First Ultrasound!

We have one healthy baby measuring 5w6d and has a heartbeat!!! We are soooo freakin excited! I was ready to throw up getting ready to go this morning, I was so nervous! We got there about 8:50 this morning, signed in, they went and took my blood, then had to wait for an available room... which seemed like HOURS.

3 min. later, we got into a room, I changed, got up on the table, and the nurse came in. She said, "OK, let's see what we have created!" Got the DildoCam all ready, and away we went... as she was probing around, I saw a flash of a black spot... then she went past it. Come to find out she was scanning my entire uterus to see how many sacs were in there. When there was only 1 found, she zoomed in on it and announced we have 1 baby!

She showed us the gestational sac, the yolk sac inside, and the beautiful little bean called a baby... then she zoomed further and said "Look!" She was pointing on the screen to a little flickering spot. The heart! Tommy got up from the chair and got up by the screen and we both squinted at the most beautiful sight we have ever seen...

The nurse then told me to get dressed, handed me it's "first picture", and told me to meet her outside. Tommy took the picture from me and took a picture of it on his cell phone, and texted it to the few close friends and family members that knew we are pregnant. Talk about excited dad! It was cute.

My bloodwork came back awesome too! My progesterone went up from 20 to 23 (great!) and my estrogen was good too (although she didn't give me the details). But my beta.... whoa! Remember, it started at 86, then 2 days later went to 204... well today it's 19,684! I'd say that's pretty good! The average for this day is around 12,000, so I'm very happy about that!

Now it just has to sink in... we are FINALLY pregnant!!

Is that a symptom??

I've been having some cramping on and off for a couple weeks now, even before I knew I was pregnant. The thing about cramping in early pregnancy – is that you don’t really know for SURE if it’s “good.” Sure, everyone tells you “it’s normal. I had period-like cramps for days/weeks/months. It’s your hormones. It’s your uterus stretching. You’re doing great!” And you want so desperately to believe them … these women that have been there and KNOW.

But unlike morning sickness (which I haven't really had ANY of), which everyone equates with a healthy pregnancy for the most part … cramping is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, if it’s a normal pregnancy symptom and you’ve been trying for SO long to get pregnant (and stay pregnant), hey, bring it on! Great! Pregnancy related symptoms, step right up! Happy to see ya! Sit down and stay a while! :)

But with cramping … which feels EXACTLY like period cramping … there is this nasty little voice that tries to loudly whisper in your ear, “Something is WRONG! That’s why you’re CRAMPING! You are so SCREWED!” It’s hard not to listen.

I have no spotting whatsoever. I have no bleeding. My toilet paper remains as white as the driven snow. And so I offer up a fervent prayer. Please let it stay that way. Please let this be OK. Please let me have this. I don’t want to wish time away … but I wouldn’t mind fast-forwarding just a few weeks. Just to get over this hump. I have my first ultrasound tomorrow morning. I'm nervous, excited, anxious, all rolled up in one. It can’t get here fast enough.

Weekend

Memorial Day has come and gone, can you believe it?! It's the "unofficial" start to summer! The weather was supposed to be rainy and cloudy on and off all weekend, but it turned out to be PERFECT! We had a BBQ Friday night with a couple of friends and their kids, it was soooo nice out. Saturday, I wasn't feeling so well (headache and crampy) so I pretty much couched it all day, taking naps on and off.... oh, the life! Sunday I felt so much better, so I got up and ran a few errands, Tommy and I were going to work in the yard, but we decided to take it easy.. I got laundry done and cleaned up the house a bit. Monday Tommy got up to go work for a while, and I went over to my parents for a bit. We both got home about the same time, and then we decided to take us and the dogs out to Zorinsky lake to let the dogs run around and splash in the water! It was so warm out, so it was a perfect day! I even got a little bit of a sun burn! Yeah, first one of the season! Then we came home, and all 4 of us passed out for naps!

Over all, it was a great weekend. I do notice I'm a bit more tired than normal, so it's been a challenge to not lay on the couch and fall asleep! But today it's back to the grind... WORK! Ugh! But it's a short week, and our first ultrasound in Friday morning, so we do have that to look forward to. I'm feeling pretty optimistic about it. Not so scared anymore. I figure, I feel good overall, and haven't had any spotting or anything, so as far as I know, I'm still pregnant! But I have a feeling now that I have said all this, this week is going to DRAG on...

