I’m thinking a lot about my beautiful embies inside me.  Sometime between 48 hours and 72 hours after ET (that’s today or tomorrow) my embryos will hatch and begin to implant!  I try to envision them doing this successfully and thriving.

My 8-cells have been multiplying rapidly and eventually make a blastocyst (if you will remember my panic over not transfering on day-5).  A blastocyst is an important stage in embryo development because it is the first stage where we see differentiation.  In other words, before blastocyst every single cell had the ability to become a whole human being.  A blastocyst consists of trophoblast cells that create a fluid filled sac that will become the placenta and amniotic sac and another cluster of cells that become the fetus.  After becoming a blastocyst the next big hurdle is to hatch. Up until now the dividing embryo has been in a shell called the zona pellicuida that it now needs to break out of.  Here is a picture of a hatching blastocyst.

And here is a completely unconfusing (yeah right) diagram of implantation:

basically the trophoblasts become part of the endometrium lining the uterus.  The process can actually take up to a week as the embryo really digs in there for a long (9 month) journey.  Sometimes implantation causes spotting…so this is my new obsession!  LOL

Dig Babies Dig!!