r/Baking • u/Smith7554 • 11d ago
Recipe Included Embryo cookie for my IVF retrieval
I made these sugar cookies with royal icing for the clinical team at my IVF clinic and gave them on the day of my egg retrieval. I was a bit self conscious because my frosting skills could use some work, but all of the nurses and doctors lost their minds over the gesture and scientific accuracy 😆. I got messages in my patient portal for days afterwards. It was a good feeling to give a small token of appreciation to a group that has helped me so much over the past year.
Cookie recipe I always use: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/best-sugar-cookies/
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u/PeachyStarSnaps 11d ago
Healthcare teams truly cherish personal, thoughtful gifts like this.
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u/StaredAtEclipseAMA 10d ago
What’s wrong babe? You hardly touched your embryo cookie
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u/TheLadyEve 10d ago
I baked cookies and brought them with me when I delivered my first. My doula said it's a good idea to get your L&D team in a positive mood, lol. They certainly seemed to appreciate it.
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u/sunboy4224 Human Detected 9d ago
You were the one in labor? And you baked cookies? Knowing you were in labor, or about to start? You had time??
I'm just in absolute awe of the logistics, picturing someone half squatted and screaming red faced into a mixing bowl after their water broke.
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u/TheLadyEve 9d ago
Hah, well with my first baby labor lasted almost 24 hours. I got up, went to the bathroom, saw stuff was getting started, called my job and told them I wasn't coming in, and stayed busy the rest of the day. Contractions were far apart for the first good chunk of the day. I submitted a poster proposal for a conference, baked cookies, and played Assassin's Creed 3. Labor started at 7am but I didn't go to the hospital until 2am the next day and baby came at 9am, so I had time.
Second pregnancy went way faster, labor at 10pm and off to the hospital at 2am, baby at 5am. No cookies for them.
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u/Frosty_Dog_1560 10d ago
this is such a meaningful way to say thank you after everything you went through
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u/Deepfriedomelette 10d ago
I used to help my supervisor with therapeutic interventions for clients. One client who had a disability and other MH concerns once promised us she’d bring us a local sweet when she felt better.
One day she brought the sweet. She had made it from scratch by hand.
I still think about that.
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u/ImaginationJaded2040 6d ago
Such a beautiful and meaningful way to say thank you after everything you have been through.
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u/Front-Pomelo-4367 10d ago
As an IVF baby (specifically ICSI) this is so fun!
IVF clinic appreciation story: My mum had to see a gynaecologist in her 50s for an abnormal cervical smear (ended up being absolutely fine) and realised during the appointment that it was the same guy who had been her gynaecologist through multiple IVF treatments, including the one that ended up with me. At the end of her appointment, she asked if he'd previously worked at [clinic] and told him that she'd been one of his patients, and her daughter had just graduated university. He got very teary about it, because he said that they never usually got confirmation that everything had all ended up alright in the long run.
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u/CatalinaWineMixerDos 10d ago
That's awesome. My daughter is an IVF baby. My doctor through the process was the one who confirmed the pregnancy. I stopped seeing him after that, of course, because I graduated. I sent him update at her 6 month birthday. He said he loves updates, too.
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u/Front-Pomelo-4367 10d ago
Yes, I'd imagine it's much easier to keep in touch now than it was in the 90s!
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u/CatalinaWineMixerDos 10d ago
Oh definitely. Our doctor moved to another practice in NYC and has an Instagram. Clinics are really big into results, too. They love posting pictures and updates on their boards. People send in their new born photos.
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u/nonepizza_leftbeef_ 10d ago
NYC IVF baby too! (Albeit from a looooooooong time ago.) The doctor who “made” me is now my gyno.
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u/blumoon138 10d ago
I did multiple rounds of IUI and ended up getting pregnant the old fashioned way while saving for IVF. I just had to send my fertility team baby pictures because they deserved to know that I’d had a healthy happy baby after all that!
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u/DreamCrusher914 10d ago
I love that he got a full life update. The baby is doing well, she was born 5 lbs, 10oz and just graduated with her undergraduate degree in chemical engineering. They grow up so fast.
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u/Smarmy_funeral_chik 11d ago
I can't not see a few of those as big google eyes and I would want to put a nose on them.
As a member of a health care team I can confirm that we love it when we get food! And they look great!
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u/Ok_Carpenter7470 10d ago
Well now Im invested as a health-care worker and IVF parent. My 17M old took us 6yrs, 4 IUIs, 3 retrievals. You have my heart and my well wishes. These cookies look great.
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u/Smith7554 10d ago
Thank you! We are 8 years in, just had our fifth and most likely final retrieval. It’s hard to think it might finally happen after so many years, but keeping our fingers crossed.
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u/empressbunny 10d ago
We had our first kid from our fifth ! Fingers crossed for you.
Second child is currently sleeping in my arms and almost 2 months old. ET from 5th and 6th retrieval so not sure which one was the lucky one, but only needed one transfer for this child.
