Nine Lives

This afternoon we got the call we have been waiting for. It was odd, and it freaked me out, but it was nice to get information. 

I was making dinner when the clinic called me. While I say we were waiting for the call, we were not actually expecting a phone call, but an update on our online portal. We were told to look for information on Sunday for how many embryos were successfully frozen and their grades.

Receiving the call initially sent me into panic mode. We are operating on a 'no news is good news' point of view, so a phone call usually doesn't bode well. I about dropped the phone when the voice on the other line said she was calling to schedule our transfer, and that we should be in the clinic at 9:45 tomorrow morning. My throat thickened and I had several tears on standby, thinking we had somehow misunderstood and had messed everything up.  I told the IVF coordinator that I was not on any of the medications and had not been taking progesterone shots. I said we were told we would be doing a frozen transfer in June or July. It took a little bit, but after some assurance that they really do know what they are doing, (which I do not doubt - they are great) but I was somehow still on her list, but that was okay - no harm done - she apologized and then went ahead and gave me some info about our little embryos. Not sure she was actually supposed to do this, but it is our information about our children, and it was available and in front of her, so...

I was expecting her to tell me that we were lucky to have three or four and that she was hopeful about our chances. Instead, she blew me away. Out of the nine eggs that were successfully fertilized and became embryos on Tuesday evening, we have... *Drum Roll Please* ...NINE remaining.

That's right. Not a single one has 'expired', stopped growing, etc. This has never happened for us. Out of nine fertilized in 2104, only three actually 'took' and we only had one left on the day of transfer. We were realistically expecting to have four, maybe five left at this point. To have nine remaining is nothing short of a miracle.

The other two times we have been in this situation, at the brink of transfer (this time freezing) day, we have been cautiously optimistic, but that's about it. Last time we didn't even get to the clinic before learning we didn't have a single embryo to transfer. The time before, we went to the clinic expecting to transfer two but ended up with only one. We transferred that one, even though it was not the best quality. (that one little embryo ended up being our son, Henry)

Not only do we have more than we know what to do with this cycle, we have some really healthy little fighters to boot! Three of the embryos are what they call compacted and looking like perfect blastocysts (see image above). Three more are just behind those, looking like they are going to catch up and will probably be perfect little embies. She didn't really say anything about the other three, but I am assuming they are somewhere lower on the scale, but obviously still hanging on and will probably be viable as well.

God really does deliver in impossible situations. He went beyond our wildest expectations and gave us so much more than we asked for. Actually, we are a little overwhelmed at how well it has all gone. From writing about rotten eggs to having more embryos that we know what to do with has been quite the journey for me emotionally and spiritually. I was feeling sorry for myself and tempted to doubt God's plan for us. He sure showed me.

"I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing."~Ezekiel 34:26

We will still get an update tomorrow, letting us know about our little embies. Tomorrow's update will include more specific grading information about the individual embryos. I feel like I can really let them go, and let them get frozen (did you see what I did there) with a sense of peace about our future family.