Potpourri of Updates - Next Steps and Pregnancy Test

i thought I would use this blog post to update on several things.

1. Frozen Embryos - We froze two on the day of transfer, and two the next day. So, we have 4 totsicles ready if/when we want to do a Frozen Embryo Transfer cycle. we are thrilled with that! We are also thrilled those frozen embryos are CF-free as have alreayd been tested for anueploidy.

2. When do we find out if we are pregnant? Everyone talks about the two week wait. Not to minimize the horrible long wait, because it's hard, hard, hard.. but it's really only like 10 days. The way it works at my clinic is that I go in for a blood test this Sunday. That is called a beta test. They take my blood and freeze it that day. They do not test it and they tell me nothing.

Then I go in on Tuesday, two days later and take another HCG beta blood test. They then test both blood samples at the same time. I'm not actually sure they tell me right then and there or call me later. I gotta find that out.

They are actually testing not just for the presence of HCG, the "pregnancy hormone" but also for the level of HCG. In pregnant women, the level of HCG doubles every 48 hours, so they are looking to confirm the exponential increase.

Honestly, I'm not tempted to take a home pregnancy test... yet. I don't actually own any, and I really don't want to go spend money on them.

However, i'm not sure how i am going to feel on Monday. I don't want a negative result Tuesday morning when I have to go to work, so I don't know. We'll see.

I have a fun weekend planned, so hopefully my mind will be occupied and I won't think about it so much. (Yeah, right.)

I know I owe a post about:
1. more information on PGD
2. the costs of all this.

Feel free to send other questions -- I promise I'll get to them!

Embryo Photos!

Well, here they are! Our embryos!

the one on the left is the male and the one on the right is the female.

If anyone cares, the one on the left is graded 6AA, and the one on the right is 3AA.

The grading system represents three values:

1. Blastocyst development stage - expansion and hatching status
2. Inner cell mass (ICM) score, or quality
3. Trophectoderm (TE) score, or quality

1. The first number refers to the degree of hatching. 6 is fully hatched, and 3 is hatching.

2. The inner cell mass - can be rated A, B, or C. In our case, they were both rated A for "many cells, tightly packed"

3. this one can be A, B or C as well, and A refers to the shell on the outside of the embryo which will become the placenta it has "Many cells, forming a cohesive layer" which gives it an A.

Ok, how's that for your embryology lesson?

Fert Report - 17 embryos and what happens next

My embryologist told me that of the ones that were ICSI'ed, not all of them would necessarily fertilize. Which doesn't really make sense to me because I thought that ICSI was pretty much fertilization. i mean they inject the sperm into the center of the egg. Isn't that fertilization?

I guess you'd have to be a real dud sperm in order to be right there in the middle of the egg and be like "Nah, not today. I'm good."

Happy to report, no dud sperm. The embryologist called to say all 17 fertilized!

So, I guess we now have (as of the last report) 17 embryos!

Today, our embryos are dividing. They should be 2-4 cells today.

edited on 8-1-09 - I just found a scrap of paper that describes the embryos and wanted to document it.

All fertilized 2PN, which means 2 pro-neclei, which is normal fertilization
there were 17 total:
1 12-cell
3 9-cells
4 8-cells
3 7-cells
2 6 cells
3 5 cell
1 2cell
----
17

Tomorrow, the super embryologist will come and do the biopsy. Hopefully by Saturday morning when she comes, the embryos will be 6-8 cells. This embyrologist (also a she) will biopsy any embryo over 5 cells. She will do assisted hatching in order to pull one cell out.

We will get a phone call tomorrow to find out how many are available to be biopsied and then how many were biopsied and then our embryologist will pack up the cells from each of our embryos and send them on a plane to Chicago/RGI for PGD testing.

The shipping fee is like 500 bucks for shipping on a Saturday. They better not get lost on the way.

Friday update - TDAP and acupuncture

Ok, if you missed the Thursday update, read the post two below. This is the update from Thursday.

So, I had an appointment with a family practice doctor to get a TDAP immunization. My fertility clinic wants all patients to get one, as the CDC recommends that all primary caregivers are immunized to protect newborns. i like that we are thinking positive, that there will be a newborn soon!

However, no one told me that the TDAP shot would Hurt.Like.Hell. Seriously, i had no idea. I am so good at shots now, i thought it woudl be like those. Which, seriously, I want non-infertiles to think I'm going through hell with these shots, but I know I can't lie. they really are no big deal. But this shot was like an 8 inch needle and it hurt going in and it hurts now. I asked Carlos if he had a tetanus shot before and if he remembered it hurt, ever afterwards. He tells me, "Yes, babe. it will hurt for like two days. Feels like someone punched you in the arm." Nice. he's right. that is exactly what it feels like. and it's really nice to have my feelings validated.

So this is the best part. All i really needed was the TDAP shot, but the appointment took forever. I went to a new doctor, because well i recently moved, and I really don't have a general practitional. I got an OB/GYN, really, only to get a referrral to the fertility clinic, and i have a team of doctors at the fertility clinic, but i don't have a GP. So i really just called whoever I could get into to get this immunization. Turns out i made an appointment with a group of RESIDENT family practice doctors.

So my resident was like super thorough and took forever. oh yeah, and she was, i think 25 years old. ok, MAYBE 26, but she definitley had not seen this side of 30. that's fine, we all need to learn, but i defintiely realized something abotu myself. I am a bit ageist when it comes to doctors. I woudl really rather they be older than me. I realize as i get older, that will be harder and harder. but i'm sure i'll get over it as i get older.

so, this annoyance with her age probably comes from the comment she said to me.

So, I wrote on my intake form, in the same called, what are you here for? I wrote.. TDAP for preconception.

She reads that and here's the conversation:

Hi. I'm Doctor Young.

Me: HI.

Doctor Young: So, TDAP for preconcption. That's great. Are you pregnant?

Me: No. I'm doing IVF next week. (Thinking, did they teach you the prefix "pre" in medical school, but being very nice at this point.)

DY: That's great. Have you already gotten your donor eggs and everything?

Me: Uh.. (rather shocked, donor eggs are fabulous, but i'm not using them. Is she making a judgment on my age?? I'm about to get defensive. And after defensive comes bitchy. It's a short trip, actually.) I'm using my own eggs, actually. My eggs and my husband's sperm. We're fine. We're doing IVF to not pass on a genetic disease to our kids.

So, anyway, the rest of the appointment went fine, but i probably won't volunteer to see her again. Could she just not know that IVF typically happens with a woman's own eggs? Whatever. I think donor eggs are wonderful, and I am totally up for using them if my eggs turn out to be not good enough. But i'm 35.. the assumption at this point is that we're good. I know i got defensive. Of course, we weren't getting pregnant, which is why we found out we were CF carriers in the first place, but i still feel like we are fine, except for that one small thing.

So, anyway, I really don't think i look that old. but i've never been all interested in looking younger anyway. Actually in my line of work, I want to look older, more experienced for my cleints.

Whatever, i'm over it.

I went to Acupuncture and then picked up Carlos from the airport.

We watched American Idol from this week, (so happy about my little hottie Kris Allen - safe) did my shots, and fell asleep on the couch. I got up to write this and now, i'll wake him up to go to bed. He did my shots tonight. It was nice to be able to be lazy and let him take care of me.

More tomorrow.. thanks for reading.

Oh yeah, i called today for my esradiol results. Yesterday they were 2374. That's good. Yay!