Day 48 - Embryo Fertilization Report

The nurse finally called and I burst into tears when she shared our wonderful news with us.

Of the 18 eggs, 14 were viable and 11 fertilized!! WE HAVE 11 EMBRYOS!!! OMG!! I just cannot believe it. We are SO, SO BLESSED!!!!!

The nurse said that they will call tomorrow to schedule the timing of my day 3 embryo transfer for this Saturday. Hopefully we will have two beautiful embabies to transfer back into my womb then!! She said that there is a chance that they might call really early on Saturday morning to change it to a day 5 Blast transfer if our embryos are growing really strong...we will just have to wait and see.

In the mean time I will be praying for God to watch over our sweet little embryos to help them grow and be strong. Now that I know they are alive and dividing I can feel them out there...I know that might sounds strange, but they are my babies no matter how small they are!! We are so happy right now!!!!!!! So many smiles....keeping the positivity going!!

I'm feeling better too. Still crampy, but not feeling bad at all. I am not worried about OHSS. I couldn't be more please with how things are right now!!

This morning I have started using the dreaded 3 times daily vaginal progesterone suppositories called Endometrim...eww! I know that every woman who has used these hates them, but they are used instead of getting a huge needle in the back side every day (which honestly I think I'd prefer) and they are very important too at this stage in IVF.

Getting a steady stream of progesterone during pregnancy is vital for these reasons:

1. Makes the uterine lining develop and secrete fluids after being primed by estrogen.
2. Maintains the functions of the placenta and fights off unwanted cells near the womb that could cause damage to the placenta or fetus.
3. Keeps the uterine lining in a thickened condition.
4. Stops the uterus making spontaneous movements.
5. Stimulates the growth of breast tissue.
6. Prevents lactation until after the birth (with estrogen).
7. Strengthens the mucus plug covering the cervix to prevent infection.
8. Strengthens the pelvic walls in preparation for labor.
9. Stops the uterus from contracting thus keeping the baby where it is.

My doctor will keep me on the progesterone until my pregnancy test which is on December 4th and most likely for a couple months after that if the results are positive. (Hope! Hope!!) Once my body is making a sufficient supply of its own progesterone I will most likely be able to stop using the suppositories and hopefully feel like a normal pregnant person who doesn't have to deal with anymore injections or suppositories from there on out! (This is SOOOO what we're hoping can happen for us now!!)

**There is one thing I want to clarify about being awake during my egg retrieval since I got a number of comments about it yesterday. I was in no way trying to be a hero or go 'au natural' by being awake, nor was doctor trying to be cruel by not putting me under. I took 10mg of Valium prior to arriving at the office (usually they only give their patients 5mg) and I was administered as much of the IV sedation medication as they are legally allowed to use for an out-patient procedure...all those drugs just simply couldn't put me to sleep! Guess I just have a really high tolerance to sedatives. Apparently general anesthesia is the only thing that puts me out, but obviously that is not necessary for this kind of procedure. Since I was awake last time, I knew to expect it this time around too. It sucks, but I made. I have to admit, it is kinda interesting to see in person how they do it even though it hurts like hell. Oh, and my doctor did prescribe Percocet to replace the horrid Tylenol 3...so finally I was feeling minimal pain for the rest of the day yesterday and over night. :)