In the beginning…

In late 2007 my wife and I started the process to perform In vitro fertilization. Here’s a very brief recap of that procedure:

The month of November was filled with daily shots; sometimes one a day, sometimes three. I played the role of the shot giver, and my wife played the role of the pin cushion. In the first week of December my wife underwent egg retrieval. As the name implies, this is the surgical process by which they remove eggs for fertilization. In the second week of December was the transfer procedure. This is the less than surgical procedure to implant one or more embryos (fully fertilized) back into the mother-to-be. The photo to the right is of one of our embryos in the blastocyst stage. Isn't he/she cute!?

Okay, so we have all the ingredients we need to accomplish pregnancy and they’re where they need to be. Now it’s time to wait and see if everything sticks. So we waited. And then waited some more. What’s this? Oh, just more waiting. How could nine days feel like nine hundred? Wait just a bit longer.

Finally, we get to pregnancy test day. It’s a blood draw at the Dr.’s office. We’re not taking any chances with home pregnancy tests. This is too important. The entire day we’re both on pins and needles. “I want to know now! No, I don’t want to know. What if it’s negative? I don’t want to know. No, I must know now!” Then, the phone rings; it’s the doctor and she has the test results. The call from the doctor goes something like this:

Dr: Great news, your pregnancy test is positive!

Wife: Really? That’s great! Really? But, well, are you sure?

Dr: What do you mean, “Am I sure?”

Wife: How certain is this test? Are you positive?

Dr. Well that’s sort of what the word “positive” means. As in “I’m positive that your pregnancy test is positive”.

Wife: So like on a scale of 1 to 10?

Dr: Well, we’re looking for a number over 50 for a positive pregnancy test. Your number is 120.

Wife: So that means I’m really pregnant?

Dr. Yes, 120 means you’re definitely, positively, absolutely pregnant! But that’s not all that 120 means…….