Hope you all had a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend!

Forgetfulness

A friend of mine asked me last night if I would meet her out at a restaurant/bar with her to meet a guy she met online.. so I said, sure! I wouldn't want her to go alone anyways, so I was game for a couple hours. When we got there, she ordered a beer, and I almost forgot... I ordered one too! HUH!?!? Then it occured to me, I can't drink! My friend knows I'm pregnant, so she was like, "Uh, you gonna drink that?!" I guess I just have been in "no baby" mode for so many years, that I didn't think about it! DUH! Of course, then I grabbed the waiter again and told him I needed a ROOT beer instead :)

I still feel pretty good, little crampy every now and again, but nothing bad. Sick feeling every now and again, but nothing that doesn't pass quickly. So all is good. Just anxious for the ultrasound... 10 more days! UGH!

Looking good!

I had my second beta this morning, and it came back at 204! So that is great, it more than doubled! My RE did say my progesterone was a bit low (20), and they don't like it to go below 20 (it's OK that it does, but she said they are pickier!). So she said if I have any spotting to call and they will up my dose of those AWESOME shots in the butt! :)

My first ultrasound is scheduled to be May 29th! I will be right around 6 weeks at that time, which will be right around the time we will be able to see a heartbeat! It's sooo amazing! According to a couple of online IVF due date calendars, I will be due January 22, 2010. So weird to see the 2010!

Thank you all for your continued prayers! It seems to have FINALLY worked and we are soooo thrilled!

And the results are in.. again...

Sorry it has taken awhile to get on here to update, but wanted to wait until I get the phone call from the RE...

AND WE ARE PREGNANT!!

I went in for my beta this morning.. the nurse asked if I tested at home yet before now, and I told her no (which is the truth!) So she said, for fun, let's do one now! Huh?! So they drew my blood, I went in the bathroom and squeezed out some pee (hadn't drank anything yet this morning), and she put the drops on their pg tests. She left it in the bathroom counter and went and got more progesterone needles for me. I was just sitting there sweating!! She came back with my needles, picked up the test, looked at it, looked at me and said "you're pregnant!"

OMG!!! She showed it to me, it was a pretty dark line! My RE was right there, she grabbed the test and looked at it and told me, "See, I told you we'd get at least one of em to stick!" :) My RE gave me the test and told me to take it and stare at it all day. Which I did all the way home! I didn't want to tell Tommy over the phone, as I know he was going to be home around 9am this morning. So I waited...

Tommy came home about 8:45, and the first thing he asked me was if the RE called yet. I was just laying on the couch, relaxing, and I told him no (which they hadn't!) So I got up, gave him a hug and told him I did want him to look at something upstairs... so he followed me up to our master bathroom and I flipped on the light. On the counter, I had laid the test from the RE office, and the digital I took when I got home (I know, I'm a freak!!) He looked at them kinda funny, looked at me and asked if I was pregnant! I said "Yes, silly, the digital spells it out!" He looks at it again, and then comes over and give me a big hug and kiss. He then picked it up again to look at it. It was so cute! I didn't know if her really knew what he was looking at!

So then I called my parents, as they knew we were testing today. They were so excited, my mom started to cry. She then told me she was so excited she couldn't sit still so she started to jog around her house... LOL! What!?! I text my sister this morning, but haven't heard anything yet, she's at work.

So I got to work about 9:30am, and as I did, my phone rang. It was the nurse from the RE's office to tell me my beta came back at 86! Which is a good positive! Anythying over 5 is positive, so 86 is lookin good! :) I have to go back Sunday morning to the hospital to have more blood drawn to make sure my beta is doubling. Then more than likely they will schedule my first u/s 2 weeks out. Then it will be revealed... how many are in there! :)

So that's the story, thanks for all your texts, phone calls, and emails.... oh, my sister just text me... she said she is literally jumping up and down in the parking lot of her work she is so excited! LOL!

I will keep you posted as to the beta on Sunday. :)

Longest week ever...

