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November 6, 2003
Hi!
I’m back from the Land of Bed Rest! Here’s what you missed.
Monday, November 3, 2003
On Pins and Needles (sorry, such a bad pun!)
I woke up at 6:30 and took my daily dose of Synthroid and drifted back to sleep for a little while. I awoke and prepared my PIO shot, which a very bleary-eyed Chris then injected into my increasingly sore and bruised butt (not his fault, he’s actually really good at shots). I showered quickly and did all the last minute chores that I don’t plan on doing again for 9 months. ;)
I had an acupuncture session at 9:45. Chris dropped me off and went to the Dunkin Donuts up the road to get some breakfast for himself (I had already eaten—had to take one of my lovely Doxyclycline pills). The acupuncturist was so excited about my big day—she is very spirited. She utilized a lot of abdomen areas for cleansing as well as some ear points for my reproductive organs. Retrieval is obviously traumatic to the body and she wanted to make sure everything was calm and clear for my transfer. While I was “pinned,” Chris came in with his coffee. He sat next to me and I heard the acupuncturist ask him for a sip of his coffee. FOR REAL. She then drank from his cup. Ewwwwww. But as Chris said later, he probably ate dirt as a kid so what’s a little acupuncturist saliva?
The Mall
I’m sure that everyone stops by the local mall before a huge potentially life changing event, right? Well we had about a half hour to kill before we were due at the RE’s office so Chris suggested the mall (it’s only a couple of streets over from the office). So we wandered around, Chris bought a book, and I got increasingly antsy.
The RE’s Office
We arrived promptly at 11:00 and waited to be called in. Of course every other woman in the room had at least one child with her (note: huge rolling of eyes). Dr. Hottie came into the waiting room (yeah, it’s him!!!) to get a cup of water and noticed me. He’s so funny—he asked if I were there for blood work. I was like “uhh, no, my transfer?!?” and he was shocked. He said it felt like he did my E/R weeks ago! Perhaps he’s sick of me? ;)
The RE’s Inner-Office
Finally at about 11:30 we’re called into the RE’s office, which oddly enough wasn’t Dr. Hottie’s own office, but rather my official RE’s. He started out by saying how well I’ve done and how absolutely BEAUTIFUL my embryos are. He was really blown away by them! (Note: Chris is probably internally doing a high-5 in his head since of course it’s his boys that are so wondrous!). We then started discussing how many to put back. He was torn since last time we put back three with a negative result (and since it was a different clinic he couldn’t really compare the quality), but given how great these embryos were he was really inclined to only put back two. I asked if it would increase the odds of success to return three and he said “No, it will just increase the odds for multiples.” He estimated that with three I’d have about a 3% chance of triplets, which isn’t huge, but he doesn’t think (given that I’m small) that I could carry three babies. I heartily agreed. He wanted to get the embryologist’s take on the matter so he left to speak with her. I asked Chris what he thought and as usual I got the typically-male “Whatever you think best” answer. MEN. Dr. Hottie return (ahhhh) and said that the embryologist was so confident in the quality of our embryos that putting back three was not a good idea. Apparently she said one would be good enough (ok so we’re back at the “it only takes one” punch line). Of course they don’t only put back one unless that’s all you have. :) So the group consensus was to put back two and freeze the remaining four (three didn’t make it—two stopped dividing and one was abnormal).
The Fashion Show
With the decision made, we’re brought back to the IVF waiting room (they have a special lounge area for the high rollers hehehe). I changed into my oh-so-attractive Johnny coat, foam slippers, and hairnet while Chris went potty (mind you I had to have a full bladder so this wasn’t nice of him!). Dr. Hottie spotted me and commented on how nice I looked (this after he made fun of my transfer-wear earlier—sweats and a hoodie). ;) We signed the consent forms (to do assisted hatching, freeze the good embies, discard the rest blah blah blah) and then Dr. Hottie asked me who my doctor is. That threw me for a loop since I wasn’t sure what he meant—I mean I have lots of doctors. This was conveyed by my blank stare. He said “Well, I know I’m your doctor, I meant your GYN.” Now I don’t know why he asked, but if my wits had been about me I would have asked his opinion on this wacko GYN. I’m also not sure why he asked in the first place (again it didn’t occur to me to ask why he wanted to know). He then told me to kiss the “big guy” (aka my 6’3” husband) and I was walked into the OR (I assumed Chris would come with me as he had with IVF #1). The nurse got me properly configured on the table and then Dr. Hottie and the embryologist came in. I was chastised for not having a full bladder (“you lied to me” I believe were Dr. Hottie’s words), but it was full enough for them to do what they needed to. I also thanked the nurse for being so gentle with the u/s wand—I told her with IVF #1 it felt like I had an elephant sitting on my stomach. She laughed. A little levity always helps, right?
The following falls into the way TMI category, but since I’m recording this for myself I want to be true to the event. Dr. Hottie said “Wow, you’ve got a lot of thick mucus. It must suck when you have a cold.” I think every inch of my body blushed (but he’s right I am the queen of bad mucus). He spent the next five minutes cleaning out my cervix (with the embryologist by his side recommending which syringe or suction device would work best). Lovely. Finally, he was pleased with the clean up and inserted the catheter. Now, you may recall that I think catheters are medieval torture devices, but Dr. Hottie was amazing. It only hurt a little bit and he had no problem getting it into the right spot despite the fact that my cervix was totally upright. He said the cervical mapping really paid off, but I just think he’s a miracle worker. The embryologist left and for a second I saw my embies live on the TV monitor. They were next to each other and there was a tiny piece of fuzz below them so the overall effect was that of a smiley face. That pleased me. The embryologist sucked them into the pipette and they were inserted into the catheter and into their new home (hopefully for the next 8.5 months!).
I was then told to lie there for 10 minutes and before he left, Dr. Hottie was so glowing about me and how hard I worked and how great the results were that I wanted to kiss him. It is very special to me to have had the same person follow me through an entire cycle—and that the person is as amazing as he is only sweetened the deal. He did everything for me except one u/s. Wow.
I felt GREAT afterwards and basically be-bopped out of the clinic (after a hearty thank you to Dr. H) with the pictures of my lovely embryos. It is so awesome to be able to see them (clinic #1 didn’t do this). They called me the next day to say that the four remaining embryos were successfully frozen!
The next three days were spent on the couch. And so the wait begins...
Jen
PS I went the the acupunctursit again today and she focused on back points (I've been really crampy since the ER) and was pleased that I am so reactive (that's what they call it when you get red circles around the needles). She also massaged my lower calf/achilles tendon areas and that KILLED. She said that I need to release the pent up energy that is there.
PPS I go for blood work tomorrow to make sure my levels are ok...
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