Implant Day

Today was the big day.  The day we implant the embryos.  And things are going about as well as they could possibly go.

I start my morning by waking up about 5 minutes before my alarm goes off.  I hit the bathroom and empty my bladder and insert my morning medication.  Then I hit the shower so that those who are about to have their noses in my naughty bits are as least offended as possible.  Then I start refilling my bladder because I'm supposed to be really uncomfortable for this.

I've got my big water cup, an extra bottle of water in my purse, and we get some Starbucks and then Mcdonalds on the way.  I had to.  I'm never out and about early enough for hashbrowns so on the rare occasion that I am, I always hit McDonalds for hashbrowns!

We get there about a half hour early.  You never know what traffic and parking are going to be like in Seattle but we got really lucky and got there faster than expected.  We check in, I get my hospital style bracelet which states that a doctor I've never met will be performing the procedure, and then we hang out in the waiting room, sucking down water with other awkward couples.  We all know why we're all there, but not a word is being spoken by anyone.  I'm trying to chat with K to pass the time as we look over news stories on our phones, but no matter how quiet I talk, there's a silent audience and I feel like I'm shouting.

So they call me in to the transfer room and I get the general breakdown of what's going to happen and I'm told to strip down and get on the table, they'll be back in a moment.  So I get my bottom half all naked and the technician (nurse?) comes back in all apologetic, they aren't ready for me yet.  They thought I was the 11am appointment but I'm the 11:30 appointment and they need me to head back to the waiting room.

Ok, you guys will be oh so proud of this moment.  I literally stood up, bent over showing her my bare butt and said "I moon you in disapproval!"  Fortunately, she had a good sense of humor and I got dressed and headed back to the waiting room.  Of course people kind of have that question on their faces so I just politely announce to the room "They were just kidding" and we take our seats again.

Now the front desk receptionist tells me that they are running about 20 minutes behind, is that going to be a problem for my full bladder?  Well, at that moment, it wasn't a problem.  But about 15 minutes later, I get up and ask how long it's going to be because things are getting a little more dire and I'm quite a bit more ready to do this than I was earlier. 

They are able to get me back into the room a few minutes later and I talk with another technician (nurse?  seriously, I don't know their titles) about the quality of our embryos.

We thawed our 2 grade three embryos and our last embryo (grade four) is still frozen for future use.  Both embryos survived the thaw perfectly so we didn't have to make any last minute decisions about whether or not to thaw the last one.

And she is going on and on about how they are just beautiful, couldn't have asked them to look any better.  Simply stellar.  If she didn't know any better, she would have sworn they were fresh and never went through the freezing process.  You can see in the picture that there are lots of cells and the cells are trying to push out of the primary wall.  Apparently, that's the hatching process.  You can literally see the cells hatching out of the eggs and breaking that wall so they can grow even more.

They do an ultrasound to check my bladder and I've been a little TOO good at making sure it was full.  I'm asked to go to the bathroom with a paper cup and fill it up to the logo, then dispose of the urine down the toilet as usual.  So I go and do this, really afraid that once the flow starts, I won't be able to stop it.  But despite my fears, I excel at emptying just the proper amount.  Oh yeah, I'm awesome.  Can't wait to see that skill on a resume.

To my surprise, my doctor actually comes in and I'm very confused.  Apparently he's working with the other doctor today and they just decided to have him do the procedure.

And up in the stirrups I go.  K is in a chair about 5 feet behind me so I ask him to scoot up and hold my hand.  Call me crazy, but I'd just really like to be in physical contact with my husband at the moment our kids are conceived.

We watch stuff on the monitor while the doctor preps my bits.  You think a cold speculum is annoying?  Too hot is more uncomfortable.  They show us the embryos being sucked up into the catheter so we're able to see them squirming around under the microscope on the big screen.  And they are wiggly.  I don't remember my last embryos being wiggly, but these are just wiggling up a storm like they are desperate to get big enough to run around.

Is there some reason why I can't ever feel a catheter?  Are they just inserted somewhere that doesn't have any nerve endings or something?

Anyway, we see them drop off the embryos into my uterus on the big screen, but it's a standard ultrasound view so it's basically a big ball of fuzzy with a fuzzy line entering and exiting the picture.

And that's it!  They set a timer for 15 minutes and I have to lie on that bed until the timer goes off.  As soon as it does, I can head to the bathroom and we are homeward bound.  I'm told that I'm not on bedrest, but I should just be generally lazy or a day or two.

At home, I'm on the couch watching TV, and my big orange kitty, the kitty that became obsessed with me when I was pregnant before, he decides that he's going to watch tv with me.  Correction, ON me.  He rarely sits next to one of us when we're on the couch, but today he climbed right onto my belly, kneaded a bit, and snuggled in.  And even after I had to get up and get the phone, when I got back to the couch, he jumped right back on me.  A good sign perhaps?

What is this I'm experiencing?  Could it be....oh I dunno, hope perhaps?  Hmmmm, I don't want to declare anything quite so definitive, but hmmmmm.