St. Patty's and ET update - with photos :)

It's been a couple days since my transfer, but I haven't had a chance to update... So here it is:

The night before the transfer:
We decided to go out to Pasadena and spend the night at The Courtyard again.  Since it worked out so well before the ER, and we've already spent so much money on IVF, we figured what's another couple hundred dollars for a hotel... It was a great way to relax before the big day. Dh and I chilled in the room, ordered room service, and got our new favorite dessert - chocolate icebox cake. Yum!!!

Morning of the transfer:
Since the transfer wasn't until noon, we had time in the morning to relax and get breakfast. I did cheat and have a half cup of coffee since I've been a little backed up lately. Thank god it did the trick! Then, a little over an hour before  we left for the transfer, I took my valium and made sure to drink my pint of water with time to spare.

Transfer time!
The transfer went better than I expected; all eight embryos made it to day 3! We had two 8 cell, one 6 cell, three 5 cells, and two 4 cells. 7 of the 8 embryos were grade 4 (which is the highest grade at my clinic), the other is a grade 3. My RE originally wanted to transfer 4 (due to my age - 36), but we decided on transferring 3. So we transferred the two 8 cells and one 6 cell.

Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of my 3 embies that were transfered, but I did get one of all 8.

Although we didn't get a photo of our 3 embryos pre-transfer, we did get a shot of the screen after the embryos were transferred. The embryos are the black area towards the bottom right... aren't they cute!?!
***ETA - I've been corrected by my dh, the embryos are the white spot toward the top right (oops...)***

Since the transfer ended up being on St. Patty's Day. I got to wear my target "dollar bin special" St. Patty's Day socks!

Signs, signs...
On the drive home from the tansfer, as I was laying flat on my back, I got a sign... at least I'm hoping it's a sign. (a little back story - On Dec. 31st when I was recovering from my lap, I prayed that 2010 was going to be a good year.... ) Well outside the car window as I was laying flat on my back, what should appear in full view of my window, but the Good Year blimp! It's got to be a good omen, right?

Post-ET meal:
I begged dh to stop at In-N-Out on the way home. I thought it would be an excellent first meal for meal for my embies, and I was craving it. It tasted sooo good! It was a bit difficult to eat laying down, but I tried.

St. Patty's Day Dinner
Although I couldn't imbibe in my favorite St. Patty's Day beverage, a Black and Tan, dh did make a delicious corned beef and cabbage dinner. So instead of beer on St. Patty's day, I had Pom juice and pineapple core... but the corn beef and cabbage rocked!

Fast forward to today:
Unfortunately, I got the call today that none of our remaining embryos made it to freeze :( . I was thinking that at least a couple would, so I'm pretty disappointed that none made it to blast. The nurse reminded me that the best ones were transferred. So, now I'm trying to concentrate on the little one's already inside, and that I'm PUPO!

ET tomorrow!

I was so rudely awoken by a 4.4 earthquake at 4:04am, and couldn't fall back asleep.  So, naturally, I started thinking about my awaiting embryos and my upcoming ET. I can't believe after all these weeks of appointments, injections, and u's that my transfer is finally here!

I haven't updated in a few days, so I'll go back a couple days to my ER...

I got 11 eggs!! The retrieval wasn't bad at all... even for someone who despises IVs. Dh and I decided to spend the night at a hotel the night before since had the first appointment of the morning, after the first night of day light savings -  so 7am came very early! This was one of the best decisions we've made. I woke up stress free ( the retrieval center was less than a mile away), and we got there with time to spare. Once I got there and got changed, it all went very quickly (I guess being out for most of the appointment could explain that!). I was so happy that the anesthesiologist was able to put the IV in my upper arm because I can't stand and IV in my hand (it repulses me :-(). He also went over my prescription for vicodin or darvoset, but I declined as they both make me vomit.  I was told could take other pain relievers, but I've heard conflicting information on whether (and which) pain meds should be taken after ER. I finally decided not to take anything at all... and I paid the price. I was so crampy and uncomfortable, but I found that keeping the heating pad on my belly and laying down made it bearable.

                       In my lucky penguin socks at ER

Then yesterday I called and got my fert report...

Out of the 11 eggs they retrieved, 9 were mature enough to use ICSI. Out of those 9, 8 of those fertilized normally. Dh and I were both overjoyed with this first report. He was home working when I called, and gave me a big hug when I told him. After all the ups and downs at the beginning of the cycle, we are extatic to 8 fertilized embies. Now we'll have to wait unttil tomorrow to find out how many of our 8 embies made it to day 3... Grow embies, grow!