Old or New?

"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. " ~ T. S. Eliot

If you've read this blog you know that I had the chance to freeze some of my own eggs. The egg retrieval procedure happened two weeks before my 46th birthday.

At the time - and most likely still - there was no clinic in the United States that I could find who would do the procedure for a woman my age, except one. And when I had my initial phone consultation with the doctor he wanted me to understand clearly that I would be spending around $10,000 and, because of my age, I would be lucky of getting maybe one, or possibly two, viable eggs at the most. I told him I still wanted to have him do the egg retrieval.

But the result, to his amazement, was that I ended up producing six mature eggs, two immature ones, and the germinal vesicle cell. The last, the germinal vesicle cell, was something I had insisted, before going under anesthesia, that he retrieve as well.

All of this had taken place in September of 2009, so now nearly five years ago. I never asked my doctor about the freezing process that would be used. I didn't know then that there was any more than one kind of freezing process being done.

It has only been in the last year or two where I found out the process that is the newest, and best, for a more successful outcome in having the egg be viable when "thawed" is called vitrification.

Prior to this "new" method of vitrification the freezing process for eggs was done under a controlled-rate, slow-cooling method. The method involved slowly cooling down the oocyte until it finally freezes. A major disadvantage of that approach was that it caused ice crystals to form inside the embryo’s cells (blastomeres), damaging them and thus reducing viability because they couldn't survive the freeze-thaw.

Vitrification, on the other hand, is associated with higher survival rates and better development compared to slow-cooling. Vitrification involves freezing the egg about 600 times faster than the slow cooling method. The ultra-rapid process is so fast that it literally allows no time for intracellular ice to form. As a result, vitrification allows for less trauma to the egg, and thus, a higher statical rate that the egg would survive the cryopreservation when being thawed.

So, the bottom line is that the method now used to freeze oocytes - vitrification - is associated with higher survival rates and better development compared to the older method of slow-cooling.

But, like I said, back in 2009, with no clinic in the U.S. willing to take someone as old as me I had to just go with the only one that would. And whatever method of freezing eggs that clinic used in 2009 was what it was... and I didn't even know to ask what that might be.

In the intervening years, especially now, since I know more about how much better a freezing method vitrification is than what had been used before - slow-cooling, I wondered what method my eggs were frozen under. Five years ago is like 50 years in terms of how fast science changes and improves its methods.

Anyway, because my eggs were frozen five years ago I thought that the cryopreservation method used was most likely the slow-cooling one because that's what seemed to be used back then. Lately, I would have thoughts like, I don't even know how viable those eggs were going into the freezing process, much less if the slow-cooling method was used, how would they fair coming out of the freezing process intact.. viable.

Finally, a month or so ago, I came across some form from the clinic and I thought, I'm pretty sure back in 2009 my eggs would have been cryopreserve by the old method, but I should call them and find out for sure. I just felt like if there were any chance that doctor was more on the cutting edge of cryopreserving eggs back then maybe the possibility existed that vitrification was the process he used.

So, a month ago I called the clinic where I had the procedure done. A woman who answered said someone would look into my question regarding what method was used to freeze my eggs, and would call me back, but they never did. I decided to call again and this time I got the doctor's administrator and she took down my number said she would look into it herself and call me back. And a day later, just a few days ago, she did. The process she said, of how my eggs were cryopreserved, was vitrification.

*Deep sigh*

I have no idea how things will turn out with my almost 46 year old eggs, but that the newest method, the method used across the board now - as opposed to then - the method that has a really high success rate of thawing out without damage, is the method that my eggs were frozen under. One more dragon slayed.

Now, my thoughts can be relieved of that question and go on to the next: how long can my eggs actually last as viable being frozen for so many years. As one report notes: there isn't enough data yet to know how long eggs can be cryopreserved - but clinicians haven't noticed any problems with oocytes stored for as long as 48 months. As long as 48 months... what about five years?!!!

I guess that dragon will have to be slayed whenever the time comes...

Odd

"Dreams are renewable. No matter what our age or condition, there are still untapped possibilities within us and new beauty waiting to be born." ~ Dale E. Turner

I think I've written in this blog how my doctor has said that older woman have a tendency to ovulate twice in a cycle. Which she says is why older woman often have twins. Now most of what you might read regarding that would say that isn't the way things work. It can't be done. But I've always trusted my doctor. She had her last child at 45 (almost 46) and she said that she miscarried like seven or eight time before she was able to figure out what hormonal regimen she needed to be on before her pregnancy stuck.

Anyway, something very interesting happened this past cycle of mine. 

I wore my OV watch - and kept wearing it - even though the watch did not detect that I had ovulated around day 13-15. I kept wearing it, and finally, on cycle day 24 it read Fertile Day 1 (I mistakenly messaged my doctor in the screen shot below that it was cycle day 23 that read Fertile Day 1), which was followed by Fertile Day's 2-4 - June 6-8 - and then on my cycle day 28 it read Ovulation Day 1, but I started bleeding like a period on that day - cycle day 28. 

Because I started bleeding like a period when the watch was telling me I was ovulating - and because it was Day 28 which would have been a normal day to start my period - but, again, because the watch never gave indication to me I was ovulating 14 or so days prior - I messaged my doctor (I screenshot that message below). 

At first my doctor messaged me back to tell me to see if it was a "real" period. Well, I didn't know at the time if it was a "real" period or not. But as it turned out it was; the bleeding was my typical period bleeding length of time and amount. But I was like, why wouldn't the watch have detected the earlier ovulation? It had to have occurred, otherwise I wouldn't have started my period on cycle day 28!

And, because you have to start wearing the OV watch within the first three days of when your menstrual cycle starts, I had to make the decision on day 3 of the bleeding that yes, it was a real period and start wearing the watch. And as an aside, I was confused about what to do because you have to use a new OV watch sensor each cycle and they aren't cheap, I didn't want to be throwing away good money if it wasn't a "real" period! 

But it's good that I decided that even though I was ovulating, I was also having my period, because as it turned out pretty much like clock-work this cycle I ovulated on day 15 according to the OV watch. 

I'm posting some photos to show exactly what the watch was telling me during my last cycle and the correspondence with my doctor, plus what the OV watch is telling me with my present cycle.*

So, yeah, I think what happened just makes me know - without just my doctor telling me - that, yes, you can ovulate two times within a cycle, regardless of what the "experts" say. At least it seems like that's exactly what happened with me.

*The OV Watch gives you your most fertile days starting with Fertile Days 1-4 leading up to ovulation, then it tells you Ovulation Day 1 and the next day Ovulation Day 2, after that it will tell you, Less Fertile Day 1 followed the day after - and this is the last reading of the cycle that it gives you - Less Fertile Day 2. 

Magical

"What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?" ~ Unknown

Sometimes, you can't help but wonder about women fifty and older out there that have gotten pregnant naturally... and if they are, who are they, and what's their story? And then, you just google the right words and, you find that they're real, and they are out "there." the "baby" of the bunch, 52 years young, 53, pregnant and wanting more, another 53 yr old doing it the "old fashioned" way...

Magic is out there... believe that it's out there for you... I already know that it's out there for me...