Medication(s) administered and dosage(s).  Progesterone 1ml, vivelle dot estrogen patches 0.1mg x2, colace x1

Medical procedures undertaken. We woke up nice and early for our 7AM appointment.  As we parked up our doctor also parked up, so there was this awkward moment of where I was walking very slowly (still constipated and sore from the egg retrieval) and she clearly had somewhere to be!  Of course Chris had lots of questions for her as he collared her on her way into work about me and my recovery.  Anyway, so we were called upstairs to the IVF surgery room and I was ushered to the same cubicle I was in on Monday.  The nurses immediately noticed I was waddling and I told them about my constipation and bloating.  They were very sympathetic and gave me advice on taking extra colace, prunes, prune juice and apricots to get things moving.  They did not want me straining myself to poo!!!  One nurse said that she sees so many patients like me and doesn’t understand what causes it.  The doctor said it was the progesterone, but I was constipated before I took the progesterone!  After I got changed into my gown and deli hat, I walked back to my cubicle and our doctor was looking over our chart, she said we had 2 beautiful strong embryos, but 2 not so strong that needed to be left in culture for longer to see if they survive to blastocysts on Day 5 for cryopreservation.  And then off she went….there was no discussion.  So I guess we are doing our transfer today then.  I turned to Chris and said is that OK?? And he shook his head in a manner that was like sure why not.

The nurse took my vitals and I started to sip my bottle of water; she warned me not to drink too much because I wouldn’t be able to pee until an hour after the transfer :-s  I drank 3/4s of a bottle of water and that was plenty…in fact probably a little bit too much. Chris got changed into his ‘egg packing factory suit’ – he looked awesome!  He was going to come into the surgical room with me! Brucie bonus!  He was well trained by the nurse on when to take photos of the embryos and where he would sit for the procedure.

As we were waiting, I overheard the lady in the cubicle next to me begin to cry.  She was going in for her egg retrieval and had just had her Intra-venous drip inserted.  The nurse asked her what was making her sad (I like this nurse, she clearly has much experience with these kind of situations).  The lady said she was afraid of going to sleep.  As the nurse explained the process and how it was just like taking a strong sleeping pill, all I wanted to do was pull back the curtain and giver her the biggest hug ever and tell her it’s OK, it is no where near as bad as general anesthetic and you are going to be just fine – I know it’s scary but it’s going to be easy and won’t hurt.  But of course this is a big no-no, talking to other patients.

After about 30 minutes of waiting I was taken into the surgery room on the trolley (very lazy!!!) and I scooted onto the table.  I put my knees in stirrups this time and I was fully bare and exposed to the world.  Unpleasant.  Chris was sat behind me so he could hold my hand.

The doctor knocked on the embryology lab door to give the go-ahead to get the embryos prepared.  We watched on a TV screen to check that the embryos had our name on the petri-dish and then we saw our two embryos for about 5 seconds!

They did look pretty good!  They looked nice in shape and symmetry, the doctor was very complimentary about them.  Then two embryologists came into the surgery room, read my wrist band and asked me my name – this is performed by two people so absolutely no mistakes are ever made getting the wrong embryo in the wrong patient!!! The embryologists went away to prepare our embryos.  After this moment, the doctor checked my abdomen, both physically and using an ultrasound (not a transvaginal ultrasound for a change woohoo!!!) except my bladder was full, I was constipated and still sore from the egg retrieval –  I winced the whole way through.  Everything seemed good and he inserted the speculum  and washed out my uterus.  The nurse came and told me that from what she could see on the screen, my ovaries were super enlarged still and I have a mild case Ovarian Hyper stimulation syndrome that will go away soon, I just need to keep up my fluid intake.  Then the doctor knocked again on the embryo lab’s door.  This time the embryologist came in with a soft flexible catheter with the two embryos ready and loaded to be inserted into my uterus.  Using the ultrasound as a guide he inserted the catheter and we ‘watched’ the embryos be ‘puffed’ in by air into my uterus.  I say ‘watched’…I could barely see the screen from the angle I was at.  But I nodded my head not wanting to disappoint him that I missed it.  Before the speculum was removed the catheter was given back to the embryologist just to check under a microscope that the embryos were not still in the catheter.  A few moments later the speculum was removed which was a huge relief, it wasn’t painful, rather very uncomfortable I wanted to pee right there on the table.  I was scooted back onto the trolley and wheeled back to my cubicle where we were told not to go anywhere for 1hr…not even the toilet!!! Eeeek!!

We read a bit and then played a game of crib whilst we waited.   I won!  If I hadn’t have won, I am not sure Chris would have survived the rest of the day.  That made time fly by and then it was time to go!!! We were given a couple of souvenirs…the petri dish our embryos grew in and a little card with the results of our egg retrieval.  Chris took the deli hat too – I think he likes it a bit too much.

How do I feel today? I had a terrible night’s sleep dreaming that we would turn up to the clinic with just 1 weak embryo to transfer 😦  But now we have done the transfer I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.  I feel like I can get on with life right now and enjoy this summer!

What are my symptoms? I woke up with similar pains from the egg retrieval, tender, hard bloated stomach (very hard) and constipated.  I was waddling.  When we got home I sent Chris out to get prune juice, prunes and apricots.  The prune juice worked it’s wonders about an hour or so later.  The nurse told me not to strain, so when it was time to go to the toilet I tried my hardest to just let it all come out, but seriously, once it did all come out, it was the BEST feeling.  I am no longer waddling in pain and my stomach is not so hard anymore.  So I think most of my problem with pain was constipation.  I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (Diarrhea variant) so I am currently sat here with a gurgling tummy, and I am soooo pleased I am back to normal! (Fingers crossed anyway!!)

How does Chris feel today?  Feels good.  He looks forward to this 2 week wait being over. (He is a man of many words :-))

Any results? Two 8 cell embryos transferred and safely inside me – huckleberry and huckleberina because they look like raspberries and Chris always talks about calling his son Huckleberry.  So let’s just say this is a compromise!!  2 other embryos are growing in culture hopefully over the next couple of days, fingers crossed they survive and can be frozen. I’m  Pregnant until proven otherwise.

What’s next?  Enjoy the two week wait.  My mum is visiting so she has been brilliant so far putting up with everything tht is going on, so I’m hoping to take some time off to enjoy some local sights and sounds.  The pregnancy test will be the day my mum flies out in 13 days.

Weight. OK so I think I have actually lost weight, if you account for all the fluid I have taken on and my waist size.  This isn’t surprising considering I have reduced my intake of food because it won’t physically go in!!

Waist.  Still bloated, but hopefully it will improve tonight now I have relieved myself!!!

Boobs. Starting to feel tender from all the hormones!

Hours of Sunshine 🙂 Fat chance!  It’s miserable out. Plus I’m on bed rest so I’m pleased about this fact!

*Notes.  I take First Response Reproductive Health multi vitamin gummies (pre-natal) and CoQ10 200mg gummies daily.  NSTR = Nothing Significant To Report.