While we were going through this whole process, we had a night out with friends downtown Tulsa. There were a few outside events going on so we were just walking around when this balloon artist (we aren't really sure if it was a he or a she) came up to us and started making balloon objects for each of us. David and I were kind of standing off to the side just watching when all of a sudden he/she came up to me and started twirling and twisting balloons around until he/she handed me a little balloon dog. Ok, no big deal right? You see balloon dogs every time you see a balloon artist. But this one was different...it had a blown up balloon in it's belly...it was a pregnant balloon dog!!! Every one's mouth just dropped because this he/she obviously had no idea that we were going through what we were going through at that moment. I took it as a sign and I tried to hang on to the pregnant poodle for as long as possible, but within the next few days it withered away and just became empty balloons so I had to throw it away. I wish I would have taken a picture of it at least!
OK, on to the rest of the process:
May 27th - Egg Retrieval! I was so anxious and excited all at the same time. I just knew I was going to get tons of eggs and they were all going to fertilize and be perfect! Well, that didn't happen. I got 9 eggs. Not bad, but I was a little disappointed because I had always heard about people getting like 18 eggs normally and then only half of those fertilizing and then only half of those making it to the transfer. So if I did the math in my head, half of 9 would be 4 or 5 fertilized and then half of that would be about 2 embryos making it to transfer. Those are not good odds! But I just kept trying to remind myself that we only needed one good embryo for this to all work. In reality though, everyone wants to have a few backs ups just in case, so that's what I was worried about.
Also, this was the night that I started the dreaded Progesterone shots that came in a needle about the size of a cork screw. I was scared to death of these shots. But I was given some numbing creme and David gave the shots in my rear end and I ended up not even feeling it. It just started to get hard after a few weeks of these shots because hard spots had formed on my butt and it was difficult to find a place to shoot up.
May 28th - This was considered Day 1 in terms of the embryo development. Starting on this day, we were to call my patient line to find out the results of how many eggs were fertilized and then each day after we would call the line to find out the progress of the embryos.
Well, another disappointment for me...out of the 9 eggs I had, only 3 had fertilized. And fertilized means that the embryologist inserted a sperm into each egg and out of the 9, only 3 became embryos. All I could do was just hope and pray that at least one of those embryos would make it another 4 days for the transfer.
May 29th - Day 2 - This is when they started "grading" the embryos from best quality to worst quality on a scale from 1 to 4, 4 being the best.
We had 1 grade 4 (yah!), and 2 grade 3 (still good).
May 30th - Day 3 - We now had 3 grade 3 embryos.
This is also the day that the embryologist did the embryo biopsy for the PGD test I told you about before. I was scared that the biopsy would some how damage the embryos and their quality (this is possible, but very rare). The samples were then overnighted to California for testing.
May 31st - Day 4 - We now had 2 grade 4 and 1 grade 3!! Such good news. They made it through the biopsy and even got stronger! I was very optimistic at this point.
June 1st - Transfer Day - When we got to the doctor's office, she called us in to discuss the results of the PGD and what our options were. I didn't take this as a good sign until she told us that all 3 embryos were normal before we were even able to sit down! Finally, some good news for us. 2 embryos were graded perfectly and 1 was just a little behind but if it made it one more day it would be freezable to use at a later time. The doctor made sure we were comfortable with transferring 2 and of course we said yes! We were ready. I couldn't believe that this was actually happening. I was so convinced that this was all going to work perfectly that the moment those 2 embryos were inside my uterus, I felt pregnant! I know it sounds crazy, but I was very confident because those 2 little embryos were strong and perfect and they were meant to be ours.
Before we left the doctor's office that day, the nurse gave us this picture of our 2 embryos that were transferred.
OK, on to the rest of the process:
May 27th - Egg Retrieval! I was so anxious and excited all at the same time. I just knew I was going to get tons of eggs and they were all going to fertilize and be perfect! Well, that didn't happen. I got 9 eggs. Not bad, but I was a little disappointed because I had always heard about people getting like 18 eggs normally and then only half of those fertilizing and then only half of those making it to the transfer. So if I did the math in my head, half of 9 would be 4 or 5 fertilized and then half of that would be about 2 embryos making it to transfer. Those are not good odds! But I just kept trying to remind myself that we only needed one good embryo for this to all work. In reality though, everyone wants to have a few backs ups just in case, so that's what I was worried about.
Also, this was the night that I started the dreaded Progesterone shots that came in a needle about the size of a cork screw. I was scared to death of these shots. But I was given some numbing creme and David gave the shots in my rear end and I ended up not even feeling it. It just started to get hard after a few weeks of these shots because hard spots had formed on my butt and it was difficult to find a place to shoot up.
May 28th - This was considered Day 1 in terms of the embryo development. Starting on this day, we were to call my patient line to find out the results of how many eggs were fertilized and then each day after we would call the line to find out the progress of the embryos.
Well, another disappointment for me...out of the 9 eggs I had, only 3 had fertilized. And fertilized means that the embryologist inserted a sperm into each egg and out of the 9, only 3 became embryos. All I could do was just hope and pray that at least one of those embryos would make it another 4 days for the transfer.
May 29th - Day 2 - This is when they started "grading" the embryos from best quality to worst quality on a scale from 1 to 4, 4 being the best.
We had 1 grade 4 (yah!), and 2 grade 3 (still good).
May 30th - Day 3 - We now had 3 grade 3 embryos.
This is also the day that the embryologist did the embryo biopsy for the PGD test I told you about before. I was scared that the biopsy would some how damage the embryos and their quality (this is possible, but very rare). The samples were then overnighted to California for testing.
May 31st - Day 4 - We now had 2 grade 4 and 1 grade 3!! Such good news. They made it through the biopsy and even got stronger! I was very optimistic at this point.
June 1st - Transfer Day - When we got to the doctor's office, she called us in to discuss the results of the PGD and what our options were. I didn't take this as a good sign until she told us that all 3 embryos were normal before we were even able to sit down! Finally, some good news for us. 2 embryos were graded perfectly and 1 was just a little behind but if it made it one more day it would be freezable to use at a later time. The doctor made sure we were comfortable with transferring 2 and of course we said yes! We were ready. I couldn't believe that this was actually happening. I was so convinced that this was all going to work perfectly that the moment those 2 embryos were inside my uterus, I felt pregnant! I know it sounds crazy, but I was very confident because those 2 little embryos were strong and perfect and they were meant to be ours.
Before we left the doctor's office that day, the nurse gave us this picture of our 2 embryos that were transferred.
This is our babies' first picture! How crazy is that? And they were so strong and healthy that they were already hatching on their own before the transfer.
P.S. That 3rd embryo did make it another day and it's now sitting in a freezer somewhere waiting for us :) So I got my back up but now I consider it a bonus.
This is all so interesting. I am so sorry you had to go through it all but thank you for sharing your story!
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