Saturday, August 05, 2006

The Day Before

My embryo transfer is scheduled for tomorrow morning.

I'm home in a rare afternoon of quiet since the Mister is at his sister's house doing some kind of home improvement (he's very handy).

I went to the gym for the first time in eons this morning, in part because I'd thought I should avoid major exercise during this whole IVF process. A nurse told me the other day I was good to exercise "until the transfer."

So I had a nice 45-minute elliptical workout this morning. Blood sugars stayed stable throughout. It was beautiful.

Tomorrow at 9:15 am, I'm going in for a pre-IVF acupuncture session at the infertility clinic. According to someone's research somewhere, before- and after-egg transfer acupuncture appointments are supposed to increase the chances of an embryo actually implanting. (Instead of the "we're not sure, but it's supposed to relax you" acupuncture I was doing a few months ago a few times a week. Several negative IUIs and hundreds of dollars later, I stopped doing weekly acupuncture.)

But tomorrow hopefully will be different.

The egg transfer is supposed to be easy. Mr. Lyrehca can stay in the room while it happens. Then it'll be another calming acupuncture session and home we go.

I'm supposed to lie flat for the rest of the day after the transfer. I'm glad it's all happening on a Sunday.

And then begins another two week wait. Except with an embryo transfer, I'm told it's only a nine-day wait. So if things move forward tomorrow, I'd have a pregnancy test scheduled for August 15.

The nurses, who I've been stalking for the past few days, tell me that our six embryos continue to look good and thrive. We'll get a full report tomorrow at the official transfer from an embryologist who will be able to tell us which embryo has the highest quality.

Due to my unusual medical history (retinopathy, no-kidney-problems-now-but-why-tempt-fate?, "old" age, a removed-weird-tumor-that-has-a-tiny-chance-of-returning), Mr. Lyrehca and I agreed to transfer only one embryo this time. (Many people my age would likely transfer two or three embryos to up their chances of a successful implantation. This, however, increases the chances of multiples. Which are hard on any woman's body. On me, twins would be possible but not ideal. Triplets are out of the question). We agreed (and got an OK from my high risk ob/gyn who I've already met even though I've never been pregnant) to implant two embryos if we have to do IVF a second time, just to increase the chances of success.

So pretty much everything looks good for tomorrow. Just gotta wait it out and see what happens.

9 comments:

Minnesota Nice said...

L,
I am soooooooo glad that you're having acupuncture. I took evening classes for a year and a half to become certified, but had a cash flow problem and haven't resumed (yet). (Maybe I'm not intended to save the world in three easy steps.)
Stay calm. Believe in the promise.

Anonymous said...

Hi there ~

Thanks for stopping by my site earlier! I wanted to say GOOD luck on the transfer. I started with a new acupuncturist recently, and I can already tell it's having a positive effect on my cycle (ovulating sooner and a longer LP). I'm glad to hear you're doing the 'before and after' method.

Again, BEST of luck!!

Unknown said...

Good luck tomorrow! Im a type 2 diabetic so IF and WHEN I get prego I may have some questions for you since of course you WILL be ahead of me in pregnancy months! (Could I be more optimistic for both of us???) Thx for the comment on my blog!! OH and I do acupuncture too..loving it but I'm doing twice a week and then plan to do the before/after ET acupuncture too. I've heard the same things about how helpful it is. I think the weekly acu is to help build up your lining and the ET day is to help them stick. Anyhow...good luck!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
If not a mother... said...

good luck today! I hope this does the trick for you.

Violet said...

L,

Wishing all good things for you, especially peace of mind over the next two weeks. Take care.

V

Kevin said...

I missed the post on Saturday, but I hope everything went well yesterday and that that guy takes root!

Flmgodog said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Flmgodog said...

Hope all went well yesterday. Am rooting for you!
Let us know how you are doing!