Today the embryos were transferred into Kathy. It's amazing how quickly the numbers reduce. We removed seven eggs on Friday, one wasn't mature, so we got six embryos. This morning we were told two of them didn't seem to be growing any more, so we were down to four. And if we put two in now, and saved the other two for later, there was only a 2/3 chance each of the saved embryos would come out ok. And there's not much point in freezing only one. But inserting four embryos seemed way too risky as far as multiple births, and didn't significantly increase the likelihood of a successful pregnancy. But our doctor said he hadn't had triplets or quadruplets in over a year. As for how the embryos should look, at this point in the process they only have general ideas -- they don't actually know what to look for. All these things were thrown at us this morning and we were asked to make a decision on how many embryos to transfer. We had no idea. The concept of informed consent assumes that with all the info you'll be able to make a decision, but the flood of information we received just a few minutes before the procedure would take place was just too much for us to process. So when our doctor came back after giving us a few minutes, we pretty much let him make the decision for us. On that basis, we went with three embryos, the three that looked the best (two of them looked very good, and the other was good). It's possible the other three, including the two that didn't seem to be growing any more, would in fact keep developing, so they're going to keep an eye on them for a couple more days to see if they're worth saving. As it is, however, it's becoming increasingly likely that this is our one shot, and we won't get the opportunity to use saved embryos from this process in another attempt. Our doctor said he thought we had about a 40% chance of success.
It's out of our hands now -- we go in for the pregnancy test a week from Saturday, on our way out of town. We'll get the results while we're driving down -- not exactly the best way to kick off a relaxing week (with my family). In the meantime, we're told to relax, try not to stress, etc., which of course is easier said than done. Still, with the way my mind works, Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry, Be Happy" popped into my head this morning, and the song's been with me ever since. Naturally, I kept coming up with new lyrics.
Combine the eggs up with the sperm,
It takes two weeks 'til they'll confirm.
Don't Worry, Be Happy.
They put embryos into my wife,
If it don't work out, hey, that's life.
Don't Worry, Be Happy.
If we get one or two that's fine,
If we get trips, she'll drink more wine.
Don't Worry, Be Happy.
You get the idea.
4 comments:
If you get triplets, neither one of you will be getting much sleep.
I knew a family, some years ago, who had triplets by in vitro fertilization. It's tough enough with one child who only sleeps a few hours at a stretch. The triplets were rarely all asleep at the same time.
I hope it turns out well for you. "Don't worry, be happy" is a good attitude to adopt.
Q
I'm rooting for you. At this stage you can borrow my mantra that I adopted through the whole breast cancer stuff, 'WHAT WILL BE, WILL BE".
Aaron - Heather and I send our best to you and Kathy. Thanks for the update and take care of your foot! Good for you that your doctor inspires trust - it's very important.
Jeez, I go away for a few days and come back to find out this? Good luck to both of you!
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