Man, this week has DRAGGED on.... it's been fairly busy at work, and even at home I'm pretty busy, but still... it's only THURSDAY. Tomorrow is my beta. I am going to try and get there as early as I can so I can get in and out, and that means getting my results sooner. We have been praying and trying to stay positive. I have been crampy on and off, feel like I'm just about ready to start my period, but I know that won't happen because of the progesterone I'm on. My left boob hurts a little, my right not so much. I'm tired, but that's I think due to the fact I can't seem to slow down! Pregnancy symptoms are so similar to PMS symptoms, so I'm trying not to look into it too much! But I still haven't caved and POAS! (pee on a stick).

I will update you all as soon as I hear tomorrow morning. Thank you all for your love and support, either way this works out!

Pregnant with triplets!!

I can say that now, officially, as they transfered 3 embryos into me yesterday! :) Now if any of them stick, that is the question.

Here is a picture of our 8 thawed embryos, with the blastocyst (best one) in the top left corner, the first picture. I don't know which other 2 she transfered.

So I've been on bedrest the past 2 days, and soooo bored, but it's all worth it. Tomorrow I can resume normal activites, but of course I will take it easy. My bloodwork came back all good too, my estrogen and progesterone all normal. I still have to keep on the estrogen pills (6 a day) and the progesterone shots at night.

I get to go in for my pregancy test (beta) a week from today, Friday, May 15th. This is gonna be a loooooooong week! And I decided, I'm NOT going to test early. I am gonna try and wait it out (if I can! :)

TRANSFER!!!

OMG, I am soo freakin excited! I got the call erlay this morning they want to do the transfer TODAY!! She said there was 1 that turned to a blastocyst this morning, and 2 otehrs that will veeeeery soon, so she wants to transfer all 3 this morning in about 1 hour! So I raced home, told Tommy, and we are ready to walk out the door! I won't be able to update again for a day or two, as I have to be on bedrest for 48 hours.

But I will update when I can! Wish us luck!! Love you all!

Day 2 Fertilization Report

The RE called today.. the 3 that survived the thaw over the weekend are growing nicely! She also told me they took out the other 7 that were frozen to thaw yesterday, and 5 of those survived. So we have a total of 8 thawed that are growing and hopefully will continue to grow until the blastocyst stage. She said transfer is looking like May 8 or 9 at this point, if they all grow properly.

I hope we can transfer at least 2, maybe 3 (gulp) just to give me a better chance. But it will be determined later as we see how many thrive to that stage. They will call again tomorrow to let me know their progress.

Thanks for all your support and prayers! They are working!

Frozen babies made it!!!

Out of the 4 embryos they took out to thaw, 3 survived! I'm happy with that. Depending on how they grow, she might end up taking out more to thaw tomorrow, but that will all depend on today. They will call me tomorrow to let me know how they are doing! Grow babies grow!!

Tentative transfer will be either Thursday or Friday!

Infertility Awareness Week

This week was Infertility Awareness Week... I hear there is also legislation going on trying to get insurance companies to cover more infertility treatments, as it's very expensive. Tommy and I are blessed to have pretty good insurance thought my company... after our deductible, our insurance pays 90% of IVF and other assisted reproductive techniques. Others aren't so lucky.

Anyhoo, I saw this video on a website that is helping to bring awareness to infertilty and the effect it has on couples, just like us. It's almost like I wrote this myself. Please take the 3 or 4 minutes it runs to look at this video. And I hope no more of my friends have to endure what we have in the past (and first) 2 years of our marriage.

http://www.tearsandhope.net/emptyarms_video.html

Second u/s

This morning was my second u/s to see if my lining was good to go... and it is finally!! It was 8.1, so it all is ready. The nurse called me back later in the morning to go over the "plan"... I am still to take the 4 oral and 2 vaginal tablets of estrogen (yuk), and starting Sunday, May 3rd, I will start the progesterone shots again! Woo hoo! (NOT!!) They are going to take 4 embryos to thaw out, and they will call me Monday with the report on how they are doing. Thawing out is pretty hard on the little dudes, so I pray at least 2 survive the thaw, and then grow to the blastocyst stage. I will probably know more on Monday when the actual transfer will take place.

Keeping all fingers and toes crossed we get a good report on Monday!!