So, the transfer…what a CRAZY experience.
Soon after we arrived in Dr. Z’s office, I came back to the waiting room after using the restroom. I sat down next to BeBop and he practically shouted in my ear: "DO YOU KNOW THIS ONLY HAS A 20% CHANCE OF WORKING?" he shrieked, "DID YOU KNOW THIS??"
I swear it was almost an episode out of Homicide: Life in the Fertility Doctor’s Office.
"Why would you say that to me?" I shouted, but in a whisper, as only us girls can do. "Why would you SAY THAT to me NOW??" I demanded. BeBop had just read part of an article about Dr. Z posted on the wall, and apparently it freaked him out and turned him into The World’s Worst Husband.
"I SWEARTOFRICKINGGOD," I whisper/shouted through clenched teeth, "I will find something sharp and stab you to death if you continue with this." Moments later he apologized, claiming he had only read part of the article and how those stats did not pertain to me. Quick thinking on his part.
(Although I would have waited to kill him until after he’d given his sample. I’m not a total idiot.)
*** *** *** ***
[Note: If for any reason you prefer not to read about the genetic testing and the results, please just skip this part. I talk about how many of the embryos were not viable and why, and I don’t want to upset anyone who’s suffered a loss and might not care to read about this stuff.]
After a long wait we were ushered in to Dr. Z’s office where we heard the results of our pre-implantation genetic testing, or PGD. To be perfectly honest, I was not a fan of the PGD to begin with. No moral or ethical issues, I just thought this whole IVF process is already so scientific, so medical. For me, there wasn’t much room left for fate, or faith, or whatever you want to call it. It seemed so science fiction-y to genetically test the embryos before transferring them. But once the doctor recommended that we do it, mostly because of my age (39), BeBop and I decided we had come this far, we might as well go all the way.
So, just to review: we had a total of 27 eggs retrieved. 22 matured and 19 fertilized. So we had 19 embryos that were tested using the PGD. Normally he would expect about 35% (or 6) of these to be ‘normal.’ Of the 19 that were tested, we had 9 that were normal, which Dr. Z said was great. Even better, 14 were Grade 1 and 5 were a Grade 2. On Day 5 (transfer day) we one 8-cell, 1 morula, 2 EBs, 3 blasts and 1 X-blast.
Here’s the amazing thing: As I said, we had 9 that were chromosomally normal. That means we had 10 that were not. (I know! I like totally inherited some super awesome MATH GENE along the way!!)
Had we not done the PGD, it would have been a total crap shoot deciding which ones to transfer, because they were all graded so highly. Of the ten that were designated abnormal, we had a couple with trisomy 15, a couple with monosomy (21,22,16,20, etc.) and a couple that were considered ‘complex abnormal.’ Three were in this category, actually. Keep in mind these abnormal embryos were all graded 1-2, and all were still growing as of that morning. Again, total crap shoot without the testing since we had so many to choose from.
Hearing the good news that we had 9 normal embies (that were now almost all blasts! — Dr. Z said it was in the 98th percentile! We were like the Valedictorians of Embryos!) we were faced with a really, really difficult decision: Did we want to put back two or three?
A voice in my head all morning had been saying, TWO. TWO. ONLY DO TWO. So it was with some dismay that I learned both the doctor and BeBop wanted to do three. Dr. Z left us to discuss the matter, and my bottom line was this: I did not want to use three. I did not want to hope that only two took and one didn’t. I just didn’t want that stress after everything we’ve already been through. I wanted to use two, and just spend the next ten days hoping and praying that both implant and stick around for the long haul.
Thankfully, BeBop respected how strongly I felt about this, and he agreed that transferring the two best would be a good plan. So one was a Grade 1 Blast, and one was a Grade 1 X-Blast. And we have four frozen, but here’s hoping we don’t need them (at least not anytime in the near future!).
*** *** *** ***
Several of you asked about the infusion I had Thursday, the day before the transfer. Basically, my doctor is very into all things immunological, and how this can affect fertility. Before my cycle, my Natural Killer Cells were tested. Dr. Z wanted to make sure I didn’t have antibodies which would kill off a healthy embryo. (I’m no docta, but even I know that would be bad.) At first, my numbers were fine. After the stims, my numbers were slightly elevated, which is seen in a lot of patients.
