Month: May 2014

Zero…

That’s how many embryos we have to transfer. BFZ! In the infertility world we use acronyms to describe things happening in our infertile lives. For example DH is darling husband, AF is Aunt Flow (you can probably figure out what that means), BF stands for big fat and is usually followed by positive (BFP) or negative (BFN) when speaking about results of a pregnancy test. However, we received the devastating news that we have ZERO embryos to transfer so I have cleverly created the acronym BFZ. BIG FAT ZERO!

Here are the results we have so far: (embryos are numbered after fertilization)

Embryo #1: Affected with cystic fibrosis, chromosomes normal.

Embryo #6: Cystic fibrosis carrier, trisomy 2.

Embryo #10: Cystic fibrosis carrier, trisomy 3.

Embryo #11: Affected by cystic fibrosis, chromosomes inconclusive (poor DNA/ “chaotic”)

The above four are conclusively a no go for transfer.  But the fun doesn’t end there.  While the next two have results that are less definitive, nonetheless, still nothing suitable for a uterine test drive.

Embryo # 2: Incomplete result but no cystic fibrosis mutations conclusively detected, chromosomes “chaotic”.

Embryo #5: Negative for delta F508 mutation (one of our cf genes). Chromosomes “chaotic”.

Another fun infertility word I’ve learned is “chaotic” and I’m still confused as to what they mean when implying our embryos are chaotic…I’m assuming it’s NG (not good).

Thanks for all your support and we will update with information as we get it.

This morning I called the RE’s office at 8am like a crazy person to remind them to call me with my 5 day biopsy numbers. Who does that?!

The nurse called me back an hour or so later and told me that 6 embryos made it to day 5 …and day 6. Interesting. They biopsied 4 embryos yesterday (day 5) and two more procrastinators today.

SIX! Of course I’m greedy and would have liked all 8 but SIX IS AWESOME!

After the call I got to thinking… about the number six.

Here are some facts that make the number 6 as awesome as it is.

• It’s an even number and we all know those are better than odds.
• In chemistry: 6 is the atomic number of carbon, the basis for all life.
• In Biology: Insects have 6 legs.
• In Sports: The Red Sox have retired the number 6, for Johnny Pesky.
• In Arts: The number of sides on a cube, hence the highest number on a standard die.
• In Culture: 6 is a lucky number in Chinese culture.
• In Technology: On most phones, the 6 key is associated with the letters M, N, and O. One of the words spelt with these letters is “MOM.”
• Extra-sensory perception is sometimes called the “sixth sense.”  I’m sensing this is good news.
• Lastly: “The number 6 is the “Mother” number and is essentially a working, building number.  It symbolizes responsibility and service, which needs to be achieved through love, nurturing and protection. taken from http://numerology-thenumbersandtheirmeanings.blogspot.com

Today happens to be the 5 year reunion of my father’s passing and we knew he would send us a good number. 🙂 Here are a couple pictures of one of the greatest Dad’s ever. I’m pretty sure my husband will be just as great as he was.

Yesterday we decided that we couldn’t wait until day 5 to hear an update on our embryos. I called the RE’s office and requested they call today with a 3 day update. Although I feel like I am entitled to this update I did feel annoying asking someone to call us…but I got over it quickly.

So today we got the call from our RE updating us on the status of our little guys and gals.  Of course we missed the first phone call and when I checked the message it was from a Dr. not a nurse. My heart stopped. I thought oh my god…something’s wrong. How sad is that? A Dr. calls to give me an update and I automatically assume all of our embryos are gone.  We had to wait over 3 hours for the second call, not that this isn’t stressful enough already.

But, we’re happy to say the news was good.  We have 11 of 11 embryos going strong.  Eight of them are in a perfect 6-8 cell range, and the other 3 are just a little bit behind. The runts of the litter.

