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It might be challenging to wait for your frozen embryo transfer. After all, a frozen embryo transfer (FET) is the final stage in expanding your family. In addition, many women understandably question what symptoms they could have between the 7-14 days following an embryo transfer and what could be considered explicit signals of a healthy pregnancy.
When combined with the symptoms you’re likely to experience following an embryo transfer, it can cause feelings, from the hope that you’ll finally be able to get pregnant to fear and a sense of helplessness that there’s nothing you can do to boost your odds of success.
Although these emotions are understandable, frozen eggs are just as wonderful as fresh embryos. Indeed, some research indicates that they may have somewhat higher success rates.
Furthermore, understanding the frozen embryo transfer process and what to expect after the operation will help you feel more peaceful and prepared for the results of your IVF cycle.
Overview of an Embryo Transfer
An embryo transfer is the final step of an IVF cycle- used to help women who are having trouble getting pregnant. It is a minimally invasive treatment that usually does not require pain medication.
The embryo transfer is performed by a fertility doctor who uses a small catheter to implant the thawed frozen embryo beyond the cervix and into the womb.
The placement of the embryos within the womb is exact in this process; thus, it’s done with the aid of ultrasound. Moreover, ultrasonography aids comfort by allowing the doctor to see where the catheter should be placed so that it does not touch your cervix.
Following The Embryo Transfer
While a frozen embryo transfer is a standard medical treatment, it’s critical to look after yourself afterwards to guarantee your safety, minimize any adverse effects, and improve your chances of fertilization and pregnancy.
The doctors will tell you to rest on your back and relax for about an hour after the embryo transfer. However, because embryo transfer is a minimally invasive technique, it may not be necessary to rest for as long.
The embryo transfer technique takes around 2 to 4 hours (including rest time). After each session, your IVF clinic will provide you with detailed instructions to help you feel at ease and sure that you are taking excellent care of yourself in the days leading up to your post-embryo transfer pregnancy test.
Taking A Break
While some physicians recommend that patients rest for a full day following the surgery, others encourage that they conduct low-impact exercises to promote blood flow to the womb and increase their chances of becoming pregnant.
There’s no proof that you need to stay in bed following the treatment, so do what you believe is best for you, whether it’s going for a brief stroll or sleeping to relax.
However, after the embryo transfer operation, high or even moderate levels of exercise are not recommended.
Positive Signs of an Embryo Transfer
Here’s a list of early indicators that you could notice within 14 days following embryo transfer, which could indicate that you’re pregnant:
- Fatigue
- Nausea
- Cramping
- Breast Tenderness
- Increased Desire to Urinate
- Sensitivity to Smell
- Spotting or Bleeding
Unfortunately, many of these symptoms might also signal the start of your menstruation. Don’t be deceived if you’ve never had premenstrual symptoms. The hormones you take throughout the IVF cycle are likely to affect this.
Fatigue
From day one through birth, feeling weary and exhausted seems to be a standard component of pregnancy. So when your progesterone levels rise, you may feel exhausted at first.
Most people will feel exhausted around the time their period is due. This might suggest a successful embryo transfer, but it could also be a side effect of fertility medications.
The most common reason for exhaustion is because of increased progesterone levels, which can happen by pregnancy or drugs recommended by your doctor.
Vaginal Discharge
Following your embryo transfer, you may notice an increase in vaginal discharge.
This rise is frequent in early pregnancy because it helps prevent infections from spreading from the vaginal area to the uterus. Healthy vaginal discharge is thin, transparent, and milky white with a slight odor.
Speak to your doctor if you have any concerns regarding odd discharge.
Nausea
Morning sickness or nausea usually begins in the second month of pregnancy, so it’s not a symptom you’ll feel two weeks after an embryo transfer.
If you suffer nausea or vomiting throughout the two weeks, keep track of it — particularly if it becomes regular — and consult your doctor.
Many women who experience this terrible symptom report feeling ill in their stomach two weeks after missing their menstruation cycle.
Cramping
Mild cramping is a frequent symptom that your period has arrived, but it can also be a hopeful sign that an embryo transfer went well.
Early pregnancy can induce cramping because progesterone encourages muscles and ligaments to loosen and become more flexible to accommodate a baby.
Breast Tenderness
In women, sore breasts are an early indicator of pregnancy. So even in a normal pregnancy, you would feel this.
It might indicate a successful embryo transfer if your breasts feel painful to the touch or swollen.
Breast discomfort, according to fertility specialists, is caused by pregnancy hormones.
It might be related to the hormone medicine you’ve been taking for the past 14 days. Progesterone, both oral and injectable, can make your breasts mushy, sensitive, puffy, and painful when bumped.
Increased Desire To Urinate
Trips to the restroom late at night and an increased need for pit stops might be signs of early pregnancy.
Some people even report a greater desire to urinate before their period. However, this is likely another symptom you’ll notice after missing a period.
A rise in the pregnancy hormone hCG and a spike in progesterone causes frequent visits to the toilet. The increased desire to pee is due to the excess blood in your body if the embryo transfer was successful.
Sensitivity to Smell
Increased sensitivity to smell is another encouraging symptom, which can occur as soon as two weeks following embryo implantation.
Early pregnancy symptoms include a heightened sense of smell, making previously moderate scents overwhelming and disagreeable.
Babies might be in the air if their nose has become more sensitive and easily irritated, which is one of many women’s early signs of pregnancy.
Spotting or Bleeding
The first indication of pregnancy is usually light bleeding or spotting.
Spots in your underwear or on toilet paper after wiping might suggest implantation, which signifies the embryo has implanted into the uterine wall lining.
It is also frequent while using hormone drugs like progesterone for the first two weeks following the embryo transfer.
Most likely, your doctor would recommend that you continue taking progesterone to assist your body in creating the exact quantities of hormones as it did during the first few weeks of pregnancy – which means that spotting may or may not indicate a successful embryo transfer.
Conclusion
It may be difficult not to examine every discomfort or change in the days and weeks following an embryo transfer, and no one can be faulted for wanting answers.
But keep in mind that no symptom — or absence thereof — is a sure sign that you’re pregnant.
So stay optimistic, depending on your loved ones throughout the waiting time, and you’ll be able to take a test to see if your IVF embryo transfer was successful soon enough.
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