Would...

Only during your tww would the below list of symptoms be acceptable and even welcomed.

* Complete exhaustion
* Nausea
* Sore BB
* Frequent trips to the bathroom
* Cramps/Bloating

All good pregnancy signs right? Well, the best sign of all was this one we got this morning...



Slight nausea kicked in last night and continued this morning and well, the rest of the symptoms have pretty much been on and off throughout this whole process. We can’t wait for our blood work tomorrow to see where our beta numbers are. With the way our perfect IVF cycle has gone, we won’t accept anything less than 100% (or well a beta of 100 would be nice) ;) We are excited but obviously cautious as J’s had 2 miscarriages already. How nice it must be for those people who take a pregnancy test, see it's positive and that's that. They have a beautiful baby in 9 months. No worrying about beta numbers, weekly ultrasounds, or if they’ll see a heartbeat or not. They're JUST pregnant. Since we are not “THOSE” people, we’ll just take it day by day, reach each milestone as it comes our way. First being good numbers tomorrow.

TWW

Well, we are headed into the last few days of our tww. We go in on Friday for bw to see if we are pregnant. We’re just going to go ahead and assume we are, is that bad? No, there haven’t been pregnancy symptoms really, none that J hasn’t had since she started the injections (cramps, sore bb, exhaustion which is prob from progesterone) but we are going in hopeful and with a positive attitude. The last 2 times we tried to get J pregnant, she did. Unfortunately both of those pregnancies ended (chemical and no heartbeat at 6 weeks) but can that really happen again? Could life be so cruel as to have history repeat itself over and over again? Can these 2 “perfect” blastocysts really not implant and form at least 1 beautiful baby in 9 months?

Yes, we are pregnant. At least until we get the results of the bw on Friday.

I hope I don't get bed sores...

...as I'll be horizontal for the next few days. ;) I certainly won't get stir crazy though as my wife is taking EXCELLENT care of me and our babies. The dr recommended 2 days of bedrest but I plan on laying here until.... well, they are born. We're not taking any chances ;)

Everything went great this morning. Unlike what we have read on other blogs, M was not allowed in the operating room for the transfer. It was just Dr R, a very hyper nurse, the embryologist and me in crazy moonboots that they kept referring to as "stir ups". I mean my legs (up to my knees) were STRAPPED into these bright yellow and black boots!

We are lucky to have 3 extra blasts that were able to be frozen today (for the bargain price of $1700 which of course is NOT covered by insurance). We are hoping that they remain frozen for at least a year ;)

Aside from a cyst check appt or two, now we just sit tight (and look at our little picture of our blastocysts) until we go in for a pregnancy test late next week. Our TWW is slightly shortened by the 5 day transfer but it sure doesn't make it any easier!

And the 6 report cards are in...

5 of our little embies are dividing perfectly and look very strong! The sixth is looking good just lagging slightly behind the others in the cell dividing. Our embryologists thinks it will have caught up by tomorrow. Guess we'll see :)

We are just sitting here watching the elections and are hopeful that our kids will be born during an Obam.a presidency.

We just need one more perfect report tomorrow and our scheduled 7am transfer on Thursday is a GO!

Cautiously Optimistic

Yep, six fertilized little growing embryos all with half of J's genetic makeup (lucky dawgs!) :)
It is truly insane to think about it in this way. Just 15 miles west of where we sit, right now, there are 6 babies-to-be growing. Our six little babies. Dr R wants to do a 5 day blastocyst transfer which means Thursday at 7am, 2 of those little babies-to-be will be inside J. FINALLY. We are SUPER nervous that some may not make it to day 5. Is it ok to be sad if some don't? Not sad b/c we won't be able to use them, but sad b/c right now they are growing and mulitplying and... real.

Dr R decided to do a 5 day transfer b/c these 6 embryos are multiplying perfectly and have a perfect shape to them. He wants to be able to watch them for a couple more days to be able to pick the perfect 2 to transfer. So, now we wait, again. Wait for our next fertilization report tomorrow. Wait for the transfer on Thursday. Wait to see if they embed. Wait to see if we are pregnant. Wait.

We are worried that Dr R should have chose a 3 day transfer but we know if he did, we would have worried about why we weren't doing a 5 day transfer. No matter what method we use, it is still 100% a guessing game. All up to luck and chance with a little assistance from a guy in scrubs.

In the meantime, we'll try to keep busy but we are not sure what else there is left to do! We did everything we could this past weekend waiting for our first update! The house is spotless, the coupons are clipped and organized and as previously mentioned, the sewing is done too. Aside from an insane amount of pills J is on post IVF, there are no more nightly injections to do and her stomach is finally beginning to look somewhat normal again. The only reminder that any of this IVF stuff ACTUALLY happened is J's sore ovaries from the retrieval and a small IV prick mark on her arm.

tick tick tick

Who else is sick of waiting for our Dr to call with the results of the fertilization?

Oh, just us? Ok.

9 Lives

This morning we went in for the egg retrieval bright and early. By 8:30am Dr R pulled me from the waiting room to give me the outcome of the retrieval. First and foremost, everything went well and J did great. Secondly they had managed to retrieve 9 mature eggs! 9 is a good number. We are happy with 9. Then Dr R said that the important thing is that they are 9 good eggs. He repeated that they look really good. We are happy with 9 really good looking eggs.

Once J woke up from the anesthesia we went home and spent the bulk of the day relaxing in bed ... and by relaxing I mean waiting impatiently to hear from our Dr about the fertilization. So we did what we could to make the day go by quickly. Today J realized that M has a new nervous habit. Sewing. She couldn't have stitched more holes in sweaters, sweats, and socks today. If it was stitchable, it was stitched. A talent like this can come in handy in 9 months!

We should hear tomorrow and are waiting IMpatiently for more good news. It's weird to think that somewhere miles away from us our potential babies are sleeping (and growing) in a petri dish!