As of today, we have four embryos. Out of the six eggs retrieved on Friday, three were inseminated naturally, and the other three were inseminated using ICSI. Each procedure produced two embryos, and they are currently being monitored separately. Our doctor wasn’t thrilled with the final egg count, but she was excited about getting four embryos out of six eggs.
On Monday (Day 3), the embryos reached the Cleavage Stage, and we were told that embryos at this stage are graded on a “Good”, “Fair,” and “Poor” standard, with “Good” embryos having 6-12 cells. There is no change in the overall size of the embryo at this point - just an increase in cell count.
We had the following figures:
Natural Insemination: eight and ten cells
ICSI: eight and eight cells
Thankfully, all four of our embryos were graded as “Good.” Although one of the natural embryos had stopped showing signs of cell division, the doctor didn’t sound too worried and said they will continue to monitor them all until Day 5 - the Blastocyst Stage.
By the Blastocyst Stage, the embryos should have hundreds of cells with differentiation - some of them will eventually become the actual fetus and others, the placenta that will hold and keep the baby safe throughout pregnancy. During this stage, the embryo will actually grow enough to stretch the membrane and burst through - a process called hatching. Once an embryo hatches, it is well on its way to be frozen or implanted.
All of our embryos deemed healthy at this point will be frozen, biopsied, and the samples sent to a lab for chromosomal testing. The testing is supposed to take 7-10 days, so we’ll miss the window for implantation during this cycle. This means that we’ll have to wait for my next cycle to plan and schedule ours. At this point, we’re looking at another 40-ish days.
Until then, all Jin and I can do is pray that our cell counts stay high, all cells divide and grow healthily, and all four are found to be normal and approved for implantation.