"All three"

On May 16, they retrieved 7 eggs: 6 fertilized normally. Those 6 were still growing by day 3, so we waited for day 5 to transfer which has a much higher success rate. That is in part because the embryos are more developed and in part because you only go to day 5 if you have more, higher-quality eggs to choose from.

We went at around 11. They had Robin take a Valium and a pain pill ahead of time because you are awake for the transfer but still need to be still and calm. Unfortunately, Jay didn't get one too. Before coming in, the doc had shared that of the 6 embryos, two were of the highest quality (AA), one of which was already starting to hatch (level 6). This was great news!

It was then, with one of us in stirrups and one of us in a panic-sweat, that the doc told us there was a third embryo we could also transfer, if we wanted. We asked their advice and they said either course of action would be fine. They said there was less than a 5% chance that all three would implant, and that if we froze #3 there was a chance that it would not defrost successfully (they like to have several to freeze in case you lose one or more in the thawing process, and so you can still proceed with a frozen embryo transfer or FET). The doc stepped out, we said a quick prayer, and Jay said, with 100% confidence, "All thee." So that's what we did.

This meant it was time for the "two week wait" to begin again. This time, Robin was in the throws of teaching summer school 4 days a week, so being busy was a blessing. We also celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary (May 31st). The day before our anniversary and 9 days past our transfer, Robin decided to take a home pregnancy test. The nurse said we could trust a positive, but not a negative because there might not be enough HCG in the bloodstream.

[Robin] "I usually know my body pretty well, and I knew this outcome was different from before. My breasts were unbearably sore and I had weird cramps (uterus stretching) that I had never had before. And, low and behold, we got a Big Fat Positve, or BFP in pregnancy slang. Yea! Even though it was positive each time, I took a pregnancy test everyday after that until my blood test on Monday just to make sure it stayed positive (illogical, I know)."



So, on Monday, the nurse called with the blood results and all she said was the HCG levels were high, which is great news. Low numbers could indicate a “chemical” pregnancy. We were thrilled, but told very few people (Ashley, Kim, my brother) because we wanted to wait until Wednesday. We felt like Wednesday was the real test because it would tell us that things were progressing and it wasn’t just a chemical pregnancy. The nurse called again on Wednesday, and said the levels were progressing just perfectly. Finally, we were pregnant! We called all the parents that night and went out to dinner. It was time to (cautiously) celebrate.

[John] "Wooooooooooooo!"