I'm 3dp5dt today!

Yep. For those that aren't familiar with IVF lingo, I'm 3 days past a 5 day transfer.

The doctor called me Saturday morning and asked if we could go in a bit earlier because the genetic results are back. He also said to be thinking on the way to the clinic as to how many embryos - two or three - to transfer.

When we got to the clinic, we were brought up to the second floor waiting area. A nurse came right out to bring us back behind the double doors into an embryo transfer room. She took my temp and my vitals. She also explained to us the do-s and don't-s after embryo transfer. Then she said that she would be right back with a valium for me to take. I was hesitant, so she explained what it's for - to relax me and my uterus. So I agreed to take it.

Then a phlebotomist came in and took my blood. Once again, one prick and done. She explained that the doctor wants my baseline hormone levels.

Then the doctor came in and asked me how I was feeling. When I told him that I felt great, he gave me a high-five! He then asked us if we've decided how many embryos we wanted transferred. We asked him the qualities of the 7 fresh embryos, and he said that he'll get the paper with the results. He came back in a few minutes later, and he said that 2 embryos were AA quality, meaning that they're the highest grade the embryos can get. He said that the other 5 embryos were so-so quality, one BB and the others lower quality. We asked him what are the chances of triplets if we transferred the 2 AA quality embryos and the one BB quality embryo. He said that given my age and fertility (he said that I was VERY fertile), the chance of triplets is roughly 20% for me. Well, 20% is too high of a percentage for me, as I am afraid to have triplets - too many complications and I want the babies to have the best chance. So we said we'd just transfer the 2 AA quality embryos. The doctor said, "Good choice" and left. I assume he left to tell the embryologist how many embryos to bring to the room.

Then the embryologist came in and brought in his equipment. The equipment looked like a premie baby incubator, except inside had a microscope and stuff. There were two holes with doors that the embryologist sticks his hands through to get the embryos. Jerry wanted to take a picture with his camera phone, but he didn't want the flash to bother the embryos. The lights in the room were very dim.

The doctor came back in and got me ready to receive the embryos. It was like being at my GYN's office getting a pap, except the ultrasonographer was there pressing with the ultrasound want on my very full bladder. The whole process was a bit uncomfortable, but I just went to my happy place. Then I saw the embryologist remove a long thin straw that had the embryos in it and hand it to the doctor. He explained what he did every step of the way. I felt a little twinge, like something pushing past my cervix. Jerry got to look at the ultrasound screen the whole time and saw the embryos being injected into my uterus. This is his 3rd time seeing this, so he sort of knows what to look for. Then it was over. The whole process took like 15 minutes.

Then the nurse inverted the bed, where my head was lower than my feet. And she said that she'll be back in 15 minutes to see if I need to use the bedpan. Both the doctor and the embryologist wished us luck and left. So it was just me and Jerry in the room.

Then 15 minutes later, the nurse came in and asked me if I needed to use the bedpan. I was so embarassed to use it, but I knew if I didn't I'd explode. She got me set up and told Jerry to push the red button when I was done. Then she left me to my business. I was very embarassed, especially with Jerry looking at me. So I told him not to look at me. So he took out his cell phone and was fiddling with that. Then I told him I was done and he pushed the red button. The nurse came in and got me all fixed up. And asked me if I needed more warm blankets. She was very professional about all of this. I know people use bedpans all the time at this clinic, but still I was very embarassed.

Then the embrylogist came back in and told us in further detail about our embryos that we didn't transfer. He said that the 5 other fresh embryos weren't that good of a grade so he's going to let them grow another day to see. Then he would freeze the ones that were "good" and would call us on Monday to let us know how many he froze.

Then he told us about the 5 frozen embryos that we had shipped here from Pensacola. He said that when he thawed them, one of them immediately was dead. Another one died within the hour. And the third one died shortly after that. So two out of the five survived the thaw. The ones that survived, he had biopsied and sent for genetic testing. The genetic tests came back as 1 out of the 2 being normal, meaning not having an unbalanced Robertsonian translocation. So there you have it. The Pensacola fertility doctor messed up, and we now have proof. Anyway...

We stayed there for about an hour, and I had to use the potty. So the nurse accompanied me to the bathroom and told me when I was done that there would be a wheelchair waiting for me. So I got changed and did my business in the potty, and she wheeled me out of the clinic where Jerry had already pulled up with the Yukon. I stretched out horizontally in the back seat for the ride back to the hotel.

So I've been on complete bed rest ever since Saturday afternoon. That's why I haven't had the chance to post an update. Today, I'm allowed to get up and sit up a bit. I can do more and more each day, but I'm not supposed to do anything strenuous, including exercise or even picking up Buttercup.

On Monday, we received the call from the embryologist saying that out of the 5 fresh embryos that we didn't transfer, only 1 was good enough to freeze. We were a bit sad about the news. The one that he did freeze isn't that good of a quality though. So as of now, we have two embryos that are frozen here in Denver. One is from this fresh IVF cycle. The other is from the IVF cycle in Pensacola - not as good quality as the two that were transferred to my uterus.

My beta (blood pregnancy test) is July 28th. Pray for us! I'm hoping we have twins!!