Day 3

I went in on Saturday for a day 3 transfer. Their paperwork said to come in with an uncomfortably full bladder. Their idea of uncomfortably full was drinking 32 oz. of water starting an hour before the transfer. Look, my family has always made fun of me for what seems like an unusually small bladder. When I was little we were evacuated from a beach home we were renting in RI because of Hurricane Bob. There was barely time to pack our stuff and our animals into the car and get home so I don't know if I just didn't remember to go to the bathroom before leaving or if I did but had to go again. We were driving home to CT in rain so heavy you could barely see outside in our ghetto minivan that would stall whenever you break for too long in rainy weather. I don't understand it but that was really the problem with the car. I waited as long as I could before asking my Dad to pull over somewhere. The whole family was so pissed off that I had to stop and pee in the middle of this storm and they were afraid the car would stall. They pulled over at a McDonald's but they still talk about the time I had to pee during Hurricane Bob. Since then I would dehydrate myself before trips or whatever so that there's no need to stop. No good, I know. One of my worries when I got pregnant with Aislinn was that I would have to pee at the most inconvenient times again. I got over it, and the fact that sneezing would make me pee, but my new clinic wanting me to come in with an UNCOMFORTABLY full bladder. The last place just said moderately full, which is something that made me anxious enough, but I wanted to do what they said because they also said in the paper work that if my bladder wasn't full enough they'd have me sit and drink more before the transfer. Man, I've never had to pass the full bladder test before. So, even though I thought it would be a bad idea I drank 32 oz. of water in an hour. I wasn't feeling too uncomfortable at first so I was getting worried that I wouldn't pass the full bladder check. When they took me back to have me change I just lied to the nurse and told her I was uncomfortably full. I said it a few more times on the way to the room so she decided to not check it with the ultrasound. Then I got really worried that when they were ready to do the transfer they'd feel that I wasn't as full as I previously said. Within like 2 minutes of waiting in the room I got uncomfortably full. The doc came in and asked how many we'd like to transfer. We asked what the embryos were like. Turns out we still had 8 embryos but it was obvious which ones were the best already so they didn't think it was necessary to wait until day 5. He went through the grading of the other embryos. There was a 4 cell, slow, 6 cell, still a bit slow but maybe it'll make it, others were 8 but two of those 8 rocked and those were the ones they recommended for transfer. I felt my bladder getting fuller and fuller so I just said "Lets do the two! I'm sold! Sounds great!" The nurse came in, we signed the paperwork, confirmed our identities and I laid back. The doc was all about making sure I was comfy. I told him that I wasn't because of the full bladder and the nurse pressing down on it with the ultrasound. One thing that distracted me from my discomfort was the screen they had on the wall that was hooked up to the microscope in the lab. They put our dish under it and there was a drop on it. You couldn't make anything out in it but then they zoomed in and there they were, the tiniest little embryos. I know they're tiny but I could never really wrap my head around it until I saw them on the screen. They sucked them up and brought them in. At this point I was really concerned about peeing on the doc and I let him know it was a possibility. I just wanted to give him fair warning. They got them in before I exploded but as soon as they did I asked if I really had to lay there for 20 minutes before I peed. Normally I'm all for it but the need to pee was far beyond everything else at this point. So the nurse told me she could give me a bed pan. I don't care who looks at my girlie parts but peeing in a bed pan with people around? I realized I was horrified with that idea but I had to take the bed pan. Howie thought it was funny. I thought that I had peed as much as I could but she emptied it and said I had about 5 more minutes, about 2 minutes after that I had to go again so badly I thought that I might cry so I made Howie go out and tell her so she let me up early. I tried to walk and not run but it was more like a run to the bathroom and I had never felt better in my life.

So, sorry this whole post is about pee, but I felt like the peeing had overshadowed the embryo transfer that day. When we got home Aislinn was so excited to see me and it was hard to explain to her that she couldn't climb on top of me and that Mommy couldn't pick her up. We had already decided that she'd spend the weekend with my in-laws because she's very attached to me and it would have been a difficult weekend with her. Howie felt it would be easier for me to rest and all of that if she weren't here. She's actually still at my in-laws but she's coming back tomorrow. I miss her like crazy! We've talked to her over skype every night and she got a little weepy each time and actually told us "I cry" which broke my heart. I can't wait to give her a million kisses when she gets home.

So, that's the story. I have a picture of the picture of the embryo. Our scanner isn't working so I couldn't scan it.