A spare pair!!

I was just in the shower (and thinking about my embies) and DH busts in and tells me that the clinic has just called to tell us we have two blasts to freeze! Yippee! Best news ever! I can't stop smiling... :)

Embies On Board!(and more lessons learned the hard way)

First of all, I apologize for my freak out this morning, I'm really not a drama queen (I promise ;) ). I am also sorry if I offended anyone with my disappointment in having a 3dt. Given I went into what may be my only ER w/14 follies and ended up with 5 embies, and that my clinic is all about being a 5dt shop (they have dramatically lower success rates with 3dt vs. 5dt), and given the lack of info I had at the time (that only 5 embies may lead to a 3dt, regardless of quality), getting a call that said "can you be here in two hours?" is a little mind bending. Are my last embies arresting as we speak? They wouldn't tell me anything. Goodness that was unnecessarily stressful.

So after I got off the phone, as directed I popped in my Prometrium and laid down for 30 mins. drinking my 24 oz. of water, I then got ready and we left for the hour ride to the clinic. Not too far in, I got really uncomfortable. First, it was "I have to pee" uncomfortable, then it got so severe that I was writhing and screaming in pain. I thought maybe the pill meant to relax my ute must be causing cramping or something. I seriously felt what I imagine laboring in the car to be like. It was absolutely horrific.

When we finally got there, the nurse said I shouldn't be in pain and she immediately popped the u/s on my belly, which we realized was hugely distended. They had me empty two cups out of my bladder immediately, which made me feel SO much better. Then we waited a bit and they u/s'ed me again, and again I could lose two more cups (WTF right?). Then after more waiting they set us up in the transfer room where they u/s'ed me again. I still had a lot more in my bladder than I needed, but I felt so much better at that point that I just stayed put.

The Dr. finally came in and told us that our five embies are all doing well. Thank goodness. There was 1 8-cell, 1 7-cell, 2 6-cells, and one five cell. I was so exhausted at the point, that I didn't ask many questions. We confirmed that we wanted to transfer two and the "best" were the 8-cell and one of the 6-cells. The transfer was uneventful. They will watch the other three until Tuesday to see if any are good for cryo.

Lesson learned, if you are in any pain when you've filled your bladder, just go. I suffered unnecessarily, because I was worried that the transfer would be screwed up if I went. My mock transfer (when I also drank 24 oz.) didn't go as expected, as my bladder wasn't full at all. Go figure.

Thanks for all the T&P, let's hope they are snuggling in and getting comfy. :)

Not great news

I just got off the phone with my clinic, and they want us to come in at 10am (in two hours) for a 3dt. The nurse wouldn't tell me how our five embryos are doing, we will have to wait until we get there to talk to the Dr. Any T&P you have to spare for us would be very much appreciated. I'm laying here with my Prometrium and my water shaking I'm so nervous. Please God...

Two days post ER

2-day/2-cell embryo

Well, it's been an interesting few days. We are thrilled with our five embies (hopefully there are still five of them now, I hate not knowing), but can't help but be somewhat disappointed that with this our first/last/only insured/all bets in round of IVF that we don't had a little more room for error. I'm feeling guilty that I'm having a stage mother moment, that our short term financial situation counts of the success of these embryos. That's not fair to them, but that's where we are. Hopefully they are overachievers like their parents. ;)

I really hate being a worst case scenario Katie, but I have to manage my expectations from this to the best case, and recalibrate where we likely are on this spectrum as we get more information. On my last follie check (where I got measurements), we had 14 measurable follies. Of these, 10 were retrieved, only 7 were mature, and only five fertilized with ICSI. As much as I cringe when I hear about other IFer's having dozens and dozens of eggs retrieved, these numbers don't bode terribly well for what we are dealing with, though I've never had any test come back reflecting DOR or low quality, actually quite the contrary. Hopefully I was just under-stimmed and they are high quality/low quantity.



I realize that we could very well be successful (and maybe still doubly so), but I have to wonder the likelihoood of us ending up with even one to freeze. Meaning the probability that we would need to do another fresh cycle is greater now than it was just a few days ago.

My clinic's success rates are really good, that's why we are going there...

AF's 2009 IVF Pregnancy and Live Birth Success Rates
Clinical Pregnancy Rate Per Egg Retrieval(Sac in uterus on ultrasound): 66.9%
Live Birth Rate Per Egg Retrieval: 62.9%

But the potential impact (cause/effect) of a possible 3dt rather than being able to wait to 5d is dramatic. I will not know what we are doing until tomorrow. I have to keep reminding myself (w/the help of my IRL friend, whose first round of IVF (5dt) was BFN, but her second (3dt) was successful and she has a beautiful 9 mo. old daughter) that it may not matter for me. But my clinic typically does 5dt, unless there is reason not to.

Female Age Under 35
Day of Transfer/ Number of Embryo Transfers Clinical...
Pregnancy Rate Per Embryo Transfer/Live Birth Rate Per Embryo Transfer
Day 2 or 3/ 305... 45.9%/36.7%
Day 5 or 6/ 565... 72.4%/65.8%


I was feeling great post ER, until I realized that I was not going to have a BM in any reasonable amount of time. I was getting really uncomfortable yesterday and finally broke down and went and bought a "gentle" laxative. I don't think I've ever taken a laxative. Needless to say, last evening after class was not pleasant. Hopefully, my body will right itself and I will not need anymore of that anytime soon. Ugh.

I took my first shot of PIO last night, which DH administered after some extensive icing. I didn't really feel a thing, but it is the creepiest thing, that huge needle. I'm not that big across, so it seems to border on impaling to me. Hopefully these will get even easier, and I will be able to do them myself, when needed. My sweet sister (who has finally moved back to MN, now that my grandma is in WI) has graciously offered to come stay with me (and little does she know, give me my shots) when she found out my DH will be going back to India next month and I will be alone. This is of course assuming I get pg. See I really am an optimist. :)

Off to spend the day in Evanston with my dear friend and her nearly four year old daughter, and go see my acupuncturist for what may be my pre-ET visit.

* All images from www.advancedfertility.com

Fert report

Of the 10 eggs they retrieved yesterday, 7 were mature, 5 fertilized and we now have 5 embies growing. :)

It is still up in the air whether we will do a 3dt on Friday or a 5dt on Sunday. They will call me back on Friday morning. It's going to be a LONG two days...

My first mommie moment

For the first time in quite awhile, I got up in the middle of the night wracked with worry. I couldn't stop thinking about my embies... How many of them are there? How are they doing? Who's looking after them? Are they taking good care of them?

I'm probably completely certifiable, but I guess I should get used to worrying about them for the next 20+ years...

10!!

They retrieved 10 eggs today! We are very excited! I thought maybe we'd get an even dozen or so, but my RE thought we'd have fewer than we did. They like to have 8-15, so he was very happy with what they have to work with. I hope it's just the right amount, it's my lucky number. ;)

So excited for the fertilization report tomorrow. I am feeling spectacular since the retrieval and fluid drain, which is welcome since I felt really lousy yesterday. So glad to be home and resting.