So we talked to embryologist today and wouldn't you know it all 4 are 8 cells today and they look great. But, we are not out of the woods yet. So on Day 3, that is when the DNA from the sperm kicks in and that's where problems can arise, especially for us. We know we have bad sperm, we knew that going into this. But, nobody knew it was this bad. Which kinda pisses me off because they made us feel like it was a piece of cake. I asked if they did IMSI (which they were suppose to do) on the sperm which is where they look at the sperm under a high powered microscope in order to pick out the best looking ones to inject into the egg, it's like ICSI but you get at better look at each sperm. Um, yeah they didn't do it because they said there wasn't enough sperm. WTF does that mean. Nobody told us that they couldn't do IMSI because of that. They had all of our semen analysis from the past year plus they looked at a sample when we came for the ODWU in December. They knew our sperm was shit and they said it was fine at least they had some to work with. I have tons of questions for Dr. G when he returns which isn't for another week. Here are couple I have in mind. If anyone has any more I should ask please let me know.
1. Should we do a DNA fragmentation test on the sperm?
2. Why the FUCK wasn't IMSI done?
3. Was the egg quality affected by the numerous cysts I have? (I had more follicles on my ODWU)
4. Would sperm aspiration be better?
So our plan. If 3-4 embryos make it to day 5 and look strong we are going to go through with the CCS testing. If 1-2 make it then we are not. We already know the my husband is a Robertsonian Translocation carrier so the odds of the 1-2 coming back normal is not very high. We are going to freeze them and do another retrieval first and then do CCS testing on all of them together. The embryologist did say if they all arrest then she would still test for chromosomal abnormalities and then we would at least know our chances of chromosomal balance embryos. The embryologist was real with us and I really appreciated it. She said it can really go either way but not to expect 4 to make it, more like 1-2. We make our decision on Sunday or Monday, depending on the growth. At that time we do not have time to decide what to do we will have to make our decision immediately.
Wow...this is so tense - I can just imagine how nerve wracking it is for you guys. I'm sooo glad that all four are still going strong - praying they hang in there and that you have 3 or 4 to test. I'm surprised that you haven't had the DNA frag test yet? Did Dr. G ever discuss it with you guys? Hang in there!
ReplyDeleteThanks for updating us. Didn't they have a bunch of frozen back-up sperm they could use too? I will be thinking about you and your growing embryos this weekend. I think this was the hardest part of the IVF cycle because it feels totally out of your control.
ReplyDeleteThe sperm cop out is a piss off for sure. They Wouldn't do IMSi on us because our sperm was aspirated and you need the fluid. From what I have researched, nothing beats ejaculated sperm. This is an intense time for you both. Really pulling for you.
ReplyDeleteUgh, how incredibly frustrating. I'm glad to hear that all 4 are 8 cell at this point though. Hoping for great news on Day5!
ReplyDeleteI know it's so frustrating....we have the low count problem and had our retrieval on Wednesday...in ODWU they also told the same thing that IMSI will solve the problem...intact they said we don't need DNA fragmentation since we are doing IMSI and my husband's count was same as ODWU and after retrieval they told us that they cannot do IMSI because the count is very low. I agree with you that they should have known this in ODWU. We are still waiting for our Day 3 call today. Hope everything goes well with you.
ReplyDeleteFirst -- that is so exciting that all 4 made it this far!!! Definitely a good sign.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm so mad for you that they didn't discuss the IMSI issue with you earlier so that you could have done a frozen sample plus a fresh to have more to choose from.
I think your plan is a good one -- if you have 1-2 do another cycle before doing CCS. Makes a lot of sense.
I hope you and DH have planned some fun, distracting things this weekend to help the time fly by (and to take care of each other) until you get that report. FX!!
I can't imagine what is going through your mind and how you are feeling but I know frustration is a main one!
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize the sperm DNA starts on day 3...so if embryos make it to day 3 well but not beyond is it likely a sperm issue?
The IMSI issue is irritating. I'm curious to hear what you find out in your regroup. During my ODWU we were told all about IMSI and how it would help us (DH has had 7 sperm analyses all with low count and low morph). During my regroup, I asked Dr. S about IMSI and he said "Oh you may not be able to do that because the count was low." I asked him what it had to be and he said "it just depends." So frustrating! I hope you have a normal blast in there.
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