I imagine it’s like my rather lazy killer cells have just been hanging around all these years, eating Hot Pockets and trying to sneak into R rated movies.
HA! They would scoff each month. Like THOSE ovaries are going to do much. We can totally hang out. Pass me a Tab?
And then all of a sudden with the stims and my follicles finally getting off their asses to produce some eggs, the killer cells were like bumping into each other Three Stooges-style and yelling, Holy Crap! It’s getting hot in herrrrr. Put down that Hot Pocket and look for any foreign invaders, STAT!
(And yes. That concludes today’s After School Special entitled Your Maturing Body.)
So, just to be safe, he had me do an IV infusion of Immunoglobulin (or IVIG). This is a sterile protein preparation derived from human blood. You can imagine how thrilled I was to learn that a by-product of human blood was going to be injected directly into my veins… Yeah.
Not so much.
(I’ll swallow unidentifiable Chinese herbs by the bucket-full, gag down bottles of a mysterious, mud-like brown liquid a Haitian psychic gave to my Mother but SOMEONE ELSE’S BLOOD?? Good grief Charlie Brown. Not my scene.)
Supposedly, the IVIG supplies blocking antibodies that can protect a pregnancy from rejection. And, it can act as a sponge to absorb and neutralize antibodies and some Natural Killer Cells (which? AWESOME name for a rock band, no??) that can attack the implanting placenta. So Dr. Z sent me to this office where they can do four of these IVIGs at one time. I sat in a comfy recliner, and was hooked up to an IV.
Three hours later, I was done. Two bottles of someone’s (hopefully) fully screened and given-a-clean-bill-of-health blood by-products were coursing through my veins. Still makes me a little faint to think about, to tell you the truth…
If I get a BFP, they will check the numbers again and I might have to continue going for the infusions. Some patients go monthly for much of their pregnancy.
So, there’s the story of my PGD and the IVIG infusion, as promised.
Now, seriously:
WHEN CAN I PEE ON A FRICKIN’ STICK??
eww, you’re only one step away from angelina jolie…wearing billy bob’s blood around her neck! hey, what if you have billy bob’s blood?OMG! if you start getting nervous around antique furniture…….
seriously-its sounds like your chances are awesome despite bebops lack of reading comprehension. Hell-o!
crossing fingers for ya!
Sorry, Watson, no stick peeage yet. BUT that is fantastic and I’m so happy that you guys decided to do the PGD route. It’s sort of amazing to see the bigger picture like that. Crossing everything for you guys for the next two weeks or so.
Oh, you crack me up. I hope the wait goes quickly and ends with the best possible news.
Ahhh yes, the POAS obsession begins. I was wondering when it would hit. I have been thinking about it since I was allowed to pee after the transfer, wondering, you know, if that was too early.
Thanks for sharing the PGD info.
Hang tough for a few more days. When is beta?
OK, first of all – you TOTALLY do not look your age. I can’t believe you’re 39. You look much, much younger. 🙂
Second, thanks for the explanation on the PGD stuff. Intriguing, and scary, how many abnormal embryos we produce – now if they could just guarantee that a normal embryo will implant, we’ll be in business!
Yes, far too early to POAS right now. Somewhere around 11dpo (6dp5dt) is probably the earliest you could see a + result.
Hoping all the best for you and BeBop.
First, let me wish you good luck on this cycle.
Second, I find the PGD info very interesting. My experience has been that here in Canada the RE’s give very little credence to the immunization issues or pre-screening of embryo’s. This did not go over well in my book as I had been diagnosed as ‘unexplained’ for three years and wanted some damn answers.
In my 2nd IVF we ended up with 7 blasts, but it was interesting that the ones that looked the best at day 3 and had the highest rating, weren’t necessarily the ones that made it to blast. And several of the best blasts, would not have been chosen as day 3 transfers based on their day 3 ratings.
All very intriguing, I am hoping in the not so distant future we will know a lot more about this process.
Also, it is a damn good thing for BeBop that you needed his sperm, cause boy did he pick the wrong time to momentarily lose his brain!
Congrats! Thanks for rubbing our noses in your biiiig numbers. We’re not THAT jealous. Really. What the f*** is an X-Blast by the way? It HAS to be better than a regular blast.
