Four days to go…
In the last day or so, L’s been complaining of increasing symptoms, seemingly associated with her progesterone shots. Or, they might be indicative (according to the Mayo Clinic) of her being pregnant. These include: sore/swollen breasts, fatigue, nausea, constipation, and (in the past day or two) slight cramping.
The reality is that there’s really no way to tell at this point.
And, she’s going to follow official advice by not peeing on a stick.
So, we wait: four more days to initial results.
And, I’m leaving town…
I’ve mentioned in the past that we live in Florida. However, I haven’t mentioned that I work for a company in Minnesota. That was the deal—I’d work for the company, if they’d let me commute.
This means—in addition to “usual” business travel to meetings and events—I travel a fair amount extra to see my staff and participate in meetings at headquarters. Fortunately, I have some flexibility in how I arrange my schedule. As such, I was able to be home during the retrieval and transfer process. However, I can’t just not travel for months at a time.
So, this week I’ll be heading back up to Minnesota.
The PIO shots won’t be a problem as we have a pinch hitter to assist with that.
I leave tomorrow and return Friday afternoon. Fuck.
At the time that I set my schedule, this made sense (to me at least). In part, we expected (being naïve, optimistic, dumb asses) that we’d have a five day transfer. This would have meant that the blood test would have been on Sunday, not Friday. Opps.
If we get a positive result, I’ll most likely learn about it at the airport. This is not exactly L’s idea of the best way to share the news. Although, it probably is apropos given the amount of time I spend on planes and in airports.
If we get a negative result, I won’t really be available to comfort L. To me this is the worst case scenario. Double fuck.
Or, I might just be sitting on an airplane for a few hours not knowing whether or not we’ve won the parenthood lottery.
Lesson learned. Next time (fingers crossed there won’t be a next time), I’m not traveling during “results week.” Period.
Oh well. At least I got my first class upgrade. So, I’ve got that going for me.
6 responses so far
Hi Paul–
Read your comment on “Conceive This!”…thought that maybe I could offer a little hope.
We had a 2 out of 7 fertilization rate with our last IVF/ICSI cycle, too. We have MFI, but due to a lot of time wasted (long story), I’m 40. We transferred one perfect embryo and one high grade embryo on day 3. I knew it couldn’t work. It couldn’t POSSIBLY work. Then, go figure, it did. I’m 22 wks pg with a singleton, and although there’s a LONG way between here and delivery of a healthy baby, there’s hope. I sincerely hope you have a great outcome–wishing you a lot of luck.
–Julia
Thanks, Julia! Congratulations on your IVF success. Here’s to hoping you have a healthy, happy bundle of joy!
As for us, we’re trying to remain “cautiously optimistic.” It’s not an easy middle ground to find, but it seems like the safest place (emotionally speaking).
Thanks again for taking the time to offer some words of hope — it’s especially nice to hear from someone with such a similar story (2 of 7 rate, IVF/ICSI, good/perfect embryos, etc.).
Wishing you great luck on Friday!
I firmly believe it’s about quality, not quantity.
-Julia
Indeed, it only takes one, right?
Good luck! I’m in a similar position. Only difference is results day is tomorrow and I’m travelling on Sunday. Me and my wife are also trying to be cautiously optimistic as she also showing early pregnancy signs (swollen breasts, fatigue etc). Hold thumbs!
Best of luck to your wife and you, Ernest! Please let me know the results.