Today we received a FANTASTIC phone call from Dr. Uzelac! Here's the news…
Of the 13 eggs that were harvested,
12 were mature.
Of those 12,
10 have been fertilized!
We have 10 babies in the making!
We are all smiles over here!
We never doubted that we were meant to make babies together, just figured out that we needed a little help along the way to make this dream a reality!
We'll get a call in 2 days with an update of how they are doing but for now…
here's a look at what the embryologist is seeing
(These are taken from the Yale Fertility Center Website)
Day 1: Today
Day 1: The eggs are assessed for evidence of fertilization. Normal fertilization is evidenced by the presence of two pronuclei, one from the egg and one from the sperm. If there are too few or too many pronuclei, the embryo is considered abnormally fertilized. All normally fertilized embryos are put into a culture media that mimics the tubal fluid found in fallopian tubes and placed in an incubator.
Day 2: Tomorrow
Day 2: The embryos are assessed for cell division. Most embryos develop 2-4 cells by day 2. Embryos are graded based on an embryologic grading system that incorporates number of cells, cell regularity and degree of fragmentation. The decision whether to transfer the embryos on day 3 or day 5 is made based on the quality and cell division of the embryos.
Day 3: Thursday
Day 3: Embryos on day 3 usually have 4-8 cells. Depending on the number and quality of the embryos, an embryo transfer can be performed on this day. The embryos that are favorably graded are selected to be transferred. Your physician will help you decide how many embryos to transfer based on your history, age and the quality of embryos.
Day 4: Friday
Day 4: The cells within the embryo continue to grow begin to tightly align themselves against each other to form a compact ball of cells, known as a morula or compacting embryo. At this stage it is approximately 12-15 cells. In a natural conception the embryo enters the uterine cavity as a morula.
Day 5: Saturday
Day 5: On day 5, the embryo develops into an early blastocyst or a blastocyst. A blastocyst is an embryonic structure that has developed into 2 main components; an inner cell mass which gives rise to the fetus and the trophoblast which develops into the placenta. A blastocyst transfer is performed on day 5. Remaining viable embryos are cultured to day 6 and can be cryopreserved at that time.
Day 6: Sunday
Day 6: All viable, high quality embryos are able to be cryopreserved on Day 6. Any non-viable embryos are then discarded. Day 6 is the last day that an embryo can remain in the laboratory without being transferred or cryopreserved.
Our goal is obviously to have all 10 make it to Day 5/6. I'm not sure if every center has the same protocol of having the embryo's make it to Day 6, but regardless, the longer the make it, the better it is for all of us. For now, we are overjoyed and praying that those little guys (and gals I suppose) keep on keeping on. It's very clear that prayers have been answered and we are thankful beyond all belief!
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