Preparing for Transfer!

I can't believe how much time has passed since our last update.  Life has been busy, but I guess there's some good in that since the time has passed quickly without much thought.  But so many of our amazing friends and family have reached out to ask how things are going, so I knew it was time to write another update.

In the last update, we shared that our egg donor had 10 mature eggs retrieved and 7 of those fertilized with a possible 8th.  At that point, we were waiting on our Day 5 Blast Report.  Well, day 5 came around and we found out that 3 of our embryos made it to the blast stage with 1 more possible.  Those 3 embryos were all graded 5BB (good!), biopsied for chromosomal testing, and frozen.  The embryology team continued to follow that 1 other embryo through day 6 and day 7, but it never made it to blast.  

On one hand, I felt great that we had 3 embryos - in all of our previous cycles we never had more than 2, so this felt good.  But on the other hand, with donor eggs, I was really disappointed that we only ended up with 3 blasts.

Based on the donor's age, egg quality, etc., the embryologist said they would expect 65% of those 3 embryos to be euploid, or chromosomally normal.  At that point, I felt disheartened.  It sounded to me like we could only have 2 embryos come back euploid.  The results took longer than expected - 10-14 days is the usual, but we finally got the call on a Sunday, after 3 weeks of waiting.  All 3 embryos came back NORMAL!  We were all smiles and felt like celebrating!  With 3 chromosomally normal embryos, we have at least 3 chances of getting a transfer right, whew!

Next step was uterine testing and labwork for me.  I had to have a full bladder for that uterine testing, so here I am, sitting in my car before the appointment, chugging 32 ounces of water.  Fun times! 

Most everything came back normal.  Just a little off on the blood flow to the uterus, but my doctor is trying to correct that with medication.  Speaking of medication, here's a glimpse at the meds I'm currently on.  Pills, shots, patches, you name it.

I even have an old lady pill box with AM and PM side that I have to carry around with me! 😄

All of this is helping my body prep for the upcoming transfer of the first embryo.  Because I have a uterine window, or an area near my c-section scar that is thin and didn't close up properly, my OB is limiting the transfer to only one embryo.  In addition, I'll have to deliver 4 weeks early.  This is all to prevent a limb from escaping the uterus!  😳

December 7th is our transfer date!  Two weeks from today.  I have three more doctor appointments between now and then to ensure that my uterus and hormones are cooperating and will be appropriate for the transfer.  I'll also be going through an intralipid infusion to help strengthen my immune system and prevent it from trying to fight off the embryo, which I truly believe my body has done every other time.  The intralipids are thought to suppress natural killer cells that could be involved in repeated miscarriage (I've had one) and/or repeated implantation failure (I've had 5 embryos failed to implant over three transfers).

Now, we'd love to hear from you all!  Since the embryos went through chromosomal testing, we know the gender of all three.  Are we planning to transfer a boy or a girl?  If you ask me, I want to be a boy mom all the way!  I can't imagine it any other way.  Plus, I've hoarded all of Chase's stuff since he was an infant, so we have all of the boy stuff still. 😆  If you ask Andrew, he wants a daddy's girl and to experience all of the father/daughter events.  We are in total disagreement 😂  And if you ask Chase, I think his answer differs by the day.  So, what do you think - boy or girl?!