Brrrrrrr......is it cold in here? Must be my FROSTIESSSSS!!!!!

WE HAVE FROSTIES!!!!!!!!!

I can't freakin' believe it.....we went from losing 49 eggs in three cycles to having 2 beautiful expanded blasts transferred and 7 beautiful frosties frozen!!!  Raj and Kelly have some friends waiting for them :)

Here is the email we got from the embryologist with the deets...



Total number of embryos frozen: 7
Day Frozen: Day 6
Embryo Grading: 4AA, 4AA, 4BA, 4BA, 4BA, 4AA, 4AA

Blastocysts are graded according to the method of Gardner

EB1 - Early blastocyst 1 - The fluid filled cavity is < half the volume of the embryo.
EB2 - Early blastocyst 2 - The fluid filled cavity is > = half of the volume of the embryo.
3 ----- Full blastocyst ----- The fluid filled cavity completely fills the embryo.
4 ----- Expanded blastocyst - The fluid filled cavity volume is larger than that of the early embryo and the zona pellucida is thinning.
5 ----- Hatching blastocyst -The trophectoderm has started to herniate through zona pellucida.
6 ----- Hatched blastocyst - The blastocyst has completely escaped from the zona pellucida.

For blastocysts graded as 3 to 6, the development of the inner cell mass (ICM) and trophectoderm are also assessed.

The ICM grading is as follows:
A ----- Tightly packed, many cells;
B ----- Loosely grouped, several cells;
C ----- Very few cells.

The trophectoderm grading is as follows:
A ------ Many cells forming a tightly knit epithelium;
B ------ Few cells;
C ------ Very few cells forming a loose epithelium.

General comments:
We have seen no difference in pregnancy rates whether an embryo is aa, ab, ba, or bb
We have seen no difference in pregnancy rates whether an embryo is 3,4 or 5. We rarely see a 6
For cryopreservation without PGD - we are looking for embryos to be at least 3bb
For cryopreservation with PGD - we are looking for embryos to be at least EB1

Pictures of embryos can be found at http://www.ivf1.com/lab-embryo-culture/



So basically we're approximately 36 hours past transfer so I'm hoping the little ones are hatched/hatching and sticking themselves in for the long haul. Oh man, I'm so psyched!!!

Here is a fun little song...LOL