Day-3 Report

Worst cycle yet: 1 8-cell, 1 7-cell, 1 4-cell. The doctor called and said we would be ridiculous to do a Day-3 transfer (his words) because we would gain no new information about our ability to make normal embryos. He said we have to take it day by day and won't have the information we need about whether we should do a fresh transfer this cycle or do the PGD-package until Day 5/6 (Wed/Thurs).

He said there are a couple of factors impacting whether we will do a fresh transfer this cycle: 1) there are only 2 days each cycle where my body is receptive to a blastocyst based on my lining and progesterone levels, so we have to make sure my body is in the "right place"; 2) the blastocyst has to be at a synchronous stage as my body in order to do a fresh transfer; 3) the results of the PGD have to indicate a normal karyotype.

Tomorrow the office will call and let me know whether the embryos are progressing at the right speed to do a fresh transfer.

He said that my age range typically has 1-2 normal embryos (given my number of eggs, other factors, etc.). However, my body may not be normal given that is has a low number of follicles/eggs for my FSH and AMH levels. He said the PGD is accurate within a 10% range in terms of assessing the quality of my embryos, i.e., if none of my embryos are normal, than likely no embyros will be normal in future cycles. So, PGD is a definitive result as to whether we make viable embryos and have any more biological children.

This past weekend I was a wreck. I was so hopeful about this cycle...hoping that we would get a higher fertilization rate...hoping that the different protocol and clinic and DHEA and accupuncture and no exercise would help. But no. We got even fewer embryos than in prior cycles. I tried not to mourn my ability to have any more biological children...but I'm feeling like that may be our diagnosis. How can this happen at 32??