The embryos are home!

Well, today did not go as planned. We were expecting to go through the motions of planning for a day three embryo transfer today and assumed that we would get the phone call from the nurse on call this weekend to let us know that all was well and we could turn around and go home. But, that phone call never came. We got to Dr. H's office this morning at 8:45, signed in and were promptly called back to have a quick chat with Dr. M since she was the one on call this weekend. As we walked through the door my heart began to sink. I thought, this is it, we might as well call this cycle a failure. The sweet nurse told us with a big smile that our embryos had been asking for their mom and dad and so they had to come find us because they were ready to come home. How cute is that!? :-) We sat down in Dr. M's office and she told us that we had two superstar embryos and the other three were just a little pokey. One of the superstars was a 10 cell today and the other was an 8 cell. They were both graded at an A- which is awesome because A is the best grade they can receive! Such little over-achievers already. :-) This news made me feel much better. Dr. M explained that she wanted to go ahead and transfer these two embryos today because we already knew at this point that they would be the best and most viable and she preferred to let them continue to grow in a more natural environment...my uterus.

Because we have already had two failed cycles they also decided to move forward with assisted hatching for these two embryos. Our clinic also uses something called embryo glue which is basically a sticky-like substance that's added to the outside of the embryos to help them stay put. We definintely need all the help we can get at this point! After our consultation I was instructed to take my valium and was taken back to get dressed for the transfer. I've become a pro at filling my bladder for the transfers. I was doing the pee-pee danced in no time!

Once we were in the procedure room, the embryologist rolled our little embryos into the room in their own little isolette. It was so neat! It's very similar to the isolettes used for newborns in the NICU. Dr. M said that I had done an excellent job of filling my bladder because she had a perfect view of my uterus. She also said that the lining looked really good as well. The embryologist was then given the go ahead to load the embryos into the catheter and away we went. We got to watch on the ultrasound machine as Dr. M placed the embryos into the lining of my uterus. It still just amazes me each time I watch this being done and I just lay there and pray that God will keep growing these embryos and help them to snuggle in for the long-haul.

After the transfer was over Dr. M inserted a catheter into my bladder to drain it. YUCK! This was NOT fun. God bless the sweet nurse that had to stand there and hold the container for my urine to drain into. She was so sweet and just kept telling us how she would be praying for us and that we would have a whole clinic full of people praying for these little embryos! After my bladder was drained I had to continue to lay on the table for an hour so I didn't move the embryos around. The valium had relaxed me by that point so it went by pretty fast. Now, I'm laying on the couch and will continue to be here or in bed for the next two days. This new clinic requires 2 full days of bedrest. I am fine with that because our last clinic didn't require any bedrest and we see where that got us!

God definitely showed me today! I was not ready for a transfer today, frankly I didn't want a transfer today. I had dinner plans tonight that I was really looking forward to, I was looking forward to church tomorrow and going to eat for my brother-in-law's birthday. I had plans, BUT once again I needed to be reminded that it's not my timing or my plans that are important...it's His plans. I know that God's plans are always better than mine and so that's why I'm embracing our three day transfer today. I have faith that this was the best thing for us and our embryos and I have faith that God is in complete control and only wants the best for us.

Thankfully this new clinic does not require as long of a wait until the beta test. Our beta test will be on March 3rd. 10 days to go! Please keep praying for our embryos! I hope they continue to grow and that they decide to snuggle in soon! I will leave you with a picture of our precious embryos! The first picture is of the embryos after they were transferred into my uterus. It's the little white mass on the upper right-hand side. :-)