IVF Cycle 2 / CD 28

I just realized that I made an Instagram/Facebook post with our fertilization results on Tuesday but no blog post. All 7 of our eggs retrieved also fertilized with intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), which we were of course thrilled to hear.

Today, we got our update of how many made it through day 5 and would go for preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A). The answer was three! (Recall that last cycle, we had one make it through day 5, but it came back mostly abnormal.) Knowing that 30-50 percent of fertilized eggs make it to the blastocyst stage, we could expect 2.1 to 3.5 (which we'll say is 2 to 4), so 3 was in the middle. Overall, this is good news. Three is triple what we had at this point in the previous cycle. We know that statistically, less than half will test normal. If we are lucky, we'll have two come back as normal/euploid.

With our goal of eventually having two or three children, we're likely looking to go for at least one more retrieval. Since I have never been pregnant, we have no idea what will happen once we transfer an embryo. Even if all three of our blastocysts come back normal (unlikely), we might not end up with three (or two, or one...) live births.

Our mantra, learned from our RE, is, "Every cycle is different." No matter when we go for a third retrieval, we could end up with better, worse, or the same results. We are weighing the options of taking a break for a few months, but I don't see that helping my stress level. I'm constantly reading Facebook groups and blog posts or listening to podcasts. I cannot stop consuming infertility-related content and thinking about what the future could hold. At least with another cycle, I'd feel like we were doing something. 

There's still a lot to think about while we wait. I think we are going to try to chat with our RE this week. While we expect him to tell us that every cycle is different, the fact that we are expecting to have a euploid embryo or two in the freezer changes a few things and creates some additional questions and options for us. 

Maybe we'll transfer.

Maybe we'll change our family goals and aim for a smaller family. 

Maybe we'll go straight for a retrieval. 

But for now, we'll wait.

Something that made today great: I made some salsa that was quite tasty!

Time I woke up: I don't know how to answer this because I was in and out of sleep all morning but didn't get out of bed until after 2:00 (woah)