As I sit here typing this, it seems so amazing to me to know there are two little embryos inside me, hopefully burrowing their way into my endometrium. They’ve already burrowed into my heart. I will write more about what it feels like to be PUPO — knowing there are two embryos inside my body, knowing they did not come…
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Transfer Day
Yesterday (Day 5), just over one third of our embryos were at blastocyst stage. Half are top quality, half are good/fair quality. All but one tested genetically normal, and we have a choice of gender. Be still my beating heart! About another third of the other embryos were at early blastocyst stage and weren’t contenders for biopsy yesterday. However, this…
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Superstition
I have two engagement rings, but neither is mine. (DH never proposed to me — we had a conversation — and I did not want a diamond ring for both personal and ethical reasons.) One ring is a cluster of diamonds, six small ones encircling a larger one, kind of like a six-petaled flower. It belonged to my grandmother, the…
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Day 3
Today is Day 3, the point where our lab expects to see 4-8 cells: we still have the same number of embryos as we did on Day 1 and two thirds are at 8 or more cells! We expect to lose quite a few between now and Tuesday (Day 5), but we have so many that I’m not worried about…
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Embryos!
Yesterday I awoke to a fluttering in my belly. The first Big Day: retrieval! A few hours later, we were on our way to the clinic, DH driving and me gingerly holding upright the contents of a white paper bag. We knew by then Nellie would have had the retrieval, and I thought, The two genetic parties have done their…
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After Upheaval, Retrieval!
After waiting with bated breath over the past few days, I am so happy to share that our retrieval will happen this Thursday! Our donor is healthy and will do her trigger shot tonight! Although we may get fewer eggs than we originally thought, she still has an extraordinary amount of follicles that have grown beautifully over the weekend. We…
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DEIVF Roller Coaster
I’m worn out. It’s 2:15pm and I am still in my pyjamas. Today could have been if not the day before transfer, then the final days leading to transfer. Trying to sustain good eating habits and a sense of hopeful calm has been difficult the past few days. Last night and this morning I reached a new low. My anxiety…
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My Frustration Levels Have Gone Through the Roof
Friday February 14th: [Nellie] has approx. 40 follicles with her top 5 now measuring 12-24mm. Her estradiol is 1594 which is good. [Nellie] will be seen again tomorrow so [we] will update you then. I find it frustrating that, in spite of having told our nurse that we never did IVF nor have a medical background and therefore don’t know…
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Follies
As I am dealing with mystical follicles, I thought it would be fun to search for quotations about folly. Lots of good ‘uns, but these five are my favourite because my twisted reproduction-obsessed mind can read a double meaning. At times it is folly to hasten, at other times to delay. The wise do everything in its proper time. –…
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Mood and Calendar Shift
This morning’s third ultrasound appointment was okay. We had lots of questions, and although we have been reassured that things are going well, all we know is that we won’t get answers for a while yet. Despite my estrogen levels going up to 2900 (progesterone steady at 0.69), my lining is still at 7mm, the same it was last Tuesday….
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