It's been long enough........(TRANSFER STORY)

TRANSFER STORY

We had been preparing for a transfer date of Saturday, 07-07-07 (5 day transfer), knowing full-well that it was possible to also transfer on Thursday, July 5. The thaw of 8 embryos began on Monday, July 2. By Day 1, there were 4 embryos left and all of them were looking good. By Day 2, there were still 4 embryos left, but one did not look so good. I was then given a call that afternoon to tell me that there was a 90% chance that we would transfer the next day, making it a 3 day transfer. I immediately went into “transfer mode”……laying out my good luck charms and eating my good luck pineapples. I had already received my transfer tee and was ready to put it on for the next morning!!

The night before the tentative transfer was hard. It was very hard to sleep knowing that tomorrow was totally out of our hands. I was given a time to be there of 11:30 and was very happy that my husband would be joining me for this transfer (he’d never gone before to the previous two). Morning came as fast as night fell and I remember looking at the clock and telling my DH to get up and get moving. I made sure he fell into the "superstition" and wore GREEN...LOL We left the house and arrived at the hospital for the transfer (TOO early, might I add) and left to get breakfast. This morning, breakfast tasted different. It was almost like a “victory-breakfast” for me. I knew that in just a short couple of hours, my IPs sweet little embabies would be snug in my womb preparing for the next 8+ (not 9…get it right!) months. My husband downed his breakfast and we both chatted about what was to come.

We waited for the clock time to pass and as you well know, if you look at the clock it will only go slower.

Finally, we were given the ok to go back and prep for the transfer! I was sooooooo excited and scared and happy all at the same time! Before we were taken back, we were given a picture of the embryos and told that they both were 10-celled (3-day) embryos and that one of them was grade 1, while the other was grade 2.

The transfer went great! I was very relaxed (even though I did not take my valium pill) and was very calm about everything. It was very relaxing to have my husband there also as he was very curious (and asking questions....shhhhh!! LOL)

This picture was before the transfer

And this is me after

I also had my DH take a picture of the clock to let me know EXACTLY when a full day was over (for testing purposes...LOL)

After the transfer, we went back to the hotel where we met my bestest surrobud, Raine! She was very nurturing and fun!! We ate and ate til we almost burst...LOL.

Things were looking up and I was dosing off!
Superstitious fries

beautiful arrangement my IPs sent

me and my honey

PART II-HPT-itis

Of course, I knew I would be POAS. I said that from day ONE and I had 180+ tests to help me with that addiction! My first test after transfer was on 1dp3dt. I “knew” it would be negative, so there was definitely NO disappointment there! I decided (or maybe my husband decided FOR me…LOL) to wait until 3.5dp3dt to try testing again. A little after 8am, the test was negative, so I just chalked it up to being too early! No biggie, still plenty of time to get a beautiful positive. Besides, this was a FET (frozen embryo transfer) and it seemed almost norm to get a positive later with those. Well, the pee sticks kept staring BACK at me and asking me to use them, so I obliged later that day at 4.5dp3dt. The test looked negative after a couple of minutes, so I put it in my baggie stash and decided to wait til 5.5dp3dt to test again. It was STILL EARLY!!! So, the next day at 5.5dp3dt----------I tested. I waited for the test to reveal to me what I already knew it would (a negative), but to my surprise------it did JUST the opposite!! And I am not talking a faint, faint line you have to hold up to the light, shift positions, and take apart to see. THERE WAS really a positive there!! So, something prompted me to open my POAS baggie (with old tests) and see if the one from yesterday was still the same. LOW and BEHOLD, that test was a very faint positive! WTH? That means that at 4.5dp3dt with 2 frozen embies, I was getting a POSITIVE…..faint-----but the line was THERE! At this time I was probably panicking a little more than I should have. I mean, I converted the numbers and that was equivalent to 2.5dp5dt! Is that even possible?! I must admit that at first I was VERYYYYYYYYYY skeptical. Then I thought back to the tests I’d used. OSOMs don’t get EVAP lines. So, I decided to test other tests. I looked back at the expired tests I’d peed on that morning and they were faint positives too! I was on a roll!! But then I thought about a post a friend made about running the test under tap water and getting a positive. SO, I did and-------it was! LOL. A very faint line was there. But the flip side was, I was not getting positives on it until 5.5dp3dt. So I continued to use them and watch the line get subsequently darker with each testing. I even tested out a cute little FRED and got a faint line there too! It was addicting as I thought it would be, but I did not think that I would get positives this early! Finally on 6.5dp3dt, I took a digital and it told me what the others already did----PREGNANT! Today is 8dp3dt and I will no longer test until Monday morning (beta day) just to see the line darker. Just a side note……..180+ tests are definitely TOO MANY! I think I went through less than half of that and still have tons left. I guess it’s time to give them away! LOL
progression of OSOM tests getting darker

5.5dp3dt OSOM

Wondfo progression pics

all the positive tests

the positive Digital

me holding the digital

Part III- Breaking the news

I wanted to do something VERY special. Something that will leave an everlasting “imprint” in their minds about their experience and how they were told/found out. I thought back to the fact, as a woman, no matter how LONG ago----you remember the MOMENT you were told or FOUND OUT you were pregnant. I wanted to bring the same element to this surprise. I wanted it to be more than a phone call from the RE with the beta results---soooooo much more. SO, I sat for a minute a brainstormed about ideas of HOW to break the news to my IPs. I figured I would surprise my IM first and give her the opportunity to do what she wanted to tell my IF. I wanted her to have some control over the announcement for her husband. SO finally I got the greatest idea and I consulted a few people to help me figure it out. My IM works very hard and I knew that when she found out she would be at work, so I decided to include her assistant in the “surprise”. I called her office and funny enough…..EVERY time I called----she answered! I mean for 2 days, I was calling making up excuses WHY I was calling…….LOL. “Oh, I’m sorry---I dialed the wrong number. I was trying to call my mother” –or- “Just checking to see if you talked to the RE about the beta and if they would call you or me first…” –or- once, I had my little sister grab the phone and say “did someone call L---?” she was pretending as if the number was on the caller id and she was wondering who it was…..it was HORRIBLE! So finally I called on day 2 and the assistant picked up! I was estatic! I explained the details of the surprise and she was ALL FOR IT! Could things go that perfectly? OK, so here are the details:

I decided to have an “office treasure-hunt” done. She would participate thinking that it was “office-related”, not knowing that it was about her. The treasure hunt consists of 3 clues….

Clue 1# The best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup!
CLUE #1 would be “the coffee pot”, where clue #2 would lie

Clue #2: All employees should wash hands before returning to work.
CLUE#2 would be “the sink”, where clue #3 would lie

Clue #3: Your workspace should always reflect who YOU are.
CLUE#3 would be “her desk” where THE BOX would be sitting.

On her desk would sit the box with a couple of things in it.

#1- a heartfelt card that says a lot!! The envelope says: YOU ARE A MOMMY!

#2 is a Willow Tree keepsake box with the positive HPT enclosed

#3 is a cute bear (found at Hallmark) that has a shirt that says “BABY ON BOARD”

Here is a pic of all the stuff together. I also included a book that is titled “Mom Moments”

So, today at about 2:30 pm, my IM found out that they are EXPECTING!!! When I spoke with her on the phone AFTER she completed the treasure hunt clues, she was almost speechless. One thing I remember her saying is that she needed instructions to read the OSOM pregnancy test. That put everything into perspective of how special this WAS for her. This was her first REAL live positive pregnancy test and without HER/HER DH it would not have been possible! I love miracles!