I slept really well last night thank goodness, because today was a big day. I ended up waking up before my alarm around 6:30am, which is still an hour after I would normally wake up during the week. I took my meds, watched a little TV and then started getting ready. C had a work call at 9am and W had some work to finish up, so I was just going to eat breakfast downstairs and C would pick me up after her call to head to the clinic. My acupuncture appointment was scheduled at 11:15am. I was pretty excited for that part, as I've always been fascinated by it, but just never had the opportunity to actually do it. After I got ready, I headed downstairs for breakfast and they had a great buffet. They even had some pineapple! Yea! Pineapple is a tradition for a lot of surros since it has an enzyme, Bromelain, that is said to help with implantation. I love pineapple, so it works out just fine for me. I had some other fruit and an omelet too with spinach and mushrooms. It was a really good breakfast.
After breakfast, I headed upstairs to my room to hang out while waiting for C to finish up at work. It was a very relaxing morning. C called a little after 10 and was finished up and heading to pick me up. They only live about 5 minutes from the hotel and about 15 minutes or so from the clinic. We headed to the clinic and absent minded me, realized as we were about to pull into the parking lot, that I had left my new patient paperwork on the desk at the hotel. Luckily when we arrived, they were able to print new forms and they were really quick to fill out. It's great that the acupuncturist is actually connected to the IVF clinic, so I just had to walk across the hall when I was finished. I went back for my appointment and C waited for me in the lobby. The acupuncture was very relaxing. They use all individually wrapped needles and swab the area to put the needles with alcohol prior to inserting them. They are really teeny tiny things and a couple of them, I felt a small sting when she put a couple of them in (which she warned me about), but once they were in, I couldn't even feel them at all. She placed one or two on the top of each of my feet, one on each wrist and arm, one on my head and a couple in each ear. She placed the first set of needles and then left me to relax for about 10 minutes then came back in, made a few adjustments and left for another 15 minutes. She had some very relaxing music/water sounds playing and turned out all the lights. Once I was finished, I went back to the lobby and W had arrived. We all walked over to the IVF clinic and checked in. We didn't have to wait very long at all. I went back for blood work first and then shortly after, they came out to get us to head back for transfer. I had wondered if I had enough water to drink because I asked the nurse as I was walking back for my blood work how much I really needed to drink and she asked how much I had already. I told her and she made it seem like I was way under where I should've been. I did feel like I was starting to get the feeling that I would need to go pee soon, so I really think I was fine. She told me I should've had 32-40oz of water. Wow, that sounds a bit excessive to me. She said it takes an hour for it to get from my mouth to my bladder. I had a glass of water and orange juice with breakfast too.
When we got back to the prep area for transfer, I asked the nurse there too. (Different answer too - Crazy) At this point, I knew I had enough to drink and would be fine. I changed into the gowns and then the nurse came in with C & W to go over paperwork. She was so nice. After we all signed the consent paperwork, I took my Valium, we waited a few more minutes and then headed back to the transfer room. W had a prior commitment that he couldn't miss, so he headed out. C and I got settled in the transfer room and all the nurses were bustling around getting everything ready. The embryologist came in and asked my name, last 4 of my social, my DOB, who I was transferring for, etc. She confirmed that we were transferring one embryo. Yes, that is correct, only 1! The nurse checked my bladder to make sure that it was full enough (and it was). Shortly after that, Dr. M came in and got ready for the transfer. The embryologist came in around the same time, wheeling the embryo in with her in an incubator. C got to go over and see it under the microscope too. I made sure to ask for a picture of the embryo too, so that C would have a copy. Dr. M started the transfer and explained everything as she went. It was amazing to watch the catheter go in and actually see where she was placing the embryo. She said that my uterus looked great and that the embryo looked great too. Now we are PUPO (Pregnant Until Proven Otherwise). BETA for pregnancy confirmation is scheduled for 4/14, which is a Sunday, so I'm thinking they will push it to Monday. Now the dreaded 2WW begins.....
After I changed back into my clothes, I headed back over for my second acupuncture treatment. I actually fell asleep during the 2nd one. It was so relaxing. The Dr. actually left 2 needles in each ear and said to remove them on Monday. I can't even feel them though, so that's great.
After acupuncture, C and I took a picture in front of the beautiful fountain at the clinic and then headed to grab some lunch. We both really like Panera, so that's where we headed. We had great conversation. After lunch, she took me back to the hotel, so that I could rest and we planned on an early dinner. When I got back, I threw on my sweatpants and watched a little TV. After a few minutes, I decided to go ahead and take a nap. I slept for a good 3 hours. When I woke up, I called C to see if they were still up for dinner. They planned to pick me up at 6:45 and head to dinner. I also had an email from the clinic with my blood work results. She said everything looked good. My Estrogen was at 994 and Progesterone was 9.8.
We went to a little restaurant pretty close to the hotel and the food was great. I had a pecan crusted baked chicken with a risotto and sauteed spinach. I grabbed a piece of key lime pie to eat later because I was stuffed and there was no way I could eat another bite while we were there. Dinner was great and I had such a wonderful time visiting with both of them. The conversation comes so easily with them and it makes the whole journey that much better. I'm so glad that we got to spend some more time together during this visit. Stay tuned.
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