As each day drew them closer to their first frozen embryo transfer, Jenny and Erin monitored their embryo's progress closely. I had warned them that on my other two transfer attempts, my embryos had never grown very large.
The largest size a three-day embryo can reach is eight cells. On my two embryo transfer attempts all of my embryos had been four or 5 cells. This is considered quite small.
The smaller an embryo at transfer, the less likely the transfer will result in pregnancy. In addition, my other embryos had all been grade "B". That is normal, since it reflects as little as 1% fragmentation. Grade "A" embryos have no fragmentation whatsoever. That grade is rarely given out by our clinic. I told Jenny and Erin that if their embryo was consistent with our other embryos they should expect small grade "B" embryos.
Though the size of my embryos statistically reduced the chance of success, in our case the transfer worked on each of our two attempts. We were successful both times we transferred embryos: each transfer resulted in a child.
I told Jenny and Erin not to worry if their embryo didn't grow very large. Past experience showed that my embryos were slow starters but successful implanters.
We waited to see how the embryo I had given to Jenny and Erin would grow.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
WILL IT THAW?
A few days after starting the final fertility meds, Erin and Jenny called us, clearly excited. Their embryo had thawed and was starting to grow! As the embryologist told them, it was dividing rapidly and looked great. Everything was falling into place for their frozen embryo transfer.
Though our contract stated that Jenny and Erin could only thaw one embryo at a time it seemed that they would not need to thaw a second embryo. The first one looked good.
The next few days were somewhat tense as Jenny and Erin prepared for their flight to the clinic and waited to see if the embryo would keep growing well.
For a frozen embryo transfer, the hurdles the embryo has to over come are
* The Thaw. Whether or not the embryo will survive the thaw is pre-determined by the skill of the embryologist at the time of freezing.
* Beginning to grow. Even an embryo that thaws can turn out to be a dud which does not divide.
* Continuing to grow. Each day an embryo grows outside the womb increases the chances that it will stop growing. That is because most embryos are not destined to become children. Some stop growing because they are not healthy enough to develop into a fetus.
* The eventual grade of the embryo. An embryo can grow large quickly but if the cells have a lot of defects it will not turn into a fetus.
Jenny and Erin's embryo had overcome half of the barriers to becoming their child. We waited to see if the process would continue as brightly as it had started.
Though our contract stated that Jenny and Erin could only thaw one embryo at a time it seemed that they would not need to thaw a second embryo. The first one looked good.
The next few days were somewhat tense as Jenny and Erin prepared for their flight to the clinic and waited to see if the embryo would keep growing well.
For a frozen embryo transfer, the hurdles the embryo has to over come are
* The Thaw. Whether or not the embryo will survive the thaw is pre-determined by the skill of the embryologist at the time of freezing.
* Beginning to grow. Even an embryo that thaws can turn out to be a dud which does not divide.
* Continuing to grow. Each day an embryo grows outside the womb increases the chances that it will stop growing. That is because most embryos are not destined to become children. Some stop growing because they are not healthy enough to develop into a fetus.
* The eventual grade of the embryo. An embryo can grow large quickly but if the cells have a lot of defects it will not turn into a fetus.
Jenny and Erin's embryo had overcome half of the barriers to becoming their child. We waited to see if the process would continue as brightly as it had started.
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