The PGS results

Technically, I received the call on Friday. We went on a quick trip and I didn’t feel like posting. Being in a hotel room feels like escaping reality. Your existence centers around that little room and it’s easy not to care about what is happening elsewhere. Sooooooo….we’re back home now.

Out of the eight embryos tested; five were cleared as “normal.” And—spoil alert—they are all girls. We now have five tiny female embabies waiting for us. Still, nothing is guaranteed. The chances of success do rise, but no certainties. We will be transferring just one embryo at a time. There are several reasons for this. First, I have previous have suffered from an incompetent cervix. So the smaller the gamble on multiples, the better. Second, due to the blood clots I had, again one baby is better. I will be on blood thinners my entire pregnancy. Third, it seems to be recommended for a normal, healthy embryo. This will give us five potential attempts.

It looks like the end of this month or the beginning of November we should be able to transfer. What of the other three? Two were male, one undetermined sex. One had trisomy (three copies of a chromosome) and two had monosomy (one copy of a chromosome).

I find it all surreal. Basically, we started with 20 maybe babies. Now we are down to five. I am very grateful to have them. It’s just astounding to see how fast they can dwindle away.

Can I go hide in a hotel again?

Day 7 Embryo Update

Well, we officially have 8 frozen embryos. The embryologist confirmed that each one has been biopsied and safely tucked away. It can take 10-14 days for the testing to be completed. The testing we are doing is called preimplantation genetic screening (PGS). PGS will screen the embryos for chromosomal abnormalities. Sooooo…..it’s mean a return to the waiting game. After dropping from fifteen to eight embryos, I worry how many will be normal. First, you get excited because of the high number. Then, you lose half of them and it feels like the pendulum is swinging the other way. Oh, they tell you not to worry about things you can’t control. I wonder, though, if the worry is not for the situation, but for how we will handle it when we come out the other side.

Our hope is to transfer in October. All depending on my body cooperating and the biopsy results.

Day 3 -- Embryo Update

An interesting thing happened on the way to forum…..or on today’s phone report. First, the nurse told me was had 15 embryos. Ummm, 15? That is an increase from the 13 we had on Saturday. Apparently, two additional eggs matured and were able to be fertilized. So we got two more! Eleven of the fifteen are considered “good.” While the other four are “fair” but still had a healthy cell count. Now, I get to sit and fret for the next four days until the follow-up report. Here’s to wishfully thinking.