My Two PERFECT Little Ones

Today is the day after our embryo transfer.  I would have updated yesterday, but they gave me Valium before the procedure, which I have never had before, and it made me floppy and tired, so I spent the rest of the day sleeping that off.  Also, it didn't really even kick in until after the procedure was over, so I think if I had to do it again, I'd skip the Valium.

Anyways, we got to the clinic and the nurse explained all the stuff I'm supposed to do/not do after the procedure, and then the doctor came in.  We had Dr. Hatasaka again.  I like him a lot!  He told us how our embryos had done in the last 3 days.  He told us we had 2 excellent embryos, 2 fair, and 2 poor.  He was really excited that we had 2 excellent ones.  In the class we took before we started, they told everyone not to expect excellent embryos, because that hardly ever happens.  The usually get goods and fairs.  Dr. Hatasaka said they only see a few excellent ones a month at their clinic, so it was really awesome that two of ours were excellent.  We decided we wanted to implant both of them, and Dr. Hatasaka explained the risks of twins, etc., which I said I was fine with.  He said, "Okay with me.  I don't have to raise them."  Haha!

Then they took me back to the OR area where they set me up on the bed.  Then the embryologist came out of the lab and gave me the picture of the two we were going to implant, and he explained what they look for when grading them.  He said ours couldn't have been any better and he was really pleased with them.  He said he went ahead and did the "assisted hatching" procedure, which just gives them a little better chance of attaching once they're in there.

They told us also about a study done in Egypt, where they injected a small amount of hCG into the uterus just prior to implanting the embryos, which kind of triggers a cascade response from the lining to get ready for the embryos.  They said the study found a 10-11% increase in implantation that way, so they conducted the study here and found the same thing.  We were like, yeah! We'll do whatever will increase our chances, so they did that first.

Then, the embryologist brought the dish with our babies in it over to the microscope, which projected to a big TV monitor.  He made me check to make sure my name was on the dish and then showed us the two tiny dots that were my little 8-celled miracles.  He zoomed in a bit and we could see them a little closer, and then we watched as he sucked them into a little catheter.  He then brought that over to Dr. H, who put them into my uterus in the same place the hCG went.  They checked the catheter after to make sure they had for sure gotten them in there, and then it was all over!

The whole thing was pretty simple, but just overwhelming at the same time.  I am so grateful for the power of prayer and fasting, because I know the family fast we had before we started definitely made a difference.  We have been surprising the doctors at every step, by getting better results than they anticipated!  I am so excited to see what happens.

I have to wait 2 weeks to test, and they will do a beta a few days after that.  Autumn pointed out that 2 weeks would be exactly Mother's Day.  What a lovely present THAT would be!!  I hope this works, but if it doesn't, at least I have been through the entire process and I know I could do it again.  The first time is always the scariest, not knowing what each part will be like or do to your body.  I am pleased to report that it was much easier than I anticipated.  I am just a little wiped out from all the hormones, but not really any other side effects to report.

I am posting the picture they gave us at the clinic of our 2 perfect embryos. The little notches at the bottom are where they did the "assisted hatching."

I am so proud of these little guys!!  You can do it!  I am rooting for both of you!