Giving them back

Friday was transfer day. We had to be at the clinic at 8.15am. Traffic was horrible and I was afraid we would be late (only by about 3 minutes, while hubby was still looking for a parking space, but I still arrived ahead of the doctor). I heard him come in, Dr 'Speed'... "En route!" and off we went to the transfer room, which wasn't ready at all yet - the cleaners had left the waste bin on the step of the exam table, and the doctor's stool was also upside down on the table. So he jokingly complained about it and opened the 'drive through window' to the lab (this window is something that really surprised me when I had my first IUI: you're in stirrups and suddenly the doctor opens this window/door behind him, which opens up to the lab, from where a lab technician will hand him the catheter while checking your name. All the while you're in stirrups with full view to/for the lab... oh well).

While I was getting ready, one of the lab technicians came up to the window to say that they would transfer two embryos back after all, because the quality was not too great and they wanted to give it the most chance (I had briefly discussed this with the embryologist before my discharge from the hospital on Tuesday - we'd choose one, unless the quality would be so-so). My heart sank, until a second lab technician said that one of them was actually looking really good and the other was a bit behind. The procedure itself went all pretty quickly, but it was a bit uncomfortable (I had a hard time relaxing), basically the same as with the IUIs I've had. No guiding ultrasound (the doctors at my clinic must be very sure about themselves, ha) and no gifts of petri dishes and/or photos of the embryos, like they apparently do in the US (but hey, a whole IVF cycle costs a lot less here too, so US patients are entitled to some additional perks I guess).

Just as the doctor was leaving the room, hubby arrived and asked if I was in there. So of course Dr 'Speed' took the opportunity to make a few more jokes. "Is this really your wife?" "Are you sure this is your husband?" A bit lame, but still good to get rid of whatever stress was left.

Had to go to the secretary to get some paperwork done, pay for the ultrasounds, triggering and transfer (all to be reimbursed a 100% later by the insurance). She also gave me some instructions for further blood work, continuation of the progesterone suppositories , and a possible additional hormone injection next week if my estrogen level is under a certain level.

After that we got to talk to the embryologist. She's very kind and reassuring. She told us that out of the 14 eggs, initially 8 were fertilized, but one with two spermatozoa, so that one had to be discarded. Of the the two that were transferred back, one was looking very good (the embryologist thought it was "très joli"), with 8 cells, and one that was a little behind, but otherwise still ok, with 6 cells. The other five were also a little slower (between 4-6 cells I think), but also showed fragmentation - she told us that they don't really know why that happens, but they wanted to keep them until Monday to see if they would develop to blastocyst stage without further fragmentation. If the fragmentation is 50% or more, they won't be able to freeze the embryos....

The coming 12 days will be testing our patience to the max. Here's hoping...