4 high quality embryos at day 3 - what should I expect at day 5?

[Goodluckjonathan76]

Mid way through our first cycle of IVF. They retrieved 6 eggs and 4 fertilised. The embryologist called me on day 3 and said all 4 embryos were high quality (at least 10 cells and minimal fragmentation) and so they could keep them until day 5 or 6. I am due an update tomorrow am and probably ET tomorrow afternoon or Friday (day 5 or 6) and just trying to set my expectations for the news tomorrow. How many usually die between day 3 and 5? If we do have at least one left, what are my chances of it sticking? I've gotten so pessimistic that I've sort of ruled out it working. Should I assume it's not doing to work or should I be more hopeful?

[JoJoSM2]

Try to take it one day at a time. As they are now going for day 5, it probably looks like there's a good chance of 1 or more blasts. However, the exact numbers really vary. From experience, 45% of mine became blasts but half of those were of poor quality.

Subsequent success rates vary and depend on things like the quality of your blasts, the lining and probably a lot of other things.

[EarlGreyT]

Well done on getting this far. I hope you are coping ok. I hope you didn't think my post on your last thread was too blunt.

I think the embryo drop off rate is around 50%. If you do have at least one left and get to transfer, I think the chance of a positive pregnancy test is around 50%. This may be higher or lower depending on the quality of the blastocyst(s) and whether you have 1 or 2 to transfer.

Wishing you all the best with the news tomorrow. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

[Goodluckjonathan76]

Hi EarlGrey. No, not at all. We had been dithering for months.

The embryologist just called. Two of the embryos made it to blastocyst stage so they will do the ET this afternoon. They will let me know quality later. He recommended that we put 2 back in but really don't want twins so going to go with just 1 I think.

[JoJoSM2]

See what quality they are. The suggestion to put two back might stem from them not being amazing quality. If there’s anything with a C or 3, they might not want to freeze it either. If you put one back, the other might be discarded. If you’d like a low quality blast frozen, then you’d probably need to insist o it.

[Ipitythescale]

Just wanted to say good luck. We only had 1 egg fertilise out of 9 but that egg is now a wonderful funny awesome 6 year old

[Ipsydipsy]

We ended up with 2 blasts, one perfect and one slightly behind. The rate for defrosting wasn't great so we had both put back. We now have 2 crazy toddlers .

Best of luck

[geeup]

I had 6 retrieved. Of those, 5 fertilised.
On Day 3 all were doing well with one a bit less good so more average. They were 2 x 8 cell 2 x 7 cell 1 x 4 cell at that stage I think.
I then put 1 x 5day blast back and froze 2 x 5 day blasts and 1 x 6 day. The other wasn't good enough to freeze.
I got a bfp before otd but ended in a chemical so doing a FET in January with own or two of the frozen ones.
Good luck!

[Goodluckjonathan76]

Thanks all. The recommendation to put two in was based on my age (41) I believe. So, got to ET and had 2 blastocysts, both 3B+ (5A- being the best) so not top quality but just below. They recommended 2 but said there was a 15-25% risk of twins so we just put in 1 and agreed to freeze the other. We went home after the transfer then I picked up a VM saying the remaining 2 embryos had progressed and they'd been able to freeze those as well so we have 1 in the oven and 3 in the freezer. Not sure if this is good or bad but at least we have more than one chance. Just feel a bit numb! Also, they said to wait 16 days to test. Why so long? I read it's supposed to implant in then next 1-5 days.

[welshweasel]

At 16 days it will be a definite positive. Many people test earlier but probably not to be recommended if you value your sanity!! (I caved at day 5 ). Good luck.

[Blondeshavemorefun]

They usually say 17days from ec

If you test too early then risk of trigger hormones showing

If you test early and negative you still need to test later and cause yourself extra distress imo

Symptoms - sadly af symptoms are the same as preg - sore boobs - tired etc

I hope for success but if fails (and sadly as get older higher risk) then you have 3 fet chances

Far less stressful and cheaper then full ivf

Our 2nd fet - 5th try in all produces my only bfp in 10yrs ttc - d is now 6.5mths

[JoJoSM2]

Wow! 4 out of 4 making it to blast is amazing!

