Had my phone consult with Dr. Gustofsen today. I don't know why, but I was nervous before it and it's just a damn telephone call. The first order of business is to decide how many embryos to transfer. He said he would be fine with either 1 or 2. So now we have the dilemma of 1 or 2. Dr. G. said it's basically up to us and was not trying to sway one way of the other. My husband brought up the point that we do not have access to cutting edge healthcare in Mississippi and if we had twins and they ended up in the NICU here in MS it would not be ideal. He thought that was a valid reason to transfer 1.
Before this phonecall, I had resigned myself to transferring 2, but now that Dr. G said he would be fine with 1, I am back to square 1 with this decision. There is the issue of chomosomal testing. We did not do this, because no one recommended it to us, but now since we are considering going the SET route, I would like to do it because it will increase our chances. During a regular FET, do they thaw the embryo out 1 at a time or do they thaw them all out and pick the best one that is thawed? I emailed Dr. G. that question, but some of you may know. If they thaw them all out anyway, I would want to do the genetic testing.
I feel pressure to do 2 to make sure it works, but on the other hand, I really want a healthy, uncomplicated pregnancy. If I lived in Denver, the answer would be easier. I would do SET. Y'all - I just hate these kind of decisions, because I go back and forth between the pros and cons and it makes me crazy!
I think I may just let my husband take responsibility for this decision.
With FET, they usually thaw them all and pick the best. Some may not survive the thaw, some may survive but not look as good as they did before the freeze. Transferring one or two is a tough decision. My only advice is get as much information as you can, sleep on it, then see what your gut says. Good luck!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jenny - if that is the case, we could do the genetic testing and at least that would tell us a little more about the embryos chances of turning into a viable pregnancy. Decisions, decisions.
ReplyDeleteThat's a tough one...I would make a pros and cons list and then go from there.
ReplyDeleteAlways tough decisions to make. I am not sure how they thaw them. If you did not do the genetic testing on the embryos then you probably would want to do more than 1, but then that could still leave you with 2 in the end. Good Luck!
ReplyDeleteDr. G did my transfer today!
ReplyDeleteIf you froze blasts, I'm pretty sure that they only thaw the number that you are planning on transferring (based on pre-freezing ratings). If one doesn't survive the thaw, they can thaw another.
Good luck with your decision!
Hey Nikki - I think you must of been the reason why they moved our phone consult from 9 to 10 am (11 am my time). That's Funny! Hope all went well and your blast(s) are taking up residence right now! DId you do 1 or 2?
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your decision - I know you'll get to the right place. Since none of us has a crystal ball you just have to consider the options and then go with your gut. What's great is that you have options - 9 embryos is fantastic!
ReplyDeleteBest of luck whichever way you go.
Jen, CCRM has a 98% thaw success rate so they do not thaw all the embryos. They only thaw the number that you request, however, they typically freeze two embryos together (why? I don't know). So, most likely, unless you requested that they be frozen individually, they will have to defrost two embryos.
ReplyDeleteOther clinics with lower success rates tend to thaw more embryos because they have less that survive the thaw. If, for some reason, you end up in the 2% that doesn't survive the thaw, they will defrost two additional and push your transfer out a couple of hours.
Hey Sooz - I heard back from Dr G today via email and that is exactly what he said. Thaw 2 and if we decide to transfer only 1 then they would refreeze the other one for potential use later on.
ReplyDeleteJust so you know, Dr. G was on a roll this summer in producing twins! I am proof of that! My IVF nurse said they'd been closer to 95% success rate with the transfer of 2 embryos. I don't if that factors into your decision making or not but I thought I'd put that out there.
ReplyDeleteThanks Michelle - yeah - that does kinda factor in. I feel like he is the Baby Wizard! I think we are leaning towards two single transfers and if those don't take, go to double embryo transfer.
ReplyDeleteExciting to have options! :) As you know, we transferred one and it stuck! But we did CCS so the odds were pretty good that the embie was healthy. But I really like the way Dr. Surrey explained it -- if the embie is going to take it's going to take regardless of whether you transfer 1 or 2. If one's not going to take, it's not going to take regardless of whether you transfer 1 or 2. So the number transferred really only increases the likelihood of at least 1 taking that cycle. If you're OK with the possibility that you may need to undergo numerous FET's in order to maximize your probability of a singleton, then transferring 1 may be the way to go. If you want to maximize the possibility that you'll have at least 1 baby from this 1 FET, then 2 may be the way to go.
ReplyDeleteIt's a tough choice but in the end I think you just have to go with what you and your DH are the most comfortable with.
I'm excited for you that you're getting closer to you FET! :)
Hi Manni - thanks for your comment. I think you are right. The FET turns into a probability game. I have a good feeling that we will get pregnant, it's just a matter of when. I think 2 single embryo transfer is about all I could stand before having to increase the odds that 1 will stick. I was inspired by your experience (though you did have the advantage of CCS) We'll see what happens!
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