Today is our 2 year anniversary. It is also the day of our embryo transfer. Is this a coincidence? Maybe so, but I don't think it is. Anyone who has gone through infertility will tell you about the importance of dates. We all have dates that are forever burned into our memories-some of those are good, some of those are not. My hopes are that this day will be one that we remember for TWO good reasons-our anniversary and the day that we finally conceived our first child.
This morning I woke up well before my alarm sounded for me to get up. I fixed a cup of coffee and tried to have a "peaceful" morning while watching the TODAY Show. I don't know how much peace I really had, but at least I tried.
Speaking of peace, since I was having such a difficult time obtaining it, I Googled "scriptures about anxiety" while I was sipping on my coffee. The one that continued to pop up was Philippians 4:6-7. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." I decided to stand firmly on these words today. I presented my requests to God, and I prayed that His peace would guard my heart and mind throughout today and the next few weeks.
After my cup of coffee, I proceeded to get ready for our drive to Bedford. We left Seymour around 9:00 after stopping for donuts and drinks for breakfast (I know, real healthy). Along the way, I think I drove Justin crazy by asking him whether he was excited and how he felt about today. Anyone who knows my husband knows that he is not the most expressive person (to say the least). It's funny how God can put together two completely opposite people. I am probably overly expressive and emotional, while Justin remains cool, calm, and collected at all times. I guess that's good that we're opposites because two highly anxious people would probably not be a good combination. Even though I know this information about ourselves, it can really offend me when he doesn't show excitement how I do.
As we were approaching Bedford, we got caught up in a horrific traffic jam. The construction around this area is horrendous. This added to my level of anxiety because I feared being late to our appointment-which we were. Thankfully, my physician had prescribed 2 valium tablets for me to take about 30-45 minutes prior to the embryo transfer. They kicked in shortly after we got caught in the traffic jam. This eased the tension in the car-which my husband was greatly thankful for.
Once we FINALLY arrived at the clinic, they quickly took us back to meet with the embryologist to discuss the development of our embryos. This was one of the moments that I had specifically been in prayer for in the past few weeks. I had been praying that we would have at least one "high quality" embryo to transfer. The embryologist brought us pictures of our developing embryos along with their grades. We had 2 grade 5AA embryos!!! That's the best grade you can receive on a 5 day embryo at our clinic! We also had 12 other embryos that were good enough quality to freeze for later use. Below is a picture of the 2 5AA embryos:
Since we had such great quality embryos, both the embryologist and our doctor highly recommended only transferring one of the 5AA embryos. They warned that our chances of conceiving twins would be greater than 50% by transferring two. We still went with two for a few reasons: First, I have no desire to go through this process again anytime soon. Second, I start school in less than 2 months and I do not need to be taking off work all the time for these treatments. The risk of having twins is totally fine with me. They also warned that triplets and quadruplets were possible. For example, if both embryos implant and just one splits to form identical twins, you would end up with triplets (about a 5% chance of this happening). If both embryos implant and both split to form two sets of identical twins, you end up with quadruplets (this has happened only once in 11 years there). I feel comfortable with our decision.
After talking with the embryologist, we were taken to a room where Dr. Kevin Doody would perform the embryo transfer. They used a sonogram machine to guide a catheter into my uterus. Then they called the lab to bring in our two embryos for transfer. We watched the sonogram screen as our little babies were transferred into my uterus...pretty cool!
I had to remain lying down (with a full bladder...OUCH!) for about 20 minutes post transfer. After our time was up, we were free to leave the clinic. Justin and I decided to go eat at Abuelo's for lunch to celebrate our transfer and anniversary. I took it easy for the rest of the day, but no bed rest is required.
I will be anxiously awaiting our first pregnancy test on Thursday, July 5. I better find some things to do to keep my mind busy!!!
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