Absolutely in love

with these. Raj candleholders from Crate & Barrel...
At $4 a pop, I bought an armful. Happy Thanksgiving! :)

What/when in the 2ww...

If things go as they should, here is what happens after a 3dt: (borrowed from L&R here)

1dpt ..Embryo is growing and developing
2dpt... Embryo is now a blastocyst
3dpt....Blastocyst hatches out of shell on this day
4dpt.. Blastocyst attaches to a site on the uterine lining
5dpt.. Implantation begins as the blastocyst begins to bury in the lining
6dpt.. Implantation process continues and morula buries deeper in the lining
7dpt.. Morula is completely implanted in the lining and has placenta cells & fetal cells
8dpt...Placenta cells begin to secret HCG in the blood
9dpt...More HCG is produced as fetus develops
10dpt...More HCG is produced as fetus develops
11dpt...HCG levels are now high enough to be immediately detected on HPT

I start my estrogen patches today, it's going to be an exciting week! :)

DH turns 35!

It is pretty hard to believe that we are really getting this old, but there it is... DH likes to say he is still 28 (just for the 8th time?). We kept it pretty low key this year, given all that is going on, and went into the city to Japonais for dinner on Saturday. Unfortunately, as much as we both love Japanese food, it was pretty mediocre and disappointing. Apparently the buzz about this place is really just the eye candy (it's a favorite of celebrities and wannabes) and not about the food.

I can only hope by the time mine rolls around, we'll be hanging at home with baby. We'd both be happy as clams with that. :)

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