Following the embryo transfer, you will be released from your fertility clinic and asked to go straight home to bed rest. If you traveled for your embryo transfer, we will have booked a hotel for you to stay in for the forty-eight hours following the procedure. If your transfer takes place on Day 1, you will be able to travel home on Day 3. If you live locally, you will head straight home to get cozy!
We suggest grabbing some French fries on the way home either way! See our post here to find out why!
For the next two days you will have a protocol put in place by your specific doctor. They all vary slightly in how quickly you can resume your normal daily activities. You can safely expect to rest completely the first day, do a little light walking around (not exercising!) the following day, and then a little more the day after that. After that, you’ll be able to resume normal daily life while we wait for your blood test to confirm pregnancy.
Some clinics administer an HCG shot as a part of their protocol following the transfer. If this is the case for you, we will ask you not to take a urine home pregnancy test before your blood test, which will likely be done approximately seven days after the transfer. This is because we’re injecting HCG, human chorionic gonadotropin (the pregnancy hormone!) into your body and a home pregnancy test will show a positive result, even if the embryo transfer was unsuccessful. The injected medication will be metabolized out of your system after about five days, so any HCG that appears on your blood test a few days later will be an organic reading of how much HCG your body is producing, thus signaling a successful transfer and confirmed pregnancy!
From this first post-transfer blood test, you might also have an adjustment to your medication protocol based on your hormone levels. If this happens, rest assured it’s common and the doctors are fully prepared to adjust your medication until we get stable levels, so don’t worry! You will also have a repeat blood test a few days later to check how your HCG levels are rising; we want them to double every forty-eight hours. Occasionally, they want to check a third time; again, nothing to necessarily worry about if this happens to be the case for you. Sometimes levels are borderline or low, and occasionally they’re rising at such a fast pace they want to see a third result to establish how quickly they’re increasing. Most likely you’ll receive only two blood tests approximately forty-eight hours apart, but if you are asked to go a third time, you will be told what they’re looking for. These blood tests can be done at a lab near your home, such as LabCorp or Quest Diagnostics. You will most likely not have to travel back to your fertility clinic to complete any testing following the transfer.
A few weeks after we confirm your pregnancy through blood tests, you will receive an ultrasound to see the heartbeat. Following this, you will continue to be monitored until you’re anywhere from 10-12 weeks pregnant, depending on your clinic’s specific protocol. You can also expect to remain on medication for approximately the same amount of time. Upon a final hormone check and ultrasound to ensure the baby (or babies!) are doing well and growing appropriately, you will “graduate” from your fertility clinic and be released into the care of your normal OB doctor, who you will see for the remainder of your pregnancy.
The rest is pretty self-explanatory if this is not your first pregnancy! At this point, the hard part is done (until it comes time to have that baby!) It may seem like a lot of work in the beginning but we hope to prepare you as much as possible so there are no surprises. You can always reach out to your intake team if you’re in the beginning stages, or your case manager if you’re a little further along in the process and would like more information!
If you are eager to apply, start your initial application here! If you have any questions, please reach out to us at 949-501-3624 or contact@ivysurrogacy.com and follow us on social media @ivy_surrogacy for more informational posts!
