Fresh embryo cycle and egg retrieval

After S's uterus lining was adequate and the egg donor was on board, we were ready for the real deal and the clinic started preparing everyone for the transfer cycle. The clinic synced the cycles of the egg donor and "S". It was a very stressful period for everyone.

"S" had a busy protocol to follow with pills, injections, blood work and ultrasound appointments. The donor had her first ultrasound and blood work on July 10 and started her cycle medications on the 12th. If all went well, the egg retrieval would be estimated around July 22. The donor was monitored every other day during her cycle. Since she was not a proven donor (her first donation), no one knew how well she would respond to the meds. We would get an email update on every monitoring for "S" and the donor and just hope every check was a good one. 

Things were moving along for a few days until we got a call from RE that the expected number of eggs might not be ideal, probably about 8 eggs. Given that we were splitting the number of eggs for two dads, it significantly reduced our chances. With 8, we each could only have 4. It could be possible that not all would be viable and fertilized and not all fertilized would make it to day 5 for transfer. The RE suggested that we gave the donor a few more days so July 22 for retrieval was not gonna happen. At the same time, "S" was on a holding pattern. If everything went well, we would be given about one week advance notice for embryo transfer. 

Nothing was certain until eggs were retrieved and fertilized. All kinds of "what-if" ran through our heads at this point. We were preparing ourselves for the worst and hoping for the best which has been our motto for surrogacy. If the donor didn't respond well to the meds and could not produce an ideal number of eggs, we would have to cancel the cycle and start all over again or choose a new donor. If we had to start over again, how much would it cost and how much delay would it be? In a hindsight, it is probably better and less stressful to have frozen embryos first and then do the transfer as soon as the surrogate was ready. 

On July 21, we got another update on the donor and we could possibly get more eggs. We decided to move forward for the retrieval scheduled on July 26 and 5 days later for embryo transfer on July 31. After all, 13 eggs were retrieved with 12 being mature so we each got 6 fertilized. A day later, the clinic informed us that I had 4 embryos ongoing and DH had 5 ongoing. Those 9 just kept going until day 5 for transfer. We were relieved to have a workable number with potential of getting some frozen embryos and were very excited to see "S" and her family again for the transfer. It was a huge step forward and finally it was happening.

We may never know the identity of our egg donor and get an opportunity to personally thank her. In her profile, she gave a message to the egg recipient - "I wish you the best." Thank you, ED. We also wish her the best! Maybe our paths will cross one day.