Wednesday 30 April 2014

Quick and dirty

We had another regroup with Dr. S.  It lasted all of 7.5 minutes.  He answered our questions, but didn't offer anything more except to tell us that he thinks we are 'thinking clearly about this".

Here's what he told us:



  • He thinks we will lose 1 to the thaw, that would have died anyways when we tried to thaw it for  transfer.  He didn't think we would lose many more on the next thaw, but didn't give us a number. 
  • It will take 2 weeks to get the results of the testing. 
  • When asked how many of our 10 embryos does he think will be normal?  He said he doesn't know.  He said that the sperm is a question mark here.  (But - let's be honest, the eggs could be questionable too, although admittedly less likely so). On average the donors have 20% abnormal embryos. (That's great news). 
  • Should we look at 1 or 2 with CCS?  He still thought we should transfer 2 with my history.  (Interesting). 
  • If we transfer 1 normal and we lose it we should start seriously thinking of a gestational carrier.  Ouch.  Okay. 
Someone asked for the ratings of our embryos.  Here's what we have:



10 embryos frozen. Eight were frozen on day 5 and two were frozen on day 6. The grades are: 4AA, 5BB, 4BB, 3BB, 2/3, 4AB, 4BB, 2/3, 6BA and 6BA.

I emailed the nurse and said we're going to go ahead with the CCS.  

Dr. S was the same as he always has been with us, he answered what we wanted to know, but didn't give us anything more.  I find that kind of annoying.   

Dad's here tonight and tomorrow,  so that's all I can write for today.   We're having a good time. 

18 comments:

  1. thanks for posting your embryos for me :)
    I am SO glad that you are testing them...
    I really feel it is going to give you more confidence to move forward,
    it will rule some things out, possibly answer questions, and you have actively done something to prevent more heartache for yourselves, which is strong and smart.

    we CCS'd a large batch of embryos (not DE, however we had a long history of loss and IF) and I was really shocked at how the grades and the normal/abnormal played out. almost all of my beautiful 4AA's were abnormal!

    I would be shocked if Dr.S gave you more time or info than he did! I always wished for more too... he just is not that way. but he is good, and the lab is excellent. you have SO much on your side, you have done all the right things, done so uch work, there is not a whole lot left to do. I think you are in a good position for having a RLB from those embryos.

    my goodness, I still think that with DE CCS'd blasts from CCRM, you should do eSETs. all the way. lower, remove, and manage those risks.

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    1. I too was surprised that the recommendation was still to transfer 2. Hubby is leaning towards 1. I'm not sure.

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    2. RLB, real live baby

      at one point, dr.s recommended we tx THREE ccs embryos, ffs! I mean, it goes to show, we all are different, different histories, different diagnosis, different embryos. the science is changing as we sleep. I do trust and respect his knowledge and advice. nothing is certain. you can only set yourself up the best you can, and at some point, it is out of all of control.

      what you are going thru is so hard. it is a very personal, insular experience. you are doing so good though. thinking things thru, making smart decisions.

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  2. I'm sorry the appointment was disappointing. Hopefully the testing gives you some answers. Have a wonderful time with your dad!

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    1. Thanks! So far it's been a great visit!

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  3. I hope this doesn't sound stupid because I am still trying to catch up on all your medical history etc. Will you still be on blood thinners etc for these cycles? It is possible that the losses could be due to immune or clotting issues verses quality of embryos? The only reason I ask is because during our losses I was always told it was egg quality etc. and come to find out, it wasn't.

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    1. Not stupid at all. I appreciate your concern. We asked again last night if there is something else that it could be on my end of things. Dr. S says I've been tested for everything. The coles notes on my clotting history: My sister had a stroke from an undetermined cause. I am heterozygous for once copy of the MTHFR mutation (the A one...I forget the exact gene). Other than that I have no other clotting related history. I will be on 81mg Aspirin and 40IU of Lovenox which Dr. S calls the "miscarriage drug". I was on Lovenox this past cycle.

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    2. If you know of other tests I'd be all ears.

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  4. Continuing to pray for you. Hope you come away from CCS with more answers!

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  5. Dr. S can be so tight-lipped---I found that frustrating, too. I realize he's busy, but jeez, offering a little more would be nice.

    But it does sound like he gave you some great specifics. Wishing the best, always.

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    1. I'm glad I'm not the only one that finds him this way. Wish he was a little more chatty, offered answers to things other than to the questions we asked. It leaves me wondering if we didn't ask a question, would he leave something out?

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  6. Hope you have a good visit wit Dad and a good project to distract and help heal.

    Are there any touchy-feely RE's who give you any extra info or speculate or chat? I haven't met one yet, and I've dealt with four. Only one is kinda-sorta chatty, but I haven't met with her in a clinical session asking about a prognosis.

    I am wondering about re-freezing the embies, would then another possibly be lost the second time you thaw? Just a thought. Our clinic says about 9 out of 10 survive thaw.

    It is interesting about the change to recommending two at transfer.

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    1. True! Dr. Gustofson seemed pretty great when we met him. I've dealt with four too. Mostly all the same, but Dr. S is definitely the quietest of them all. And he's the one I want to talk the most.

      Dr. S was recommending 2 before we had the CCS talk. Dr. Gustofson was the one that did our transfer and recommended one. I wonder if Dr. S did our last transfer if he would have said 2 for the past cycle? It will be a lot to think about.

      He wouldn't give us any numbers on the next thaw regarding how many we might lose. I'm curious too. He kind of gave us the impression it would be low.

      It's scary. It cost us a huge chunk of money and time to make those embryos. The last thing I want to do is waste/kill one. But my desire avoid another loss or BFN is even greater.

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    2. It's do hard basing things on statistics that always seem to shake out the wrong way! Statistically for the age of the donor eggs and if they are tested and normal, one is probably the safest bet....but dang if it isn't hard to not want to overkill it!

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  7. I think that CCS is a great direction right now. I will be keeping up with your journey and praying for your happy ending.

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  8. Hello. I have been following your blog and am so sorry for all you are going through. I wanted to see if you are interested in some meds I could donate to you. I'm not even sure it is one you need but I hate to throw it away. Please email if you are interested. a.dawn77@gmail.com.
    I think of you daily and pray for your journey. Infertility is a nightmare! I don't wish it on my worst enemy yet I thank God it is an option.
    Take care...and thinking of you.

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