The Big Day. Transfer Day!!!
Once the follicles (eggs) are taken on retrieval day, they are also fertilized the same day. Then they are closely monitored to watch their growth and development to determine their quality. It's common to lose a few during this process or for some not to make it past fertilization, so it's always good when they get many follicles during retrieval, however, it's about quality, not quantity. After monitoring the embryos for a few days, transfer day is then determined. They can do either a Day 3 or Day 5 transfer and it all depends on how many embryos you have and what quality they are.
On Thursday we got the news from the clinic that our transfer would be today, Day 5. This was already a good sign for us as it meant:
a) we had enough embryos to "risk" letting them mature to Day 5
b) the embryos were strong enough to make it to Day 5 and thus, be more mature and ready for implantation
We met with the embryologist first and that's when we learned that they had taken 8 eggs during retrieval and 7 made it through fertilization. We'd be transferring one embryo today, which had a quality of 1.5 (on a scale of 1 being high quality to 3 being low). We also had another really strong embryo that would be frozen today and the others would be monitored another day to determine which would be strong enough to freeze.
And then he handed us a picture of our embryo. Could this be our baby's first picture?! It doesn't look like much, but it's amazing that this bundle of cells could be our future child!!
You can also see it's started "hatching", which is perfect for transfer as it's getting ready to implant!
The transfer was quick and easy. Although I'd had 6 prior inseminations, this was so different knowing that we had an actual embryo now inside of me. Before we left the clinic, they gave us an ultrasound pic of where the embryo was implanted. You can see a little "+" of where they put it, and the small oblong area is the uterus.
Now it's time to go home and rest and relax. I'll be on complete bed rest for two days and we don't have our bloodwork for another week and a half, so really hoping I can keep my mind occupied and the time goes fast. It's hard not to think about everything when you are just lying around all day! But we had seen this embryo and now are totally focused on keeping it alive. A weekend of relaxation is nothing if it will help make our dreams come true!
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