16 weeks 3 days

I find it interesting how this whole pregnancy counting thing works. My five apps and my doctor have three versions. This is important because we get to find out during week 18 the gender, baby permitting of course.
The appointment yesterday was quick, the baby's heart rate was 156. Seems all is still going well. I feel great, lots of energy. :0)

Hubby's first purchase

I feel so blessed to have a husband that loves me and is excited about the baby. As I read in forums about women who are unsupported by their partner, I am sad for them. I have a great support system and am grateful everyday.
C went to FL for work and shopped one day and brought this home. Super cute!!

Furniture!!

We love this furniture and it fits perfectly in the room. We had a good time assembling the crib. Nothing but teamwork here!!

Now to decorate...C is anxious to get it done. Oh how I love him!!!
I do have my first touch of love, a frame for a sonogram picture. My sister-in-law gave me the cutest frame for Baby to Bee.

Just another day

I am finally not dragging butt all day and I love it. I have several errands to accomplish and am excited about it. I have avoided leaving the house it seems for a while unless it was absolutely necessary. First the baby furniture delivery people need to get here! I am supposed to be first on the list for 9am but still no call, and right now it's exactly 9. :) You all know about me and time.
I hope everyone has a great Tuesday!

My new/regular Dr.

I am so happy with my new doctor. He spent an entire hour with me today, answering questions and just informing me of what is coming. I was a little surprised that more of my information from the other doctor wasn't forwarded. I passed along many pertinent things by chance. I am chatty once you get me going. ;)
So, all is still normal. Today measured 12 weeks 3 days, I'm becoming one of those people I laugh at. The ultrasound equipment wasn't as high-tech as my last doctor, so no new pictures to share. We have discussed getting 4D images but we'll have to wait and see, they're a little freaky.
I go back in a month. Also, no gender finding until week 18!! 6 more weeks!!!!

10 weeks

Here it is!! The head is facing down and toward us, the mouth is slightly highlighted white. 2 arms and legs. It was wiggling! Wow!!
The Dr. said normal all the way. We saw the spine too. Amazing!!
Lots of love. Thanks for all the support!

Now to my regular doctor in 2 weeks.

Ok, 2 more pictures to share. These are 3D, amazing technology. The first shows a little arm bud up around the ear. The second 3D picture is the little legs buds and the umbilical cord coming up between them.

I guess I really believe now!

Second sonogram

Well, I guess it's official...a normal baby is nested in my womb, growing nicely. Today it measured at 8 weeks 2 days. The photo is a gummy bear shape. :) On the left is the head and to the right on either side of the body are arms and legs. The heart rate was 176 bpm. I go back in 2 weeks for one final look with this Dr. then I will be released to a regular OB. How exciting!!!

I'm sorry, I wrote this at the movie the other day and forgot to post it. Happy Thursday!!

First Sonogram

This is my uterus with a gestational sac inside and a mutant baby inside that. 6 weeks and 1 day. It's all looking normal. We're still not supposed to be shouting it from rooftops. One more sonogram in two weeks and then most likely released to a regular doctor.
Holy moly, here we go.

3rd and final beta

1794 was my hcg level today. So, that means we doubled about every 36 hours. And that means we wait until Monday's sonogram!! All smiles here. I think we will finally sleep well tonight.

The only real concern I have now is the mild cramps I am having. I know it's normal but its still on my mind.

Thank you all for your love, prayers and support. It means a lot. :9)

Second Beta

Today's hcg was 222, an increase of 55. While an increase is good, we were looking for 100. The level is still normal for the pregnancy length so now we wait until Monday. I think if there is significant increase then we could be in the clear, if only a slight increase or a decrease then it's likely over. My nurse said we just can't tell and a viable sonogram won't be for a couple of weeks. Now I will stay positive and busy. It's drill weekend and I need to get my lesson plan straight in my head. :9)
Everyone have a great week and weekend I do not plan to post again until Monday.
Cheers!!