Bs are very good quality too. And a 3 being a full blast is good too - more likely to be a girl though :)

I'm surprised about the 16 days advice. Perhaps they want to spare people knowing about having a short-lived chemical? Day 10 post blast transfer is equivalent to your would-be 1st day of period in a normal cycle, so an early response test should pick it up then. I'm planning to go for a blood test 8dp5dt.

[Goodluckjonathan76]

Thanks all. JoJo, is grade 3 more likely to be a girl? Where is this from? Not heard it before! I already have 3 boys so a girl would be weird!

Yes, they said test after 16 days to avoid false positive. I know from doing IUI that the trigger can stay in your system for up to 11 days. I think I will try to hold off until at least 7 DPT / 14 days post trigger, ideally until next Saturday at the earliest.

[JoJoSM2]

You could be emulating Victoria B if it’s a girl

In that grading system, 3 is just the level of expansion and it means a full blastocyst (4 is expanding and 5 hatching). I read some scientific studies about it and due to some gene activation/deactivation between D3 and 5, boy embryos have a tendency to be a bit more advanced. So 70% of hatching blasts are boys and 70% of full blasts (like yours) are girls. Having said that, it seems to have been the fastest developing out of your batch so could be a boy after all

It looks like the clinic are being very careful with the testing, then.

[Goodluckjonathan76]

Thanks JoJo, that's interesting!

I meant that I already have 2 boys, not 3 (?) Going mad!

[Goodluckjonathan76]

Does anyone know what the success rate for a blastocyst transfer is at age 41? Lots of different stats around.

[Twickerhun]

Good luck - I also had a transfer yestrday of a day 5 blast. Just wishing you all the luck in the world.

[Blondeshavemorefun]

You need to look at your clinic stats. And for live births as well as sadly numbers do go down with age

[Goodluckjonathan76]

Clinic stats are 25% LVB for age 40-42 (I am 41). It doesn't distinguish blastocyst transfers though.

Twickerhun, best of luck to you too! When will you test??

[JoJoSM2]

And when was your transfer, Twickerhun?

[JoJoSM2]

Sorry, I see it was yesterday. Mine was on Wednesday

[Twickerhun]

I'm planning to test Thursday. I'd like to wait till Saturday but realistically I know I have zero self control.
How about you jojo when is POAS day for you?

[JoJoSM2]

On Thursday, I’ll be 8dp5dt. However, I have been thinking about going straight for a blood test. We’re going away with friends on Friday so I’d quite like to know either way beforehand. I don’t fancy getting the news whilst we’re away in case it’s bad news.

Are you Ladies feeling quite positive about your transfers?

[Twickerhun]

I'm not feeling that positive (which is a personal defence mechanism against the possible pain). But the odds are not on my side (32% sucess rates getting a positive pregnancy test, over all ages, at my clinic and I'm just shy of 40 so likely to be in the less sucessful end of this spectrum). How do you feel?

[JoJoSM2]

Mixed feeling here. The clinic has excellent success rates and the embryo was fab. However, my lining has been playing up and I had to extra meds’ for a few days to get it to 7.7 Luckily, we’ve got a few more Frosties so that keeps me sane.

Do you know which home tests you’ll be using? I’ve never had children or been pregnant and don’t know much about pregnancy tests! Do you reckon any of them might show anything 8dp5dt or do I need to go for that blood test to know then?

[Twickerhun]

I'll use a FRER I think they are called from Superdrug. First response tests. I think they have a pink box. After my past ivf I had a really feint line at 6dp5dt.

The digital tests that say pregnant in words or that can tell you how many weeks you are are really unsensitive. You might not get a result from them until 10 or 14 dp5dt.

You can buy cheap tests from eBay or amazon called one step tests. They are fine and cost just a few pence each. I peed on about 20 of those last time :) they are really sensitive.