cRaZy DaY!!! :)

So... on Wed when we got our fertilization report, and we had 6 fertilized eggs, and the tentative plan was to transfer embryos on Sun, I thought, cool! I will get to go to the "What a Woman Wants" expo again this year! I told my sis-in-law, and jokingly noted that if the RCC called and needed to transfer on Fri, maybe she could drop me off there since it was literally up the road from the expo?

Let's just call that a major premonition! :)

So - we were driving to the expo and were basically about to turn into the parking lot when Tami called with my embryo report. This was ~9:50 a.m. She said we had one excellent, two good, and three poor embryos and they definitely wanted to transfer TODAY - could we be there at 1 p.m. for a 1:30 p.m. transfer? I was a little shocked but said I'd call Blake, we'd plan on it, and I'd call if it would not work at that time. When I got off the phone I relayed the message and we talked about if we should still go to the expo? We decided to since it would keep my mind off of things, and would work just fine to get me there on time. I called Blake and he said he'd leave work at 12:30 p.m. and meet me there at 1 p.m. The only thing I was bummed about was that I had put together a playlist on my iPod for the transfer that I could listen to while relaxing, and my iPod was safely in my car at home. Oops! Oh well - I knew I could mentally play the songs anyway. :)

The expo was fun - lots of interesting people and booths - but time sure flew by fast! I bought a bottled water so I could start hydrating (you need to have a pretty full bladder for the transfer - it flattens the uterus and helps guide the catheter to the right place) - I admit I was pretty distracted but I did find and buy a cute hat and headband. I was bummed that I couldn't try out any lotions (you can't wear anything scented for retrieval or transfer) but no big deal. But I digress... :)

We left about 12:35 p.m. and got to the RCC at 12:43 p.m. - I ran in to use the bathroom because I was nervous and didn't want to be miserable through the procedure. Danielle and Vicki were with me and waited with me while Blake was en route. I didn't know if he'd make it! At 12:57 he got there. We'd made some jokes about how, if he didn't make it, I was taking them back with me, and if I was ever mad I could say "you weren't even there for your children's conception!" :) Funny... good way to pass those minutes!

Right about 1 p.m., Heather the nurse called us back. Danielle said hi to her (she'd worked with her when she had been going to Dr. Heiner) , we hugged Vicki and Danielle, and we went back to a room to wait to talk with Dr. Heiner. It took a few minutes, and I was having a painfully full bladder. Blake got Tami and she said it would probably be another 1/2 hr so it would be ok for me to go again (hallelujah). Dr. Heiner came in around 1:20 and told us about our embryos - we had one excellent, one very good, one not so good, and three poor. He said if we wanted to, we could transfer the one not so good also. I had thought through this scenario and asked if we could let the not so good and poor ones keep growing in order to find out if we could freeze some; Dr. Heiner said he thought that was a good idea. He seemed a little bummed that we didn't transfer the not so good one, but Blake and I thought it would just be too risky for triplets, and I think would decrease our chances of having one to freeze. I think we were all happy with the decision at the end.

We signed a form indicating the decision, I took 10 mg of valium, and we went back to a room to change.

I got to wear the lovely hospital gown, cap, and booties like I'd worn Tues for retrieval.

Blake put on a yellow gown, booties, a cap, and (just before we went in) a mask.

Ann and Nancy came back to get us and we walked into OR North. The embryologist came in to tell us what to expect and to verify my first and last name and husband's name. I got it all right - hooray! He told us when Dr. Heiner was ready, he would put the petri dish up with my name on it that would show up on the big screen tv in the room, ask us to read the name and verify that it was me, magnify it to show the embryos, and let us watch the embryos get sucked into a little straw for transfer.

He also gave us a picture of the embryos (or balls of cells) :) that were going to be transferred - he called them our "two angels" (I'm thinking of them now as Ball of Cells (BOC) 1 and 2) :)




Blake took a great picture (I think) of me and the embryos - cute... :)

By this time, Ann had gotten me into the necessary awkward, compromised position (stirrups, etc.) and had started an ultrasound to show my bladder and uterus to guide things, and Dr. Heiner came in to finish prepping me. He inserted a speculum (no, this is NOT fun) and a catheter preparatory to the procedure. He told the embryologist we were ready, and started to give us a "pep talk" - at least I think so - he asked how long we've been trying (3 yrs), and said he knows it takes a lot of persistence, and... the embryologist chimed in to say "umm... the name on the plate is not Melissa Dimond" as he put the plate under the microscope on the screen. Sure enough, it said DIMOND, XXSSXXA (since I made this public, I'm masking letters here). Oops. Dr. Heiner immediately said "you're going to need to follow the paper trail" and the embryologist said "of course - give me a minute". It kind of felt tense!

