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8BF, 8AF, and 8AF
posted by Brian on March 28, 2002 at 08:21 AM

In case you hadn’t heard, Amy and I finally restarted the process we began last January of going through an IVF cycle to have a wee McCreath.

A couple of weeks ago we began the injections to get Amy’s body into the right mode. This part wasn’t too difficult because we were working with shorter needles, but we had to do them twice a day. The really good news, though, is that those drugs worked more quickly than we expected. So, about five days ahead of schedule, we went to the hospital last Saturday to “drop off” the goods for the lab. This was, as you can imagine, a much easier process for me than for Amy. Amy was given an IV and anesthesia, and underwent a minor surgical procedure, complete with post-op recovery room. I, on the other hand, was given a small cup and shown to a room with a nice leather couch and few choice magazines.

Moving right along, we then waited a couple of days, beginning a different round of injections. This round is fortunately just once a day, but it’s using a long needle, so it’s quite a bit less comfortable than the previous shots. At the same time, Amy had to take a couple of other medications using pills. One was four times a day, with no food for an hour before or after, and the other was twice a day on a full stomach. Just for fun, try to sketch out a day like that for yourself. I tried, and it just didn’t work out. Luckily, Amy has exceptional organizational skills. And fortunately, those medications only lasted for four days.

On Monday, we learned that there were four embryos ready to be “transferred” the next day. So on Tuesday morning, we went back to the operating room, where we talked through the situation with the doctor. Based on the quality of the embryos and the odds of different outcomes, we decided to use three of them. So, as the doctors prepared to do the transfer, they showed us the three embryos (known to us as 8BF, 8AF, and 8AF) via a TV screen connected to a microscope. Each of them had divided into 8 cells at that time (hence the first part of their names), so they looked like little balloon clusters. The doctor loaded them up into a special device, then brought them into the operating room and did the transfer.

We spent the rest of the day at home, allowing Amy a day of sleep and relaxation. Of course, as the supportive husband, I slept too, out of sympathy.

We’ll find out in about ten days whether any of the embryos decided to take the next step toward person-hood.

BKM

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Comments

We're pretty excited for you guys! Amy, hope the continuing injections are not too painful. Maybe we'll make up a song about little 8BF, 8AF, and 8AF on the way home today!

Posted by Heather | March 28, 2002 08:55 AM

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