A Tale of Two Mothers: Transfer #2

~ by Kim

It's done!

Yesterday, we transferred two 3-day embryos.

Some Embryo 101: (skip this paragraph if you like)

An embryo transfer is usually done on either day 3 or day 5. I didn't really know what this meant (apart from the obvious) until fairly recently, so I'll try to explain it as best I can, and hopefully I don't muddle it too much. After the eggs are fertilized, they are cultivated in the lab where they will continue to split and divide, and by the third day the embryos will have 6-8 cells. From Day 3 to Day 5, the embryo undergoes massive changes and becomes a blastocyst, where it can then have around 250 cells. Big jump! Apparently transferring a day 5 embryo allows for a better selection of embryos that are more likely to result in a successful pregnancy. Typically there is a lower chance of multiples with day 5 transfers, as fewer embryos are transferred at one time, and I think there might be a higher implantation rate. So why don't we wait till day 5? That's what I wondered. Turns out that a lab is not the ideal environment for the embryos to cultivate, so many of them will not survive to make it to day 5. If there are not a lot of embryos to start with, it is risky trying to get them to day 5 because the embryos may not survive that long, where they would've still been viable at day 3. I think it's something that each couple has to weigh the pros and cons of, depending on what their own situation is. For us, having only 4 embryos to work with meant we go with day 3'ers.

Back to the transfer...

I got to the clinic in the morning, but this time around I had paced myself with my water consumption, so it was not as uncomfortable as the last time. Since Janelle couldn't make it out and my hubby was working, my cousin Rachel came with me. She's just finished nursing school so she was fascinated with it all from the medical point of view.

We got in right away and started the process. The embryologist came to talk to us as we got to see the two little embryos on the screen. The embryos are scored on a scale out of 20, and the ones that they had scored 18 and 19. They had been pulled out of the deep freeze the day before to start thawing, and overnight one of them continued to grow and divide. Now, instead of putting in two 7-cell embryos, we were putting in one 7-cell and one 14-cell!
I think we have an overachiever already.

Here's a pic of the two embryos. The one on the left is the one that continued to divide and was now at 14 cells. The other is still at 7 cells.

The procedure itself went well. This time I knew more what to expect, and what to look for on the ultrasound screen. Rachel took some pictures so I could email them to Janelle and Joel and of course share them here too! :)

Here's a few more from the morning:

Almost time!

The big black mass at the top of the screen is my very full bladder. Underneath, you can see a small white dot, which is the air pocket that the embryos are in.

Here it is close up. Can you see them? I think it's one boy and one girl. (Kidding, of course!)

All done! Piece of cake...I'm "locked and loaded!" Literally. Haha!

After the procedure the doctor did some acupuncture, and then we were ready to go. We got take-out on the way home and had a completely lazy and relaxing afternoon. We made a pot of tea, crawled into bed and watched movies. Grown up movies. No Tinkerbell, no Rapunzel. My mom came by later with one of my favourite dinners, so I got to continue taking it easy the rest of the day without having to worry about supper. Bliss. If only every day was transfer day... I could sure get used to days like this.

Now comes the two week wait, while we wait to have the blood test to see if I'm pregnant.

Sometimes I think that this is the hardest part.

I dream of the day where I can throw all these pills out the window, and go back to my natural lunatic state, rather than this hormone induced one. If I get pregnant, I will stay on these until I'm 12 weeks along in the pregnancy, and then my body will be able to take over on its own.

...How could I not dream of that day?

It would mean only 28 weeks left, until Janelle and Joel would complete their family.