I hope somebody has an answer to help me out.

In my 2 previous IVF's, we ended up with no frozen embryos the first time and only one frozen blast the 2nd time.
We did a Day 3 transfer this last time and we will be doing a Day 3 transfer in January. At Day 3, the embryos are only like 8 celled or something like that, right?
My RE told me that they ONLY freeze embryos if they make it to blast stage.

My question is, can't they freeze the embryos at the 6 celled and 8 celled stages? Why would she tell me that they HAVE to be blasts to be frozen?
If we could freeze them at that earlier stage, we would have LOTS of embryos to try a FET, not just our one little frozen blast. And we wouldn't keep having to do fresh cycles every time.
So, why is it OK to do a transfer of an 8celled embryo, but not freeze it???!!!

I'm just frustrated that she keeps telling me NO when i bring it up!

Probably they have more success or experience with frozen blasts. Or maybe they just want to see how many of them really get to the blast stage.
And probably if the embrios die after day 3 and before they get to blast stage, they probably know that they will not make it through freeze either.
Good news is you have a frozen blast, that proved everyone it got this far, I hope this is your lucky baby.
Baby dust,
Mady

I only have 1 frozen embryo from 2 fresh IVF cycles too. My RE won't freeze anything until it makes it to blast. His reasoning is that if the embryo doesn't make it to blast, it isn't that strong and probably won't make it inside you either. My RE only does 5 day transfers so you are sure anything transferred to you already is a blast and has the best chances of survival. i always had several embryos left over but by the time it was freeze time only that one had survived. I was lucky enough that my second IVF attempt worked. Good luck to you.

Hi Bee's Wife. Well I definitely can add a very different perspective/experience. First, all RE's practice a bit differently, most likely based on their personal experiences as well as that of their embryologists. My RE and his embryologist make decisions together.

Embryos absolutely can be frozen before blast stage. In fact, all 15 of my embryos were frozen before blast. We had 17 successfully fertilized embies the day after my E/R. On the morning after E/R (so day 1), my embryologist immediately froze nine embryos. 8 were left out and 2 of those transferred on day three at the cleaved stage. The other 6 were frozen that same day... so day 3. For my FET this coming Thurs, the embryologist will thaw 3 of the 9 embryos that were frozen on day 1 after fertilization.

I know that I mispoke in a prior post of mine (I think in response to Mady), but what will happen is they are going to have to thaw those 3 embryos this Tuesday, and then watch them develop for 2 more days until they reach the cleaved stage (hopefully!!!). That's when they will do the transfer. (If they were going to thaw the 6 that were frozen on day 3 for a cleaved stage FET, then they would thaw the 6 embryos Thursday and transfer Thursday.)

The other option that I was presented is we could thaw a larger selection of embryos and see if they develop to blast stage and then do the transfer. If we aren't succesful this time (which we WILL be ;)), then I will take that approach next time.

I do know that an embryo's ability to make it to blast stage is a better indicator of future development and therefore implantation. This may be why your RE/embryologist will only freeze embies that make it to day 5. But my RE has tremendous success with his preferred method. My neighbor, who referred me to my RE, has a 2 yr old girl and brand new twins (boy and girl), all result of FET's at my RE's practice. So you can see why I feel so confident. :angel:

I hope that helped and didn't confuse you. :) Good luck sweetie!!!! BTW, is it a fresh cycle that you are embarking on? I imagine it must be if you are doing a day-3.

Well, up until today i thought we would be doing a fresh cycle in january. Then I had my RE visit this afternoon and I pretty much freaked out and had a nervous breakdown in the office!!!! I just don't think I'm up to it yet after this last miscarriage.
So, my doc suggested a FET with our one good little blast embaby. her reasoning was "It's much less invasive, less costly, it was a Grade 4 perfect embryo, so why not try it?"
Well, what do you all think??
Should we do a FET with just one blast to transfer?
I know our chances of a pregnancy are pretty slim with just the one, so do you think it's worth it?

Oh wow Bee's! That is some decision! Well I am getting the sense that you are still recovering emotionally from the m/c, which is 100percent understandable. And considering how draining a fresh IVF cycle can be (physically and emotionally) and how much easier a FET is in comparison, it seems you might have good reason to go with the FET. Tranferring one grade A embryo, all be it just the one, is still going to bring u a very significant chance of pregnancy. Far more than a natural cycle or even an IUI (Mady and I were recently discussing these odds). The risk u would face is successful thaw of the embryo, but embryologists are having tremendous success with the process these days. Not to mention u wouldn't incur the cost of the transfer itself in the unlikely chance there is a prob with the thaw. When must your decision be made? I am confident u will make the right decision for u and your DH's situation. And we will support u no matter what choice u make!

Thats a tough one Bee, I am currently in the 2ww with a FET and transfered one perfect stage 4 blast. They gave me 30 % chances of success.
I agree with your RE , its less invasive, you dont have to deal with the mood swings and all that stress of a fresh cycle, and you deffinitely dont need that right now after what you went through.
And you know what, the protocol for FET is very similar with the fresh cycle, the only difference is that you skip the Stimulation part, but that will be after a month from now, so based on how you feel then, you can decide for a fresh or a FET.
Good luck, in 2 months you will be pregnant, and we will be here by your side.
Mady

Wow Mady!
How exciting! When do you do your Beta test?
Did you do more than one IVF previously?
How long ago was your last IVF?
I've been kinda back and forth about what to do in january, but i think we'll try the FET. Who knows??!! 30% isn't super great, but it's still pretty good odds!
God, i hope and pray that your BFP is soon (and maybe mine won't be too far behind!):)

Bee's, I will beta next monday. But I will HPT tomorrow. I did the transfer on the 28.
My fresh IVF was my first and was negative, and we jumped on the FET cycle right away.
I did hear of FET success after unhappy fresh ones so why not give it a try.
The chance rate is all statistics, who knows, maybe our perfect little ones have 100% chance to stick. :D
And fresh or frozen, they are still our babies, gotta give them all equal chances, right?
Good luck to you, when do you start the BCPs?
Mady

Hey,
I just went to my RE this morning for another blood test. On Monday my HcG level was still at 27 from the miscarriage and today it was down to 18...so that's a step in the right direction! They need it to be at zero before i can start BCP. I have to go back next Friday for a final (hopefully) blood Hcg test and then we'll start the BCP then.
I am keeping my fingers crossed for you for tomorrow! I know it'll be good news!

Bee's I'm glad things are going well. I posted on my other thread from Kari that the HPT was negative today. I guess my body decided to ignore those 30% succes chances and bet again on the losing team.
Hugs,
Mady