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Friday, February 26, 2016

Embryo Adoption :: Transfer Day {FET #3}

I woke up this morning really early, so excited {and a little anxious} for today. I have done this twice before, but today I woke up with a peace from the Lord. I dressed in my snowflake leggings, put on my snowflake necklace, drank my 32 oz of water to fill my bladder {much easier with my infused water!}...and was ready to meet our tiny snowflakes!


And now our babies are on board! I am officially PUPO :)


Today we had our {third} Frozen Embryo Transfer {FET}. We transferred 2 day-five blastocysts, so yes- we are praying for twins again! I love that we both get to be there to see our tiny ones transferred together. To watch our little embryos on the ultrasound screen and know the exact time that they enter my uterus is such a sweet gift in this difficult journey. We got to see their little cells moving like crazy as they were inserted and released; how cool is that??

We made the decision to transfer one of our higher graded embryos with one of our lower graded ones. So we transferred 1 embryo that was graded AA and expanded {the grade when it was frozen, but it was starting to hatch by the time of transfer}, and 1 that was graded CA and hatching. 

Quick lesson in embryo grading:
  • Letter grades are just like in school: A is the best
  • First letter is for the inner cells that go on to make the baby 
  • Second letter is for the outer cells that go on to make the placenta
  • Expanded means there are lots of cells and the protective shell is already starting to thin so that the embryo can break out {though it hasn't yet}
  • Hatching means there are lots of cells and the embryo is already breaking out of the protective shell {a good thing!}

Look at those beautiful embabies! :)

Both the embryologist and my RE said that they both thawed perfectly and looked beautiful. They were both really excited for us, which was such an encouragement. We even had the embryologist from our last 2 transfers come in to tell us how excited she was for us. Because she was the one that had to tell us not so great news with our last embryos; so she made it a point to let us know how different this time was. There are still no guarantees, but this was such an encouragement for us! We are SO thankful for all of the doctors, embryologists, and nurses that have walked with us in this journey.

So our embryos looked great and mature and right on track for growth! :)

We left feeling excited and hopeful. There is still a twinge of fear; we know the realities of the possible outcomes, and science can only tell us so much. Our little ones are in God's hands, and we will patiently wait and pray over the next 10 days {and 9 months!} for the Lord to bring these little ones into our arms and our family.


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Age of Embryos? They were created in March 2009, so they have been frozen for just shy of 7 years
Size of Embryos? About 0.1 to 0.2 mm
Development: five-day blastocysts {1 AA ExBL and 1 CA HgBL}; the entire genetic blueprint for life {chromosomes/DNA} is present
Meds: Cabergoline 2x/week, Metformin daily, day 20 of Estrace, day 7 of progesterone in oil {PIO}
Sleep: Despite my excitement and anxiety, I slept really well...nice and rested up for the transfer!
Best moment of the week: Hearing that our little ones thawed perfectly and seeing their little cells moving and growing at transfer
Miss anything? Sweet tea...I cut back after my pre-diabetes diagnosis. Could be worse; but I sure do miss my sweet tea! 
Cravings: Nothing yet
Symptoms: Just a little tired from the progesterone
Looking forward to: Our pregnancy test in 10 days, and finding out if our babies snuggled in tight!


**This post was written on our transfer day, but was not published until after we made our official announcement. I back-dated to the actual day so we could have all of this for our own records and memories.**


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