If you’ve been following my blog, you’ll know that my husband and I are going through IVF to become pregnant. If you’ve been following my IVF Journey, you’ll know that we have made it to embryo transfer. This is a really big step in the IVF cycle. This is what new parents work toward from the very start. This marks the day that the little embryo that has survived 5 days post fertilization and thawing out that morning gets placed in its new cozy home aka the uterus.

More Info.

Just a little more information on what all of this means… After the egg retrieval, the embryologist calls and explains how many eggs were retrieved and then a day later, how many eggs became fertilized following the ICSI procedure (when they put the sperm directly into the egg). You can read more about the egg retrieval process here.

For the next 5/6 days the eggs are monitored to see which ones are progressing normally and if they are becoming embryos. The ones that have the best quality are frozen for a FET (Frozen Embryo Transfer), which is what I had. I’m personally glad that my doctor uses FET because I’ve heard that the research promotes that type of transfer as the most successful. It does come with a bit of a longer wait though.

What to Expect

Following my egg retrieval, I had to wait until my next menstrual cycle. I thought this was going to take awhile, but it was actually less than a week after the egg retrieval. When the menstrual cycle started, I was instructed to call my doctor so they could get me started on a new round of medications.

My new medicines included starting birth control again and then a specific date to start taking the Lupron shots. This was the same medicine that I was instructed to take as the trigger shot before egg retrieval. For this part of the cycle, I was instructed to take the shot each night at the same time for almost a month.

In addition to the Lupron shots, I started taking estrogen tablets and progesterone shots as it got closer to my transfer date. My transfer date was 1 month after I started taking the Lupron shots.

As it led up to my transfer date, there were a few other medicines I started taking and then it was finally transfer day!

For transfer day, I was able to go to my regular office. The embryologist met us and talked with us on the way back to the room and then showed us a picture of our embryo that we got to keep. How cute is that?!

After that, the procedure was relatively quick, but I can’t say altogether painless. It felt a little it like the HSG exam if you’ve ever experienced one, but not quite as painful. Mostly it was a little pain and a tiny bit of cramping, but it did not last long at all.

Following the procedure, I had to lay in the chair with my knees up for 10 minutes before we were all set and it was done.

Maximize Success

1. Make sure you follow all the medication guidelines. It helped me to have everything typed out on a sheet with every date specified and the exact medications listed for that specific day. It can also be helpful to transfer that information into a planner so you can list your appointments and changes in medications. I thought this one was great.

2. I highly recommend a pill organizer. This one has been the absolute best because I needed to take the estrogen 3 times a day and due to my poly-cystic ovary, I needed to take metformin 3 times a day as well. Especially when the other medicines get added into the mix, having this organizer really helps. It’s great because it allows for morning, noon, evening, and night.

3. Ask your nurse ANY and ALL questions. Do not be afraid to ask because they are your ultimate resource and they are there for you.

4. As soon as you receive the embryo transfer, be prepared to act as though you are pregnant. For all intents and purposes, you are pregnant. This means read up on what you should or shouldn’t eat, what other things to avoid, and take care of yourself. This is a time for self-care.

5. During the wait, find ways to stay occupied while taking care of yourself. It will feel like a super long wait and if you aren’t occupied you might go stir crazy during the wait.

6. Don’t linger on every little symptom, because you’re on hormones you will probably have symptoms so they won’t be an indicator of pregnancy or not. You’ll just have to wait for your test result.

7. I do not recommend using a pee test. The last thing you want is an inaccurate result that plays with your emotions. Try to wait for the blood test.

8. Go early to get your blood test on the day the doctor tells you that you can go get tested. Be prepared to wait a little longer than usual as well. As we learned, they often have to run the blood work twice so it could take a little longer to get a result, but if you go early then it’s a good chance you’ll hear the result that day.

9. Be careful who you tell “when” you’ll find out if you’re pregnant. Of course those who have followed your journey will be asking questions to know when you find out. At first, I told people when we would know but then I regretted it because my husband and I wanted a little time for just us to know and not tell others right away whether good news or bad news.

10. Enjoy the blessing if you get good news. After such a long time it can feel very surreal to receive a BFP. If you don’t get your miracle yet, do not lose hope! This is definitely a journey and you are stronger than you think.

Wishing you your little blessing and I hope that these tips are helpful to you!