FET {frozen embryo transfer}

Yesterday my period started!  So today I went in for an appointment.

I had a blood draw to test my hormone levels and an ultrasound to make sure my uterine lining is thinning like normal.  My uterus checked out and this afternoon I received a call giving me a green light from my bloodwork.

We are a GO!

I was really hoping my love affair with injections had come to an end, but was dismayed to learn that frozen embryo transfers also require needle time.  I have to give an estrogen injection in my butt every 3 days.  And the needle is friggin huge.  I was told it's going to hurt because of where it is and because the fluid is thick.  Boo.  At least it's only every 3 days.

I go in for my next appt. on the 27th and the transfer is tentatively scheduled for April 2nd.  I'M SO EXCITED!!!  I really hope this works.  I'm anxious for my family to grow.

In just over 2 weeks I could be pregnant!

Wyatt could be a big brother this year :)

Day 5 embryos update/genetic test results

I know I know, day 5 for my growing embryos was last Monday.  I'm super lame.

So the 3/8 update left us with 9 fresh embryos still growing and all 6 of my frozen embryos successfully thawed and growing, for a total of 15 embryos.

This number always drops between day 3 and day 5 because the embryos with genetic mutations often stop growing and don't make it to blastocyst.  I was hoping to have 8-10 embryos on day 5.

So Monday afternoon {the 10th} I got too impatient to wait anymore and called my coordinator.  She had just received the report and had it right in front of her to give me the results.

Of the 9 fresh embryos we had, 4 stopped growing, leaving us with 5.

Of the 6 thawed embryos we had, 5 stopped growing, leaving us with 1.

So a total of 6 left.

I'm not gonna lie... I was kind of crushed.  I was hoping for a higher number in case there were a lot of the embryos that were 'abnormal', which I wouldn't know until after the genetic test results came back.

I don't know why but this whole IVF cycle I keep getting down on myself.  I keep thinking that maybe I should have waited another month.  Maybe then my body would have reacted a little better.  I tried having, what I thought, were reasonable expectations for each step of the process... but I compared everything to my last cycle, and as many who have tried IVF multiple times can attest, each cycle is NOT the same.  I get it now.  I know part of my problem is I didn't mentally set myself up to handle failure like I did last time.  My expectations were simply too high.  Or, I should have gone into this having no expectations and take everything one baby step at a time.
Jared told me to stop being so negative and that everything will be fine.

The very next morning, first thing, I received a call with the genetic test results.
5 of the 6 embryos tested NORMAL!!!  FIVE!  Only one embryo was abnormal.  This is kind of huge.  For someone my age about half the embryos come back abnormal.  My dr. told me that my results are right in there with the 22 year olds and I'm shooting with one hand behind my back {since I only have one ovary}.  I am ecstatic about those results and definitely feeling a lot better.
The embryos are all 'high quality' and I have about an 80% chance of getting pregnant with each one.
Oh yeah... and we know the genders :)
2 boys and 3 girls!

Now I just have to wait for my period to start and we can get this party started.

Day 3 embryo update

I live by the idea that 8 is my lucky number.  Everything good happens with 8’s.  So by default today’s update should be a good one right?  

  Lucky for me, the nurse from HRC called first thing this morning, around 8:30.  Yay!  Early morning updates are the best because then you don't have to wait around all day wondering :)  She started by telling me that all they had thawed the 6 embryos that were from my last IVF cycle and that all 6 survived the thaw, wahoo!!!  Amazing news!  Then followed by saying I had a total of 9 embryos still growing and that I would get my next update on Monday.   

Wait… what? Nine?   

I made her repeat everything to make sure I heard that right and sure enough, she said nine.  

 So I said, you’re telling me that six of my nine fresh embryos just stopped growing???!  I don’t understand.  I felt immediately devastated and like I had just wasted a TON of money and put my body through hell for nothing.  

 If 6 had already stopped growing, the 3 that were left were for sure goners.  Between days 3 and 5 is where the numbers are supposed to drop a little.  Not between 1 and 3!  What had gone wrong?!  I kept questioning her and she told me that she was just telling me what the report said and that she could double check with the embryologist if I would like.  Um, yes I would like.   

We hung up, I had a melt down and about 5 minutes later she called back apologizing that she had misread the report.  All 6 frozen embryos survived and all 9 fresh embryos are still growing beautifully for a total of 15 embryos growing right now.  Now that’s what I’m talking about!  Much better news!  Between the phone call and waiting for a call back, that was definitely a crazy 10 minutes.  My emotions were all over the place.  Hopefully she hasn't made that mistake with too many other patients... but at least it was a mistake that had better results in the end than what she first came at me with!

Anyway, I’ll find out on Monday how many are still growing, I’m hoping between 8-10, and I should get the results from the biopsy back later that week.  We’re looking at doing the transfer sometime in April.  Beginning of April if my body cooperates, middle to end of April if it doesn’t.  So there’s a slim chance I could still have a baby this year.  Yay!

Now I just need to keep my fingers crossed that my body cooperates from here forward...

Nine!

Yesterday I was elated to find out that NINE of my eleven eggs successfully fertilized.

NINE!!!

That's 20% better than the results from the last cycle {11 & 9 vs. 13 & 8}

So far we're up one embryo from last time.

I'll get an update tomorrow morning with how they're growing and if any have stopped growing.  I think usually by day 3 all are still growing great, it's between days 3 & 5 that the numbers will drop off a bit... hopefully only a bit.  Like, an itty bitty bit.

We do still have 6 embryos that are leftover from last time.  Those embryos are currently frozen and will be thawed out tomorrow and everything will be allowed to grow for 2 more days so that I have all day 5 embryos.  Whatever has survived at that point will be biopsied and then immediately frozen.  So that's a potential of up to 15 embryos IF everything survives.  Which I don't expect.  So I'm hoping that between 8-10 will be biopsied and that of those, there will be at least 3-4 usable embryos.

Sigh.

So much to think about.

Wyatt fell

Having a kid with ichthyosis... I'm always afraid of Wyatt falling.  Falling for Wyatt doesn't mean a little scrap or bruise.  It means a chunk of skin is going to come off.

Well, yesterday it happened.  Wyatt fell.

Not the normal trip over your shoes and face plant in the carpet.  This was a legit, fall of the couch and bang your head on the step stool on the way fall.  Oh my gosh I don't know if I've ever heard this little guy scream as loud as he did then.  I immediately picked him up and tried to comfort him but he wanted nothing to do with hugs, or back rubs or kisses.  So I set him down so he could shake it out.  He kicked around on the ground for a second, then stood up and walked back and forth a few times shouting baby profanity, and then he finally came back into my arms.

I brought him into the bathroom to survey the damage and discovered that, during his fall, his head turned and he had whacked his ear on the stool.  Ouch buddy!  Skin was peeled back and the wound was weeping a little bit.  I got him distracted with random bathroom items and removed the peeled away skin as best I could, then I made sure we didn't rough and tumble play any more that day.  He seems to be okay and acting completely normal.  Thank goodness he didn't get a concussion!

This isn't a great shot of it, but this is how his owie looked this morning

It hurts me to just look at that picture.  Poor kid!

 Excuse the bed hair, he hadn't gotten ready for the day yet. :)