Have I mentioned this is a roller coaster?

From the depths of despair last night comes good news this morning.

All three made it to blastocyst stage and are on ice!

Normally, embryos are implanted on day 3 or 5. It all depends on how many eggs/embryos you get in the first place as to which option is chosen. If you only have a few embryos, it is better to transfer on day 3 because some of the embryos will make it in the womb that would not make it in a petri dish.

Had I know that they were going to take them to blastocyst stage (day 5) before freezing them, I would have requested that they were frozen on day 3. Because they are much more simple in structure (8 cells), you tend to have more that make it to cryo. Taking the embryo all the way to blastocyst stage is risky because you normally lose a few weaker embryos. At day 3, an important critical step happens--the embryo stops relying on the egg and starts growing into the complex structure it becomes. By the time it makes it to day 5, it will have over 100 cells and already activated it's own genes.

All this means one thing- they are definitely stronger than a day 3 embryo! This makes me thrilled. I know I am not out of the woods yet because the freezing process can also be really difficult on embryos, but today I celebrate. I am one step closer to transfer, and that makes me thrilled!