5 Frosties...and I Don't Mean the Chocolate Kind

Our embryologist just called with an update on our potential "frosties." I was hoping he would say we had the 3 we expected make it to freeze quality today, but to my surprise he said we actually have FIVE frosties make it so far! And no, I'm not talking about these...

Oh, what I would give for A) something chocolate and B) something ice cold and sugar laden! Oh well,  I will still take my frosties over this one right now.

The IVF process is so incredibly nerve racking, and any small piece of extra insurance just helps the couple going through it know they won't be left with nothing if it doesn't work. For my hubby, one of the biggest "pros" for him in us choosing doing IVF was the prospect of having frozen embryos for back-up or for a later time. While I always appreciate his glass half full outlook, I also kept reminding him that frozen embryos are not a guarantee in this process, especially for someone diagnosed with DOR. I just didn't want him to expect all these frozen embryos and then us not have any.

Even at the group IVF meeting we attended, the embryologists stressed more than once that "Having frozen embryos is a privilege, not a guarantee."  I think that has just been drilled into my head so much that I've tried to keep my expectations low and my hopes high regarding cyropreservation....and more specifically vitrification, which is the latest and greatest type of rapid freezing used in most labs.

We are very grateful. I feel like I can breathe easier just knowing that we have a plan B if needed. If we do ever need to do a FET (frozen embryo transfer) later on, success rates are almost comparable to fresh cycles nowadays, because of the rapid freezing process used in vitrification.

Plus, having frozen embryos for use at a later date means if we decide to have another child 3 years from now when I'm 38 for example, our embryos will still be made with eggs that were only 34/35 (I turn 35 less than 2 months from now). Using these frozen embryos later could reduce some risks associated with AMA (Advanced Maternal Age) that increase sharply at age 38. In case you didn't know, pregnancy risks are defined by the age of the eggs used to make the pregnancy, and not necessarily the woman herself when ART (assisted reproductive technology) is involved. This is why a 42 year old doing IVF with donor eggs from a 22 year old would still have extremely low risk for things like Downs Syndrome...because her egg age is only 22.  Not saying this theoretical procreation timeline is part of our master plan. I'd love to actually become pregnant on my own at some point without using science, but I'm just saying it's an added benefit of having frozen embryos available for later if we did happen to need them.

Just a little frozen embryo humor for you. :) One of the other great aspects of doing an FET if needed, is that it is waaaaay cheaper to transfer a frozen embryo than to do a whole fresh IVF cycle all over again if needed...like $3-$4K vs. $15-20K+. Yeah, BIG difference.

Without further adieu, here is today's freeze report:

2 embryos frozen yesterday (BC quality)
3 embryos frozen today (2 BB quality, 1 CB quality)

I am perfectly happy with B and C quality! From what I'm told, my lab is super strict as well, so I don't even know how often they dole out A's to be honest. Plenty of B and C embryos become healthy happy babies, so that's all I care about. We also still have 5 embryos growing in incubators right now. We will see if they reach freeze quality by tomorrow. The embryologist said it's pretty rare for an embryo that hasn't reached freeze quality by Day 6 to then reach freeze quality by Day 7, but anything is possible. They will call with a final report by tomorrow, and we'll know if any of the remaining 5 fresh embryos stepped it up a notch overnight. Either way, we are ecstatic with the 5 frosties we have already. We will take it!