It’s the last morning in our London hotel.
We have to check out in an hour, our bags are mostly packed, but first we’re waiting for a call. Our ten fertilised eggs have had several days to grow by now, and we’ll know how they’ve been getting on.
I am nervous. These little zygotes-growing-into-embryos are our only chance now, and I want them to do well.
The phone rings, and the embryologist talks quickly but I hear the words ‘one frozen’. I’m immediately both glad – we really were hoping for at least one that was good enough to freeze – and concerned, did they all do that badly we have only one left?
But then I listen on and realise they froze the one embryo already because it was top quality. The other nine are all still there and still growing!
It’s wonderful news to leave London on. Now we know for certain that we will get our try in a few months!
Jo goes to visit her parents, and I am travelling home alone. In truth I’m still in a lot of pain from the egg collection and it isn’t the best time for me to travel, but we arranged it like this when I (overly optimistically) thought I would be fine by now.
I ask for help at the Eurostar and do not receive it. It’s a horrendous trip home, and that evening I do the injections on my own and manage to stab my hand with a needle, resulting in me dripping blood everywhere, it was not my day!
But we have one frozen already.
I spend the next days at home on my own, alternating between being in bed and on the sofa. The cats are wonderful, as always they can tell that I am not feeling well, and they do not leave my side.
And then it’s time for another phone call from the clinic!
Jo receives this call, and when she Whatsapps me the news, we immediately Skype each other because it is… incredible. They froze five more embryos. FIVE!
And out of the remaining four, two are doing well enough that they’ll let them grow for another day.
When the final call comes the day after that, it almost feels greedy to hope for any more. But we receive more regardless. Our two ‘maybe’ embryos have made it as well, and are frozen too.
Bringing the total to EIGHT.
Eight frozen embryos from a first IVF cycle is pretty much unheard of! The expectation would have been 40-50% of the ones who made it to day three. What we got was 80%. These little embryos are fighters apparently, and we are so incredibly happy to have them!
Even though it was sad that I couldn’t get an embryo transfer this cycle, we are going into 2019 with the very best of prospects.
EIGHT!!!! <3
Yyyyaaaayyyy !
*dances* :D