(Em) babies on board 9/10/11

(Thanks to my friend Edwina for pointing out what an awesome date this is!)

All 3 of them! I can't help but be excited. I was thinking we would only have 1 left to transfer based on my history of embryo making. I have never had all of my embryos make it to day 3 before. I know you are probably thinking it is not a big deal...3 is not a huge #. I'm sure lots of my readers have lots more to show for 2 weeks of shots and bloat and mood swings than 3 little embryos on transfer day. Let me explain....

First of all, I learned early on that you can't compare your cycle to anyone else's. Most of the women I know who are cycling are at least a few years younger than me so statistically, it is expected that they would have more embryos to choose from. I certainly can't perform like a 33 year old when it comes to egg making. I'm proud of my 40 year old eggs.

I was given my trigger shot a bit early....earlier than my body is used to. Most of the time they try to get the most eggs out of my ovaries that they can. I only had 4 mature eggs out of the 10 that were growing and for 3 of them to fertilize and remain viable on day 3 is a big win for me. That's a 75% fertilization rate which is pretty darn good. I'd rather have less eggs that actually fertilize and thrive than lots of embryos that arrest before I have my transfer.

Which brings me to the quality. It all looked really good yesterday. The clinic uses a grading system of 1-4 with 4 being the best quality. I'm carrying 3 grade 3's around with me right now. They rated my embryos a 3 instead of 4 because of slight fragmentation...nothing like I've had in the past. I don't know how many cells they were because I just didn't ask but I did see the RE's notes and I know one of them was an 8 cell and that is what they hope for on day 3.

I had acupuncture and a little Valium before my procedure....I never heard of Valium at a transfer before and it was lovely. The Valium was clinic approved and it made such a difference. I wish I could have Valium every time someone came at me with a cold metal speculum. Do you think I can make that suggestion to my OB/GYN for my yearly pap? She is young and seems like she could be a bit progressive...... I also slept on the acupuncture table for an hour after my transfer. Such an amazing way to end my morning!

I left feeling relaxed and positive and I felt so sure of things. For the 1st time, I involved my whole family. I brought the pictures of my embryos to my sister's house for dinner and showed them to my Mom and sisters. I've never shared so much with any other cycle. I have to say that the extra prayers and support and pep talks made me feel so loved and like this is so possible....even probable. Things just feel so different this time.

The best part of my day was in the car on the way to the clinic. H turned to me with tears in his eyes and told me that he had a really good feeling about this cycle. He said he never has felt like we were going to be successful before this. 6 cycles and he never thought it would work...he went through the motions for me. It's cycle # 7 and he finally admitted this to me. He's not a man of many words and he won't say something unless he truly means it so I know that he does.

Now...we wait.