Sometimes I feel like all of this is a dream; life seems
surreal right about now. On Tuesday, May 15th, my husband and I
loaded up the car and set off of a day’s journey to Knoxville, TN; a place that
would change our lives forever. It was a beautiful drive and we arrived in time
to have dinner with our amazing friends who graciously allow us to stay in
their gorgeous home. We were able to be well rested, well fed, and well prayed!
On Wednesday
morning, the day of the transfer, I awoke excited and starving. I had to force
myself to drink a lot of fluids because I was instructed to have a very full
bladder for the procedure (I think my bladder is the size of a lemon!). Our
appointment was at 7:30am, which was nice because I didn’t have to wait around
antsy all day. I cannot say enough how great the staff at the NEDC is! The
“recovery nurse” I believe her name is Sandy, was particularly amazing! As soon
as they took me back I had to change into my fancy hospital gown and hair cap
(anything for the babies).
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| Our 3 embabies waiting to be transferred! |
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| At the bottom right side of the uterus you will see a small plus sign and a white mark...that is when and where the embryos were put in!!! |
Dr. Keenan came
in to see us shortly after and he informed us that 5 of our 12 embryos were
thawed and 2 did not make it. So I am sad for the loss of 2 of our adopted
children. The good news is that 3 embryos survived and two were top quality,
and the 3rd was still viable. That means that they would be
transferring triplets into my womb!! I was beside myself with excitement! The
embryologist, Carol, then came in with a photo of our three embryos…how
unbelievable it was to have that in my hands.
I just have to take a moment here to say that
I knew God would bless us…John 10:10 tells me God wants to give us abundant
life, abundant blessing…and boy did He. God not only gave us this opportunity
to experience a pregnancy and the birth of a child. He abundantly blessed us
with 12 embryos, 3 of which were place into my womb that day!
The entire embryo transfer
took maybe 20 minutes. They had me take Valium, ibuprofen and albuterol an hour
before the procedure; so I was pretty relaxed by the time they took me back. One
of the most exciting things about the embryo transfer process was that they had
the ultrasound machine hooked up to a television in front of me so that I could
watch the entire internal process!!
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| Note the television where I got to see the procedure. The embryos are handed over through that window there. |
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| The instruments |
The transfer itself was not painful at all;
in fact, if I hadn’t been watching the embryos on the screen I may not have
known they were implanted! However, my bladder was painfully full and the lying
down position did not help that, nor did the ultrasound, which consisted of the
nurse pressing down on my bladder the whole time. The most painful thing was
the sterilization process of swabbing me inside and out with alcohol; yikes! That
burned very badly. All of that was worth it though when I saw that tube pass
through my cervix, into my womb…and I got to witness the moment our embryos
were released into my womb (All three of them!!!).
After the transfer I was
brought into the “recovery” room to wait, lying down, for 30 minutes. All I could
do was smile! (And think about peeing). When I got back to that room, another
couple had arrived and they got the news that they too would be receiving 3
embryos that day; must have been a triplet day. I did not have any cramping or
pain afterwards; I was actually surprised at how smooth and quickly everything
went.
We have waited so long for
this miracle; we have prayed and worried, researched and cried, and spent many
hours dreaming and on the road…and now the moment has come and gone. I think
that is why it now feels surreal. I can’t believe the “event” has happened. And
now it is a waiting game.
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