Blasts? Hatching?

Beckla74

I am reading up on folks' experiences/ET's, etc. With my retrieval date rapidly approaching, I'm just wondering if there's a quick 101 summary somewhere on here that will tell me what "blasts, etc. mean.  My RE is fantastic, but doesn't spend a huge amount of time breaking all of this down for me and I really want to understand what I should be listening/watching for as good signs, etc., as we move forward...

Edwina.McDunnough

The advanced fertility website has a comprehensive review of embryo development, including grading. However many clinics have their own grading scale so don't be surprised if yours is not the same. GL

blueberries8

Blastocysts or "blasts" are embryos at the state of development that occurs ~5 days after fertilization. At this point they are usually ~100 cells. People talk a lot about blasts with regard to transferring embryos 5 days after fertilization (the alternative is transferring embryos 3 days after fertilization when they are roughly 8 cells). Hatching is sometimes  talked about in the context of assisted hatching, which is an IVF micromanipulation procedure in which a hole is made in the outer layer of the embryo, the zona pellucida, to assist in the hatching of the embryo and subsequent  implantation. You will also hear people talk about hatching blastocysts, which are blastocysts in the final stage of development as they hatch from the zona pellucida, the outer shell of the embryo. Hope this helps a little.

 This site is an amazing summary of IVF procedures, terms etc: https://www.advancedfertility.com/

Beckla74

As always, a million thanks!!