Vagina Glue + Sticky Embryos

In case the title of this blog post isn't enough warning,  I will tell you right now that this post qualifies as #oversharon.  It's a little TMI if you find this sort of thing to be more information than you desire.  I will tell you when TMI starts and ends, at least.

So, at this point in the cycle, progesterone is very important.  It helps make the uterine lining thick and delightful, so the embryos will want to stick.  On the fertility boards everyone talks about hoping that things are "sticky" which means that the embryos actually implant which = pregnancy.  People send "sticky thoughts" and "sticky vibes" etc.  So, the progesterone helps make things sticky.  That's its job.  There are, as I've mentioned before, two main ways to take progesterone.  One is PIO (Progesterone in Oil) that is injected into the top and side of the butt with a large needle on a daily basis.  The other is in a gel that is inserted vaginally.  That's the goop I went for.  And I do mean goop.  I've started just calling it my vagina glue, because in addition to its job being to keep things "sticky" it does so by actually sticking to the walls of the vagina so the progesterone can be absorbed that way.

Skip this if you gross out easily:
But, here's what they don't tell you before you decide on the goop.  It basically stays up there and turns into these weird balls of sort of a cross between a cotton ball and cottage cheese and it just kinds of builds up until you reach in and get it out.  Which I've just taken to doing each morning in the shower - it requires a pretty deep dig and full finger sweep.  Fertility treatments are not for those uncomfortable with their bodies, that's for sure.  It's amazing to see what comes out each day - texture/color/amount.
/gross out

Anywho.  I found myself curious, pretty quickly (I'm sure you're not shocked), to figure out what my two little embryos were doing in there.  The Internet gave me this handy dandy chart for what's going on with embryos based on number of days post a 3-day transfer (which is what I had).  They also have a chart for 5-day transfers, so you can click off to check that out.  Hey, wanna learn some more lingo?  Ok!  Today I am 2dp3dt (two days past three day transfer).

Days Past Transfer (DPT)	Embryo Development
One	The embryo continues to grow and develop, turning from a 6-8 cell embryo into a morula
Two	The cells of the morula continue to divide, developing into a blastocyst
Three	The blastocyst begins to hatch out of its shell
Four	The blastocyst continues to hatch out of its shell and begins to attach itself to the uterus
Five	The blastocyst attaches deeper into the uterine lining, beginning implantation
Six	Implantation continues
Seven	Implantation is complete, cells that will eventually become the placenta and fetus have begun to develop
Eight	Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) starts to enter the blood stream
Nine	Fetal development continues and hCG continues to be secreted
Ten	Fetal development continues and hCG continues to be secreted
Eleven	Levels of hCG are now high enough to detect a pregnancy

So, according to the chart, my embryos are morulas (yeah, I had to look it up, too, don't worry) and are turning into blastocysts.  Tomorrow they start to hatch!

This is an awesome time lapse video of a fertilized egg developing up to day 6 (aka just about where mine are now, if they're still alive in there).  Sort of rad, eh?