I am all for POAS early. With my twins, I had a faint line at 8dp3dt. Since you transferred blasts, you are at 8dp5dt or 11dp3dt. Of course if there is no line, it/they could just be late implanters. But I am counting on a line for you !!
Good luck.
Wow, Watson! Just checking in to see what’s the haps, and it looks like you’re all embied up already. Good for you! I’ll be keeping my fingers, toes, and (after Saturday, when VB leaves) legs crossed for you and your Dymanic Duo! (Um, is that weird? Like, the image of campy masked superheros hanging out in your uterus? I mean, I’M okay with it, but then again, if ANYONE were willing to hang out in MY uterus, I’d be okay with it, so I guess I’m not the best judge here…) Anyway, you get the point. Good luck, mamacita! I’m rooting for you here on the Other Coast!
Your ECDD,
Zee
congratulations, that all sounds so promising!!! and no, you do NOT look 39!
my POAS routine is 15dpER. i just don’t care to see that vast white expanse of negative blankness any more often than necessary, so i’m not interested in testing at the earliest possible time, knowing a false negative is just as likely. on the other hand, i do NOT like to get surprise news from the nurse over the phone, so i always POAS befor beta. but if you’re up to false negatives in the early days, i think 10-11dpER is the VERY soonest i would try.
i’m sure you know this already, but implantation is 6-10 (some say even 12) days after ER (usually 6-7 if they did assisted hatching), and then it takes the little guys a couple of days to put out detectable levels of hcg.
good luck!!!! i’m SOOOOOO excited for you!!!!
The PGD results are fascinating. Oh how I wish I got enough embryos each cycle to try that, or that my clinic thought it was a good risk to take. I’m sure my chemical pregnancy would have been one of your abnormal embryos. You, my friend, are truly an IVF rockstar.
WOW, Watson! I’m so happy for you!!!
Great job with becoming Valedictorian of the embryo world!
I’m really happy for you.
Rah Rah!
MOVE AWAY FROM THE PEE-STICKS…
They are harbinger of evil and doom- I say let hope live! Seriously though, why not poas the day after af is due, that way you’re less likely to get a false negative that would do your fricking head in… x
Can I come live with you for a while so I can go see Dr. Z myself? I could cook and stuff, but I am not so good at dishes. Or laundry. Or really any housework . . .
The PGD stuff is seriously cool. It am amazed at how many embryos it ruled out.
Now that you know that you have the best ones on board and someone else’s blood product running through your veins, I hope that when you do give into the pee stick, it gives you 2 wonderful lines.
Yowza, I’ve never read about the specifics of the PGD stuff–as someone above said, between that and the super number of eggs you developed and eventually fertilized, you’re a total IVF rockstar.
Stay away from the sticks. With a day five transfer, you only have nine days to wait. Nice way to cut down on the official two week wait, I always thought. Good luck!
I’m in AWE, fucking AWE that you haven’t POAS’d yet. I would’ve started testing the moment I left the clinic. But then there’s something really wrong with me.
Good luck, Watson!
Just wanted to say thanks for making diet coke come out of my nose, reading about BeBop shouting in your ear in the waiting room. Also thanks for the edu-ma-ca-shun on PGD and IVIG – heretofore, I knew only what the procedures were, but not really why they were necessary in some protocols.
And look at you! With your smarty-pants, head-of-the-class, umpty-umpth percentile, prodigy embryos! Way to go Watson! I’m cheering and cheering here, and anxiously awaiting the stick peeing….
39? Are you sure? You look 25 in your vid!
Dear Watson, that stuff about the PGD was truly fascinating. It does suggest that fertilization must happen a lot more often than we think in natural cycles, but that many or most of the embryos are lost really early on. Anyway, I’m really impressed with your stats, you IVF overachiever you!
I hear you on having blood products injected into you. I have to do it every week — not into a vein, but into a hip (IM). It’s one of those lovely bonding experiences with my husband that I could do without.
Don’t pee on a stick yet. (Unless you go peeing in the forest, in which case it probably can’t be avoided.) Since you went to blast, I would say wait until 8 days after transfer at the very, very earliest, and even then be wary. You don’t want any residual HCG from the trigger shot to mask the results.
