7 weeks

We are officially at 7 weeks today.  Our first ultrasound was yesterday and went very well.  We have one little gummi bear making home for hopefully the next 9 months!  We could even see the tiny flutter of a little heart.  It was amazing and I was bawling my eyes out.  I was graduated from Strong in Rochester and have my first OB appointment on December 21st.  My ovaries are a little enlarged still from the IVF meds but Dr. H said that should continue to get better.  I have to continue on the Crinone until at least 10 weeks as well.  Our approximate due date is July 17, 2012.  We feels absolutely blessed right now!

4th Beta

I had my 4th and final beta yesterday.  The levels rose from 808 on Monday to 2596!  The nurse said things looked great and we scheduled my ultrasound for November 28th.  I will be 6 weeks and 6 days at that point so we should see something!  I'm feeling a little better and a little less nervous and as I've seen those numbers rise.  I think a heartbeat will really calm my nerves.  I just feel so grateful that this is happening.

3rd Beta

I had my 3rd hcg draw today and my levels rose to 808!  I'm quite happy with that jump since Friday when we were at 218.  The lady who took my blood today was the sweetest thing.  She told me how her son and daughter-in-law suffered through infertility and how it all worked out for them.  She was so sweet and happy for me and said she would keep us in her prayers.  That was just the nicest thing.  I'll be back there on Wednesday for another blood test.  The nurse said my levels looked fine but that Dr. H still wanted another hcg test done.  A friend mentioned that maybe they want to see my numbers get over 1000...so close yet so far away!  No update on any ultrasounds yet. 

I've been absolutely exhausted every day.  Each night I get a bad case of the burps and feel pretty queasy.  Luckily no barfing so far!  The symptoms remind me that this is real and not all just in my head.

2nd Beta

I had my second hcg test today.  We went from an 89 to a 218.  The nurse said that it is just fine (more than doubled) and even said congratulations.  I repeat it again on Monday (this is normal for my office).  I am so happy it went up and just hope it continues.  It would be nice to just think normal and not worry but I can't help it.  It's been too long of a road to get to this point.  Hopefully Monday we'll have some more good news!

The Results

I am shocked that I am even posting and writing this.  Our 2nd IVF worked- my hcg came in at 89 this morning.  I started testing positive on Sunday and have gotten 5 positive tests since then.  I'm so nervous and apprehensive but I'm trying to stay positive.  I repeat the blood work on Friday morning.  The hope is to see that my hcg level doubled during those 48 hours. 

To put things in perspective, we started trying to get pregnant when Obama was elected to be president.  We've been through a year on our own 3 rounds of Clomid, 5 IUIs with Femara, 4 IUIs with Bravelle and 2 IVFs.  It's been a long road and we are still cautiously optimistic and nervous about it all.

Even more to my surprise, I actually have some symptoms.  I'm exhausted and have been for a few days now.  Last night I thought I was going to throw up after dinner and had the same feeling again tonight.  I'm burping up a storm after eating too.  I think red sauce will be avoided and ketchup will need to be in moderation.  I'll take all of it. 

Thank you everyone for your support and prayers.  I'm continuing to use this holy oil my mom gave me each day in hopes of keeping things on the right path.  If everything goes well, it looks like we'll be expanding our family in July of 2012.

Are you in there little fetus?

I happened to watch "Friends" last night and it was the episode where Phoebe had her embryo transfer for her brother's babies.  I couldn't help but laugh when she started singing "Are you in there little fetus?  In 9 months will you come greet us?" while sitting with her legs up in the air.  Gotta love "Friends!"  We'll know about our little fetus in one more week.  The wait is killing me.  I've still been crampy each day (we are 8 days past retrieval and 5 days past a 3 day transfer).  I'm getting more nervous for this weekend.  It was around that time with our IVF that I started spotting.  I just keep praying that this will be it and we'll have our own little miracle to greet us in 9 months.

Frosties

Well we got some great news yesterday- we had 5 make it to day 6 to freeze as blastocysts!!  Woohoo!!  I'm feeling so much more optimistic this time around!  That means that we now have 8 one-cell and 5 blasts on stock...although I'd be much happier if this worked this time around and we wouldn't have to worry about those guys for a while! 

Please keep us in your prayers still!  We appreciate it all so much and will keep you in our prayers too!