11/25/2005

Transfer: and they said it would be easy...

They lied! Granted, who were all of you to remember that you were advising a woman with a posterior left ovary, tilted cervix, and apparently narrow path to the uterus? I should have recalled the debacle of IUI 4 when WHYBAML also had some catheter difficulty, but somehow I forgot and assumed that I would be in and out in 5 minutes. In my world, 5 minutes became 30.

Nurse Abrupt became very agitated, shaking her head every two minutes when the catheter would fail to pass through to the uterus. The doctor doing the transfer, Dr Chirpy, held his head high the whole time and persevered. Meanwhile, the embryologist, Dr Suave, kept me informed of the trial going on below. During all of this, The Dude sat to my left looking as if he was either going to cry or vomit. Later he told me that he felt very emotional during the procedure, vacillating from concern for my well-being to the thought of these two genetic combinations of us being (eventually) transferred.

After about 15 minutes Dr Chirpy reassuringly patted my thigh and said, "You are being very brave", to which I shrugged my shoulders at The Dude and muttered a thank you to Dr Chirpy. I appreciate his words, but I've been through a lot while climbing this IF mountain. I never expect things to run smoothly, and I always expect them to be a bit painful. What's another 20 minutes spent jamming a catheter up your cooter unsuccessfully? Dr Suave, so called because he was about 12 and seemed like he could be a bit of a ladies' man, popped up to my end of the blanket periodically to say "Nearly there" and "Almost time for the embryos".

Two catheters and 30 minutes later the embryos were successfully transferred. The two that were put back in were nearly perfect specimens according to Dr Suave, both 8 celled and grade 4. Well, apparently the slower of the two embryos, who Desmond has named Bertrand, was very nearly a grade 4, but still languished at the high end of grade 3 at transfer. For the record, my clinic rates grade 1 as the weakest and grade 4 as the strongest. So I'm told. The stronger embryo had next to no fragmentation, and the simple one had >10% fragmentation.

For now I am, dare I say, verging on the optimistic. Don't worry, it will soon dissipate and optimism will once again be banished, saved only for the normal women out there for whom pregnancy is a straightforward occurance.

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

No pithy remarks... just really hoping this works for you both.

Anonymous said...

Me too, Pru--I really hope this works. Your embryos sound lovely, even the simple one...
Sorry the procedure didn't go a smoothly as hoped. Blast our wonky cervices!

Lut C. said...

What a drag. Hoping for a BFP soon.

Anonymous said...

My fingers are crossed, and I hope there is nothing else going up the back passage from here on out.

Linda said...

We all knew you were brave! I hope this works for you. First try, in and out. Literally. Good luck!

Nico said...

Crossing things that this worked!!

Anonymous said...

I should have remembered about your catheter issues. Hoping that both bertrand and his friend are doing well in there. Did you have anything to freeze?

Bittermama said...

I'm so sorry the u/s was so rough. My IUIs when I was trying to conceive my son were like that... lots of special twisted catheters and harumphing on the part of the catheter-wielder. Thankfully, they're mostly easy now, except for my trial transfer, which for some reason was painful and awkward and time consuming.

Your embryos sound just lovely - your slow one is better than my best one was!

I hope the wait treats you well!

Anonymous said...

Sorry the transfer wasn't as straightforward as you'd hoped. But I hope those embies are getting cozy and comfy. I hope this works.

Anonymous said...

Sorry about the issues - my second transfer SUCKED - the fellow doing it was like a drunk driver down there - I always requested valium after that. Bah!

Anything good and distracting planned for the 2ww?

Let's go Bertrand!

Anonymous said...

Keeping everything crossed that this works out for you.

OvaGirl said...

You and me both Pru.

Here's hoping.

Pamplemousse said...

Can I call him or her Bertie for short? Glad you made it through to the very worst part. Stay cool.

Anonymous said...

Well, it's done. Now we wait. What can we do to entertain you? I do a mean Desmond impression.

I'm so hoping this works, Pru. SO.

Anonymous said...

Keep that optimism flowing or I'm mailing you a vat of baby dust.

Anonymous said...

You certainly are brave. That sounds like a hell of a transfer. My fingers are crossed for those two embryos!!

Cass said...

Ack. Sorry about the awkward transfer, but glad you made it through. I am thinking of you.

Unknown said...

Go Bertrand Go!

Anonymous said...

Good luck!

Amyesq said...

Good luck! I am feeling my fingers crossed for you, too. Hope you are able to take it easy this weekend.

MC said...

Good luck, hoping this works.
Meg

Anonymous said...

I was out with some friends earlier tonight. It was very nice, but at one point my mind drifted from the conversation and I thought of you, and what it must be like now, the waiting & wondering. It's nice to hear that you've summoned a bit of optimism. I hope you're able to hang on to it. And, more importantly, I hope in two weeks (or less) it's validated.

charlie's mom said...

Good luck!

Anonymous said...

Yay for your perfect embryos--they make up for that recalcitrant cervix, right?

Sending good vibes across the pond.

xo

zhl said...

Well, I just hope that in nine months or so you'll have a post about how much harder it is to get those full-grown embyros out than it was to get them in. Good luck in the wait.

Anonymous said...

MB's sound great! Sorry about the tough coot, though...