December 14, 2011

We survived!

I ended up working a half day on Wednesday, December 14th since the procedure wasn't until 1:15pm. Well, that was a mistake! Guaranteed Christmas Delivery was December 14th, so all my PartyLite shows had to be entered and submitted by 11:59PM on Wednesday, and since Mike didn't want me doing ANYTHING after my procedure, my shows had to be closed before my procedure.

I had one more show to close! The woman didn't speak English, she didn't know what she wanted, and I was getting stressed out! I wanted to keep my mind off the procedure, but this wasn't exactly the distraction I was looking for. We were swamped at work, I was trying to explain to this woman that I was have a surgical procedure done in 2 hours, and she needed to hurry up!

Finally! The show was closed, I apologized to my co-worker, and I had about an hour to breathe!

Mike picked me up from work at noon, and I left my car in the DOE parking lot. We were headed down 270, and I was actually doing ok. I was comparing this procedure to the Mock Transfer which didn't even compare in the slightest to the HSG test, so I was golden! I wouldn't recommend an HSG test to ANYONE!!!! This procedure was going to be a piece of cake....so I thought.

We got down to Shady Grove Road early. I had forgotten, we weren't headed to Rockville, Rockville. This was more like Gaithersburg. So we went to Panera so I could feed my hubby! I just got some cheddar broccoli soup to tide me over. I had a few bites, and then packaged it up!

It was time! We had to arrive a half an hour early to prepare for the procedure. It was 12:40, and we headed up to the 5th floor (the surgical center for Shady Grove Fertility), with my Deer Park in hands! I was instructed to have a full bladder since the uterus shows up better on the ultrasound when the bladder is full. I continued to drink my water, and sit with Mike in the waiting room. As I was looking around the waiting room, I saw the sign that said don't forget your ID. Great! Where was mine? In the car. So my sweet husband that he is headed back down to the car to grab my ID. All I was concerned about was me, and my Deer Park! I told him to hurry up before they called me back. (As if they would have started the procedure without him. He made it back up, ID in hands!

Then it was our turn...."Maureen." I stood up, and Mike said, "Do I come with you?" ABSOLUTELY!!!! I'm not doing this without my wingman!

So they called us back, and we headed through the double doors. The woman asked for our ID's to make sure it was really us! I was all changed and comfy, and they handed me and Mike our surgical footies! Good thing I had socks on underneath, because I was a bit chilly!

We went back into our room, Mike found his spot, and I hopped up on the table. I've never seen a clock move so slow in my life! One of the nurses came in, explained the process, and said the doctor would be in shortly. She mentioned that on the other side of the door right there was the lab. The TV here would have a microscopic view of our little blastocyt. The screen would have my name and my social security number on it. Then we would see them take our embryo up through the catheter, and bring it directly into our room. How cool!!!!

So the nurse left, and the clock was nearly stopped! Is this ever going to happen? My goodness!

Finally after what felt like hours, the doctor, and the ultrasound technician walked in. It was our turn! More paperwork to fill out, the doctor asked how many embryos we were going to transfer, and then he explained how the transfer worked. Easier said then done!

The doctor used the catheter that was used in the mock transfer, but he wasn't successful. He mentioned I had quick a curvy uterus, and the only way to fix that was a baby. He kept trying to get the catheter to the right spot, and he wasn't successful. The technician tried to change the angle of the ultrasound, and it still wasn't working. I was getting worried, and thinking that today might not be the day. I looked into Mike's eyes, and just wanted to cry. He told me everything was going to be alright, and boy was he right! The doctor asked the ultrasound technician for a different catheter, and after about 3 minutes of trying, finally, you saw the catheter peak through on the ultrasound, and it was finally in the right spot! The hard part was over with! Now all that had to be done was the catheter with our embryo had to be inserted into the catheter that the doctor had finally gotten in the correct spot.

The lab technician walked in, and she had MORE paperwork. She verified my hospital bracelet to the paperwork that they had. She asked how many embryos we wanted to transfer, and she asked if we wanted to freeze the remaining embryos. Man oh man this is a long process! We signed the paperwork, and sent her on her way.

We waited, and waited, and waited and waited for the lab technician to walk in for the procedure. Still nothing, so I figured now would be a great time distract myself, and to tell my 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 story. Just as I opened my mouth, in walked our soon to be son or daughter! (Well, the lab technician with the catheter) But inside that little catheter was our little one! Maybe I should have started that story awhile ago!

....and we're off! From wife to mom in minutes! The doctor told us to watch the ultrasound screen. He said in just a minute, we'd see our little embryo flash across the screen. Boy did we ever! In just a milli second, you saw the embryo shoot out, and attach to my uterus, and that was it!

Then I had to lay there for 5 minutes after the procedure, and then our nurse would come in and clear us. The doctor sat in there with us, asked how I was doing, and said he was ready for that story of mine. He said it was definitely meant to be!

The nurse finally came in, and cleared us. I got dressed, and headed down the elevator, and got into the car. Mike got in on the drivers side, and found his first "daddy" card. He was grinning from ear to ear, and was ready to get home, and set me up in the basement.

I didn't feel any different. I didn't feel like a mom yet. But I knew today was the day that I became a mom. I knew today was the day that I was going to be responsible for something other than myself.