Ok, so it's been a month...

Wow, has a month gone by already?! Where has the time gone? In the last month I've been super busy: we've had the chance to go to a beautiful wedding in Paso Robles for my brother and sister in law, work has been a bit crazy with the launch of a new product, and visits with family and friends... but those are all just excuses. I've been waiting for something exciting to say, but I've realized I should just update on the "non-news."

We had 4 embryos make it to the end (Day 6) when they were frozen. One was at the blastocyst stage on Day 5, the other 3 made it there on Day 6. They range in grading (number/letter grades the lab gives them based on their perception of overall quality- how quickly they are dividing, number of cells, etc) from a "low-medium" grade to a "high" grade. The weird thing is that these gradings have no bearing on the outcome of the genetic testing, so a very high grade from the lab could result in a non-viable embryo after genetic testing... shows why the extra step of genetic testing is so helpful.

So 4 embryos are sitting frozen in Denver while 3-4 of their outer cells are in a lab in New Jersey being analyzed. It has been 4 weeks now since those cells were sent off and no news yet. I had to check with our IVF nurse, Heidi, (couldn't help myself) and she told me that the lab has been running about 6 weeks and even a couple days past that. That means 2 more anxious weeks of waiting. I REALLY want those results, and yet I also dread those results. Basically, there is no average of the percentage that come back normal. We could have 4 or we could have none and every variable in between.

When our results are received in Denver, our doctor will call us and discuss what's next. As long as we have at least 1 viable embryo, we'll plan for transfer which takes place 4-6 weeks later. If by chance we have none viable, he discusses what he thinks went wrong and what may be our next options (use of donor, etc).

Our friends who had their transfer 2 days before my egg retrieval have found out that they are pregnant with 1 baby (they had 2 embryos transferred). They are ecstatic! We are so happy for them and hopeful for ourselves.

My stomach is still in knots though.... how do I keep my mind off of it for the next 2 weeks? How is every moment not consumed by the "what-if's"? So far, we have dinner plans tomorrow, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, play dates with the dogs, dinner events for work, work meetings, massages..... pretty sure I'll still be thinking of the popsicle petri babies there in Denver