The fertilization report was called to me this morning. Apparently the count of 10 eggs was not just the mature ones, but all eggs retrieved. =( There were 2 immature eggs, leaving 8 mature ones that they could try to fertilize. Fertilization rates are normally around 70%, and slightly less with ICSI. ICSI is where they inject a single sperm into each egg and is done in case of male infertility, such as ours. So, with 8 eggs, we could expect 5 or maybe 6 to fertilize. The bit of good news is that we had 100% fertilization, meaning we have 8 fertilized eggs, or 1-cell embryos as of this morning.
What happens next?
Our nurse had said she expected us to do a day-3 transfer because of the low number of eggs we retrieved yesterday and the expectation that only 5 or so would fertilize, and that several would arrest in their development between fertilization and transfer. However, the embryologist that called me this morning advised that we would probably be a go for a day-5 transfer since they all fertilized. Only time will tell how many make it, and thus what day we do the transfer and how many we transfer. We will be getting a call each morning for the next several days to let us know how many embryos are still dividing and viable. I'll keep you posted, dear readers.
3 comments:
I dont hardly know anything about IVF, is that promising news? It sounds like you have a great chance to me!
Hi Toni - Yes, it is very good that all of the mature eggs fertilized. A day-5 transfer means that the embryologist can select the highest quality embryo(s) for transfer, giving us the best chance for success. If we had to do a day-3 transfer, embryos that might stop dividing between day 3 and day 5 might be transferred, resulting in a failed cycle. To counter such a possibility, they normally transfer more embryos on a day-3 transfer. Of course, that means that there is a greater chance of multiples too. If we transferred 3 embryos in a day-3 transfer, we could end up with all three being good and have triplets. Or, we could find that all three had problems and their development arrested on day 4 and none implanted. If the embryo makes it to day 5, it has a higher chance of being 'normal' and not having chromosomal issues which would cause development to arrest. There is, of course, always a chance that it will still be abnormal and result in either no pregnancy or a miscarriage, but the chances are better with a day-5 transfer. However, with fewer embryos, the docs like to put them back into their natural environment to give the best chance of their survival. It's really just a way of playing the odds to hopefully result in a singleton pregnancy. =)
Hooray?
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