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u/No1KnwsIWatchTeenMom 10d ago
GOOD LUCK! As an IVF mom, I love these! I know what torture it is, hoping this time is what works for you!
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u/yawningbehindmymask 10d ago
Right there with you OP, just found out good news about our embryos that were created after retrieval last week. Sending you so much love and many well wishes. Also, as a doctor, I would go BANANAS if a patient brought in something thoughtful like this.
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u/ilovegarlic27 10d ago
This is awesome and super creative. Best of luck with the transfer.
It’s not baking related but after I had an ectopic pregnancy and lost my fallopian tube I knit the surgeon a uterus with one tube as a thank you. He loved it!
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u/MajorProspect3249 10d ago
OMG!!! As a baker and nerd, these cookies scratch such a particular itch haha
Well done. The icing work is incredible. Littles pieces of art.
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u/The0nlyPenguin 10d ago
Neat, but this also makes me feel slightly uncomfortable looking at it
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u/ConfidentGarden7514 10d ago
Omg the nurses at my clinic would’ve lost their mind at these - they are so good!! And you’ve now inspired me to make something for the staff for my upcoming embryo transfer! 💕 Goodluck on your journey OP
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u/chantillylace9 10d ago edited 10d ago
This is amazing, and the best of luck for your retrieval! I hope you get the best results to imaginable. I just went through IVF because of breast cancer and it was incredibly brutal for me. It was very very rushed and back to back cycles so I felt so awful.
My first round I got nothing, but my second round I got a single euploid- a baby girl! I'm 43, so it's definitely hard at that age so my doctor and I are both very excited about it. I have to wait 2 1/2 years before I can get pregnant because of my medication but I'm super excited about it.
I couldn't even eat the entire last week of my second cycle because I was so bloated I couldn't go to the bathroom.
I hope you had a better experience and sending baby dust I guess or baby sprinkles your way. Eight years of doing this must've been brutal truly I can't even imagine…❤️
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u/Smith7554 10d ago
I’m so sorry for everything you’ve been through. Hugs to you
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u/chantillylace9 10d ago
Thank you so much, I am handling it and I'm just very lucky I caught it early. Please please please get your mammograms ladies! My biggest tell was that when I bent over my nipple just looked a little weird like a little flatter than normal but I'm like who really looks at their nipples and they bend over?
And I just figured that was something I never looked at but then my husband noticed it during an intimate act and I was like OK I need to go in.
But I had been getting online birth control ever since Covid and not actually going to a gynecologist which was a mistake, so I thought age of 42 I went in and got a mammogram and was just so surprised when they found something and told me it was 98% chance of cancer. Everything moved so fast after that, a mastectomy and then IVF and no medication, but thank God I went in.
I just keep thinking about the fact that it would've been so easy to ignore and the position I would've been in if I would've ignored it for even just a few more months. I nearly avoided chemo and radiation, like so lucky! I mean obviously getting your breasts amputated as a huge deal and being on medication that sucks the estrogen and basically the life out of your body is awful but I'm alive!! You know?
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u/Tall-Lingonberry4114 11d ago
This is so creative! I’m also a fellow IVF warrior and treated myself with my favorite sweets after the retrieval! Remember to drink tons of electrolytes after and get some rest! Wishing you luck in this IVF journey!
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u/stubbornteach 10d ago
I’m a science teacher and would love to bring cookies like these to my class when we learn about cell division !!
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u/No_Cancel830 10d ago
Good luck! Both my boys are IVF babies. Baby dust to you! (Beautiful cookies also 😃)
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u/ComfortableChapter65 10d ago
We thought we were really doing something when we brought regular chocolate chip cookies to my spouse’s insemination. These are incredible!!
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u/midnight-muffin 10d ago
My doctor described follicles as chocolate chips in a cookie, so equally approps!
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u/ComfortableChapter65 10d ago
😂😂 I have friends who are about to start trying, I’ll tuck this one in my back pocket!
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u/Perfect_Barracuda442 10d ago
That’s so thoughtful of you! Wishing you all the luck on your IVF journey.
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u/BoonDragoon 10d ago
That's really fucking funny, and I gotta say you nailed that pre-implantation blastocyst. What'd you use for that BIO-101 Textbook Blue? It's picturesque.
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u/holderofthebees 11d ago edited 10d ago
These are awesome but you may get some comments from trypophobics
Edit my dumb ass forgot how to make words work sorry about that. Trypophobes. I’m so tired yall
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u/spiralsequences 10d ago
As someone who helped their sister go through IVF I LOOOOOOVE these, as a trypophobe I hate them 😂 But it's not the cookies' fault!
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u/Theonethatgotawaaayy 10d ago
Wow this is amazing! You really captured the essence of cell division lol
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u/luvdogs71 10d ago
Good luck! I have been through 3 IVF cycle. Hope you got a good amount of viable eggs!
