IVF 1 - Day 23 Transfer complete

Back from the clinic.  The transfer went very smoothly with minimal discomfort.  I got a few blurry pictures of the blastocyst on the screen before the transfer.  I may try to get one of those off the phone and onto here later.  The procedure itself was relatively simple.  I changed into a hospital gown, went to the treatment room, hopped up on the table.  They cleaned me and inserted a speculum, cleaned the cervix and then put a catheter just through the cervix.  Then they let the embryology team know they are ready and the embryologist loads a small catheter with the embryo and solution.  This is then threaded through the catheter in the womb opening and further up into the uterus.  The plunger is depressed and you can actually see a little white spot on the ultrasound forming where the fluid (and embryo) come out.  The catheters are then removed.  The embryologist then thoroughly checks their catheter to ensure that the embryo didn't get stuck to it anywhere (as they're very sticky at this stage) and if you're given the all clear then they remove the speculum and that's it.  I was given the all clear.  They did warn me that sometimes the embryo gets stuck and they have to reload it and do it again, but luckily that didn't happen.

In the end, I decided to transfer the one blastocyst from the frozen egg.  It had actually been the second best blastocyst (I got that wrong) in the morning but by noon, it was the same quality as the other that emerged faster.  Both were already hatching, so that was all promising.  The reason I decided on one was due to the risk factors of multiples and also that the success rate chances for the frozen egg is better because it's younger.  If it doesn't take and I need to do a frozen embryo transfer, then I may rethink the strategy of how many I put back.

Because.... the two slow emergers from this morning developed into full good quality blastocysts by the afternoon!!  Completely unexpected!  I was really shocked by this news.  So in the end, with 8 fresh eggs collected and 2 frozen eggs successfully thawed, I ended up with 4 good quality blastocysts; 1 from the frozen eggs and 3 from the fresh.  Those are pretty good statistics so I'm very happy with the numbers.  Of course I'll be even more happy with a successful pregnancy, but it seems like a good starting point.  So if this transfer doesn't work, I have 3 embryos to work with.  All in all, a good result.

The clinic gave me a pregnancy test and said that I need to test in 10 days.  I will of course be peeing on sticks well before that.  If today is day 6, then the earliest you could get a pregnancy read is day 8/9.  So I'll give it a few days and probably start testing in the morning like I did before.  Until the 'right' day when I will use the test they gave me.

So that's where I'm at.  Exciting and terrifying.  As usual.

Moving Eggs

Following from yesterday's decision I got on the phone straight away this morning with my previous London clinic to see about moving my eggs. I had to leave a message but they called me back within an hour and I explained what I needed.  The clinic manager was able to email me through the consent forms for the transfer and also my credit note for the refunded storage fee (I paid for 10 years up front).  Of course they are also charging for their time in handling the transfer so that was slightly reduced.  But it works out to around £500 refunded, so that's good!  Of course it will probably go straight to storage at the Cambridge clinic, but whatever.

So now it's all about arranging the courier to move the eggs from London to Cambridge.  The London clinic said that usually if a transfer is being done within the UK, the receiving clinic arranges the courier.  So far this morning I've copied in the Cambridge clinic to all correspondence but I haven't had a response yet.  In this instance, the London clinic is winning in terms of quick turn around and responses, but hopefully the Cambridge clinic will check their email at some point today and it will move.

My only fear is that this doesn't happen efficiently and there is a hold up.  But that really shouldn't happen.  If the Cambridge clinic doesn't respond to email today, I will be on the phone with them first thing tomorrow.

In other updates I've also made a counselling appointment to discuss my use of a donor, although not for 3 weeks  yet.  Hoop jumping progress.