Grade B

Day 14: Estrace (2 mg; morning, noon & night) + Baby Aspirin (81 mg, morning)

I had my follow-up ultrasound and estradiol blood work appointment this morning. Everything looked great, so we are officially on the transfer schedule. Exactly 1 week from today, we’ll be undergoing our second frozen embryo transfer! Yippie!

We currently have 2 frosties-in-waiting. Both of which I have been told are grade B3 — meaning the quality of the embryo is looking to be slightly less than ideal. The embryologist assigns a grade to every embryo based on how the embryo is developing. The grades determine if the embryo should be transferred and in what order. Typically you start with the highest quality embryo and go from there. If you have them tested for abnormalities via PGS or PGD testing, they come back normal and are of stellar quality, you may elect to transfer just 1 embryo (elective single embryo transfer or eSET). This was the plan we followed with the first transfer.

In this second transfer, I’ve been given grades and percentages that have my head and my heart very confused. Even though I met with my RE and was able to ask plenty of follow-up questions from the last transfer, I find that I still have a lot of questions about the grading, chance for success and how many to transfer.

The annoying part about all this is that the outcome is impossible to predict. The visual assessment of the embryos made by the embryologist can’t really tell us if they are going to implant and grow into a healthy baby. This is why embryos that look perfect (like our first all-star, grade A embie) may lead to negative outcomes and why embryos that appear imperfect often grow into beautiful babies.

For now, I’m going to settle on what I know today. My 2 grade B frosties are waiting for their moment. They’ve been preparing for this moment for their entire existence, even if it’s only been a mere 5 days frozen in time. They could care less if there’s another one with them. They are prepped and ready to rock all on their own. I think they are strong. Actually, when you think of words and phrases that start with the letter B, you come to find that it stands for an awful lot of strength and positivity.

• Brave
• Beautiful
• Bold
• Blood, sweat and tears
• Beloved
• Bright
• Breathtaking
• Be happy
• Benevolent
• Big-hearted
• Bravo
• Brilliant
• Bundle of joy
• Baby
• Bee’s knees
• Better half
• Bells and whistles
• Believe
• Blaze the trail
• Bun in the oven
• Beginnings
• Babe
• Blossom
• Bewitching
• Blissful
• Better late than never
• Big time
• Big leagues
• Balance
• Beyond loved

B is pretty badass if you ask me.