Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Better Late Than Never?

After a very ambitious beginning to my blog writing -- in which, at one point, I managed to produce seven days of consecutive posts -- I seem to have fallen off the wagon. But now I'm back and with an update on my last cycle, which culminated in a May 5 retrieval.

They managed to get 15 eggs, of which nine were mature and fertilized. (I'm convinced I could have stimmed one more day.) By Day 3, eight were still going strong. So strong, in fact, that the embryologist prefaced our conversation with, "You're just getting better and better with age." This really threw me for a loop as I'm not used to getting compliments from him. He went on to say that they couldn't have created eight better-looking embryos if they had tried and that everyone in the lab was quite surprised (in a good way).

Needless to say, my hopes were quite high, so when I found out I only had three blasts -- and on Day 6 -- I was a little disappointed. Nevertheless, the embryologists were very happy with my results and recommended that were I to have a good number of eggs next time, I should definitely go to blast. This significantly upped my spirits and I am now quite encouraged by the fact that I made three. Even if they are only 2/3 and not gradable yet. Still, I'm optimistic because I've never made a blast before (not that I've tried, but it certainly was a big unknown), so I see it as quite a milestone. And based on my previous cycle in which my normal ratio was approximately one of ten, I suppose it's possible that out of the nine embryos I made this time, one could be normal and that one could be one of the ones that made it to the three. I hope that was clear.

6 comments:

Jill M. said...

Welcome back to blogworld! Sounds like we had very similar cycles. I too had incredible day 3 results and it seemed like I had 8 with great potential to make it to blast. I was so disappointed when only 3 made it as they really got my expectations up. It ended up being my best cycle ever, but those darn high expectations can really get you.

Here we both sit, waiting for CGH results. (tapping fingers) Hope you get yours soon!

kayjay said...

That's great news about the blasts! Mine was a 2/3 day 6 blast too and I worried and worried about it until someone else on the boards said that Dr. Sch said that he has definitely seen people get pregnant with day 6 2/3 blasts. After all, they're still blasts right?! congrats on making it to blast - a big milestone in the whole journey.

DAVs said...

I'm so impressed you keep getting better and better! I understand your last sentence :)
I guess that growth hormone and DHEA is really doing the trick. Keep up the good work!

Phoebe said...

Hi, I just discovered your blog. I hope I'm getting better with age too, because we are both the same age! I look forward to catching up on your story. Congrats on the good news!

sd said...

Hi there. I just stumbled across your blog and noticed your post about how it took you a while to get to CCRM since you had so many great clinics in the tri-state area. I wanted to see if I could get more of your insights on that - RMA-NJ is doing the same process as CCRM in terms of vitrification of blastocysts followed by genetic testing (microarray). I've had a pretty good experience with them so far but have definitely noticed that the blog community seems exclusively focused on CCRM and wondering if there's a benefit to pursuing the same process at CCRM (as opposed to RMA NJ). Would certainly appreciate the benefit of your insights.

Polly Gamwich said...

Just curious if you have an update?

:-)

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