June 2016 - IVF #3, Day 5 Report

Today was my day to present and lead a discussion during our workshop. In a room full of manufacturing guys at our Pensacola facility while skype connected to another room full of manufacturing guys (and one girl!) in our sister plant in the UK. My time started at 10:30am, and as luck would have it, Michelle called about an hour into my 2 hr time slot and I couldn't answer. My phone glared at me with a "missed call & voicemail" notification for a whole hour.

When I finished my segment of the agenda, I had successfully directed a development meeting on global supply-demand balances for next year's plan and had nearly passed out from the anxiety of knowing that the Day 5 report was sitting right there on the conference room table next to me.  I can't tell you how many times I wanted to just get up and say, "I'm sorry, but I have to get this."

I was preparing myself for the worst. If it was 0 embryos left, I would manage through the day as best I could. When my presentation was finished, I hesitated. Fear gripped me as I hovered over the unplayed message. One I hear it, this round might be over. In this moment and to me, my embryos are still alive. I took a deep breath and played the voicemail. The rest of the group was grabbing boxed lunches. I spun my seat around so they couldn't see my face, just in case.

Michelle said, "Hi Kelly, just calling with your Day 5 results. So, neither of your embryos made it to freeze..."

My heart stopped for a fraction of a second, adrenaline pumping, and I held my breath, but she continued on.

"...but they have made it to a slightly earlier phase called 'morula', so hopefully we will see more progression tomorrow and get them frozen. I will give you a call back tomorrow to let you know how the extra day goes!" 

Damn, Michelle! You just scared the crap out of me!!

I chuckled and breathed a big sign of relief. It's not over yet! This is pretty good news. They are both still progressing and on a similar 6 day track as some of our previous ones. 

Morula, I learned today from a friend, comes from the Latin word for 'mulberry', and that's pretty much what the embryo looks like at this phase. More cells than is worth counting, but not the 100+ of a blastocyst. Of course round 1 saw many drop at this point just shy of the finish line, and day 6 was when we lost our single round 3 embryo. This result is still far better than 0.

Embryo stages

Reference Blackberry

 So tomorrow is business workshop day #2, embryo day #6, IVF round #3 / day #27, and month 30 of this whole trying to have a family business. Exhausting.

Indeed.

At least I get to go home to Michael tomorrow afternoon! I can't wait! No matter what happens tomorrow after Michelle calls for the final time this round.