For the next ten days we follow an Altrui couple who received eggs from one of our donors. This is their diary as they wait to find out whether embryo transfer has worked and they are pregnant.
Another sleepless night. Of course, we woke up before our alarm went off. The count down to this day has been a stressful and exhausting one. After all, living on the edge of your seat on bated breath is tiring. I find it hard to describe to people what waiting for a phone call that could potentially change your life feels like. So if I may share with you this little anecdote. It was the day after egg collection. We had been informed that one of the lovely embryologists would call me in the morning to inform us of how many eggs had fertilised. Like a woman possessed I was checking my phone; have I got any reception? Have they called yet? What if they have tried to call and I had no reception? All of this obsessive behaviour was manageable whilst I was in my office, however, this particular morning I was carrying out a home visit. Before I knocked on the door of my patient’s house, I, of course checked my phone once more – nothing.
Picture this if you will. Donned with my sterile gloves and apron, about to carry out a procedure, I hear a vibration coming from within my bag. Oh no they’re flipping ringing! Remaining professional, I continued with my duties, ignoring my phone. Just as I was rounding up my visit, approaching the front door, my phone started ringing again. This time I just had to answer. I asked the embryologist if she could call me back in 2 minutes. Practically running out of my patient’s house I got in my car and started driving back to the office. My phone started ringing. I love seeing a “Blocked” number calling; it means someone wants to talk babies with me. Anyway, this time I was as free as a bird to answer this call and chat to the Embryologist until my heart was content. Sorry, I’m supposed to be talking about Transfer day but it was compulsory to share that story with you. It makes me chuckle now, but at the time I could have vomited in my mouth!
We had been given strict instructions about when to pee, when not to pee and how much to drink prior to Embryo Transfer. So I had to pee one hour before our appointment time which meant pulling over on a double yellow line, in a less than desirable area and running into a café to use their toilet. Annoyingly this then made me smell of fry ups which angered me ever so slightly, but the main thing was my bladder was empty. Consuming one and a half litres of water in an hour was fine, however, I needed to pee after about 15 minutes. This did not bode well.
We arrived at the clinic early so we sat the car and listened to a few of our favourite songs in an attempt to calm our nerves. With my bladder bursting at the seams, we walked over to the clinic, up the familiar stairs and buzzed the buzzer. We hugged each other, no words were exchanged.
We walked into the waiting area. I took a seat whist my husband went to have a pee. Gosh I was so jealous. Cold and shivery from the nerves, we sat in silence and watched the TV in the waiting area. Paul Hollywood’s bread was on which sort of helped to pass the time. He is an excellent kneader and his biscotti looked dreamy.
Thirty minutes after our original appointment time a lovely tall man dressed in scrubs walked into the waiting area and asked us to follow him. I changed into my theatre gown and we followed the consultant into a dark room. The room was a typical ultrasound room with an adjoining door and a little hatch. The embryologist walked in and discussed our Blastocysts. Now, get my legs into those stirrups and shine that spotlight down below, I am ready!
Driving home with my feet on the dashboard seemed the most natural thing to do. Evidence would suggest that lying with your feet in the air has no benefit, but I was not going to take any chances.
On the way home, we bought a newspaper to remind us of this memorable day. I love collecting little things to go towards making a scrap book. I did it for our honeymoon and now I’m doing it for this chapter of our lives.
We had been given a date to carry out a home pregnancy test – 11 days away.