Transfer Day...
Today is the day!!! We woke up about 5am California time and 8pm Florida time. We waited for a hotel breakfast and had some yummy biscuits and gravy and some lucky pineapple. Then we decided to go to La Jolla Cove and wake up with the sea lions. We found this place when we were out here a few months ago for medical screening and it is so pretty! We watched the sunrise and the sea lions surf the waves for about an hour then we drove around and got Blaise some coffee before heading to my acupuncture appointment that was right next to the fertility clinic. I was a little nervous about the acupuncture but it was so wonderful. The lady was super nice and the room was so warm and cozy! She put some small thin needles in my shoulders, hands, belly, legs, and feet and I was able to sit and relax for 30-40 minutes and even fell asleep towards the end. When she came back in she said a little prayer and gave me a mini massage on my shoulders and feet. She said, “my uterus is prepared and ready for this gift and it is like peanut butter (thick and fluffy) and ready to house this tiny embryo which is like a grain of rice. Nothing I do can mess this up, I just have to welcome this gift and be positive” ☺️
After the acupuncture, she walked us over to San Diego fertility clinic and we waited for about 30 minutes for the embryo to thaw and be ready. It was a long 30 minutes, but I laid down and continue to relax while we talked with our IPs. 😁
All of a sudden it was like the grand central station in our room. A nurse came in for me to sign some paperwork, another nurse came in to say hi and thank us for what we were doing. (She knew our IPs from their previous journey and was really excited!) The embryologist came in with a picture of our embryo and said this one looks really, really good. The way it was expanding was a really good sign and she was very hopeful that this would result in a successful pregnancy! (Photo below) and then Dr.D and another nurse came in to explain the procedure. We took a pic with our Dr and sent it to the IPs which they loved and we were ready to start.
The procedure itself was easy and very quick. Very similar to a Pap smear. It wasn’t painful but I did have a super full bladder like I was supposed to have so they could see my uterus on the ultrasound, so I really needed to go to the bathroom. We were able to watch the entire procedure on 2 screens above us. The Dr inserted a small catheter and then we got to see the embryo on another screen under a microscope. Once everything was in place and ready we watched the embryologist suck up the embryo and a few seconds later she walked in with the precious embryo in a syringe, which they then placed into my uterus. Once it was in the dr pulled that catheter out and we could see a little white line on the ultrasound which would soon be my little belly buddy. It was such a cool experience and lots of emotions. I had to lie on the table for 10 minutes and then was able to get up, use the bathroom, and be on our way!
We stopped and grabbed some soup, salad, and baked potatoes before coming back to the hotel to lay low the rest of the evening. Some women are on a super strict 24-48 hour bed rest but every clinic is different in how they do things. We just have modified bed rest for 24 hours. Meaning, I can still get up and move around to keep blood flowing but can’t go walk the beach. We FaceTimed with the kids, watched Justice League and some other tv shows, had lots of snacks and I took a nice shower before calling it a night.
So...what’s ahead of us???? The embryo is approximately 2 weeks and 5 days old so on Wednesday when we head home I will be 3 weeks pregnant. We will have a 10 day wait now to see if this little guy/lady stuck! On December 7th, I will have my official blood test at the monitoring clinic to see what our beta HCG pregnancy results are and then we will have 1 more appointment on December 11th to double-check those results.
On our surrogate FB page, many women take home pregnancy tests starting around day 4 after transfer up until their first blood test and post their results on the page. I think we may do our first test on Day 7! Most of the ones I have seen seem to have a positive result at that time but the blood test will be the true answer!!!! It will be an exciting but long 10 days! I’m so grateful for my wonderful IPs for in-trusting in me to help make their dreams come true! What a magical and happy day!
After the acupuncture, she walked us over to San Diego fertility clinic and we waited for about 30 minutes for the embryo to thaw and be ready. It was a long 30 minutes, but I laid down and continue to relax while we talked with our IPs. 😁
All of a sudden it was like the grand central station in our room. A nurse came in for me to sign some paperwork, another nurse came in to say hi and thank us for what we were doing. (She knew our IPs from their previous journey and was really excited!) The embryologist came in with a picture of our embryo and said this one looks really, really good. The way it was expanding was a really good sign and she was very hopeful that this would result in a successful pregnancy! (Photo below) and then Dr.D and another nurse came in to explain the procedure. We took a pic with our Dr and sent it to the IPs which they loved and we were ready to start.
The procedure itself was easy and very quick. Very similar to a Pap smear. It wasn’t painful but I did have a super full bladder like I was supposed to have so they could see my uterus on the ultrasound, so I really needed to go to the bathroom. We were able to watch the entire procedure on 2 screens above us. The Dr inserted a small catheter and then we got to see the embryo on another screen under a microscope. Once everything was in place and ready we watched the embryologist suck up the embryo and a few seconds later she walked in with the precious embryo in a syringe, which they then placed into my uterus. Once it was in the dr pulled that catheter out and we could see a little white line on the ultrasound which would soon be my little belly buddy. It was such a cool experience and lots of emotions. I had to lie on the table for 10 minutes and then was able to get up, use the bathroom, and be on our way!
We stopped and grabbed some soup, salad, and baked potatoes before coming back to the hotel to lay low the rest of the evening. Some women are on a super strict 24-48 hour bed rest but every clinic is different in how they do things. We just have modified bed rest for 24 hours. Meaning, I can still get up and move around to keep blood flowing but can’t go walk the beach. We FaceTimed with the kids, watched Justice League and some other tv shows, had lots of snacks and I took a nice shower before calling it a night.
So...what’s ahead of us???? The embryo is approximately 2 weeks and 5 days old so on Wednesday when we head home I will be 3 weeks pregnant. We will have a 10 day wait now to see if this little guy/lady stuck! On December 7th, I will have my official blood test at the monitoring clinic to see what our beta HCG pregnancy results are and then we will have 1 more appointment on December 11th to double-check those results.
On our surrogate FB page, many women take home pregnancy tests starting around day 4 after transfer up until their first blood test and post their results on the page. I think we may do our first test on Day 7! Most of the ones I have seen seem to have a positive result at that time but the blood test will be the true answer!!!! It will be an exciting but long 10 days! I’m so grateful for my wonderful IPs for in-trusting in me to help make their dreams come true! What a magical and happy day!
We are so ready...
Lucky socks and shirt
Our Embryo
The white line under the arrow shows where it was implanted
The best Dr!
My wonderful IPs helped brighten up our room
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