Update 7/17 First FET IVF cycle

Ok… so I haven’t updated in a long time. So many things have transpired let me try to catch you up to date. We just finished our first cycle of IVF. Yes- that super long process of sticking needles in your stomach three times a day. I counted 24 shots in about 11 days! Then finally came egg retrieval. Usually they let the husband in to watch but not with the pandemic going on. Did I mention how hard it is to go through IVF in the middle of a pandemic?? I sat in a cubicle while they tried to stick me several times. The fertility doctor doing the surgery was pregnant! I just can’t seem to get away from it. I pretended she wasn’t by keeping my eyes on her face not her stomach. As I drifted off to sleep. a nurse was holding my hand. The next thing I knew the doctor was telling me they retrieved 48 eggs! I asked her to repeat it twice. Over the next few days the number quickly dwindled down. We found out 32 were mature, 17 had fertilized and by the time day 5 had come, only 4 had made it. The ones we had were good, we were told. They grade them based on letters. The first letter is the cells of the baby and the second is the grade of the placenta. A is the best and C is the worst. Our embryos were graded as AB, BB, BB, BB.
Our doctor decided a frozen embryo transfer would be best. So we started our super long.. or at least it felt long process of estrogen for several weeks and then progesterone shots. If you aren’t familiar with progesterone shots- they are literally the worst shot on the planet. They go into a muscle so you could get a needle size anywhere from 1-1.5 inches long which freaked the heck out of me! They don’t really hurt that much going in but soon you will feel it. The first shot I did left a gigantic bruise and a really sore hip. The soreness never really goes away and sometimes you’ll have lumps under the skin. More about these terrible shots later. I still have to be doing these- they really aren’t going away anytime soon.
After that came embryo transfer. This was a walk in the park compared to egg retrieval. I sat in the same cubicle as egg retrieval and they brought out of picture of the embryo. They gave me Valium but I really didn’t start to get loopy until near the end. Embryo transfer was surreal in that I watched the entire thing. I got to see the embryo on a screen and watch it go into the catheter. Have to mention having a giant lamp shine on your privates in a room of three people felt totally awkward but the coolness of watching the embryo kind of made it better. Tomorrow is day 4 after embryo transfer. More about that tomorrow.