L. and C. called me this afternoon and gave me the news: the in vitro insemination of November 11th was a success, according to a trusty Evatest. The result became visible extremely quickly, said L., which might even indicate a multiple pregnancy... Thing is, these home pregnancy tests are sensitive to the presence of hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) in the mother's urine, where its concentration can grow much faster if there is more than one embryo present. We will know for sure on Monday, when C. has an appointment at the clinic. I haven't asked them what kind of examination will be given her (I imagine some kind of ultrasound) but they have been told that they will be able to see exactly how many of the implanted embryos --originally three-- took root.
The only reason I am being able to force myself to write about my future nieces and/or nephews using the word "embryos" is that we don't even know how many they are, yet. Otherwise I would find it even more fake and impossible.
But there they are now, growing inside C., this very instant: mis sobrin@s. I accompanied L. & C. to the clinic the day they were conceived, so I will truly be able to tell them, someday, that I was there the day they were conceived... I suppose that, coming from an uncle, would have seemed more than a bit out of place in times past, but of course, technology changes even this.
These babies spent the first two days after their conception in glass containers, outside their mother's body! At the time of transference they were each already made up of two to four cells... No more, but no less.
So, time of arrival: August 11, 2011... But probably before!
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This is myself again, not logged on, but writing to fill in the gaps and complete the details of the story, so that my sobrin@s may be able to know about them some day.
So, on the Monday referred to in the post, L. and C. went to Hospital Quirón in Valencia (the place where conception took place) and C. had an ultrasound performed on her. It indicated that there were indeed two embrios in her womb, but the heart of only one of them was audible.
C. and L. were told to wait 10 days and go again on Thursday of the following week (December 23rd), to see if that seeming inactivity of one embryo meant its development would not proceed any further, or whether it was only a matter of placement, that is to say, the embryo was indeed alright, but just not positioned in such a way that it could be easily auscultated at that point.
The suspense ended somewhat dramatically on Monday, December 21st late at night, when C. started bleeding. Very worried, she and L. rushed to the emergency room, where it was determined that the bleeding was due to a type of bruise that sometimes develops in the uterus at the beginning of twin pregnancies: the attachment of two embryos take up more of the uterus' wall, and can be more traumatic for it. Bed rest is required for a while, but if this step is followed, there is no risk to the pregnancy.
Anyway, another ultrasound was required to determine all this, and this time both babies were seen, with their beating hearts.
"They look like little beans", said L., "but their hearts were clearly moving." Still, one of them, due to its position, could only be seen, but not heard.
Obviously we are all very excited about this, and names are already being shuffled right and left. "Laia", "Pierina", "Piero" and "Adriano" are the parents' favorites at this point. I like them, but my personal favorite is "Calixto". :-)
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