The beginning of May started with a bang and we just fizzled
out today. However, DH, our surrogate
and I are now marching forward, looking now at August to be exact.
To catch up, here's where we left off:
Trigger Shot Tonight!
Monday, May 5
Our egg donor gave herself her trigger shot
tonight at 8 pm. So far she has 20 follicles that can be seen. Retrieval is
scheduled for Wednesday at 8 am!!! Can't believe we are almost there.
Egg Retrieval was a
Success!
Wednesday, May 7
31 eggs were retrieved from our 24 year old
donor.
Fertilization Has
Begun!
Thursday, May 8
Of the 31 eggs, 27 were feasible. 19
fertilized as of Day 1! We now wait for Day 3,
May 10, to determine if we have enough 8 cell embryos that can make it to blastocyst to go to Day 5, May 12.
Day 3 - We Have Enough
to Go to Day 5!!!
Saturday, May 10
The embryologist called at 8 am with fantastic
news - We have 9 - 8 cell embryos!! This is as perfect as it gets. Our clinic's
Day 5 policy is to have a minimum of 4 embryos that they think with make it to
Day 5. Look out May 12th, here we come!
Our surrogate didn't have to drive down for the
Transfer. She will have a nice, relaxing Sunday with her family and spent it celebrating her Mother’s Day.
Day 5 Transfer Rocked!
Monday, May 12
 |
| Day 5: 2 - 5AA blastocysts: Thingy 1 & Thingy 2 (Photo: Baby for Our Family Blog) |
We had 4 - 5AA blastocysts! Our RE implanted 2 in our surrogate in the afternoon. One of them was already
hatching. I had to sign an Elective Single Embryo Transfer (eSET) waiver. Our doc feels we are going
to have twins because of the embryo quality, our carrier’s uterine lining
measurement and the ease of implantation. He was surprised that we didn’t agree
to the eSET. The rest we froze. We
had a few strays to wait what Day 6 holds. If they are better than a Grade 3,
our clinic will freeze those. Now we wait for the next 9 days.
AMAZING Frozen Embryo
Report
Wednesday, May 14
Received the report from our IVF doc. 19 out
of the 27 viable eggs fertilized. Of the 19, all 13 were blastocysts that made it to
Day5/6 (2 implanted in our surrogate, 11 are now frozen):
Are a Grade 5!
5 of the 13 are 5AAs (2 implanted, 3 now frozen)
2 made it to Day 6, both are 5BBs
Rest are: 3 - 5ABs and 3 - 5BBs
6 did not make it
We ARE NOT Pregnant! We're Okay
Today, May 21
Our Surrogate’s Honest Response
After asking our coordinator who was going tell
to our surrogate the news, I asked if it was ok if I contact our surrogate
directly. I wanted to share the bad news
personally so that she knows that we, DH and me, are fine and to eliminate any
awkwardness our surrogate might feel towards us if someone other than me tell her her test results.
Our surrogate was surprised and upset. I shared with her about possible frozen embryo transfer (FET) and if she is willing. Her response was “Yes, but not for a third time if we fail again.” I can totally respect her decision.
Our surrogate was surprised and upset. I shared with her about possible frozen embryo transfer (FET) and if she is willing. Her response was “Yes, but not for a third time if we fail again.” I can totally respect her decision.
Our Clinic’s Disbelief
Like our coordinator, our RE and the nurses are all
shaking their heads in disbelief. Within the group, they had to look at the pregnancy blood test results a few
times to be sure they were seeing our results correctly before our coordinator called me this morning.
We were as textbook as textbook can be. Besides having a 24 year old donor, our under 35 year old surrogate has delivered 2 children of her own. But as I told our coordinator, even with a 70% chance of Day 5, 5AA success, there is still a 30% failure. Luckily, we have 11 Grade 5 - 3 – 5AAs to be exact - embryos left and with the frozen the chances of becoming pregnant are just as good as the fresh. Also the more times you try, the odds are in our favor. Helpful Sanity Tip: Always think of the positive because if you only think of the negative it will give you stress and anxiety which will not do you, and anyone around you, any good.
We were as textbook as textbook can be. Besides having a 24 year old donor, our under 35 year old surrogate has delivered 2 children of her own. But as I told our coordinator, even with a 70% chance of Day 5, 5AA success, there is still a 30% failure. Luckily, we have 11 Grade 5 - 3 – 5AAs to be exact - embryos left and with the frozen the chances of becoming pregnant are just as good as the fresh. Also the more times you try, the odds are in our favor. Helpful Sanity Tip: Always think of the positive because if you only think of the negative it will give you stress and anxiety which will not do you, and anyone around you, any good.
Telling DH the “Not So Great” News
Because he’s traveling
today, I had to wait till DH landed at the airport for his connector before I
made the call. It was not the call he was expecting. He kept asking me “We
failed? We are not pregnant?” I responded: “Yes, yes, and Yes, it failed. They did
not stick. We are not pregnant. We fall under the 30% failure rate.”
Next Steps – Our Fertility Journey Continues
DH’s next response: “What
do we do next?” I gave him the frozen
embryo option and our surrogate's willingness to continue with us. Kaiser can schedule us for a frozen embryo transfer in August. DH’s response:
“Ok, let’s do it.”
No comments:
Post a Comment