Hello and welcome to another edition of my IVF series.
It was many months in the making to get to the point where we could do our frozen embryo transfer and hopefully get pregnant! That day finally came on August 22, 2018.
If you missed my previous posts, you can read them here:
- Our Infertility and IVF Story
- IVF Injections and “Stims”
- IVF Egg Retrieval
- Preparing For Our Frozen Embryo Transfer (FET)
After we got the all clear for our embryo transfer, our nurse called us the day before our scheduled transfer to tell us the official time for our transfer and give me instructions. We were the first transfer of the day and it was scheduled for 10:15AM on August 22nd!
The pre-transfer instructions were very specific. I was supposed to empty my bladder at 8:15AM, then start drinking 32 ounces of water at 9:15AM and I could not go to the bathroom. It’s very important to have a full bladder so my doctor can see my uterus clearly and place our embryo in the perfect place in my uterus. We also could not wear any fragrances or perfume because that could harm our embryo. They even said no pumping gas the morning of transfer too. Chris and I needed to check in to the fertility clinic at 9:45AM and our transfer was scheduled to be at 10:15AM. I didn’t get much sleep that night from all of the anticipation.
The next morning it was TRANSFER DAY! I was mostly excited, but a little anxious. Everything had been leading up to that day. All of the shots and medication and ultrasounds and blood draws. It felt very surreal.
Chris and I arrived at the fertility clinic a little ahead of our check-in time and we were taken back to the prep room right away. I had to undress from the waist down and put on a gown and hair net. Spouses are allowed to be in the room for transfer so Chris had to put on scrubs, booties, and a hair net.
We signed some paperwork and then the embryologist came in to update us on our embryo. I had to hold back tears when she showed us a picture and told us our embryo had thawed perfectly and was already hatching, which is a great sign! It was a huge relief and made me feel even better about our chances of the transfer working.
After that our doctor came in and explained how the transfer would work. Once they confirmed my bladder was full enough, he would insert a catheter and guide it into the proper position using an ultrasound. Then the embryologist would bring in our embryo and our doctor would insert it into my uterus via the catheter. He was optimistic and told us he thought we had a 75%-80% chance of a live birth. He said that is the number he likes to focus on because getting pregnant isn’t the end goal. The goal is to have a baby and I appreciated that he said that to us. He is seriously awesome!
A few minutes later, it was go-time! Chris and I were walked back to the procedure room and I got up on the table. Chris sat in a chair next to my head and people start filing into the room. They confirmed that my bladder was indeed full enough, although I could have told you that, because I felt like I was going to burst at that point. Our doctor got the catheter in place, which wasn’t painful at all. It felt like a pap smear. Then when he called to the embryologist, I got really excited because I knew what was about to happen! She brought out our embryo and before I even realized what had happened, the transfer was done! They check the catheter line afterward to make sure the embryo did enter the uterus and didn’t get stuck somewhere. They confirmed our embryo was in my uterus and we were done. It was so surreal!
I got to go to the bathroom afterward, which was a giant relief, because having a full bladder is pretty uncomfortable. Then Chris and I went back to our room and I was told to lay down for 20-30 minutes. After I laid down, we just held each other in the room for a long time. And I cried, of course. It was an incredibly emotional moment. We both knew something big had happened and we were so full of hope. Words can’t describe how I felt.
We pulled ourselves together and 30 minutes later we were on our way home. I was told to lay low the rest of the day and take it easy for a few days, but then resume life as normal. Our pregnancy test was scheduled for 9 days later and all we could do until then was wait and hope and pray.
That was August 22nd which was exactly 11 months from Chris’ kidney transplant and 1 month until the 1 year anniversary. I told myself that had to be a good omen. That time in our lives leading up to Chris’ kidney transplant felt so uncertain and here we are on the other side. I felt a similar way the day of our embryo transfer: uncertain of what the future held and really hopeful that 9 months later we would be on the other side.
[…] and for good reason. In case the title of this post didn’t give it away, SURPRISE, we did another embryo transfer. I wrote all about our IVF journey the first time and this time was no different. I have been […]