I'm PUPO!

Wow, that even felt weird typing.  But it's true!  Today, we traveled to Nash.ville for our day 5 transfer.  The hardest part for me was arriving after a 90 minute drive with a full bladder.  I'm used to guzzling water on the way down in an attempt to make the blood draws easier, but I always stopped by the restroom on my way up.  I couldn't do that today--they broke my routine. 

My doctor wasn't performing transfers today (there are 4 in the practice), but the same doctor that performed my retrieval last week was on duty today, too.  He's super nice, so I was okay with that.  Before  I was finished changing into the latest in IVF apparel (i.e., hospital gown and hair covering) and J had put on his scrubs, shoecovers, and his own hair covering, the doctor was ready to come in to talk to us.  He said he couldn't tell us the exact numbers but an embryologist would be in shortly to discuss that with us, but everything looked just great.  Given my age, that this was our first IVF cycle, that we'd never been pregnant, and that we had such a good response to stimulation, he was recommending that we transfer only one embryo.  He also said that he expected us to have several to freeze.  We told him we were okay with that, and he left. 

Then, the embryologist came in to talk to us.  She brought us a picture of our embryo that we'd be transferring--a grade A (I'll post it at the end), and gave us some information about the rest of our "babies."  Right now, we still have all 14 of the other fertilized eggs growing in the lab, so apparently either the 15th one caught up since Saturday, or maybe it was just not as progressed as the others.  They predict we'll have at least 3-5 to freeze.  Like I said, I should find out tomorrow.

The transfer was quick and fairly painless.  There was some pressure--mainly because my bladder was so full (they said I did an excellent job of filling it).  They even let J see the embryo before they put it in.  He said he was surprised at that.  Then they wheeled me back to my room to rest with my feet elevated for an hour.  The most agonizing hour of my life...I needed to empty my bladder in the worst way.  I had the option of using a bedpan after 20 minutes, but I was determined to wait it out.  Despite my asking J a hundred times what time it was so I'd know how much longer I had.  I was so relieved when she came in and told me that I'd made it!  I'll never take advantage of the opportunity to use the restroom again.  I'd like to credit my 9 years of teaching for the ability to hold my urine that long.  :-)

My dad had driven us because J wanted to work for a while today, so we had picked him up on our way out of town this morning.  We dropped him back off at work and headed home.  Mom met us here with lunch, and she "baby-sat" me the rest of the afternoon.  She just wanted to make sure that I didn't do anything I wasn't supposed to. 

So, here's a picture of our "baby."  I hope he/she gets all snuggly in there and settles in for 9 months.  (Oh, and per the title, if you don't know what PUPO means, I am now Pregnant Until Proven Otherwise.)

Looks just like J.  ;-)

Hugs and love,