Last visit to Dr. Deaton/ Sonogram at 6 wks 5 days

Today was my final visit with Dr. Deaton...our Reproductive Endocrinologist, or better yet, the one who helped us become pregnant in the first place.  Nana joined us on this visit so she could see the sonogram too.  The first part of the visit we were taken back to the sonogram room.  Sonogram showed 1 healthy baby with perfect measurements and a heart beat of 121 bpm, normal for just 6 weeks and 5 days pregnant.  We got to see the tiny heart beating n the screen, although it looked  more like a flicker.  They gave us tons of pictures, here is one of them.

After the sonogram we were put into a conference room where we would meet with Dr. Deaton for the last time.  He and Angela came into the room and sat down with us for about 10 minutes.  He went over the sonogram and confirmed that everything looked great.  He told us that once the baby was measuring correctly and a heartbeat was seen, that the miscarriage rate was less than 2% at this point.  This was a huge relief for us.  He discussed how long the road had been for us, longer and a bit more difficult than most.  He said "Every pregnancy is special...but this one is very special, not only for your family, but for us as well"  He asked that we keep them updated throughout the pregnancy and asked for us to send pictures when he/she is born.  That's the least we could do... I wonder if they really understand what an important role they just played in our lives?

I was really emotional knowing this was my last visit with them.  I guess it was because of how much that office had become a regular part of my life for the past 5 months.  Maybe it was because I felt like I owed him my life for what they had done for us.  I don't know, I just know it was hard walking out of there for the last time.  I wanted to just jump up and hug them both, but I didn't.  It was all surreal.  I hope the little tears running down my cheek was enough to let them know how much they meant to me.

Hospital scare...

This morning while I was cooking breakfast, I began having some pretty strong cramping in my lower abdomen and on my right side.  My lower back was achy as well.  Something just didn't feel right.  I later found that I was spotting and immediately began to cry... All I could think was the worst.  As always, Ryan is my rock. He always seems to know the right things to say or do to comfort me.  He told me to think positive and that maybe this wasn't necessarily a bad sign.

We went to Forsyth Hospital where we sat from 12:30- 8:30pm.  It was a very long day... They checked all of my blood levels to make sure everything was still on track there and they also did a pelvic exam.  All of that came back ok.  Because of the IVF and the chance that both of the embryos had survived, they wanted to make sure one was not ectopic while the other was in the uterus.  The sonogram procedure showed us a beautiful baby that looked more like a sweet pea than a baby.  We are not quite sure what happened to the other embryo but for whatever reason, it didn't develop and there were no signs that it was ever even there. They did tell us that the baby's heartrate was only 118 which they considered lower than what it should be.  This worried me so I called my RE, Dr. Deaton and he said that anything between 110-170 was ok.  This made me feel a little bit better but since it is on the low side of normal...it's still a concern for me. Today they also gave me the RhoGAM shot since I have RH- blood.

I go see Dr. Deaton Wednesday this coming week on Aug 31st.  We should have some pictures to share that day!  Daddy is happy, Mommy is happy, brothers and sister have NO CLUE yet....life is good!

And I thought a BETA was a fish...

Yes, I have been pregnant before but never before now did any of my doctors ever refer to the word beta.  Until recently when I referred to the word beta, I was usually referencing one of those lonely fish who sit idol, motionless in a tiny bowl on a shelve at the local pet store.

Anyway, so let's talk about what it means in the medical world.  It is basically a blood test that measures the amount of HCG in the blood.  HCG is the pregnancy hormone that you want to always see rising!

Our embryo transfer was on 8/3
1st beta on 8/11 was 103
2nd beta on 8/18 was 2,257 (insert BIG smiley face here!)
3rd beta on 8/27 was 26,841 (saw 1 baby on sonogram)
I am SOOO happy :)

Early symptoms

Up until today and for a few days now I have had only a few symptoms of early pregnancy.  I have been really tired alot and my breasts are a bit sore.  I feel bloated all the time and am peeing more often.  That may have something to do with the increase of water I have been drinking!  I am thirsty all the time.

