The little Egg that Could

My friend K is pregnant for the third time. Not usually a very huge deal, I know, but this pregnancy is pretty amazing. Her first two were through invitro, and after the second one the doctors had two blastocysts left over. The doctors didn't implant these last two because they didn't seem strong enough. Sure enough one of them fizzled out, but the second one suddenly started growing. The doctors asked K and her husband what they would like to do with the extra embryo..destroy it or freeze it. They decided to freeze it, the destruction of it was a rather distasteful thought.

So, last year when the bank where it was being stored told them they needed to decide what to do with it, K and her husband chose to go ahead and try to implant it. With the first two pregnancies, they had 3 live embryos implanted, and only one survived each time. Apparently the thawing process itself is rather traumatic, and they didn't expect this last frozen embryo to survive. But it did. They went ahead with the IVF and that little egg that could made himself right at home. CONGRATULATIONS K!!

I am taking a series of photographs of K. The first is the embryo itself, the second and third are from her 1st ultrasound. I am going to take similar pictures featuring each of the followup ultrasounds and then one with the little guy after he is born. It should be a cool timeline for them.