Our blast and future child

We had our embryo transfer this afternoon. We transferred one great looking blast- and two others will be frozen tomorrow. Our doctor stated that we should transfer one because of the great quality and my young age. He said that transferring two really only increases our chances of having twins. Our clinic specializes in single embryo transfers (SET) because they do a special test (embryo marker expression test) to check and see which embryos have the best chances of implanting, all three of our blasts scored well on the test. So here's to a few days of rest and relaxation.
Please God let this be it!

Well maybe the 300th post will be lucky!

Today marks my 300th post- I cannot believe it- I have actually written that much about this journey that is my life. Well lets recap that last 2 days. Yesterday I called my IVF nurse because I was feeling really horrible and thought that I have having symptoms of OHSS (ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome) which is where your follicles fill up with fluid. It can be very serious if left untreated. My nurse said to rest, and drink lots of fluids and come in on Sunday to see the doctor.

So I went the my RE's office this morning, thinking that I am there to see her regarding my possible OHSS- so John stayed at home. I was feeling much better this morning so I figured everything would be fine. My RE comes out into the waiting room and tells me that my transfer is today and she will talk to me in a minute, but that I should call John and Dr. Roth (my acupuncturist) and to prepare for the transfer.

I call John and tell him to get his butt down to the doctors office, then I call Dr. Roth, who bless her heart drops everything and rushes down to the office to see me.
I then burst into tears, because I know nothing at this point, but I can deduce that the embryos are not doing well, otherwise they would push for a 5 day transfer, not a 3 day transfer. I am pretty much hysterical by the time the embryologist comes to talk to me.

She tells me that due to the issue with the sperm the embryos are not growing properly and we are going to transfer all 6- one was a decent looking 6 cell embryo ( they should be 8 cells by day 3, but it had not been exactly 3 days yet- so that one could still catch up) and then the other 5 were not looking good. My RE suggested that if this doesn't work we should look into donor sperm because there is obviously more of an issue with the sperm then we thought.

I am in shock right now, I never thought in a million years that this would happen. My eggs looked perfect, all 14 were mature- so we don't think its an egg issue.
So pretty much at this time we need a miracle- I know that lots of perfect cycles don't end in pregnancy and lots of bad cycles end in pregnancy-but still.

It's in Gods hands now- please God bring us a miracle!

I am on bed rest for 3 days- and already going crazy! How am I going to make it 2 more days!

You are doing what?!

With all the talk in the news about the octuplet mother I have been getting a lot of questions. I am pretty open about our infertility journey- and some of my co workers know what's going on with us. Over the past two weeks I have been asked "well what would you do with your embryo's" and "how many embryo's would you guys transfer". I truly love hearing what others have to say about fertility treatments, because people really have no clue.

One of the most controversial topics that surrounds IVF is what to do with leftover embryo's which are mature and growing properly. Especially in young women so many eggs are retrieved that there are far more embryo's that are mature and able to be transferred. In women under 35 the average number of embryo's that are transferred are 2 or 3, not 6 as in the octuplet mother. Now every case is different, I am talking the average person undergoing IVF. Your fertility specialist will tell you what they feel is best and leave the decision up to you and your partner. Some couples only want to transfer one embryo, because they do not want the risk of having multiples.

So in the instance that you transfer less embryo's then you have growing and maturing you have to make the decision of what to do with the embryo's. Most couples choose to freeze the embryo's in the event that:
1. The first transfer is unsuccessful they can defrost the leftover embryo's and do another transfer
2. If the first transfer is successful then the remaining embryo's can be used down the road for a sibling

In the event that you choose to freeze your leftover embryo's and you have a successful first cycle then you can continue to keep your embryo's frozen and when you feel the time is right you can make a decision about what to do with your left over frozen embryo's. If your family is complete and you do not wish to transfer the remaining embryo's that you can choose to put the embryo's up for adoption, destroy the embryo's, or donate them to stem cell research.

So I am sure you are wondering what my opinion is on the subject and really I do not have one. I feel that each couple has to make the best decision for themselves. John and I are not quite to the point where we have to make these decisions, but if we did not have twins I would absolutely use my frozen embryo's to have a sibling for my first born. If we did have twins or we chose not to have another child I would look into donating them to stem cell research. I definitely could not destroy them or put them up for adoption, as much as I would love to help another infertile couple I just could not put my embryo's up for adoption.

People do not realize that this is a very controversial topic and one that should not be taken lightly, but every couple needs to take their time and make the best decision for them. Talk to your doctor and get all your questions answered before making any decisions.