Inconceivable: What I wish I knew before my Frozen Embryo Transfer

There are so many things I wish I knew going into my Frozen Embryo Transfer!

FET, as it's also called, is one of the most bizarre, stressful and beautiful experiences you can go through and there are things I would have done differently had I known what I know now. They say hindsight is 20/20 and they (whoever they are?) are right!

Here are my biggest takeaways:

Hydrate

Yes, they tell you to drink 48 to 64 ounces one hour prior to the procedure time. But did you know that everyone's bladder is different? Shocker. So I could have a full bladder after drinking 32 ounces and someone else needs 64 ounces or more to be full. I didn't have a full enough bladder for my mock transfer so I was over-hydrating this time around.

Don't drink too much too early

I had acupuncture on-site before my transfer, so I drank 32 ounces one hour prior to my transfer time. I was so worried I wasn't going to have a full enough bladder that I kept trying to get down the remaining 32 ounces throughout my acupuncture treatment. By the time they took me in the back to check my bladder - I was dancing - uncomfortably full and ready to burst! It was one of the most uncomfortable moments I've ever experienced. Drink slowly and allow your bladder to fill.

They have to push on your stomach to check your bladder

As if having to hold in 64 ounces of liquid isn't hard enough, the nurse or doctor will use an ultrasound machine to check your bladder fullness. They do that by pushing on your belly with the wand!

Sometimes the doctor is late

My doctor was running late due to another procedure, so I had about a 10-minute wait in the transfer room. At this point, I was in agony. The nurse gave me the option to "go just a little." While the idea was great, once the train left the station, it wasn't coming back!

Accidents are OK

After my failed attempt to empty just a little, I was nearly back at square one. I came out the bathroom crying. I felt like a failure. The nurse hugged me and said that it happens a lot. She gave me some bottles of water and within 15 minutes my bladder was full again and ready to go.

Things are tiny

I had no idea how tiny a blastocyst/fertilized embryo is! We were able to watch a screen while the lab prepped our little blastocyst and it was amazing!

It might get stuck

While the doctor uses a solution to shoot the blastocyst into the uterus, there is still a chance it could get stuck in the catheter. It is too small to see, so the lab folks have to take the catheter back to the lab and flush it out. We go to watch that process on a screen. The tech examined every bubble to make sure the blastocyst wasn't in there. If it was, she would just reload it back into the catheter and we'd do it again.

Two-week wait

And once it's over, you get to enjoy the two-week wait, which is made only better by continuing estrogen pills and progesterone shots daily. So not only are you going to be wondering if you are pregnant, the hormones are going to make you feel like you are pregnant regardless. Yay!

​Have any of you had a FET and did it work?

Kathy is a mom of one and Out & About editor for WRAL.com. She writes for Go Ask Mom about her experience with secondary infertility.