Those PGD stats are unbelievable! I loved your “math gene” comment. I also have to thank you for your IVF videos. I had to give my nephew a shot of his growth hormone with only my brother-in-law guiding me over the phone. If I hadn’t seen your video I wouldn’t have known what to do. Interestingly, everything was identical – even down to the beveled needle! You may want to think about going into educational videos!
I just found your blog and will probably be a dedicated reader from now on. You amuuuuse me! Good luck with your POAS wait–it’s tough, I know. Your PGD results were very interesting. I’ve done 1 IVF, and only had 3 embryos, so all were transfered on day 2. It didn’t give much time to check quality. (Cycle was negative). Anyway, best wishes to you and BeBop.
I seriously cannot thank you enough for sharing your experience in detail!! It’s both educational and heart-warming to know what you are going through and the decisions that you made when faced with incredibly difficult choices!
One of my close friends chose to implant 3 embryos following a doctor’s assertion that the chance of all three implanting was something like 1%. Well, nearly 6 months (yes, 6 months) later she gave birth to triplets. They are all healthy now – five years later – but it was really touch-and-go for the first few months. She told me that she thinks it was actually irresponsible of the physician to use 3 embryos given the struggles that the triplets went through. She writes off the physical trauma of her experience (horribly painful shots to promote lung development, etc.) and, though she absolutely adores her children (they went on to have a surprise 4th – she couldn’t believe that her body even knew how to get pregnant naturally!), she does feel scarred by the experience. This is not to criticize anyone who opts for more than 2 embryos at a time, only to help you feel even better about your choice, no matter what happens.
You know that my fingers are crossed for you and I will be watching!!
Watson you are a treasure for going into so much detail about your IVF experience. Our one-stop shop for all things technical, if you will 🙂
I personally would go with “Natural Born Killer Cells” as a band name. It seems like the X-Blast should fit in there somewhere, too, but it almost sounds like an energy drink. Oh well.
Anxiously waiting and hoping with you!
Oh, Watson, I can’t tell you how relieved I am that you transferred two, not three! I mean, I know I’m biased. I do! It’s just… gosh. Triplets. Seriously!
I’m so glad, though, that after the PGD you still had so many gorgeous beauties to choose from!
Wow, all that too! You have been busy!
Thanks again for all the PGD info, really useful!
Go on Watson, do it, pee on that stick, I dare you :)…
Hilarious! Thanks for the update on the PGD. We will (hopefully) embarking on our own PGD adventure here soon and it is just great to hear about someone else having such success with it!
Good luck!
wow, thanks for sharing all that , I am so proud of you for doing what your heart said to do. 🙂
You are a seriously overachieving IVFer….I hope I can be even Half as cool as you are when it’s my turn. 🙂
GOOD LUCK, my fingers (and other body parts) are crossed tight!!!!
Wow, again, I learned a lot– thank you for sharing your experience. I, too, am shocked at how young you look! :o) I really hope that the wait goes by quickly and that you have a doubly fantastic beta!
Oh, to pee or not to pee…immediately after our IUI, I counted the days until I could POAS. But as that day got closer, I totally changed my mind. I decided that if the news was bad, I did NOT want to know it any sooner than I had to. My period was supposed to show up on Sunday, and my beta was on Monday, so I figured I’d know by then anyway. It was only after the nurse called on Monday to tell me that we had a positive that I went home and POAS—just so I could FINALLY see what a positive result on one of those suckers looked like. Fingers are crossed for you Watson!
Good luck good luck!
This is going to seem totally weird and off topic i’m sure…but love to your boston Bosco. I have a special place in my heart for bostons. 🙂
I think I can feel pretty secure in the fact that since you wouldnt let bebop capture your tummy on camera we won’t need to be worried about a pee on a stick video…please tell me I am right 🙂
Go put your feet up, relax and let those little suckers implant!!
Wow, you do NOT look 39. I thought you were about 10 years younger than that. Seriously. I am not trying to butter you up to get your eggs.
Your results are amazing!! You couldn’t have hoped for anything better.
I hope those little ones are getting nice and cozy.
go YOU for being in the 98th percentile!!!!
And like tipsy, I had no idea you were that… ahem… aged. You look like you’re in your early 30s, girl – you look GOOD. 🙂
I have about everything crossed as tightly as I can manage that one or two of those high grade embryos are getting cosy in there!