Tomorrow

Is only a day away....

I get my blood drawn tomorrow morning.  When I get home from work, I will update and let everyone know.

Have a great night!

~Sam

And waiting...

I am scheduled for a blood pregnancy test on Thursday.  I will let everyone know that evening as soon as I know.  This waiting is taking FOREVER!

Have a great night!

~Sam

The Other 4

I just got a call from Alison in the lab at Midwest Fertility.  Unfortunately, the other 4 that fertilized did not make it.  None of them made it to the blastocyst stage.  She said they all just stopped developing.  However, she said they were very happy with the two that were transferred yesterday.  She referred to them as "above average" 3 times during our conversation.

I asked Alison how long it takes for a blastocyst to hatch.  She said it depends.  Each one is different and progresses at a different rate.  Since ours are progressing nicely, she said I would probably be implanting within the first 48 hours after the transfer.  It's been nearly 24 hours.  I could be implanting now!!!!!  Especially the one that was already hatching!

According to this: http://www.advancedfertility.com/implantation.htm

When does blastocyst implantation actually occur after an IVF cycle - or in a normal menstrual cycle?
Implantation occurs on day 6-10 after the egg retrieval
Which is 1 to 5 days after a blastocyst transfer

Can you tell I'm a little excited???

Take Care Everyone!

~Sam

Blastocyst

According to Dr. Will, he graded me blastocyst as a 4AA and a 5AA.  I had to look that up.  Here is what I found:
http://www.lajollaivf.com/fertility-treatments/blastocyst-day-5-embryo-transfer-san-diego/

He said they were "perfect".  After seeing this, they couldn't have been any better!

It's so exciting!

I'm resting and Googling.  I'm so excited!

~Sam

Day 5 Embryo Transfer

This is detailed, long, and a lot of personal information post...

Today has been a wonderful day!  After we got the kids on the bus, Shawn and I watched some music videos on CMT, MTV, VH1...  I must be old, because I have no clue about some of the new music today.  My transfer time was scheduled for 10:30 and I was told to arrive be 10:00.  I was anxious, so we left the house at 8:10.  It only take an hour and a half to get to Midwest Fertility.  We took our time, got gas in Burlington and arrived at 9:40.  I drank water the whole way down to Indy.  You need a full bladder to push your uterus forward so you can see it on the ultrasound.  They use ultrasound to guide the catheter to the top of the uterus.

We weren't in the waiting room long before they called our names and took as back.  I had to put on one of those sexy gowns and a hair net.  Shawn had to put on a jumpsuit, shoe covers, and a hairnet.  It was SO funny!  If you know Shawn, you know he's a fairly big guy.  The jump suit was an XL.  It fit fine on his legs and body, but I had to help him get it up over his big shoulders.  I thought we were going to rip the thing trying to get it on.  I was trying to tug it up his arms while laughing my behind off.  I laughed so hard, I had tears in my eyes.   Not to mention, Shawn looked hilarious!  Too bad I didn't get a picture.

After I calmed down, the nurse came in and had me take my Valium.  She asked me if I was laughing at my husband.  I told her we had trouble getting it over his shoulders and it was very funny.  I think you had to be there.  That, and I needed a laugh.  IVF is a stressful process.  The Valium really relaxed me and made me feel lethargic.

Dr. Bopp is in Fort Wayne on Tuesday's, so Dr. Will did my embryo transfer today.  He came in my room and chatted with us a minute.  He brought us a beautiful picture of our babies!  They turned into blastocyst this morning!!!  Here they are:

Aren't they adorable?  The dark spots are the start of babies!!!  Dr. Will said that three of my embryos were 8 celled on Day 3.  They like them to be between 5 and 10 cells on that day.  They were perfect!  He said that is the reason they wait until day 5, when they turn into blastocyst.  These 2 developed faster than the other one.  They are now between 50 and 100 cells each.  In fact he said the one on the right is such good quality that he was confident we could transfer it alone if we wanted to.  In fact, he used the words "beautiful" and "perfect" to describe them!  The one on the left is nearly as good.  He graded the one on the right to be higher because it is hatching already.  Dr. Will said the one on the left looks like it is starting to as well.  I told him I still wanted to transfer 2 and that I would be happy with twins.

I followed Dr. Will, the nurses, and the ultrasound tech to the room.  It doesn't take long at all.  Once the ultrasound tech pushed the ultrasound on my lower belly, I thought I was going to pee my pants.  Well, I wasn't wearing pants, so wet the bed, I guess.  Here is a picture of what we saw on the ultrasound:

The oval is my uterus.  The white dot in the middle is our babies!!!

Dr. Will said that being very conservative, I have at least a 50% chance of being pregnant and again, being conservative, I have at least a 25% of having twins.  He said I may have some fluid come out, but not to panic.  It is not the babies.  LOL!  After the transfer, I had to lay for 15 minutes to help the Valium wear off.  I was dying for a potty break by that time!

After we left, we went to TGI Friday's for lunch to celebrate.  They had a special going that you could get a free appetizer if you went certain dishes.  We got a free BBQ Chicken Flatbread as an appetizer.  OMG, it was awesome!  I need to find a copycat recipe for it.  Yum!

The last time we did IVF, we were told that one embryo was pretty good and the other was okay.  These are so much healthier!

I feel so HAPPY and EXCITED!  I have a great feeling about this.  I will get a call tomorrow to let us know if they are able to freeze the last one.

We are now home watching TV and I have Dr.'s orders to lay around and rest!

Have a wonderful week!

~Sam

Fertilization Update

I went to work this morning and I survived the day.  I am VERY sore and EXTREMELY bloated!  IVF this time has been worse.  I ache more this time.  I'm not sure why.  I got a call from the embryologist this morning.  Out of the 11 eggs retrieved, 10 were mature.  Of the 10, 6 fertilized with ICSI.  At the moment, we have 6 fertilized babies in Indy.  It's so exciting!  Usually 50% mature will fertilize and 50% of those will make it to transfer day.  It is all in God's hands!  Prayers are appreciated!

I'm going to rest all weekend and recover.

Take Care!

~Sam

Egg Retrieval

Our egg retrieval was this morning.  Dr. Bopp sucked out 11 eggs.  :-)  We will find out tomorrow how many fertilized.  This time was a little different.  The last time we did IVF, I had an IV with a pain meds in a syringe.  They would push a little in every time I needed it.  This time at this clinic, I was under anesthesia.  I remember the medicine burning as it went in and that's the last thing I remember.  The next thing I remember is waking up and being told they got 11 eggs.  Dr. Bopp came and visited me.  He was said he was happy with the way everything went.  I can take pain meds, but I haven't yet.  I feel VERY bloated.  I've bee feeling that way for a week, but its worse now.

Do you want to know something ironic? I miscarried one year ago today. My follicles matured and were retrieved a day early... today... We didn't plan it this way. Do you think its a sign?

http://sscottfamily.blogspot.com/2012/01/its-over.html

Last time, 14 eggs were retrieved.  8 fertilized.  4 lived to day 3.  2 lived to day 5 and both were transferred.  One attached and I miscarried around 10 weeks.  The baby stopped growing at 8 weeks and died after 9 weeks.

I'm excited and scared at the same time.  Please send up prayers for us!

Take Care!

~Sam