I remained in my compromised position, with my bladder filling (getting really painful) while Dr. Heiner and the embryologist sorted things out (~20-30 min). It turns out there was no XXSSXXA DIMOND, but there was a Xxssxxa, who had been in for retrieval the same day as me. The embryologist came in to explain how things are color coded, one of our dishes had the right name on it, and all of the other gal's had the right name on them; how only one dish of embryos is out at a time; how the embryo counts and patterns were different for me and the other girl; and based on all of that, they were 100% sure that these were our embryos, and someone had just mislabeled the dish before the retrieval day, presumably because there were 2 "s"s and an "a" at the end of each name. Dr. Heiner agreed he was 100% sure, but they both wanted to be sure Blake and I agreed and were ok with proceeding. Honestly, I totally trust RCC and just wanted to get the transfer done because I thought my bladder was going to pop!!! (I think the embryologist even asked if we needed to take a break and I said no, please, let's go ahead - I really need to go to the bathroom!)

So - we proceeded. :) He loaded up the embryos into a long straw and brought them to Dr. Heiner. Dr. Heiner tried to insert them, but the catheter wasn't working right with my cervix. So... (I was really miserable with my bladder at this point!) they withdrew the embryos, put them back in a dish, verified both were there, drew them back into another straw (while Dr. Heiner inserted the different catheter), and... success! We watched the little straw deposit a little drop with our little BOCs near the top of my uterus. :) They took the straw back and verified it was empty, and, voila, we were done.

They removed the catheter and speculum, put my legs down, and tilted the table so that my head was down and legs slightly up. I was to sit quietly for 10 min; Ann turned the lights down and left Blake and I. We sat quietly for a min holding hands, and the embryologist knocked and asked if he could explain everything carefully one more time so that we'd be assured all was well. Bright lights back on, conversation resumed. :) He showed Blake the dishes, showed him how the cells and embryos were counted, showed him the color coding and incubators, etc. Ann came back in and said I was ok to go use the bathroom, but I was feeling ok so said I'd wait for Blake to finish talking with the embryologist. The embryologist told Blake this had "never happened in his lab before" (ah, yes, our Dimond luck kicking in!) but said there would be changes made in procedures to prevent it from happening in the future.

FINALLY the embryologist was done and dimmed the lights again... and Ann put the bed back up, I went to change, ran to the bathroom (hallelujah!), and we got our post-transfer instructions from Tami.

Basically, I was to come home today and rest quietly, and tomorrow I can start resuming "normal" activities (with the exception of lifting heavy objects, jumping around, horseback riding, strenuous activities, or things that may make me fall or get injured. Well there go all of my Sat plans! ;) Haha...).

I planned to take Mon off, and I think I will still do it. Everything is covered and I think I could use the day to chillax.

I started taking low-dose (81 mg) aspirin, and will continue to take Crinone (progesterone) and my prenatal vitamin. My blood test is scheduled on Oct 8. I don't know how I will respond to the results (no matter what) - please understand if I'm a little quiet or withdrawn, or if I don't post right away about that! Kind of a crazy thing to think about!

If things do work out, though, the sequence here will have included:

• Retrieval on Sept 21 - the day my friend Wendy just had her baby Molly!
• Transfer on Sept 24 - my good friend Savannah's birthday!
• Blood test on Oct 8 - our niece Julie's birthday!
• Viability scan on Oct 18 - my sis-in-law Danielle's birthday!
  

Maybe events on significant people's birthdays will be good luck? Maybe not. But I sure like to think so at this point! :)

OK I know that was a LONG entry - but it was a momentous day! Perfect in its imperfection. :) I was really grateful that RCC staff were so conscientious about us and careful to make sure things were right. They all wished us luck and said they'd keep us in their thoughts and prayers. I'd say we are very lucky to have so many great people sending positive vibes, prayers, etc.!

Fingers continuing to be crossed... :)

GOOD NIGHT!