Great News!!!

I love it when good news comes at an unexpected time.

I was supposed to go see Dr. E tomorrow for our PGS results.  She emailed me this afternoon as soon as she got the news!

The subject line said “Normals!!” so I knew that we have some normal embryos.  However, she didn’t specify how many normal embryos we have.  She wasn’t sending me the report because gender of the embryos was listed there, and I don’t want to know the gender at all.  She said in the email that right now would be a good time to connect since we had the report then.  She asked if I would like to meet in person or talk on the phone.

Of course I wanted to talk on the phone.  But the most important piece of information that was missing was the number of normal embryos.

Her response: 4

We have four normal embryos!!!!!!

Praise the Lord for answering our prayers!  I have been praying for the perfect number of normal embryos that God has already planned for us.  And here is our perfect number!

I am so relieved and incredibly grateful.  I think our chances of having a baby are great!

Yesterday I went to see my therapist and told her about my fear of not having any normal embryos.  It helped to speak with her as she gave me strategies to get away from my negative thoughts.

Later this evening Dr. E and I spoke on the phone.  We were both so happy to have these embryos.

I came to find out that embryos 1, 2, 4, and 5 are normal.  They are Max, Noelle, Penny, and Quentin.  I don’t have their grades at the time of freeze.  Number 1 and 2 were the day five embryos that were 3AB and 3BB.  Number 4 and 5 were the day 6 embryos that were 5AB and 5BB.

We will know the mitoscore in the next few days.  This score tells about the implantation potential of each embryo.  Dr. E will make recommendations of which embryo and the number of embryos to transfer.  Grade A and B are good.  Dr. E checked and said that our donor’s first cycle with her had 6 normal embryos and all 6 had a mitoscore that was graded A.  The second cycle with Dr. E, 4 out of 6 were A and 2 out of 6 were B.  According to her, the mitoscore is all dependent on the egg quality and not sperm.  So given the previous results, she said that it’s very likely that we’ll have good mitoscore for our embryos.

She said that just looking at the embryos now, she would probably recommend transferring the 3AB.  She asked her assistant to send me the embryology report at freeze time so I will know what the final grades of the embryos were before freeze.  She doesn’t remember exactly but she said that she didn’t remember seeing a downgrade on the embryos.

I asked Dr. E if the sperm played a part in the number of normal blastocysts that we have.  She said that it’s not clear.  The donor did have two perfect cycles but our number is not out of the ordinary.  Maybe this is the new normal for this particular donor.

This is such great news!  I can breathe more easily.  And I don’t have to drive an hour to see Dr. E tomorrow. 🙂

If this is in God’s will, we should be able to have a baby in our arms next summer!

An Answered Prayer

We have been studying Matthew in the international Bible study group that I facilitate.  Last week’s lesson was in Matthew 7, which talks about how a believer is to ask, seek, and knock.  Specifically, in Matthew 7 verses 7 and 8, Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”  I have been greatly encouraged by this particular lesson especially about prayers.  I learned that to “ask” means to depend completely on the Lord, to “seek” suggests greater urgency, and to “knock” signifies to persist in prayer.  In the subsequent verses of 9 to 11, Jesus also directed us to pray boldly.  Through this lesson, I remind myself to not only pray for the big things (such as for God to bless us with our heart’s desire of a pregnancy and a baby) but also to be specific and persist in seemingly little things.  I fully experience God’s provision this week.

I am supposed to schedule an appointment with Dr. E this Saturday for a follicle check.  She had not been able to provide me with a time because she had not scheduled her other procedures yet.  I had seen Dr. E on a Saturday before.  It could be as early as 9am or as late as noon time.  I have my Bible study leaders’ meeting every Saturday from 6:55am to 9am (I know, very early, right?).  It takes about an hour to get from my house to Dr. E’s clinic.  I will have to go home and pick up Bob before we head over.  If I have to make it to Dr. E’s on time, I would need an appointment at 10:15 or after.  I would really hate to miss the leaders’ meeting because that would mean that I cannot facilitate the Monday night Bible study.  I remember that I have learned to ask God for specific things, even as tiny as a time for a doctor’s appointment.  This whole week I had been praying for Dr. E’s procedures to time in a way that I would be able to get a 10:30am appointment.  Not only had I been praying for this, I had also asked the Bible study’s teaching leader and one of my best friends to pray for the same.  My teaching leader wrote me back and said that by faith in God she would see me on Saturday.  Somehow I knew that God would sort things out so I wasn’t even worried.  

I just have to say that God is so good.  I wrote Dr. E to ask her for a time and got an immediate response from her.  She asked if 10:30am would work for us.  That was exactly the time that I had prayed for.  I never doubted that God would sort out the time.  When I experience His provision first hand, even when it’s such a small thing in life, being cared for by Him feels so good.  One of my Facebook secret group friend said it in the best way, “Sometimes it’s those little specific prayers that really open your eyes to God’s presence”.  I totally agree. 

Just thought I’d share. 🙂  As for the follicle scan, I’ll update you guys.  Hopefully we’ll see a few follicles and no cysts.