Artie and Herkie got in my belly!

Today was definitely a good day.  My biggest issue at this moment is trying to get the dog to not lay on my belly while I'm on bed rest.

We were so excited to not get any call all morning to tell us not to come in.  By the time we rolled into the doctor's office, I had to remind myself to not get too excited, as our embryos might be viable, but not the best quality.

Not the case.  Artie and Herkie are both graded 4AA which is essentially the BEST a blastocyst (5 day embryo) can be graded prior to hatching.  4 means the blastocyst has expanded, the blastocoel cavity is larger than the embryo (good expansion) and the shell is thinning (ready to hatch).  The first A means that there are many tightly packed cells and the second A means that there are many cells in a cohesive layer.  Here is a picture!

My mom thinks the smaller one (likely Artie) inherited my short people genes and the larger one inherited T's tall people genes.  While that is a joke, it is entirely crazy to me that we can see our unique personal genetic creations at this stage of development.  All of those traits have already been decided are in this picture.  After all the disappointments and stress of IVF versus natural conception, this is at least one area in which we have the ability to see something that is so entirely sublime and almost magical that not everyone gets to experience.

I realized I never gave any updates on the dreaded progesterone in oil (PIO) shots.  These are the ones that are the bane of any IVFer.  The needles are literally half the size of my face, and they go squarely in the glute.  The doctor drew nice targets on my back for T to use.  They are also fairly time consuming.  I ice my ass for about 5 minutes, the shot itself takes awhile (oil does not move as quickly as other shots) and then I use a heating bad for about 20 minutes afterwards.  I do these each day and if I'm pregnant, we'll continue through the 12th week.  My husband has gotten to be a pro, but we've already had to recruit my sister-in-law for some times he'll be out of town.  It is definitely the height of vulnerability to drop trough in front of someone with a 1 1/2 inch needle and an evil grin.

The other weird side effect is that I'm slightly allergic to the oil used (sesame oil).  I use sesame oil in cooking, but apparently the concentrated form can trigger allergies.  Basically my feet itch so much that it feels like they are on fire sometimes, mostly at night and early morning.  This apparently isn't unusual, and my doctor wants me to tell him if it gets worse, but it is at the point where I'm slathering my feet with petroleum jelly at night, wrapping them in plastic and then putting on heavy socks to just be able to sleep.  Thank goodness my husband and I are on forced abstinence anyway after transfer, as I don't think he is finding me attractive at all!


So now we really have nothing to do but wait for our first blood test in a few weeks.  Obviously, there is no guarantee of success, but I feel so much better that Artie and Herkie at least had a chance to snuggle up inside me, rather than never surviving the lab.   I've promised to keep them as warm and safe as I can.  In the meantime, I'm going to definitely enjoy the doting my husband is bestowing on me.  :)