From September to January, I monitored my thyroid (TSH level) through lab work. In January, my naturopath felt I was in a good range to begin prepping for our next donor embryo cycle. When choosing our first and second donor embryos, we prioritized characteristics that were similar to ours. In our third cycle, we asked our doctor to choose donors that would give us the greatest chance of success. In other words, the highest quality regardless of characteristics. She found us a donor couple who had used an egg donor. The age of the egg donor was 25. The couple had had one child using a fresh embryo transfer and had six good quality embryos remaining. These embryos would be our best chance.
As I prepared for the transfer, I received a call from our doctor. She wanted to present the option of transferring two embryos. Our previous donors only had one embryo each, so this wasn’t an option in those cycles. She felt that with our history, it would be reasonable to do two. Typically, in fertility treatments it is preferred to not increase the chances of a multiple pregnancy as risk to the mother and babies also increases. In our case, she felt the pros would outweigh the risks. Of course, it would be our decision to make. She cautioned that because the embryos were of such good quality, it was possible that we could end up with twins. Wow. The thought of struggling and being childless for all of these years and then having twins?? Could we handle two babies? After discussing the options with Dustin, we decided that we would transfer two embryos. If this would increase our chances of never having to go through this again, then it was worth the risk.
My medication for my third transfer affected me differently than it had before. Now that my thyroid was being managed, I was feeling the symptoms that I should have been feeling – bloated, swollen, night sweats. Not enjoyable symptoms, but signs that my body was more receptive to the hormones. At our pre-transfer ultrasound, my uterine lining measured a millimeter thicker than previous. All good things! Everything felt like it was going in the right direction.
After our previous transfers, I’ve always come home to “rest and relax”, as if that is possible. This time we decided to plan a mini vacation to Vancouver following our appointment. I’ve always found being near the ocean good for my soul, and unfortunately Saskatchewan is nowhere near an ocean!
We flew out to Calgary the night before our transfer. We went to one of our favorite restaurants and enjoyed good food and drinks. The next morning, we went for our all-to-familiar appointment at the clinic. One of the embryos had thawed 100% and the other 80%. The transfer went smoothly. I put the picture of our two future babies in my bag and we headed for the airport. While in Vancouver we enjoyed being by the water, resting, and waiting for our little embryos to stick.
When we got home, I returned to work as usual. Keeping our little secret from friends, family and co-workers. I had a good feeling about this one. I’ll share the rest of this story in my next post.
**I will share on my Icing and Animal Crackers Instagram page some photos and video from this transfer for anyone who is interested in what the transfer process looks like.
Icing and Animal Crackers 