Today was transfer!  When we got to the clinic at 8:30 am, we met with the embryologist, and he showed us pictures of our best embryos.  The two 4-cells had divided perfectly into an 8 cell and a 7 cell, and one had even started to compact towards blastocyst.  So amazing!  Here are the pictures…These are actually OUR embryos.  Little combos of me and my husband.  How cool  is that!  The other 4 are still growing, but the embryologist was not sure if they would make it to the 5 day stage or not.  He was very happy with the quality and structure of the two we implanted today.

The procedure was quick and painless. This may have been due to the lovely Valium they instruct you to take an hour before the procedure.  The doctors say it relaxes the cervix, but I think they just want all us crazy patients to be chilled out.

They ask that you have a full bladder, so of course I chugged about a gallon of water-quickly blurring the line between “able to hold it” and “gotta go RIGHT NOW!”.  Other than that the transfer was easy.  First you go into the transfer room and your embryos are in an controlled incubator.  They let you look at them under a microscope.  My husband, who is a scientist to the core, thoroughly enjoyed this whole process.  Then, its on to the table for me. Both the doctor and the embryologist are in the room for the procedure.  First, the doctor performs an ultrasound while the embryologist places the embryos into the catheter.  The ultrasound just checks to make sure the uterine lining looks good (He said mine looked really great), and to check to make sure there are no signs of Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome.  Once given the all clear, they insert the speculum, which is that 1800’s torture device-like  contraption they use at every gynecologist’s appointment.  Then they insert catheter through the opening of the cervix and into the uterus.  At this point, you can see everything on the ultrasound.  The doctor shows you on the screen where he is going to place the embryos and then BOOM…there they are!  Everyone leaves and you lay on the table for a while-I listened to peaceful music-and then you are outta there.  Coolest part-the embryologist chased us down to give us the petri dish the embryos had grown inside.  He said, “I wanted to give you this! It might be your baby’s first crib.”  How awesome is that! Plus-all the nurses came to give me a hug and wish me luck on the way out.  If you can’t tell, I LOVE my fertility clinic.  Having been at an awful one for two years, I truly appreciate what it feels like to be at a clinic where the staff is competent and cares about you.

So now I am to remain in bed for at least three days.  This is something I can TOTALLY do! 🙂  During that time, those embryos will continue to grow and divide.  Apparently, the uterus is like a peanut butter/jelly sandwich.  The walls are the bread and everything else, including the lining, is like a peanut butter and jelly.  Somewhere, our embryos-those long-awaited for combos of me and my soulmate-are stuck in that gooey goodness.   Science has done all it can and now it us up to fate, destiny, and God on how this thing plays out. For now, we just hope and pray that in a couple of days they lock in and implant. I think I might sleep for a week!  But first…I think I’ll have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich 😉