Egg Retrieval and Zygotes

I am going to try to make this short and sweet considering I was told to immediately leave work and go home and rest today.  I am showing signs of Hyperstimulation :(  I will be okay I just need to drinks lots of electrolytes, eat massive amounts of protein and rest.  I can so do that :)

Yesterday was the retrieval.  John did his thing and then they started on me.  Once I was under sedation the used the ultrasound wand to guide a 12 inch needle into my vagina and pierced the vaginal wall.  They guided the needle up to my ovary and aspirated my eggs.  Sounds painful right??  I'm very thankful I was knocked out for that part.  After about an hour after the procedure we left.  I was craving bacon so I had a BLT... It was so amazing then again I hadn't had for in over 15 hours so I think anything would have been good.

Today I got a glorious call from the nurse.  Here is what she said we had:
 14 Eggs Retrieved ( a HELL of a lot more than expected!!!!!!)
13 Viable Eggs (1 was no where close to being mature)
1 Non Viable Egg
AND HERE COMES THE BEST PART........
8 FERTILIZED EGGS (Zygotes)

That's right we have 8 potential babies in the lab right now.  I am so happy I've been crying on and off all day!!!  They haven't been graded yet but they said the looked great so far!!  Tomorrow they will be graded on quality and they will decide what is best for the eggs a Day 3 Transfer or a Day 5 Transfer!

We are so happy and excited!  Things got really, Really, REALLY REAL with that phone call.  Now anything can happen between now and tomorrow tot the eggs but we are hopeful all 8 will survive!  Here is a picture of what developing embryos look like from the time of fertilization to the time of transfer:

Day 0- Eggs are retrieved and sperm is introduced
Day 1- The egg is officially fertilized and it is now called a zygote!

Day 2- The zygote starts to divide and replicate. The embryos has now become a 4-cell embryo. This is the stage some embryos will be frozen at.

Day 3- It is now an 8 cell embryo

Day 4- They call this Morula. This is the stage right before blastocyst.  At this stage it is around 12-30 cells that have developed. It is at this stage that the sac around the embryo starts to disintegrate in preparation for blastocyst.

Day 5- Blastocyst stage!! This is the great day when they do the transfer. There are less than 100 cells at this point and it is almost ready to implant in the uterus lining. The cells are breaking out of the sac. Within the blastocyst there are 2 types of cells. There is an inner cell mass that will soon begin to divide rapidly and develop into the fetus. The outer mass will eventually turn into the placenta. 

Hopefully tomorrow we will get wonderful news like we did today :D  Prayers that our fertilized eggs will continue to grow like they are supposed to would be appreciated! 

Until next time.....