Yesterday I was a bit moody and easily irritated.  Maybe it was just a bad day for me, or maybe my hormones are going crazy, who knows.

This morning, I felt nauseated for the first time but it only lasted for a couple of minutes.  Ewww, I forgot how that felt :p  I am now 4 weeks and 3 days pregnant.

The phonecall of great emotion

Today I went for bloodwork to check my beta levels.  This was the absolute answer to the anxiety ridden question of "Are we pregnant?  Did it work?"  We went for my bloodwork at 9am today and went home to wait for the phonecall that would come sometime between 1 and 3pm.  This had to be one of the longest 5 hours of my life.

We were kicked back watching TV and the phone rang.  I could have sworn that my heart stopped for a second.  I looked at the caller ID.  It was the doctors office.  My heart was about to beat out of my chest.  Ryan is laid back and appears not to be nervous at all.  (I think he trusted the home tests more than I did!)  I answered the phone and our IVF coordinator, Angela,  was on the other end of the line. She said, "Well it has been a long road for you guys but I am calling to let you know what I think you already know.  You are indeed pregnant!"  I fell silent.  Maybe I had to let what I had just heard soak in, maybe it was shock...maybe it was me just silently thanking everyone who had prayed for us.  I felt a lump in my throat as if I were about to cry.  She broke the silence by then telling me that all of my levels looked great.  My HCG level was 103 and she said she liked to see it above 49, so that was good news as well.  This means the babies/baby has imbedded itself into the uterine lining and is starting to grow.  My progesterone level, which is also important in preventing miscarriage, was at 16.  She said this was fine as well.

My emotions are high.  After that phone call, Ryan and I sat quietly for a while...neither of us having to say anything.  It was a wonderful day here at our house! (insert happy dance here!)

We go back to recheck the levels on the 18th, 1 week from today.

Addicted...to peeing on a stick

Ok, I must admit.... I think I am addicted to peeing on a stick.  I have taken pregnancy tests since the day before the babies were even transferred to me.  Why? Well, the reason I did the day before was just to make sure it would show negative and that due to medications/hormones they have me on would not cause a false positive result.  Indeed it was negative.  This tells me that the first sign I see of a second line indicating a positive result would be an official positive!

There was an 8 day wait between the transfer and the day I had to go back for bloodwork to determine if HcG levels were present, indicating that I was pregnant.  I am impatient and could not wait 8 days.  Heres a picture of the huge stash of tests I have taken of the past 7 days.  I know, it's a bit obsessive :)  Sometime I would take 3 tests a day, morning...noon...and night just to watch the line to see if anything changed.  Sure enough, on August 7th, 4 days after the transfer, the positive line began to show very faintly.  When I say faintly...I mean that I had to tilt my head, quint my eyes, hold it at a certain angle with proper lighting to be able to see it.  At this point I am thinking that maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me and that maybe I am only seeing what I WANT to see.  But the days following would prove the test to be correct.  The lines continued to get darker :)

                                              Tests taken between August 2nd- August 10th
                             All tests on the left are negative, and the tests on the right are all positive

Day of IVF embryo tranfer...where it all begins

August 3rd 2011

Premier Fertility Center, High Point NC

Say Cheese! Well this definitely isn't what most people would consider a flattering close up, but to us...it's probably one of the most beautiful pictures we have ever seen.  This was our first chance to see what you looked like right now...as just 5 day old embryos.  This picture was of course taken with a microscopic camera.  Although someday you will be healthy babies big enough to hold in our arms...today you probably can't even be seen with the naked eye.

                                                                     
                                                                      August 3rd 2011
                                                       Premier Fertility Center, High Point NC

This is our very first sonogram picture of you.  It was taken at the exact second that your precious little lives were placed inside of me.  There you are the tiny, white shiny dot toward the left.  There are 2 of you there :)  I love you already...