The Day Has Finally Come!

Hey everyone! Well, I was wrong about Tuesday's ultrasound being the final one which is why I didn't update sooner. I went for another ultrasound this morning and I can finally say for SURE that it was officially the last one. Nurse Kathy called me today and gave us the wonderful news that we're ready to go. At this point, I have 16 follicles and more growing. Thom will give me the infamous "trigger shot" tonight at 11:30pm, which will finalize the egg maturation process and prepare them for retrieval. The actual retrieval will be at 11:30am on Friday morning at the Brigham. After retrieval, the doctor will let us know exactly how many eggs were retrieved and then, on Saturday, we will get an update on how many actually fertilized. Kathy said that generally 50% of the eggs extracted will fertilize into viable embryos. Eight isn't too shabby-as Laura kindly reminded me, that's four sets of twins!! Yikes! Laura will be coming out here on Saturday night so that we can spend some time together before things really start moving. And finally, the LONG awaited transfer date will be..(drumroll please)...Monday 5/7!! Thom and I have decided to transfer the two best embryos (they are graded on cell division, etc) and the rest will be frozen for future cycles. Many people wonder what is done with any frozen embryos left over after we decide that we are done having children. After much thought, Thom and I have decided that if this happens we will donate them to an organization called "Snowflake Children", which provides embryos to couples having fertility issues of their own. We feel that we have been so blessed to find an amazing couple willing to help us grow our family and we'd love the opportunity to be able to do this for another struggling couple in a different way. But all that that is way in the future so let's get back to the present. What happens after transfer?? We WAIT a loooong 14 days until Laura has her pregnancy test out at her clinic in GA. So, that's it for now! Kathy said that everybody at the clinic is very impressed with the way my body has responded to this process after the trauma that it has been through. So, it looks like everybody's prayers and encouragement have really helped-thank you!! Please keep the prayers coming for safe retrieval/transfer, patience for Laura as she's on bed rest, and peace of mind for all of us as we wait for some (hopefully) good news!