Post-Transfer Symptoms

This one is super late. Sorry. I meant to get to it sooner, but then all Hell broke loose in my personal life, and well....better late than never, amiright?

This one is for all my ttc-sisters and those in the trenches of the two-week-wait, wondering if that pulling feeling or if those sore boobs are a sign of a progressing pregnancy.

I guess I should also say that there really is no way to tell if it worked or not unless you pee on a test early. Progesterone symptoms mimic actual pregnancy symptoms so it's basically just a big crap shoot. But obviously that doesn't stop us from questioning every twinge.

Side note to non ttc people: You're going to see an acronym that reads something like "2dp5dt."
Let's break this down so it makes sense.

"5dt" stands for 5 day transfer.
In the IVF world, depending on how many days your embryo developed in its petri dish, that's the numbered day for your transfer.

Some IVF-ers have day 3 transfers because their doctors recommended it.

Some let their embryos develop to the crucial blastocyst stage (by day 5 or day 6) before they are put back into the woman.

It actually makes much more sense if doing a "fresh" cycle, meaning the embryos are not frozen prior to transfer. Those people would have their egg retrieval, let the embryo grow 3-5 days, then transfer the embryo(s) back into the woman's womb on the 3rd or 5th day.

In frozen cycles....it's sort of irrelevant. You are typically put on a calendar, and will likely start your progesterone injections six days prior to the transfer, but they still call it a 3 or 5 day transfer.

Just go with it.
Now for the good stuff:

Transfer Day: 0dp5dt
Transfer #1: 12:45pm transfer time. Slight cramping that evening
Transfer #2: 10:45am transfer time. Slight cramping that afternoon, sore boobs and headache

1dp5dt
#1: Slight cramping. Tired.
#2: Slight cramping. Sore boobs. Headache. Tired.

2dp5dt
#1: Nothing
#2: Sore boobs. Headache. Tired

3dp5dt
#1: Nothing
#2: Sore boobs. Headache. Runny nose. Dizzy like I haven't eaten enough.

4dp5dt
#1: Nothing
#2: Sore boobs, Headache. Runny nose. Dizzy like I haven't eaten enough.

5dp5dt
#1: Wave of intense cramps like my period is about to start. Sore boobs.
#2: Minimal, quick zings of a cramping sensation up the middle of my stomach. Sore boobs. Dizzy in am.

6dp5dt:
#1: More waves of intense cramps in the am. Sore boobs.
#2: very mild, dull, ongoing cramping or pressure sensation for most of day. Boobs are less sore. Dizzy in am.

7dp5dt:
#1: More waves of intense cramps in the am. Sore boobs.
#2: a couple hours in the evening of dull, mild lower back and lower stomach cramping/pressure sensation. No more sore boobs.

8dp5dt:
#1: About an hour of intense cramps. Then nothing.
#2: Symptoms have all subsided except very minimal lower stomach pressure for the entire day. This sometimes changes to a localized pulsing sensation just under and to the right of my belly button.

Boobs are sore on the insides, but only to the touch....and maybe they just hurt because I keep poking them. :)

9dp5dt:
#1: Nothing. Symptoms have gone away.
#2: Woke up feeling lethargic, as if I am getting a cold. Stuffy nose and tired. Mild lower stomach and back pressure continue.

10dp5dt:
#1: Nothing
#2: Firey, throbbing sensation in my boobs, woke up to them much fuller and sore again. Mild lower stomach and back pressure continue

11dp5dt:
#1: Negative Beta
#2: Beta for this one was pushed one day because it fell on a Sunday, adding one more day to the torture. Sore boobs and stomach pressure continue.

12dp5dt:
#2: Woke up with minimal symptoms. Boobs are fuller but not hurting. Today is beta day.
Positive result at 435!! Slight nausea and insomnia begin.

And finally, things I did differently, or that were adjusted between the transfers:

Transfer #1: All meds were managed well, PIO shots were in the evenings, drank POM juice for about a week prior to transfer and a couple days after

Transfer #2: Completed an endo scratch, PIO shots were moved to am (doctors orders), drank POM juice from Transfer day plus five days. Took it a lot easier in terms of stress and movement.

Things of note with #2:

- I kept forgetting to take my daily vitamins/supplements.
Actually, I would forget things often....like I would walk into a room and totally forget why I was there, or I would forget that I sent an email out at work.
I do this sometimes in normal life, like put the cereal in the fridge....but this round even Mark mentioned how spacey I was.

- My Minivelle patches started giving me incredibly red, itchy welts this round, and I would realize I was itching them and they would fall off early. That happened a couple times.

- Mark administered my PIO shots in the wrong area for about a week before I reminded him about the upper-outer quadrant of the bum. I didn't realize he was so off until one of the shots literally felt like it went in my asshole. Yea...super fun.

- Most nights I would have very vivid dreams, need to get up and pee, and/or have night sweats. I can't remember how often, if at all, this happened with #1, so I didn't add it for the comparison.

Since my first beta, symptoms have been minimal but ongoing.
Sometimes it's a bit of nausea, sometimes I have vivid dreams, sometimes I have pressure in my stomach, sometimes my boobs hurt...but so far nothing overwhelming.

So that's a wrap! I suppose the take-away from this....is symptoms mean nothing, really.
You can have a ton and be negative.
Or you can have none and be positive.

Thanks so much for reading! XO