Transfer day...

Today was our day 5 blastocyst transfer. As I mentioned yesterday there was a chance that we were going to need to postpone til tomorrow but I got the email from Nurse A around 8am saying that we were definitely set for transfer today! Hooray! When we got there we talked with Dr. K to debate 1 embryo transfer vs. 2. We decided on 2 which does have an increased risk for multiples, but also gives us a 60-80% chance of safely conceiving one sweet baby. If we transferred only one, the success rate would have been between 30 & 40%. The procedure took less than 20 minutes. They took me back to the procedure room. There were two tv screens - on my left I got to watch the embryologist draw the embryos up into the catheter and then on the right I could see the catheter insert the embries into my uterus. SO wild to see it all happen like that. After that I had to rest laying down for 30 minutes and they brought us a picture of our two embryos....WILD! Dr. K and the embryologist both said that the little buggers had developed substantially this morning which is good and hopefully they'll continue to grow and implant today, tomorrow or Wednesday. We still have 7 at the lab that are still developing. They'll call us tomorrow to let us know how many have progressed to the blastocyst phase and will be eligible to be frozen. Probably 1-3 if we're lucky. Again, I'll be grateful for whatever God chooses to bless us with.

I had spent most of yesterday cleaning and cooking to prepare for my bed rest. If meals were left to the Italian's discretion, I'd be fed take out pizza, Chinese and Chick-fil-a for 3 days. Now there's nothing wrong with that, in fact I enjoy pizza and Chick-fil-a chicken strips A LOT. However, I do want to make sure that I'm eating healthy for the potential little one(s). So I made some healthy goodies so all he Italian has to do is pop in the oven and reheat. Tonight's delicacy was Quinoa and Black Bean Enchiladas and OMG they were DELICIOUS! I kind of made up my own recipe so I don't have exact measurements for spices, I just adjusted along the way to get it where I wanted it.

QUINOA AND BLACK BEAN ENCHILADAS
Corn Tortillas (I used a whole pack of Trader Joe's corn tortillas)
2/3 c quinoa (uncooked)
1 1/4 c water
1can organic black beans
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 28oz. can organic chunky tomato sauce
1-2 Tbsp Olive Oil
Salt (to taste)
1tsp. Crushed red pepper flakes
2Tbsp. Cumin
2Tbsp. Chili powder
1tsp. Garlic powder
1/4tsp. Onion powder
1tsp. Cayenne pepper
1Tbsp. Paprika
1-1 1/2 c. Shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 c. Nutritional yeast flakes
Salsa, Guacamole, Greek Yogurt (I sub Greek yogurt for sour cream...but whatever you want.)

Rinse and drain quinoa. Add to saucepan with water and a pinch of salt. Cover and bring to boil. Reduce to simmer 10-15 minutes. While that cooks, sautéed green pepper and onion in olive oil until onions are translucent. Add all spices to vegetables and stir to toast the spices slightly. Add 1 can of chunky tomato sauce and simmer. Taste occasionally to adjust seasonings. Drain and rinse black beans and add to quinoa. Stir gently and add maybe a cup of the tomato sauce mixture Just watch to make sure that it's not too wet). Taste for seasoning. Heat the corn tortillas in the microwave under a damp paper towel for 1-2 minutes to soften. Now it's time to assemble. Spray a 9" x 12" glass baking dish with nonstick spray. Take one corn tortilla, place some cheese in the center, top with a few spoonfuls of the quinoa mixture, roll carefully and place seam side down in the dish. Repeat and nestle each enchilada tightly next to one another. I had quinoa mixture left over (which you could reheat and eat on it's own). Top the entire dish with the tomato sauce mixture. I tried to get a little down the sides to keep them moist. Make sure the tops are definitely covered. Top with cheese and nutritional yeast*. Bake At 350 covered with foil for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake for 15 minutes. Finish by broiling 1-2 minutes until golden brown. Remove and let cool for a few minutes. Serve with salsa, guacamole, whatever your little heart desires.

*nutritional yeast flakes are used by vegans to supplement Vitamin B. It has a nutty, cheesy flavor so if you wanted to make this dish vegan, you could eliminate the cheese entirely and just use the nutritional yeast. I've only been able to find nutritional yeast in the bulk bins at Earth Fare.

I'm on bed rest until Thursday...today wasn't so bad. Kelly + 1 Valium = 10 hours of uninterrupted sleep. We'll see how tomorrow goes. I promise to be a perfect patient and follow the Dr's orders EXCTLY!

If anyone has success stories to share, PLEASE do so! I'm trying to focus 100% on the positive at this point. Look forward to hearing from you.

WE STILL HAVE 10!!!!!

Short post - we stil have 10 developing embryos so we're definitely set for Day 5 Blastocyst transfer = Monday.  They'll call back today to let us know what time on Monday.  Fingers crossed that these little babies keep developing!!!!!  (and fingers crossed that my check up goes well tomorrow morning - they're still worried about hyperstimulation symptoms so want to see me at 9am tomorrow). 

Weekend is off to a wonderful start! (even though I have to work) 

Definitely makes up for having to miss Homecoming weekend up in Boone!  :)  Cheers to all the APhis causing a raucous this weekend! 

And then there were 10

So we got the call from the embryologist this morning ( his name is Luis) and found out that out of our 17 mature eggs, 10 of them fertilized and made it through the night. Music to our ears (I'm not gonna lie though, it's tempting to feel greedy and want MORE), but we'll celebrate these 10 :)

So now we wait until Saturday. They'll check the little babies and give us an update. If most of them are making it and they look good then they'll plan for the transfer on Monday. If by some chance they are not looking great then we'll rush to REACH for the transfer on Saturday. Now there are people who are able to get pregnant and have beautiful babies but we're hoping for a day 5 transfer (Monday). It's likely that only 25-60% of the embryos remaining on Saturday will make it to Monday. But day 5 blastocyst transfers have a much higher chance of implanting so we're praying that most of these little guys (or girls) can hang on til Monday.

Dr. K put me on another prescription today to try to control any hyper stimulation effects I might have. I felt ok earlier today but this afternoon not so much. So now I'm hanging out in bed with a heating pad on my little tummy (well, it's not as little as it used to be...I'm crazy bloated and look like I'm pregnant already.). Looking pregnant while you're pregnant=good. Looking pregnant while you're not pregnant=torture.

And now I'm freaking out about another thing....we had a scavenger hunt at work tonight which had us running all over the place...I didn't even give it a second thought...I was more worried about tripping in my 4 inch heels than anything else, but now I'm hoping I didn't screw anything up. It was only 4 minutes and 38 seconds....hopefully that wasn't enough to do any damage...