Implanted

Yesterday was implanting day and it started off badly. I woke at 6am and went to the toilet and within a few minutes I was in pain. It felt a bit like period pain but it was worse and a hot wheat bag didn't seem to help. I sweated a lot and it was horrible. I called the clinic's after-hours number and left a message. The pain eased off and went away after about half an hour, so I called back and spoke to Nurse K, who had been about to ring me. She suggested that because my ovaries were swollen, going to the toilet might have shifted or twisted them slightly, and she said I should come into the clinic slightly earlier than planned. So I went back to bed and got another hour's sleep.

Soon after 8am, the same thing happened again! I went to the toilet and then I had about half an hour of horrible pain. I couldn't believe it! But I got myself together enough to drive to the clinic and I got there about 10.20am. D was waiting there for me. I felt completely worn out and still quite sensitive. Nurse K and Dr S met with us and took some notes about my morning's adventures. I was examined and had a urine test to rule out a bladder infection. My temperature was normal. It seems that abdominal pain is not uncommon for someone taking extra doses of progesterone. The pessaries that I have to insert three times a day are not fun to use at all. I will be very glad when this stage is over!

Then it was time for the implantation. We were taken to a room near the theatre I was in on Wednesday and I sat in another funny chair/table with stirrup-like things to put my legs on. A scientist came in and explained to us that of the three eggs that had fertilised, two had divided into two cells. The best one had been chosen for implantation, the second would be frozen in case we needed it, and the third, which was still one cell, was growing too slowly. I guess two is all we need - this one and a backup! The scientist gave Dr S a long tube with the embryo inside it and Dr S used a speculum and the tube to put the embryo right up beyond my cervix into my uterus. It didn't hurt much but there were a few twinges. I saw the two-cell embryo on the screen before it was inserted which was pretty cool. By today it will have (hopefully) divided into eight cells.

What's next? I have to keep using the progesterone pessaries, which isn't a fun thought. But I hope the discomfort will ease off. I have had it pretty much constantly since yesterday, not quite pain, but enough to make me feel like something's happening. I am not hungry at all but I have to eat to stave off bowel problems. I've had a banana so far this morning and D is cooking up some rhubarb out of the garden - that should get things moving! And in two weeks, on 18 November, I will have a pregnancy test. I hope the time doesn't drag too much.

Nurse K has just called up to see how things are going. I told her about the discomfort and she has suggested keeping up the paracetamol and/or codeine. Apparently it's pretty normal, especially after what I'd been through on Wednesday, and it should ease off in a few days. She will call back on Monday. D is also pretty sore after his extraction but he's being a lot braver than I am!