Transfer Done

We had our transfer on Thursday. I think the whole thing is best summarized through this email that C sent to our friends.

Hi all,
We are home and A. is resting comfortably. The whole process was a little over three hours long! We got there and our acupunturist, Jeanenne, was the first to greet us. She ran us through what was going to happen: meet with the embryologist, valium, acupuncture, transfer, acupuncture. Sounds easy, right? ;)

It actually was pretty easy. For me at least. The embryologist was super nice, and we got some good news - a second embryo fertilized since Tuesday, so we got to transfer two! The first one was a grade 3 - high quality, grade 4 is the highest. The second embryo was grade 1 because the cells weren't uniform in size, but the quality was still good enough for implant. We heard two things about that second embryo - the acupunturist says that often the second one "acts as a cheerleader, encouraging the body to create strong volumes of the needed hormones". One of our favorite nurses, Britney, said that the second embryo "is clearly a fighter and has a good chance of maturing". Good stuff either way.

OK, on to the process - it was AWESOME. I got suited up in surgical gown, mask, hairnet (I considered keeping the whole ensemble for Halloween but chickened out). The transfer room was dark, only one light on, and they had music playing. The doctor (Dr. Garzo - one of the best in the country and a Chilean!) was joined by another Doctor fellow from UCSD, another one of our favorite nurses, Angela, and the embryologist. They rolled the incubator into the room and I got to see both of them! I looked at them through a microscope and they seemed like they were vibrating, or moving somehow, it was the coolest thing!

The transfer itself was fairly quick, but nonetheless incredible - we saw everything on the ultrasound. When the embryos were transferred in, we could see them - they looked like two white glowing balls, like stars, kind of. Incredible. We of course both cried through the whole damn thing.

From there, back to a recovery room for round two on the acupuncture. Then a bit of rest, discharge information and on our way home. Our most favorite nurse of all, Tiffany, discharged us and she also came to see us before the transfer - she was incredible and has been so helpful too.

Now A. lays on her back for three days - literally, she can only get up to go to the restroom, then she comes right back and lays down. I'm considering getting her a bell but I think she'd like it just a litttttlllle too much.

Pregnancy test on October 8th - two days after A's birthday, hopefully that'll be good luck.
Thanks again to all of you for the love, support, good vibes and good humor. I'll keep ya'll up to date.

C