To implant or not to implant: that is the question

As of today's report all 9 of the embryos are still off and running. Unbelievable!

So does this mean I get a clear answer as to the next step? Of course not--don't be ridiculous!

My nurse said I'm scheduled to come in tomorrow (day 3) for transfer at 4:15 pm--the last slot of the day. She said when they give you the last slot, it typically means the doctor wants to wait a little longer to see how the embryos are going to develop. My nurse said they will call again tomorrow morning, and there's a good chance it will be postponed until Sunday (day 5).

So I'm scheduled to get pregnant tomorrow, but it may or may not happen.

She gave me some info on the embryos at this point. At day 2, it's ideal for an embryo to have divided into 4 cells of similar size and have no fragmentation. (Exactly what all this means, I can't tell you).

OK, I can't tell you what it means, but I can look it up: "Fragmentation, also called blebbing, is a process where portions of the embryo's cells have broken off and are now separate from the nucleated portion of the cell. It is preferable to have little or no fragmentation. However, fragmentation in human embryos is quite common and many beautiful babies have resulted from implantation of embryos with fragments."

4-cell embryo at Day 2

So here's the Day 2 rundown on the Higginbotham Embryos:

• 3 embryos are at the 4-cell stage with no fragmentation (the best candidates)
  
• 1 embryo is at 4-cell stage, with some unevenness in the cells
• 1 embryo is at the 3-cell stage
• 1 embryo is at the 3-cell stage with fragmentation
• 2 are at the 2-cell stage
• 1 is at the 2-cell stage with a tiny bit of fragmentation

My best understanding is that they are leaning towards the embryos in the first category. It's best to implant sooner rather than later, but I think they want to make sure they have the strongest candidates.

Now the big question: How many embryos to implant? I get to discuss that with the doctor tomorrow morning. 2 embryos at day 5 = fairly good chance of twins. Not the ideal outcome.

I'm getting a little nervous.