I fear sounding redundant, but I feel the need to write.

I’ve been poking around information both online and in the stack of data my clinic gave me and everything I’ve read has said that blast transfers have the same rate of success as a day 3 transfer, without the risk of high order multiples. The data that my clinic gave us doesn’t specify a percentage success rate for single blast day 5 transfers, but it seems to suggest that it is the same as transferring two high-quality day 3 embryos. Which would mean whether we transfer two embryos on day 3 or one blast on day 5 we have the same chance of success. The ONLY thing we gain by going to blast transfer (with the anticipated #s, at least) is reducing our chance of twins down to 2-5% (the chance of identical twinning with blast transfer, as stated by the same data). 2 day 3’s would give us a 50% chance of twins, with 1-2% of that being a chance of identical twinning (so yes, a very slight chance of triplets in that scenario).

Interesting, no? As backwards as it sounds, I’m considering electing to do a day 3 transfer regardless of how many embryos we have. (It would also mean more to freeze.) Only given my above numbers/assumptions are correct, of course. You could throw out the idea of doing two blasts, but with the increased risk of identical twinning I’m not so certain that would be a good idea – plus I’m not so certain my doctor would even agree to do that. (Max of 1 blast is recommended for my age/diagnosis.)

I am so tempted to just do a day 3 and let it sort itself out. I’m really not a spiritual person – I’m an athiest, in fact – but there is that part of me that believes (or at least wants to believe) that things happen for a reason.

I’m trying not to obsess, I really am. :) I do agree with my commentors that I’ll probably change my mind a hundred times. However they want us to sign consent forms – including a “how many embryos to transfer in each situation” form. So we really do need to know what our hopes and plans are by that doctor’s appointment, before we even start the cycle. Plus mulling it all over in my head helps me figure out what I need to ask the doctor at that appointment before making that final decision. Den’s pretty amenable to anything right now, long as we don’t intentionally reduce our chances.

In another track of my mind… I’m going to have to go back to my primary care doctor soon for a refill on my celexa. It says I have 2 refills left before 2/2/2007, which, obviously, has already past. (Really wonder what happened there… more than likely I’ve missed a lot of days in the past year. Doh.) I don’t have any intention of changing my dosage, I’m doing really well on the 20mg and it appears to be the lowest dose I can go without going downhill. However I am considering asking for a referral to a psychologist. I think I could really do well to have a professional help me deal with everything – and more than in a “So how are you feeling?” kind of way. I need someone more hands-on, intelligent, willing to explain things to me and push me to actually do something rather than just tell them once a month how the meds are working. I’m not sure how complicated it will be with insurance, though – I guess I’ll ask my doctor. The psych would be another $30 copay each time though, so it’s something we’ll have to think about. Not huge, definitely not – but we’re going to have a ton of co-pays coming up with the IVF. And our bank account? Is not doing well right now.

In addition to that I was considering asking the doc for a FULL thyroid blood panel – not just TSH. Someone on a forum suggested I do that, since thyroid problems can certainly affect fertility. I’ve always wondered why most docs only test TSH, since I know it doesn’t always tell the full story about the thyroid.