In the End, there Can Be Only One

I'm sitting on our sofa cramping right now. Hopefully a good kind of cramping, an implantation kind of cramping.  I'm stunned it could be so soon after the transfer.  We've been told that implantation will happen within 48 hours.  That five day transfer really cuts the wait on the usual 6-9 day window for implantation!

We went in this morning for the transfer.  The embryologist, a very bouncy and friendly man, was elated to tell me that I was a perfect candidate for Single Embryo Transfer! (SET)  He presented a photo to me of our little blastocyst (btw, I now realize I've been calling it the incorrect term, so I may edit to correct in earlier entries to make searching easier) and began pointing out the middle, which would form the fetus, and the outer shell, which would form the placenta. I melted a little inside, then remembered that we needed to get the Hubs and Bud out of the waiting room to make sure he was part of this conversation! We started over when he arrived.  Can I just say how cool it is to have a photo of our embryo?!?  Cool!

Between Day 3 and Day 5, three embryos stopped developing, two were at an earlier stage (called the morula stage), and one was a clear winner, our little blastocyst.  The morulas will continue to develop this evening, and, if they do not arrest but continue to grow into blastocysts, will be frozen for potential future use.  Our blastocyst has a rating of "good" on a scale of poor, fair, good, with an AC grade.

I inquired about percentage of success, and was told that at this stage, we can expect a 60 - 65% chance of pregnancy.  If we transferred two, because of how advanced they are, we'd only raise the possibility of a pregnancy by a few percentage points but have a 50% chance of twins.  Leading fertility centers are working very hard on their success rates with SET since multiples have such high risks associated with them. At my age, ethical guidelines would recommend no more than 2 to transfer.  If I were slightly older, say, the other side of Thursday (the big 4-0) and had other factors such as unsuccessful IVF attempts, first child, and/or low hormonal response, 3 might be recommended.  So, no reality show was ever in my future!  However, I do see a Mickey Mouse Club type thing...

We'll do blood work in 9 days to check for pregnancy hormones.  Now, this will be a long wait!!  I'm on a low activity modified bed rest type thing today, a little more movement tomorrow, then I will probably be okay by Thursday so I can enjoy my birthday.  Although I'm hoping my birthday gift has arrived a few days early.