Some exciting news to share — after four rounds of egg retrievals, I did my very first embryo transfer in November and luckily for us, the first time was the charm. We realize how extremely lucky we are. So many of my friends went through three or four transfers (which are intense physically and expensive) before they had a successful pregnancy.
Since our readers have been so supportive and followed along from Round 1, Round 2, Round 3 and Round 4 of our IVF journey, I wanted to update you all and also prepare you for your own FET transfers, because let me tell you, it’s a LOT to deal with, and I hate to say it, but it’s every bit as grueling as the shots and medicines from the egg retrieval process.
Here’s our timeline of how things transpired:
Our original timeline for transferring our embryo was in March 2020, but as the Coronavirus quickly spread throughout the country, we put that on hold. It was the right decision given the stress from the unknown virus and shutdowns that caused so many couples to have to cancel their IVF and transfers in the middle of the process, which must have been so incredibly heartbreaking.
Over the next several months I kept a close eye on the spread of the virus and its effects on pregnant women, who are at an 85% greater risk to die if they contract the virus than women who are not pregnant. We took literally every precaution, keeping the tiniest pod of people around us and agreeing not to go to stores/restaurants etc. As October approached and cases looked stable, we kicked the process off.
Let me just tell you that I was greatly mistaken in thinking that the embryo transfer would be the “easy” part of IVF. For some reason I got it in my head that all of the shots, medicines, and the surgery to retrieve the eggs was the hard part and that this part would be as easy as just placing the little embryo in place. Not so much. During my consultation with my IVF doctor, I learned the protocol for gearing up for our transfer.
The protocol meant nearly a month of injections, estrogen patches and other medicines leading up to the actual transfer, as well as weekly visits to my Doctor for blood work , sonograms and lining checks. It was a total flashback to the first part of IVF, and unlike the first part, this was in the middle of a global pandemic in NYC. For each of my visits I wore an N95 mask covered by a surgical mask covered by a cloth mask and a medical visor. I was NOT screwing around with Covid, especially since a positive test could have resulted them to pull the plug on the transfer.
Everyone’s protocol is different, but I was put on a progesterone in oil shot (literally the most painful shot I’ve ever had), estradiol patches, vaginal suppositories three times a day and some other bits. These medicines are legit. Before I started them I was working non-stop and going for a run every day. I had all the energy in the world. Once I started taking them, all I wanted to do was sleep. I was crazy lethargic and not myself.
This carried on for weeks, but the medicines seemed to be working. My bloodwork came back great and my lining looked great as well. My transfer was scheduled for November 10. The only thing they tell you about preparing for a transfer is to try not to be stressed out. Lots of people go to accupunture and meditate etc. But, it was REALLY hard not to be stressed out during a crazy pandemic while we were moving into our apartment during the election. We basically did everything completely wrong and this sort of had me convinced that the transfer wouldn’t work.
The morning of the transfer I reported to my doctor’s office in all of my masks and gear and prepared for the procedure. I didn’t do acupuncture or take the Valium they offer you ahead of time, because given the circumstances I knew it would have just made me more stressed out. (I loved acupuncture during my retrieval process, but the idea of spending another hour indoors with strangers during the pandemic was not appealing to me).
From here, the actual implantation is very easy. You lay on a table, get a catheter and your doctor guides the embryo into you while watching its progress on a computer screen. It takes about 10 minutes, does not hurt at all and then you lay down for ten minutes before leaving. Normally my husband could have been there with me but he wasn’t allowed to come to any appointments because of covid protocols.
From here, they tell you to take it very easy for a few days while the embryo tries to attach. No physical exertion or lifting anything heavy. I basically laid on one spot on the couch for an entire day watching Netflix. This was fine because my lethargy only worsened. Oh, and did I mention that you stay on all of the medicines for another three months? News to me, too!
Over the course of the next few days I began to feel crazy tired and my boobs became so sore unlike anything I ever experienced. They felt like bags of cement and the slightest movement caused pain. This should have been my first sign that I was pregnant, but honestly, it was so hard to differentiate between the pregnancy and all of the medicines I was on. It would be ten days before my pregnancy test at the doctor, so in the interim I just laid on the couch, sometimes sleeping as much as 16 hours a day. I was literally bone tired and cleared all meetings from my schedule to just sleep.
After ten zombie-like days it was time to go back to the doctor for my blood test to determine if the transfer worked. If it did, the protocol of all of the medicines would continue for the first trimester as would the weekly doctor’s appointments. Unfortunately, covid cases began exploding again, so the stress from going to the doctors during it didn’t subside. I went into the office and got my blood work taken and then headed home to await the phone call with the results. A few hours later it rang with my doctor on the other end — it worked! We were thrilled and a bit in awe given that most people I know didn’t get pregnant after the first transfer.
From here, the fun part began. My energy levels sank to all-time lows and 16 hours of sleep became pretty consistent. About a month in I started bleeding, which scared me and made me think I had a miscarriage. We scheduled a rush doctor’s appointment and luckily everything looked good. The same happened a few weeks later but also fine. The nausea kicked into gear a few weeks in and just ended a few weeks ago, around week 14 of pregnancy. I am FINALLY feeling back to myself and have the energy to start actually planning for the baby and nursery etc. My pregnant friends have said they were also super drained during their first trimesters, but it seems that all of the shots and medicines just make it a whole lot worse.
As many of you know, I followed a very strict set of supplements and diet for my last two rounds of IVF and I truly believe it helped this embryo stay in place and be viable. All of our embryos had been through genetic testing and we picked the strongest embryo to implant so we’d have the best odds. I’m really happy we went that route. We’ve gone even more clean on all of our products because whatever I use gets transferred to the baby. The search for truly clean products has been daunting, but have found some really amazing ones I’m excited to share with you all here: Clean Skincare & Makeup While Pregnant.
Have any questions on the process? Leave them in the comments below.
Read More of Our IVF Coverage:
Chic and Functional Diaper Bags with Freshly Picked
Baby Registry Must-Haves For New Moms
Clean Skincare & Makeup While Pregnant.
IVF Diary: My First, Unsuccessful Round of Egg Freezing
IVF Diary: My Second Round of Egg Freezing
IVF Diary: Egg Retrieval, Recovery & Embryo Results
IVF Diary: My Third Round of Egg Freezing
IVF Diary: Successful Results From Our Third Round of IVF
The Supplements I Take To Improve Egg Quality
Improving Egg Quality With “It Starts With The Egg”
Eliminating Toxins & Chemicals for IVF