Day 3 Transfer - Welcome home babies!

Here they are, the three embryos transferred this morning - Day 3. The bottom two are 8 cell, grade 2 and 3 respectively (1 = best; 5 = worse). The top one is a six cell with some fragmentation. The doctor said the other 4 are "lagging" so they will continue to be cared for by the lab and hopefully we'll have something to freeze.

I did acupuncture before and after the transfer. Once the acupuncturist placed the needles and turned down the lights and left me alone I started sobbing. Crying for my dear grandmother who died in February - I was wearing her sweater. I cried for my aunt who never had children and gave up after adoption fell through. I cried for the two perfect embies transferred first and then their three frozen brothers/sisters transferred afterwards. I cried and cried. I cried for my frustration at wanting to be a mother and not being able to easily, without going through so much. I lay there with my eyes shut and I realized three things:

1. My deep commitment to becoming a mother.
2. If you don't bink when crying with your eyes closed while lying on your back your top lids actually fill up with tears.
3. Ears are perfectly situated to catch said tears.

That made me giggle and I stopped crying. I am generally an optimistic person, and this IF stuff has really knocked me around. Mr. Jem and I were both surprised and a bit worried by the Day 3 transfer. I know that I had "perfect" embies last time I didn't get a baby, so that it my less good embies doesn't mean I won't have a baby... but still. I am worried.

I need some encouragement and happy stories about success 3-day transfers.

~Jem

To Transfer or Not to Transfer?

There I was, prone on the table, legs in the fancy under-the-knee stirrups (standard in Europe, by the way, and much more comfortable).

"So, you can chose to transfer or we can freeze them and we'll wait until your next cycle." said Dr. Alternate (Dr. Wonderful was out that day).

This was Tuesday, November 3.

I've been suffering from heavy bloating, nausea, shortness of breath since BEFORE egg retrieval and Monday it had been so bad that I called up the clinic in tears.

"I'm so miserable! Help!"

Dr. Wonderful called me back. "I think you are have mild to medium overian hyper stimulation. There's nothing we can do. Keep drinking Gator.ade and eating salty foods - 110 g of sodium or more. Let's keep monitoring you and see if we need to freeze the embryos tomorrow or transfer."

Uh, okay.

So, here I was on Tuesday, with a choice to make: Transfer these two beautiful blasts or not.

What to do?

After grilling Dr. Alternative about how I compare to other patients who are overstimulated, she said, "I think you'll be fine. If the OHSS continues, we can treat it and it won't interfere with you getting or staying pregnant."

Well, that settled it! ONWARD WITH THE TRANSFER!!

Dr. Alternative had a bit of trouble getting the catheter in place, which was a bit painful to match, but once it was in position, the rest was easy.

Oh, and I did acupuncture before and after transfer, as it's supposed to help with the overall success rate.

I've spent the last two days away from the computer, not checking email, not reading other people's blogs, just concentrating on relaxing. Total bed rest.

My goodness, you can't say that Mr. Jem and I haven't done everything possible to make this happen. From decided to do IVF, genetic testing, the acupuncture, changes in diet, meditation, yoga, all the damn shots, all the tears, the testicular biopsy to mine for sperm, treating the OHSS symptoms (I HATE Gator.ade and V8), then bed rest and tons of positive thoughts sent to the region just north of my pelvic bone.

All for those two little blobs of potential life.

Update:

Dr. Wonderful called yesterday to tell us that they froze two embryos: 5 BB and 4 BB. When I pushed to know the classification of those transfered the day before: 3 AA and 2 BB. He said all four were excellent. But what does that mean?

Can someone point me to a good source of info on classifation of embryos?