Welcome home, little ones

Transfer today went well. Er...well, transfer today...happened, as scheduled. (It's hard to know how to judge the transfer without knowing the outcome!)

Our two little embryos were still hanging on, though one definitely looked better than the other. One was a 4-cell, grade 2.5 and one was an 8-cell, grade 1.5. Those numbers meant nothing to me, so I asked what they usually want to see on day 3, and Smirky said, "two 8-cell grade 1." So, we have at least one that looks reasonably good. Sarah did talk me down by reminding me that these grading systems aren't particularly "scientific," frustrating as that is.

But, now they're nestled back in where they belong, hopefully for the long haul.

The 2ww will be excruciating, as always. Doubly so because my beta should be next Friday. But, next Friday is December 25, so I have to wait until the 28th for my beta. Ugh! Three extra days! At least we'll be busy until the 25th. But the 26th-27th will be torturous. What are the chances I wait to take an HPT?

Anyhow...in order to facilitate some relaxation, I canceled the trip to DC I had scheduled for tomorrow. It just seemed like more chaos than we need right now. I had to cancel some meetings, but whatever. This is more important than any stupid meeting.

So, there you have it. Suggestions for distractions between now and the 18th welcome. And, continual positive vibes appreciated. I need to hope for the best for my little sticky jrs. Come on, l'il guys! :-)

Dwindling numbers...

We're down to two embryos today, so I'm going in for transfer tomorrow at noon.

It's getting hard to keep my spirits up with the continual gray news. I mean, I know in my head it only takes one, but still. I can't help but worry even about the quality of the two we've got left.

Thanks for the continued support. Keep the positive vibes coming as we transfer the sticky jrs tomorrow.

And then there were three...

I got the fertilization report this afternoon--three of the eggs fertilized, so we're looking at a day 3 transfer (Tuesday). I have to admit to being a little disappointed. Last cycle, I kept getting pleasantly surprised by having our expectations exceeded.

Last time, we were expecting 5-6 eggs, hoping for 7-8, but got 10. Then 8 of the 10 fertilized. Then they all grew out to day 5 and we had two cute ones to transfer with two to freeze. It was really one pleasant surprise after another. This cycle...not so much. (I know I shouldn't compare, it's just hard not to. And I am a little disconcerted by how different these two cycles look. I mean, for the love of god, I'm not THAT much older!!)

But, hopefully the three embryos are great quality. I realize that's what matters. If they're all three looking GREAT tomorrow, they might extend me to a day 5 transfer. But in all likelihood, it'll be Tuesday.

Either way, I just hope there's a keeper in there. :-)

Come on, l'il embryos! Grow!

Waiting... **updated

I'm sitting in the hospital waiting fo retrieval. My clinic is affiliated with a huge university center in the city, so my last retrieval took place downtown in a much bigger, more impersonal center.

Since then, the University has built a satellite full service lab in the hospital where I delivered the stickies. What a difference! This hospital is swank to begin with, and the setting is so intimate by contrast. I have my own room with a TV where I can lie down, under covers, watching TV while I wait.

Oh, and there is wifi. :-)

I will take it as a good sign that the first channel I turned to was playing "Miracle," one of my favorite movies.

Miracle indeed, we hope. I'll keep you posted.

**Update
Retrieval went well. We got 6 eggs, which was about as many as we could have hoped for. We can't be certain they're all mature and fertilizable, so we need to wait until tomorrows all-important fertilization report. I forgot how this process makes you feel like you're sitting on pins and needles every step of the way. Come on, l'il eggs and sperm. Do your thing!

Triggered...

I forgot how stressful the HCG injection was! So much pressure. The timing, the dose. It all has to be exact with no room for error. Eek. Hopefully all was well (despite the fact that we were 9 minutes late.)

Retrieval is Saturday morning, 10am. I'm so nervous. Wish us luck!

And, I'll take that cheerleading! I think the l'il eggos could use it!

Limping towards retrieval...

I had another scan and bloodwork this morning. My E2 level has finally eeked it's way above 1,000--on day THIRTEEN of stims. !!! And there are a handful of follies. It's like waking the dead in my ovaries--it's like there ARE eggs in there, it just takes a pickaxe, shovel, and 60 gallons of men0pur to find them.

Unfortunately, there is still one follie that has taken the lead--22-23mm. That one is ready to go, really, but Smirky is trying to let the others bake another day or two before trigger in the hopes that some of the smaller ones will catch up. It's a risky game, but I trust him.

So, I think he wants me to stim tonight and tomorrow, but I go back tomorrow, I assume to see if that's possible or whether I just need to trigger tomorrow.

I'm definitely glad that it looks like we'll make it to retrieval. This is our last shot at an IVF, so I definitely wanted to give it our all and get as far as possible.

And, for now, we'll just take it one step at a time...

The update that wasn't

So, as of yesterday, my E2 was around 170ish and I didn't have a single follicle over 10mm. Day EIGHT of stims.

That can't be a particularly good sign, huh?

I really don't have a lot to say about all of this. I was a slow responder last time, too, but by this point I at least had 4-5 follies at around 12mm. So, I'm even behind that ridiculously slow lead-up.

As Smirky said yesterday, I'm not out of the woods. Nowhere near. I go back Monday for another u/s and b/w. I have to hope that a bunch of the 7-8mm follies have grown or I fear I'm eerily close to a canceled cycle.

And that's the news from chez sticky. Let's hope for better news Monday or I'm going to have seriously regretted doing an IVF cycle during the Christmas season!