With the egg retrieval now complete, I wanted to provide a quick update as I know everyone is anxious for some news. The egg retrieval itself resulted in the successful extraction of 15 eggs. Of those 15 eggs, 12 were viable for fertilization. From those 12, 9 eggs were successfully fertilized. Three days after fertilization, 2 of the eggs arrested, but 7 continued to grow and advance to the Day 5 stage.
On Day 5 all of the eggs were evaluated and underwent PGD testing to rule out any genetic deficiencies. At that time, each egg was assigned a Grade. The basic scale at John Hopkins is Grade 1 to Grade 6, with Grade 1 being the best candidate for transfer. Essentially, Grades are based on cell division, fragmentation and overall appearance. Of my 7 fertilized eggs, 6 were Grade 1 quality, which was wonderful news! My embryologist was very pleased and so was I!
The transfer of the eggs to my Surrogate was performed on Day 5. In fact, the procedure must be performed no later than Day 5. The average transfer time is anywhere from Day 3 to Day 5. Obviously, it is critical to move the eggs to the uterus as soon as possible to support growth and development. Three of my 6 eggs were successfully transferred to my Surrogate. The remaining 3 eggs were cyropreserved (frozen).
The health and condition of my Surrogate and her uterine lining is critical for success in IVF. And while healthy, Sally's uterine lining was not at the level my doctor's had seen in her prior exams. Unfortunately, she was unable to move forward in the process. Suffice to say, she was very disappointed. Fortunately, in all cases of IVF at John Hopkins, my doctors prepare 2 Surrogates. On Day 5 when Sally was deemed unable to proceed, my back-up Surrogate passed all medical exams and was able to accept the egg transfer. Her name is Margarita and she is 34 years old. She has 3 healthy children of her own and also delivered a healthy baby boy via the surrogate program 2 years ago. Margarita is participating in the surrogacy program so she can support her children with post-secondary education in a few years.
Margarita is now resting comfortably. My doctors are taking very good care of her and will be monitoring her progress on a daily basis. So now, we sit tight and wait. I'm excited and nervous, but have been spending a lot of my time reading, exercising and trying to focus on any activity that allows my mind to be at ease. Night time is most difficult as my mind tends to race along with my heart. I remain confident and optimistic that my faith in my doctors and this process will prevail. And you have no idea how much respect, admiration and eternal gratitude I have for my Surrogate.
Suffice to say, the days and weeks ahead are critical. I will update my blog again when I have more news to share. With any luck, it will be good news. In the interim, you have no idea how much I appreciate the outpouring of love and support I have received. You all know who you are, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Rob
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