The Dr. was really nice on the phone and we also learned a little more on how things went down with fertilization.  She explained that of our 16 beautiful follicles, 13 had mature eggs.  And the 11 embryos came from successful fertilization of that baker’s dozen. 🙂

Sunday is a big day.  This is the day when all the healthy day fivers will be biopsied for PGD and then frozen down.  We’ll find out the news on that on Monday.  So for now, we’ll enjoy the weekend as much as we can as we anxiously await the next step.

Thanks for checking in!

YAY! The nurse called and left a message because of course I was in a meeting at the exact time she called! 11 out of  our 16 eggs fertilized! This is really great news and Mike and I are thrilled. It’s crazy to think we have 11 little babies hangin’ out at Columbus Circle. 🙂

Today I’m feeling much better and I’ve had minimal cramping and no signs of OHSS. (ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome… Google it, it’s no joke!)

What now you ask? Let the waiting game begin. My Dad always use to say “hurry up, hurry up, hurry up aaaaaannnnnd wait”…I totally feel like that now. Right now we are waiting for our day 5 biopsy (Sunday) before they will freeze the embryos that have survived. Then they will test those to see what if any genetic defects they have. Then they will call us on Tuesday to let us know what we are working with. Stress…

But for now…my heart smiles because we have 11 little embryos. 🙂

After my first needle free day in almost two weeks, it was back to the RE office for the big egg retrieval.  We were the first case of the day, and arrived bright and early just before 7AM.  After checking in, I was whisked backstage to prepare for the proceedings.  At the same time Mike went upstairs to prepare his “fresh specimen.”   I hear the provided entertainment was quite sufficient.

Meanwhile, I met my doctor, the nurse, and the anesthesiologist (who was late because he was pulled over on the way to work…not kidding).  Everyone was super nice and before I knew it I was out.  They tell me the whole procedure took about 15 minutes, but I remember none of it.  After I came to my senses, the doc let me know she retrieved 16 beautiful follicles, and was very happy with the result.  So are we.

Now we anxiously await for tomorrow’s phone call when we find out how many of them were successfully fertilized.  In the meantime, I’m resting up in bed while my fabulous husband cooks me dinner.  Protein, fluids, and prunes are the name of the game.

This morning we headed back to our home away from home to find out how our follicle friends are doing. GOOD NEWS! They’ve grown in size and number. 🙂 This is such great news and has really lifted our spirits. It’s true what they say about this process, a few hours can change everything.

We met with the nurse to learn about what the next 48 hours would be like. First she told us that we should take my meds as soon as we were done talking to her. So in the smallest room known to man we gave me: 75IU of Gonal-F and Menopur as well as 250mcg of Ganirelix.

Of course Dr. Mike did not disappoint and handled it like a pro.

The nurse told us all about the Trigger Shot and how time specific it is. She explained that I would be coming back to the office tomorrow AM to take a urine test to make sure I took the shot. To check if I took it? Here is my question…who lies about taking the shot?

We later found out that I should be given the shot at 8:30pm in my booty muscle, which we just finished.

Then we found out that our retrieval is Tuesday at 7:30am! 🙂

Now…it’s time to relax…

We had our day 10 ultrasound today and the follicles haven’t grown as much as we’d like them to. In order to do the retrieval we need a decent number of follicles to be above 16mm so we did the same routine tonight and will head back to the dr. in the am. Hopefully, there will have been some more growth, especially on the left side. Each follicle doesn’t necessarily have a matured egg in it so we really want a high number of follicles. Everyone think GROWTH tonight. 🙂

We headed to the Dr. this AM and good news, follies are growing and the party is on in the right ovary! The left…is still waiting for some more RSVP’s.

Left 6 Follies Measuring – 10.5, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10

Right 8 Follies Measuring- 13.2, 10.5, 11, 10, 11.5, 11, 11, 12

My follicles will need to grow to at least 18 mm for our retrieval to happen.  My right ovary feels like its going to explode and we are only at 13.5 mm.  So I’m excited interested scared to see how much more bloated I can actually feel.