You go through a lot of stuff when you do IVF. Stuff you don’t normally run into when making a baby. Drugs, needles, scans and lots of probing. Oh wait…I guess there’s always a little probing involved. (ha!) But one of the more odd moments I recall was right after the embryo transfer, when the embryologist asked if we’d like to keep the petri dish.

I recall being a little confused, thinking “people actually do that?” My husband and I pondered it a few seconds before both saying “No thanks.” Now, as my son is nearing three, I can’t help but to think about one day him asking me where babies come from and how cool would it be to whip out that petri dish and be like “Well son, you were created right here in this little dish!” For some reason I think this is really funny. It also might scar him for life. But mostly, it makes me chuckle.

My son’s first baby photo, as a three day old blastocyst

I did save everything else though. I have all his photos from egg to fetus. I even have the positive pregnancy test sticks where I tested every day and watched the line get darker. If you aren’t familiar with infertility stuff, IVF people are obsessed with pregnancy testing sticks. So yes, I’m saving something I peed on, and I really should get rid of those but I just can’t yet.

So if you happen to be going through IVF, don’t be afraid to save everything. Because one day you may look back and think…we should’ve saved the petri dish.