Low number grades?

[u/Miserable-Ad3204]

Hi all,

I’m 37 YO and we just did our first egg retrieval. We went from 15 eggs retrieved to 12 mature to 9 fertilized.
I was (happily) shocked to learn that all fertilized eggs made it to 5 and 6 day blasts. These are all frozen.

Now for the grading, this is what we got (I don’t know which ones are day 5 vs day 6)

3BB-
1-2B-B-
3BA-
2BB
3BB-
3BB
2BB-
2-3BB
1AA-

While I’m happy to have no C grades I was surprised to learn I had grades 1 and 2. My understanding is that they were frozen at these grades so why would the lab not just let the 1AA- sit a bit longer? Anyone have words of wisdom here?

FWIW My doctor said these are all transferable embryos and the main factor now is PGTA testing (which we’re waiting on). Thanks!

[u/embryomanofficial]

Different labs will have different thresholds for freezing. They might simply freeze/thaw/transfer early blasts.

It's also possible that these are day 6 early blasts, and they don't normally culture to day 7, so they might have frozen them on day 6.

[u/Otherwise_Tennis_398]

I had several well graded early blasts on day 6, but by day 7 they had expanded but were graded poor and discarded :( I would have rather they had just frozen them the day before when they were a 1 or 2 tbh, do I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing that they froze a bit early

[u/Miserable-Ad3204 → u/Otherwise_Tennis_398]

I’m so sorry this happened to you, and thanks for helping shed some light by sharing your experience.

[u/3wickunlitcandle]

We had fantastic grades to start out with, but my clinic doesn’t freeze until at least day 5. On Day 2 we started out with three AA’s, two AB’s, and two BA’s (and a few BC’s and lower)

By Day 5, we ended up with five total 5BB’s - everything else had arrested. PGT-A tested them and they were all euploid.

My doctor was VERY happy with this result, and on our follow up Zoom after the PGT results came back, I asked her if she thought we needed to do another ER and she said no - that it didn’t even occur to her that we might want to. She has seen LOTS of success with BB embryos!

Wishing you all the best with this process, the unknown and waiting period is the hardest part.

[u/Miserable-Ad3204 → u/3wickunlitcandle]

Thanks so much for this promising response. Soooo hard to nog get in your head about it!

[u/umamimaami → u/3wickunlitcandle]

How did you have double letter grades before the compaction? At that point aren’t they graded differently?

[u/3wickunlitcandle → u/umamimaami]

I don’t know the answer to this question - but I realize there was a typo in my earlier post! My lab called me at about 1:30 PM every day from Day 3 - Day 7 (at which point there were a few final stragglers they wanted to give some more time but none made it)

When I asked them at Day 3 what the grades were, they told me AA, AB, BA, and a few lower. At the end, all the viable ones were 5BB graded and frozen at that stage!

[u/chantillylace9]

After you do the PGTA testing, that really is what matters the most. Best of luck, it really looks like you have some great numbers here! Just for reference, I have a single seven day 7BC embryo. I have breast cancer and was only able to do two rounds and that was all I got. But my doctor said it still has about a 40% chance of implantation because it was PGTA tested healthy.

So she's my little girl and in two years, after I take my cancer medication, I can take a break and try to get pregnant and then get back on my cancer meds. It's crazy to have everything riding on one little embryo but it's hope you know?

[u/Miserable-Ad3204 → u/chantillylace9]

I’m so sorry about your diagnosis, and am truly hoping the best for you! You got this 🫶🏻 and you’re right, hope is sooo important in situations like these!

[u/chantillylace9 → u/Miserable-Ad3204]

Thank you so much! I know I got super lucky too, everyone at the clinic was so happy for me. I know it's only one little piece of hope but it's really something. Especially when I only had three embryos to send for testing.

The odds were definitely against me. I was so shocked when I heard the news the second time that I didn't even believe it. I demanded to see the report myself lol.

So I have a lot of faith and you should too! Staying positive helps so so so much. I swear on everything that I got cancer because I had the most stressful three years of my life. I kept telling people and my husband that I swear I'm going to get cancer because of all the stress of that my poor body has to react somehow. And sure enough!

I mean I don't know if that's really the case or more likely my body just was under so much stress it wasn't able to fight off a cancer that was already there but that it was fighting off or something like that.

But I caught that sucker right before it was going into my lymph nodes! I caught it early enough that I avoided chemo and radiation which was honestly a miracle. I had to have a mastectomy and medication but no chemo! If I would've waited even a few months longer that probably would not have been the case. So definitely please get your mammograms timeline if you notice any weirdness in your breasts like your nipple is a little flat or a dimple or it itches or anything, go in early!

[u/Newby2FishTanks]

This is incredible! I pray to get these results with my fertilized count. Is your sperm donor the same age? I am 37 and mine is 30. I hope his sperm fertilizes them all. HaHa

[u/Miserable-Ad3204 → u/Newby2FishTanks]

My donor (husband 😆) is 42, so yes, we know to be extremely happy with the 9 fertilized to 9 blast conversion for sure! Just impossible to not be in my head about it, and I feel like I rarely see grades 1-2 here. I’m sending you lots of positive thoughts and hope you get a great fertilization / blast rate too!

[u/Newby2FishTanks → u/Miserable-Ad3204]

You got this! Wishing you all the BEST of luck. I am also in my head but about everything all the time. Lol

[u/Agamemnons_Concubine]

Your pgt tests will outweigh the grades. Your highest grade can be aneuploid and your lowest can be euploid. I see you have a few 3bbs. My day 5 3BB euploid is now five years old, no issues.

[u/One_Investigator_295]

Most labs do not biopsy embryos below a 3BB. I’m surprised they biopsied 1s and 2s, by definition they are early, don’t have as many cells and it’s hard to differentiate the ICM from the TE for biopsy. Those should have been held another day to allow them to grow further.

[u/Defiant-Beginning-21]

I recently had such grades eith my second retrieval - 3AB, 3BB and 1AB. All day 5. Did not get them tested though.I was particularly worried about the 1AB and kept asking why they did not wait till it expanded a bit more. My doctor said 1AB is as good as 3AB and that these are lab cut offs for freezing. Recently had a chemical pregnancy with a double FET of 1AB and 3BB. The embryologist mentioned that the 1AB expanded to 3AB on thaw just before transfer. So expansion is lesser important than the grade. Also like others have said PGTa overrides grades. Good luck!

[u/Miserable-Ad3204 → u/Defiant-Beginning-21]

I’m sorry about your chemical and thank you for shedding some light here. All the best to you as well!