Pregnant Until Proven Otherwise

I had my embryo transfer was yesterday. In spite of the clinical setting (I wryly use the hashtag #somepeoplebonk on Twitter and Instagram) it was a strangely magical experience.

First thing’s first, I’m PUPO with this little beauty:

Yep, she’s a she ;) Last time we chose a male embryo; this time we chose a female embryo. (More on why in another post.)

The embryologist explained that the embryo lost a couple of cells during the thaw (at around 6 and 7 o’clock in the above photo) but otherwise she thawed beautifully. The embryologist also explained that it’s not uncommon for biopsied embryos to be fully hatched—even before we did the first FET, all eight of our embryos had hatched—and a little lopsided, but she would plump up by the time of transfer.

And plump up she did. Yesterday’s transfer was my third total, but it was the first time I saw the embryo in a Petri dish. As my RE prepped the catheter, I stared at the monitor above her head. On it, a Petri dish inscribed with my name in a green Sharpie. We watched as the microscope zoomed in and a little dot swam into focus. There she was, less lopsided, hanging out alone in the vast expanse of a Petri dish, invisible to the naked eye. A few seconds later, the blunt tip of a needle jerked on its approach to the dark little dot. It was awesome (in the original sense) to watch as she was sucked into the needle. A dark little dot, tumbling on the swift current of the needle’s vacuum.

A minute later, the embryologist entered the darkened procedure room and handed a straw to my RE. I watched via ultrasound as my RE guided the embryo into the top of my uterus. The embryologist headed back to the lab to confirm the straw was empty. It was. By process of elimination, it meant the bright white dot at the top of my on-screen uterus was the fluid containing the embryo.

When I was dressed again, the Valium had finally kicked in. (Better late than never? The ride home was fun, then I passed out on the sofa!)

I feel very positive :) I feel more confident this cycle than I did the last. I’ve had some cramping and a feeling of pressure in my uterus that I associate with early pregnancy, and my breasts feel tender. (Of course, neither of these things confirm pregnancy, but I am hopeful.

I’ll POAS on Sunday or Monday, but official blood test is next Friday 23rd, the day my little sister arrives from Spain!

A little sister.

I think it will be a good day :)