The Eternal Guest Room

I meant to wake up early to get all  ready for bed rest (clean the house, do some last minute work, etc.) but I didn’t get much sleep the night before so I ended up sleeping late. I had an acupuncture session first, then it was off to the clinic.

I drank 24 ounces of water on my way because I needed a full bladder, so I was uncomfortable when we got there. I put on the surgery outfit and got in the rolling bed. A lady came in to give us the news about our embryos – we had 5 left out of the original 19. She handed us a photo of the two that they planned to transfer. It was so surreal, looking at that picture. She explained how they graded them, though I didn’t totally understand; it would have been helpful to see it in writing as I’m not good at processing things that are spoken. But basically one of them was an A on one part and a B on another, and the other was a B for both parts.

She left us with the photo and paper to sign saying we understood the risks of transferring two. We waited a long time. I really had to pee. After much debate, I went across the hall to pee a little bit. Finally the nurse came back and told me to go again. Then, finally, 30 minutes late, the whole gang came to cart me away.

Being rolled in the bed without anesthesia is way less fun. I was totally awake and alert the whole time. We got into the room, which was dark because the embryos don’t like light (aw, so cute). First the doctor showed us the screen that had our 2 embryos in their dish and we got to see them “live.” The doctor, nurse, and sonogram lady all raved about how gorgeous and beautiful they were (that’s right, our kids are already freaking adorable). Then I got in position on the table.

D sat next to me (in a gown, cap, that white mask thing, and booties) and held onto my shoulder (I later squeezed the crap out of his fingers because it hurt). The sonogram lady put the gel on my stomach and watched the procedure on the screen. The doctor put in the speculum, then took one embryo and put it inside with a long thin thing. Then the second. We watched the whole procedure; you could see the tiny dots going in. It was super, super weird.

Then it was over. Both embryos floating around in there. The doctor and D worked together to lift me back to the other end of the bed while I tried not to move. Very weird.

And we rolled  to our room. They knew I needed to pee but told me to wait at least 10 minutes, unless I was going to pee in the bed. I think I made it 9 and a half.

After coming back to bed, I laid down for another 40 minutes, and then it was time to go. D drove me to my post-transfer acupuncture session, and then it was on to the couch.

I slept most of the afternoon and woke up for the shot, which was another bad one (though no bleeding). After that, some friends came over to visit. They said they were coming over to hang out and bring dinner, but I was shocked when they walked in with balloons, gifts, and sparkling juice – they turned it into an “embryo party.” I was so touched. The napkins & plates were even all pink, blue, or polka dotted (circles to represent eggs/embryos). It was like the best thing ever.

Yesterday could have been a lonely day. But it was amazing. In addition to the party, I got so many texts and so many comments on my group’s wall wishing me luck, not to mention the comments here. I felt so loved and not alone at all.

Now we wait for them to hopefully snuggle in. I hope they make it. I go back and forth between whether twins would be awesome or terrifying, but all I really know is that I want that test to be positive so, so badly.

We also found out this morning that we had 2 embryos make it to freeze, so we’ve got two snowbabies waiting for us for the future. I never wanted more than 2 kids, but at this point I just want all 4 to make it.

Here are the two that are hopefully making a comfy home as we speak: