Eight Embryos!

In 2007 they retrieved 26 eggs and tried to fertilize 18 of them (the others weren't deemed "mature"). Only 7 of those fertilized (39% fertilization rate). We transferred 3 embryos. Of the four remaining embryos, only one made it to the freeze (Nadia).

In 2009 they retrieved 14 eggs and tried to fertilize 13 of them. All 13 fertilized, but one only divided once. When they gave the fertilization report, they said we had 12 embryos (100% fertilization rate). That was still the case on day two, so they agreed to a five day transfer. By day 5 we were down to seven - two blastocysts, one morula that they thought would reach the blastocyst stage within a few hours, one morula, and three embryos. We transferred two blastocysts and one morula. None of the other four were good enough to freeze.

In 2012 they retrieved 11 eggs and tried to fertilize 9 of them. As of today, we have 8 embryos (89% fertilization rate)! Normally they schedule you for a 3 day transfer if you have fewer than 10 embryos on day 1. Because we've had at least 1 make it to blastocyst each time, they are okay with doing a 5 day transfer even though we only have 8 embryos. I asked if we could reassess that decision tomorrow, and they agreed. Last time we still had 12 on day 2 but were done to 7 on day 5. Please pray for wisdom tomorrow in scheduling the transfer. It's scheduled for Monday at 1pm at the moment. Please pray for the embryos to grow, grow, grow! We'd love to have 3-4 still developing on Monday. Last time 58% of them made it from day 2 to day 5. If something similar happened this time, we'd have 4-5 left on Monday. There is always some risk in choosing the 5 day transfer that none will be left, and maybe one or more of those would have continued to thrive in my uterus, which is obviously a better environment than the lab can provide. On the other hand, as we saw in the first ivf cycle, time is the best predictor of which embryo is the best as the "best" one wasn't accurately selected on day 3. All morning I kept waiting for that phone to ring. It rang around noon. I'll be anxiously awaiting the update tomorrow. Thankfully despite my nerves I was able to sleep last night. I really needed a good night's sleep as I didn't sleep well at all the previous night. Every time I did wake during the night I said a quick prayer for our embryos. I'm thrilled that even though I'm almsot 40 years old we have 8 embryos. PTL!