You made it!!
You completed your egg retrieval, you had eggs fertilize and develop and now you are
finally ready to place an embryo into the uterus!
What happens today?
What should you expect?
I will guide you through this exciting and nerve wracking day.
Stay tuned.
What happens in the lab.
Before you arrive at the IVF center for your transfer, the embryologists are already getting
things ready for you.
Most IVF centers now do frozen embryo transfers.
If your embryos were frozen, it is likely being kept in large tanks filled with liquid
nitrogen, like these.
The embryologist will already have decided which embryo they are going to thaw.
Inside the tank are several canisters and within each cannister are several metal holders
called canes.
The embryo is frozen onto a special device called a Cryotop which is held onto the cane
by a plastic tube called a goblet.
The cane with your embryo will be removed from the tank and the correct Cryotop is removed
and held in a bucket with more liquid nitrogen.
The Cryotop is then placed in a warming solution to raise the temperature of the embryo very
quickly.
Under the microscope, the embryologist can start evaluating the embryo to see if it survived
the freezing and thawing process.
The embryo will be passed through some additional solutions to remove freezing solutions.
The embryo is then placed into an incubator and allowed to warm for a few hours.
What do you need to do
On the day of the embryo transfer, you will be instructed to take your medications as
you normally would.
About an hour before your transfer, you will need to start drinking to fill your bladder.
Why do you need a full bladder for transfer?
The embryo transfer is going to be performed using an abdominal ultrasound.
Having a full bladder enables better visualization of the uterus.
Once you are in the transfer room, you will lay down on a table and your legs will be
placed in stirrups.
Then the abdominal ultrasound will be used to view the uterus.
A speculum will be placed into your vagina and the opening of the uterus will be wiped
clean.
Next the cervical canal will be rinsed with fluid.
This is to try to clear away the mucus in the cervix so it doesn't plug up the embryo
transfer catheter.
Next, the doctor will place a catheter guide through the cervix and into the uterus.
Back in the lab, the embryologist has removed the dish with your embryo from the incubator
and loaded it into a catheter along with some fluid called transfer media and a few air
bubbles.
When the doctor is ready, the embryologist will bring the catheter to the doctor.
The doctor advances the catheter down the center of the guide.
We like to get the tip of the catheter to a good spot and then transfer the embryo into
the uterus.
You will be able to see the catheter guide and then the catheter on the ultrasound monitor.
When the embryo is transferred you may see these white spots moving into the uterus.
These are the air bubbles that were in the catheter.
The air bubbles can be seen easily on ultrasound.
The embryo is too small to be seen on ultrasound so the doctor will remove the catheter, hand
it back to the embryologist who will then check it under the microscope to make sure
the embryo didn’t get stuck in the catheter.
Once we get the all clear, then you can go to the bathroom and rest for a little bit.
Later that day you can resume all your normal activities.
Bedrest is not necessary.
It is important to continue all of your medications so don’t stop or change anything.
A pregnancy hormone blood test can be performed 8 days later.