LA and 3 day report and lots of pics!

CD (Cycle Day) 12 & CD 13 LA trip!

The first PIO shot went well last night.  I iced the area for about 5 minutes and did not feel a thing!  I walked around for a few minutes afterwards and kneaded the area with my fingers to prevent bumps.  Then I laid down on a heating pad and it seemed to do the trick to reduce pain.  J did a great job!  He was nervous but now that he has done it once, I think he will be a pro. 

Today we hung out by the pool and started some of our continuing education courses that we both need to complete.  My stomach feels really large and bloated.  I am pretty uncomfortable but I downing Gatorade like nobody’s business.  Personally I love Gatorade so it’s no problem for me!

We decided to go to LA just to sight see and for our 2 year anniversary.  I have heard about the traffic, but being stuck in it is a different experience!  We went to the Griffith Observatory, rode around Hollywood Blvd, Sunset Blvd, Rodeo Drive and Beverly Hills.  Hollywood Blvd was so congested we didn’t even want to get out of the car- so we didn’t.  Beverly Hills was just beautiful, as expected.  Then we went driving on Mulholland Drive hoping to see some gorgeous mansions and we were not disappointed.  We tried to find some Real Housewives of Beverly Hills houses but they were all in gated communities boo.

Hollywood Sign from Griffith Observatory

Beverly Hills

Rodeo Drive

Villa Blanca- Lisa Vanderpump's restaurant

9021-Pho so punny

Afterwards we walked on the Santa Monica Pier and had a drink at the Loews Hotel before our dinner there at Ocean and Vine.  The meal was amazing- I ate sushi, tempura and had wine which is of course a no-no when you are pregnant but A ok during the 5-day wait!   Before leaving I told our server it was our anniversary and she brought a complementary tiramisu- my favvvvorite desert.  J Bird doesn’t like it, so I may or may not have housed both pieces.

Santa Monica Pier 

Just a man on a ladder, in a thong with two snakes.  Nothing to see here

Loews lounge

Santa Monica Fog roll

Tempura

Happy Anniversary!

Santa Monica Pier

Loews Lounge

CD 14 & CD 15- Day 3 (3 days after retrieval) report

Our nurse called this afternoon and let us know that out of the 13 fertilized eggs we have 12 that are still growing normally.  2- 5 celled, 6- 6 celled and 4- 8 celled.  The nurse said that with a day 3 report they like to see that the cells are between 5-9.  I have heard varying reports of 6-8, but since Dr. Sher does not do day 3 transfers, the most important thing is that they are on track to becoming blastocysts.  I can usually keep up with the IVF lingo, but this is where things become a bit complicated.  When the embryo becomes a blastocyst, it will be ready to transfer into my uterus.  A blastocyst has hundreds of cells so they are graded in a different way.

J and I were excited to hear that 12 of the embryos are still doing great, but it left me feeling a little wanting.  It lets us know things are still on track but all of that doesn’t matter until Day 5 or Day 6 (after retrieval) when we find out how many turned into blastocysts and if they are quality grades.  There are so many steps to IVF!  I called it instant gratification because you know what is going on in your body or with the embryos almost every step of the way, but J said that’s only if you are getting good news so we renamed it instant notification.

On the day before retrieval we took it easy, went to the strip to shop a bit and see the fountains at the Bellagio.  

Afterwards we hit up our fav spot in Vegas- Sweet Tomatoes! So yummy.

My stomach finally started to feel better last night and it seems as though all of the gatorade and coconut water has helped to decrease bloating.

Tomorrow is the big day- transfer day!  The nurse will call us by 9:30 am to let us know if the embryos have not become blastocysts and we will postpone the transfer to day 6.