Day 3 Embryo Update and When Will the Embryo Transfer Happen?

This morning, I was set to receive a phone call from the lab at the Victoria Fertility Centre between 8:30 to 9:00 AM to give me an update on how many of our embryos are progressing, their grades, and whether our embryo transfer will likely still occur on Wednesday (day 5) or if it will need to be sooner.

Last night, I fell asleep easier than the night before and had less side effects (gastrointestinal distress, pain, cramping). However, I was still very restless, waking up almost every hour, needing to pee and being so thirsty that I had to drink some water (a vicious cycle). I watched the fog roll in off the ocean in the middle of the night, creating a ghostly scene that externalized the other worldliness that I've been feeling through this whole bizarre IVF process.

Just after 9:00 AM, the lab at the Victoria Fertility Centre called. I had the embryologist break down the embryos by grade in the two separate categories again like yesterday (traditional IVF vs. ICSI) and have created the chart below which also shows the numbers of embryos at each grade from day 2 in brackets.

Day 3 Embryo Update:

The embryologist seemed very pleased with our results. She said that all embryos are 8-10 cells except the 16 + grade, which is 6 cells and may not progress, but the others are looking normal for now.

She stated that leaving the embryos for a few days is normal, so they can choose the best looking embryo to transfer, then they can freeze the rest of the top quality ones for future use if we choose. This would mean that if we have any frozen embryos, we could try a frozen embryo transfer to get pregnant if the first embryo transfer doesn't work or if I have a miscarriage or if we want to have a second child in the future (so you hopefully can skip the stimulation drugs and egg retrieval steps again).

On average, 50 percent of top quality embryos will continue to grow to day 5, but may not be as high a grade as they are currently she told me. She said that it would be unusual for all 8 embryos to make it to day 5 and at as high of a grade as they are currently (we even have two of the mythical 20 grade ones now and they rarely give out that grade). She said for the number of embryos we have, eight, it would normal for about four to five blastocysts to make it to day 5.

She told me that our embryos have divided really well and they are pleased with them. She also told me that there would be no update on the embryos on day 4, so we won't get a call from the lab. She said that they are looking really beautiful and they've just put them away now and they will remain away until day 5, the embryo transfer.

The Victoria Fertility Centre did not call me with an embryo transfer time today, so I suppose they will tomorrow. It will be in the morning of Wednesday this week though (egg retrievals happen first at VFC, then transfers are done). There is no fasting prior to an embryo transfer because no drugs are given. The embryologist said that the embryo transfer would feel a bit like a Pap smear. A speculum inserted into the vagina, then a catheter is used to deliver the embryo to the uterus. She said that I shouldn't feel anything at all really, except for having to go pee, because a pretty full bladder is needed for the procedure.

Today, I have a hung-over feeling from the broken sleep (and many, many bad sleeps in a row) and the myriad of hormones and other prescription drugs floating through my bloodstream. I left the house today to visit my cousins for a couple of hours, but I felt shattered by the time I returned home. Right now all I can really handle is writing and trying to be gentle with myself, as I am really not feeling my best.

My morning pills and vitamins plus some Tylenol (this doesn't include the Endometrin that I also must take in the morning)

The most troubling side effects for me right now (and believe me there are many others) besides fatigue, bloating, a horrible headache, and gastrointestinal distress, is the feeling as if a horned gremlin is living in my abdomen. I get crampy painful feelings that come on from time to time with no warning and make life even more unpleasant. I can't imagine having to take Estrace and Endometrin for another seven weeks or so.

The process of IVF is exhausting, nerve-wracking, emotional, and baffling. I have no idea how some of the people I've read about online have gone through two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, or nine of these IVF cycles. Aside from the expense, the stress and toll on the body are incredible. Hats off to these survivors who our society rarely acknowledges and who often stay silent due to the shame of infertility that still dominates our society.

I feel really nervous about the approaching embryo transfer (I know my husband does too). We both looked at the message boards concerning the Victoria Fertility Centre on IVF.ca last night and today and there are those unlucky couples who have all embryos die off by day 5 and can't even have an embryo transfer done. As mentioned before, it's been a very stressful six years and this year has been the worst with the miscarriage that we suffered earlier this year, so it's hard to get excited with any good news. We fear that if we get hopeful or happy, the good news will sour and everything will be yanked away from us again. Plus those odds quoted for live births from IVF for my age group are pretty low (28%), so even if some embryos survive and we have a textbook embryo transfer, there is no guarantee that the embryo will implant or if it does that it will survive (20-25% chance of miscarriage for my age group).

All we can do is take it one day at a time and hope that with the excellent medical care that we are receiving (and paying for) that we might one day get to experience what so many people take for granted (and whine about), parenthood.

Let's get this done already. I'm grumpy.