And Then There Was One

Yesterday was transfer day. I arrived early to inquire about a $517 bill from the clinic for services that should have been paid, to do a progesterone test, and for my pre-transfer acupuncture session.

It was my first meeting with the acupuncturist. He was charming and really quite good placing the needles. I really appreciated being able to do my acupuncture session inside my RE's office - a huge stress reducer.

As I laid there with my needles in, I tried to visualize myself in a safe place, white light, and becoming pregnant. It was strange but something about the experience brought forth lots of really vivid visuals. I found myself wiping a unexpected few tears away.

He took the needles out at 4:45, which is when my transfer was due to happen. I guzzled down a bunch of water since I'd forgotten to drink anything but luckily my bladder was already moderately full. I was whisked into the transfer room and waited just a few minutes until Dr. Italian came in.

"We have one embryo today."

My heart sank. We had two blasts earlier in the day. What happened? He explained that the one that was "non expanding" was doing quite well (a grade 3 in terms of "blast" grading, not embryo grading - so very very good). The other one was not compacting well and hadn't formed the appropriate junctions between the cells. He said that they would watch it til the next evening. If it came around they'd freeze it for me. I suggested why not just put it in? But he said, "Well, that would defeat the purpose of doing a 5 day transfer."\

True. But it DID make it to blast. It's past that 3 day mark. So why not just put in back

I guess one thing is that it's safer in the lab under constant conditions if it's fragile. My uterus is a fairly hostile environment given how many embryos HAVEN'T made it there.

But he did say something that made my heart jump:

"This one may very well get you a baby."

So they washed my insides with water, blotted, and then rinsed out my cervix with blast culture so that there wouldn't be anything to "shock" the blast.

And in went the one little blast.

My post-transfer acupuncture would be done in the same room, so I just laid back and relaxed as best I could with a bladder that was near to popping. I really get freaked out peeing after transfer - worrying that I'll push out the embryos. The nurse could tell I didn't really want to get up and when I joked about getting a bedpan, she dashed off and brought me one. She is an angel. OMG. All I know is that with the bedpan and the acupuncture being done ON THE TRANSFER TABLE I was able to stay stationary for about an hour and a half before getting dressed to leave. That, in my book, makes me feel a LOT better about transfer than just about anything. (Well, that and the lovely valium that they gave me before I went in! ;-)

Progesterone levels are at 68 which they said was good. They said they want it to be over 17 or 18. They asked if I was taking extra on the side. Hell no. I wouldn't dare mess with my lining. There are somethings that I will tweak: antibiotic duration, lupron/ganirelix dosaging...but progesterone before transfer is definitely NOT among them. I would add in extra progesterone well after transfer (maybe 4 or 5 days out to support a potential pregnancy, but not before).

Anyways. That's it. 1 very good blast, one is struggling in the lab today.

Taking it easy today...riding the couch with the cats.

Beta is on March 2nd, but I'll be POAS with abandon the entire time.

Day 5 Embryo Report

I was a bit nervous this morning as I only had Saturday's day 3 report to go on. I sent in an email to the office. A prompt reply came back:

"You have one non-expanded and one compacted, both grade 3. There will be one last update right before transfer"

OK. I've not been to a day 5 transfer before. I'm in the dark on these things. I found this great description of how blasts are graded here which helped a lot but I still asked for a bit of clarification. She wrote back right away. Thank god. As I am a bit nervous.

"The best case is an expanded blastocyst, the non expanded and compacted. The non and compacted are just embryos that haven’t totally expanded. You will be able to get a better explanation at transfer from Dr Italian or our embryologist."

So I am wondering about the grading now. I had 2 7-celled grade 2 embryos on day 3. But now they are blasts. Blasts tend to have their own rating scale (esp if you look at the link above). Are my blasts still being graded on an embryo scale (and have thereby slipped from grade 2 to grade 3) or are they onto the Gardner blast grading scale which makes them a 3 and is actually quite good?

Well, I guess I'll have to wait til I get to the lab to know for sure.

All I know is that I am grateful, elated beyond belief, that this 45 year old has produced two living blasts for my 5 day transfer. I know that I have beat the odds: only 50% of embryos apparently make it to day 5.

This can happen. I believe this can happen.

Touch wood. Throw salt. Spit. Make sign against evil eye. Anything I'm missing in my ritual?

I'm doing pre and post acupuncture at the clinic (thank god it's all done in house) which should bump my odds a bit higher.

Now if I can just remember to breathe!!!!