Hurry Up & Wait

All along I thought that the shots and poking and prodding with ultrasound wands was going to be the worst part but the fact of the matter is all those things, uncomfortable as they were, were a great distraction. Now that the transfer is complete and bed rest is over I have seven agonizing days until my blood test to see if after all this we were able to make a baby.  The waiting is definitely the hardest part. 

On Tuesday we headed into the city for the transfer, and actually headed in a little early to visit one of my closest girl friends who happened to be in labor right next door at Good Sam.  I was bummed that I was going to be on bed rest when the baby finally arrived but am pretty convinced the last minute belly rub was good luck (which was good since I forgot the fertility frog, doh!). During our mock embryo transfer we discovered the procedure would be easiest with a very full bladder, my cervix is tilted pretty far back making the path to my uterus into a maze with something close to a ninety degree angle near the end and the full bladder somehow assists with this.  During the practice run I didn't have a full enough bladder and the whole procedure was rather uncomfortable, this time I wasn't taking any chances, I downed multiple bottles of sparkling water in preparation.  When we finally checked in and got settled in our room I discovered there is such a thing as being too prepared.  We were still 30 minutes out from getting our little guys settled in and I was doing the pee pee dance in a hospital gown.  Our nurse took pity on me and allowed me to evacuate some of my bladder, she handed me a cup and noted where I could fill to and it took every ounce of self control I had to not overfill.  Shortly thereafter the magic man showed up, handed me a Valium and we headed into the sterile room for the transfer.  My painfully full bladder paid off, the magic man was very pleased and the whole thing took about 10 minutes.  Three months of preparation for 10 minutes, crazy.  Afterwards I am wheeled into the recovery room where Brady is chilling and we put on some soothing music and  I do my best to relax with my still full bladder for the next hour.  Once done I am wheeled down to the car and we head home with me telling Brady to take it easy around turns and going over speed bumps, as though every jostle could somehow dislodge all our hopes from my uterine lining.  At the house I settle into the bed in front of the TV and get cozy.  After a movie, two magazines, consuming at least 4 pickles and filing my nails and I am already bored.  It was going to be a long 48 hours. 

Over the next day and a half I watch lots of movies, I toss and turn trying to find a way to get comfortable laying with my head at no more than a 45 degree angle and I dream of a shower like it's a tropical vacation. I spent allot of time speaking words of encouragement to my belly like a crazy woman and visualizing the blastocysts embedding themselves in my uterus.  Now I don't really know what that would look like but I'm a pretty creative girl and I imagined a soothing environment with lots of soft colors and pillows and maybe some Marvin Gaye playing in the background.  Daydreams aside, this morning couldn't come fast enough, getting out of bed and stretching was brilliant dipped in awesome topped with wonderful.  I still have to lay low for a while which is hard but I am not leaving anything to chance.  This morning the embryologist called and told us that they were able to freeze three of the remaining eggs.  I am hoping we don't need them though, hoping with all my heart. 

The pic of our 5 day old blastocysts that were transferred.