Last Friday we had our second FET (frozen embryo transfer)! Our embryo (magnified on the screen in the photo above) was transferred to Ashley at Create Fertility Clinic in Toronto by our amazing doctor, Dr. Glass.
We are now in what’s referred to in the fertility community as the TWW (two week wait). Technically this isn’t necessarily a full two weeks – each doctor makes a decision about when they feel their patient should go for a beta hCG test (blood test to confirm pregnancy, more on that in another post). Our first test date, for example, is at 12 days post transfer. If we’re super impatient maybe we’ll bug the doctor to let us test earlier, but for now 12 days is the plan.
So what happens during the two week wait?
Other than excitement and nerves, a lot of things happen in the two weeks directly following an embryo transfer! Below is a rough breakdown of what happens on each day. (Note: this is sourced from a popular infographic I saw on Instagram, but I don’t have the origin of that chart. If you know it, please let me know so I can attribute it to the original creator of this content.)
Day 1: The blastocyst begins to hatch from its shell.
Day 2: The blastocyst continues to hatch out of its shell and begins to attach itself to the uterus.
Day 3: The blastocyst attaches deeper into the uterine lining, beginning implantation.
Day 4: Implantation continues.
Day 5: Implantation is complete. Cells that eventually become the placenta and fetus have begun to develop.
Day 6: Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), the hormone that signals a developing pregnancy, starts to enter the blood stream.
Day 7: Fetal development continues and hCG continues to be secreted.
Day 8: Fetal development continues and hCG continues to be secreted.
Day 9: Levels of hCG are now high enough to detect a pregnancy using a blood test.
Some people say that they can begin to feel early pregnancy symptoms during the TWW, but these symptoms can also be attributed to the medication that Ashley is taking. Once she takes her blood test, we will all be on the edge of our seats waiting for the results. Sometimes this takes a few hours, other times it can take up to a day. It really just depends.
If you have questions about the two week wait, or anything about transfer, feel free to leave them in the comments.
Comentários