2 of the 3 precious miracles that were
transferred to my womb on July 14
th:)
Isn't that just absolutely wild... there they are. The more I have learned about embryo adoption and the further we get in the process... the more amazed I am by God's working through this.
That God could take these little tiny babies, allow them to be frozen and then thawed and breath life back into them is just incredible to me.
My sweet hubby and I flew out to CA on the 12th of July. We really had a fun couple of days before the transfer. Like I had said we haven't been away together in 12years so it was an incredible treat for us. On the 13th we met with our Dr. for the first time. Let me just say I was greatly impressed with him when I spoke with him over the phone. He was incredibly helpful and went above and beyond to be available if I needed to talk to him or his nurse.
When we met him on the 13th, he did a mock transfer where they basically map the cervix (sorry if that is TMI:) so there aren't any surprises on the day of the transfer. That all went great and then we met in his office to talk.
Our embryos had been thawed I believe early Monday. So now it was Tuesday... we didn't even really know if any of the 7 had survived the thaw. He told us all of them had. We were a little surprised, but thankful. We just hadn't expected that... but we were really happy... God had allowed them to survive the thaw even when the donor had been told that some of them really weren't worth freezing because they probably wouldn't survive the thaw... God had more days for those little babies. We firmly believe that God created those lives and He is the only one who should decide how long their lives are to be.
The doctor said that all had survived the thaw, but with partial survival. An example of this would be that one that had been a 10 celled embryo before the freeze, was now an 8 cell.... so on and so forth with the others. He said that all it takes is one good cell to keep multiplying into a baby. Our plan was to let them all grow out... transfer some and refreeze any others that were still growing. We really prayed that night that the Lord would guide our steps in knowing how many to transfer the next day.
After that appt. on Tuesday Greg and I had a ball driving through Beverly Hills, up the coast and spending a great evening with seminary friends the Barketts. The next morning we were up early to head to the clinic. My acupuncturist was going to give me a treatment before and after the transfer (This is supposed to up the chances of success with a Frozen Embryo Transfer)... but we needed to meet with the Doctor or the embryologist before as well. I think the Doctor was in surgery so we met with the embryologist and he gave us the picture from above. I do have another picture of the other 5 embryos...
At this point right before the transfer there were 3 that we knew we would transfer. There were 3 that were already starting to show signs of not living anymore and one that they said probably had a 5% chance of surviving. I headed in to the transfer room with the acupuncturist , ( who of course was awesome and had me relaxed in no time:) and Greg was going to decide with the Doctor if we would transfer the 4th also or let it grow out and refreeze if it lived. I have to say I was completely at ease... I think we had prayed about this so much... felt like God had just mapped out the journey to that point and now we were just resting in HIM, waiting for it to unfold.
Greg had a great chance to share his faith with the Doctor... he was so excited about it when he came in the room to me. They had decided to just transfer the 3. The main reason was that with our donor being young when the embryos were frozen, even if they had maybe lagged behind in growth from what the Dr. had ultimately desired, the potential genetically was still there for multiple healthy babies... and he wanted to err on the safe side.
The procedure was completely painless... really I didn't feel a thing. I got to watch on the ultrasound machine as they went in, but I couldn't see anything. It was just downright wild to know at that moment these little lives were put in my womb. The Doctor said that I did everything I needed to do to get to that point and now we just wait and see. I had some more acupuncture, got some instructions for bed rest for the next couple 24-48 hours and we were on our way.
This was one funny thing... he did say to not stress my body physically, emotionally, or calorically... yes, you read that right:) calorically:) I asked what he meant by that, and he said this was not the time to stay away from ice cream, but to allow myself those treats... and allow myself those treats I did. When Greg and I went out that night to BUCAS, a family style Italian Restaurant, I of course forgot the family style part and ordered myself some family style
Tiramasu... OH, MY... DELISH!!! But I was eating it for the next 2 days:)
I also had cut up 2 pineapples the night before at our friends and ate the cores of those big boys! Apparently, there is something in the core that is supposed to aid in the implantation of a baby... YAY... it worked!
We spent all that Wednesday and Thursday just hanging around the pool, the hotel room, reading, watching TV, and eating delicious Thai food. Then Friday morning we set out early for the LA airport.
The plan was to be in contact with the clinic over the next few days to see if the remaining embryos continued growing. We were sad to hear that all of them were no longer living. We didn't have any to refreeze. That was a little sad, but it did give my heart comfort to know that was too in the Lord's hands... he had allowed them the number of days He planned for them.
So that was the transfer in a nutshell. And here we are on the other side. We have our ultrasound tomorrow afternoon. There is already a balancing of emotions on that arena. Thank God my hubby will be going with me, and we will be meeting with the Doctor afterwards to discuss the ultrasound. We are praying for a good outcome... knowing God is able... and knowing we don't know what His will is for these 3 babies that were transferred... we will see soon enough. I am delighted to have been a warm, safe place for them to grow for as long as the Lord allows:)
ALL MY SIBLINGS, THEIR SPOUSES, KIDS, AND MY PARENTS.
My brother and sister in law have this beautiful out door porch where we visited and sipped lemonade... It is truly like right out of a magazine. Aren't this jar candles cool? I just love them. My sister in law is one talented decorator... I can't tell you how many times we have said, "Man, I wish Katy were here to tell us what to do in this room." Her whole house is like walking into Country Living magazine... but truly she is frugal too... she will garbage pick something, paint it, and it looks amazing:)
Jojo and the Goats.
