Journey to Frozen Embryo Transfer

I haven't updated in a while so I will try to catch everyone up....

So, I went for a supression check (to make sure my ovaries are quiet) and the nurse told me that I was responding well to the Lupron. Since she was so happy for me, she told me to start taking Doxicycline, Medrol, Aspirin, and Progesterone on November 19. I also received sharpie tatoos on my waist to pin point the location of the Progesterone shot. The nurse also instructed me to stop taking Lupron. I was so thankful for that because Lupron was giving me some major headaches. Here is the reason for each medicine:

Doxicycline- to fight off any infections in my body
Medrol- a steroid, to make sure my body does not attach the embryos when they are transferred
Aspirin- to make my blood flow better
Progesterone- to support the lining of my uterus so that embryos can have a nice thick cushion to settle in

Dhiraj began giving me the Progesterone shots right away. In the beginning, I bled a lot. This could be due to the fact that the darn needle is so huge and also, the Aspirin was making my blood a little too thinner. Thankfully, the bleeding has decreased now.

Our Frozen Embryo Transfer (FET) was scheduled for November 24th, 2008. The nurse called me on Sunday, November 23rd, regarding the transfer time. I, of course, missed her call and had to hear the voicemail later on. The transfer time was set at 1:45 PM and I needed to drink about 40 ounces of water before stepping into the doctor's office. My Dad, who was visiting from California, also decided to go with us. I was on pins and needles on Monday because Dr. Shapiro had told me earlier that if none of the embryos survived, he would be calling us to give us the bad news. I was afraid of my phone but had to carry it everywhere with me.

We finally left home at about 12:30 PM for the FET. I started drinking water at about 12:45 PM. I kept checking the phone for any missed calls. The phone rang at about 1:15 PM and startled both Dhiraj and I. Luckily, it was our neighbor calling to ask us a question. We reached the doctor's office at 1:30 PM and I continued to drink the water like a thirsty buffalo.

We were called inside at 1:45 PM and the nurse did my sonogram to check the status of my bladder. The painful expression on my face did not satisfy her and she ordered me to drink more water. I had to drink 15 more ounces of water with "no pleasure". She did another sonogram after 10 minutes and was finally satisfied. At this time, the Embryologist, came out and told us that both of our snowbabies had survived the thawing process and were ready to be transferred. We were so happy. We got to see their picture on the monitor.

If you remember, we had 2 blasts to begin with. One of them was already hatching when they froze it. Well, it had completely hatched now. They did Assisted Hatching (AH) on the other one. Assisted Hatching is a process in which the embryologist make a slit in the Zona Pellucida (the protective layer around the blastocyst) so that the embryo can hatch easily.

My doctor was not in the office that day so another doctor came over for the transfer. He was very nice and did the transfer very smoothly. I was told to lie still for about 5 minutes and when the 5 minutes were up, I was allowed to use the restroom to relieve myself. Finally!!!! The nurse gave me some basic instructions, such as: no exercise, no sex, no weight lifting, no swimming, no baths, etc. She told me to take it easy for the rest of the day today and resume normal activities tomorrow.

We came home after the transfer and for the rest of the day, I laid low. My Dad and Dhiraj went out for shopping, etc. Now that the transfer is done, the next major thing is the pregnancy test, which will be done on December 4.