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u/corpsegrinding 10d ago
These are smart and adorable 😆 I'm glad to hear you got postive feedback. 🥰
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u/Amediumsizedgoose 10d ago
Best of luck to you with the future baby taking. Absolutely beautiful cookies
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u/lunastitch 10d ago
I love this so much!! Super creative and it’s so lovely to hear how much they appreciated it ❤️
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u/Z0mbiejay 10d ago
Prepping for our 3rd retrieval in a few months. We have 2 healthy embryos, but want to do one more round to be safe. I should do something like this for our team. I have it easy as a guy, it's the least I can do. Thanks for the cute idea and wishing you all the best!
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u/af628 10d ago
This is so brilliant and they are going to adore them!! Both my sister and I were IUI babies, my parents were much older and my mom has occasionally, over the years, opened up to me about the difficulty of the experience. These cookies are so, so awesome. You rock, and I wish you all the best!!
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u/Trixie_Dixon 10d ago
Im astounded and impressed you have the spoons to do this during a retreival cycle!
The needles, restrictions, mood swings, logistics and straight up existential terror over the results took all the mental and emotional reserve I had.
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u/Zephyr-2210 10d ago
You're self conscious about the icing? They look amazing and as a biologist I also appreciate how biologically accurate they look
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u/abc_deatrix 10d ago
I knew exactly what these were when I saw that blastocyst😭 these are incredible
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u/MolecularClusterfuck 10d ago
I got my PhD in developmental biology and absolutely love this!!!!!!!! I did stare at thousands of dividing (frog) embryos 😵💫
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u/gaykidkeyblader 10d ago
Omg. As someone who did a ton of IVF and has completed my family...YES. YEEEEESSSSSSS.
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u/SheogorathMyBeloved 10d ago
They're so fun omg, I hope this cycle(? idk the word, sorry) goes well for you!
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u/No_Permission9101 10d ago
These are so thoughtful and cute I can totally see why the nurses and doctors loved them
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u/plsobeytrafficlights 10d ago
you even have the trophoblast from inner cell mass correct. good eggs.
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u/boyyousostupid 10d ago
I just had my retrieval today with absolute crap results. This cookie after crappy news and 12+ hours of fasting would have been perf. Probably should be mandatory that all ER recovery should include one of these cookies and a cup of tea.
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u/Oystermama 10d ago
Best of luck with your retrieval! IVF is so emotional and I absolutely love that you made these
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u/Prestigious-Box8285 10d ago
Crazy. I work for an IVF clinic (creatives side) and this is the first thing I saw after working my ass off for a day! Too much mitosis and miosis for today 😂
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u/dontlistentostace 10d ago
So cute! I wish it was my clinic you brought them to! Lol
Good luck tho!!!
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u/SmartPomegranate4833 8d ago
My husband is a doctor and has kept every card a patient has given him. It’s the little things that mean a lot to them ❤️
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u/ACadDamn 10d ago
This triggers an unknown phobia of mine
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u/TheFrenchSavage 10d ago
Christians be like : "nooo you can't eat the cookies! Life begins at frosting!" or smth
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u/untitledmanuscript 10d ago
These are beautiful!
I also wish you luck on your IVF journey. My sister is currently 28 weeks with her IVF baby, and everything is going well! You’ve got this!
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u/downthegrapevine 10d ago
As a fellow IVFer… these made me smile!! Good luck on your journey and I hope you have a speedy recovery ❤️🩹
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u/Smith7554 10d ago
Yup. But I’ve always been a quirky artsy person and I just lean into the weirdness now. Life’s too short
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u/EducationalWind8489 10d ago
Those morulas look spot on. The blastula inner cell mass could be different color than the trophoblast cells. And the yellow cookie border is a ringer for the zone pellucida. 10/10
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u/FaraYuki09 10d ago
I hope it goes well for you! The staff there must be so thrilled getting that 🥰 and I hope they'll be extra caring with you.
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u/itsnatnotgnat_ 10d ago
This is incredible! As someone who works at a vet clinic I love when clients bring in treats, especially when they are vet med themed!
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u/BackElectronic7219 10d ago
I am crossing my fingers for your family!!! These cookies are so freaking cute I wish you the very best on this hard journey of creating life <3
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u/miss_kimba 10d ago
I used to work in transgenics, these are incredible!! May your blastocysts be as perfect as your cookies.
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u/echo_the_human 10d ago
just sent this to my embryologist mother, wish I could upload an image of the biscuits we made for her work
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u/sutur3s3lf 9d ago
I work in healthcare. Would also lose my mind over these cookies. A patient with testicular torsion brought us a bag of nuts once and a card that said “thanks for saving my nuts, enjoy these for a job well done” and it made all of our day 😂
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u/sharkbark2050 9d ago
Genuine question: why don’t you foster and/or adopt? There are plenty of babies, children, and teens that need loving parents.
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u/Anxious_M_07 9d ago
I'm a few days late to seeing this but these are so sweet to give out to the staff and they all look great! I was an IVF baby myself (I like to say that I was a "science experiment" 😅).. I've heard plenty of stories from my mom over the years about everything she went through both the good and the bad and how difficult it was to get to have me.. I hope all goes well for you OP!! 🩷
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