{Our Last} Transfer Day!

Today felt like a really big day. Today we had our fifth...and our final...frozen embryo transfer. It's crazy that we have done this 4 times before {here, here, here, and here}. But now that we are on our last transfer, with our last embryo...it seems all too quick. And it seems all too final. Definitely a lot of emotions going into today.

I dressed in my usual transfer day attire {snowflake apparel} but I got to add a fun bonus: this beautiful snowflake necklace that Laura got me for Christmas! It was such a sweet and thoughtful gift, and I knew it had to be part of the snowflake ensemble :)

We had a morning transfer this time {9am}, so Mike and I headed out early to beat the traffic...and so I could have time to stop and empty my bladder and drink my obligatory 32 ounces of water at the exact right time :)

I was definitely nervous about going into today; again, with the whole last embryo thing, it just felt like a big deal. So much goes into the process, so many things have to work out just so...

• Hurdle 1: getting to transfer day {uterine lining has to be thick enough}. It was touch and go for a minute, but we eventually got there. So, CHECK
• Hurdle 2: the thawing process {the embryo has to survive the thaw}. We didn't receive a phone call this morning, which is a good sign that we would have a viable embryo waiting for us when we arrived at the surgery center. CHECK 
• Hurdle 3: finding out what that embryo looks like after thawing and having some time to grow. We have had a couple of not so stellar reports when we arrived, but today we got really great news {like we did with Eli and Maddie}! They thawed our embryo yesterday afternoon and gave it time to grow. At the time of transfer it was graded as an AB fully hatched blast. That means it was already out of its protective shell and ready to find a warm home! As a reference point, Eli was an AA ExBL {meaning he was not yet hatched but was fully expanded, the stage right before hatching} and Maddie was a CA HgBL. CHECK
• Hurdle 4: having transfer go on without any glitches or issues CHECK

There are many other hurdles left to go, but just making it this far with such positive and encouraging news is a really huge blessing! I mean, look at that beautiful embaby! And our little embryo actually looked even better at the time of the actual transfer...the baby cells were more prominent when we saw it right before they did the transfer :)

My doctor was very pleased with everything today and she has high hopes for this tiny embryo. So now we wait and pray that he/she snuggles in tight for the next 9 months! Come on baby love; stick and bury in tight!

Age of Embryo? All 4 of our embryos were created in March 2009 {including Eli and Maddie!}, so this one has now been frozen for 8 years and 9 months

Size of Embryo? About 0.1 to 0.2 mm

Development: five-day blastocyst {1 AB HgBL}; the entire genetic blueprint for life {chromosomes/DNA} is present

Meds: Cabergoline 2x/week, day 25 of Estrace, day 7 of progesterone in oil {PIO}

Sleep: I actually had a hard time sleeping last night. Between thinking about the fact that this was our last transfer and the fact that our tiny embryo was thawed last night...well, I had a lot on my mind and a lot to pray about :)

Best moment of the week: Hearing that we could move forward to this final transfer and learning that our little embryo was doing SO well! 

Miss anything? Again- should have had sushi pre-transfer. Oh well.

Cravings: Nope...too soon.

Symptoms: Just some mild cramping from the transfer today...totally normal.

Looking forward to: Spending time with my mom and, of course, our pregnancy test in 10 days!!