First beta.......:0)

Holy moly.... the nurse, my nurse this time, just called and all Cody heard was "congratulations, you're super pregnant." My blood test today called a beta was at 167. Anything over 5 is considered positive. I go back Wednesday and stay on the progesterone. I'm in shock!!

We are pregnant!! :9)

Handling the tww

The dreaded two week wait has been pleasant. My mom was here for a whole week for starters! We had a great visit, mostly hanging out. I was quite sleepy and I took many naps. :0)

Ok, the info everyone has been waiting for...I took an HPT, home pregnancy test, Wed and it was negative. I took another one Friday and it was positive. My blood test is Monday at which time I will find out what level hcg is in my system. We are cautiously optimistic at this point. :)

Sorry I didn't write for a whole week, I wasn't trying to not divulge I was trying to keep calm and not dwell too much!!
I will make a new post Monday, I promise. Have a great weekend!!

Final fertilization report

2 embryos made it to freeze!!!! That is amazing!!!!

That is all today. Have a good weekend!

Egg transfer

Egg transfer Friday at 1pm. Another shower without shampoo or soap. Oh, and a way too full bladder for the transfer are highlights of my day tomorrow.
I felt pretty terrific today, yesterday I felt like a bus had hit me. Must be the hormones.
I will update here tomorrow after we get back and know all the juicy details. Fingers crossed we have some excellent embryos!!!


We still have all 8 embryos and they are all blastocysts. We transferred 2, one was the best quality they had seen thus far in the cycle of any patient. Both blasts were great! The embryologist will check them tomorrow to see if any are able to be frozen.

I will now rest and go for my first blood test Monday the 27th. :9) It has been a great day!

So looking at the photo of our transferred embryos you can see they are both hatching. There is a small bubble of fluid escaping out of each of them. There are 2 sets of cell clusters the larger mass will become a fetus and the other the placenta. ( I think) Now they need to implant and grow. We were told they should implant within the next 36-48 hours. Wow!!

Embryo Report

It's officially day 2 for the embryos. There are still 8 growing but 6 are good-excellent quality. We will transfer on Friday. We will not know how many the Dr. and embryologist will want to transfer until we show up Friday. Down to one shot a day, progesterone. Happy sticky vibes!!
My belly is a lot better today. I am going to get out of the house for a bit. I got a beautiful Valentines hydrangea, I might go find it a pretty pot!
Happy Valentine's Day!!

Fertilization Report

20 eggs retrieved, 14 mature, 8 fertilized and now we wait. I will call tomorrow at 11am to see how they are growing and developing. The nurse will let us know when our transfer should be, could be Wed. but most likely Friday.
I am feeling better today, Cody is taking great care of me. We slept in and are watching movies. :0) A good day!

Egg Retrieval

It is 6:50 Sunday morning and we are sitting in the car because the doors are still locked. Yikes!! I hope there are enough people. Cody is joking he might get to help. I guess I could be the only procedure for the day, probably not.
We should know how many eggs were retrieved before we leave. Science is amazing!! Ok, here we go!
20 eggs and I only babbled a little about random things to Cody as I woke up. ;) I am now perched on the sofa for the duration. :0)
What a great day.

ER in the morning

Woo hoo, no shots today! We will be at the surgery center at 7am. I have had butterflies off and on today, to be expected I think. Thank you everyone for the comments, emails and phone calls. :0)

This is an ovary on estrogen. The black spots are the follicles and this picture shows several growing. My ovaries looked like this over the course of the last week and a half.

 TOMORROW'S PROCEDURE-
An Egg Retrieval is a minor surgical procedure performed by inserting a needle through the upper vaginal wall directly into the ovary. The doctor performs this procedure under direct ultrasound guidance, so that they visualize the location of the follicle and actually see the needle enter the follicle and aspirate the fluid and egg.

Egg Retrieval Scheduled

It's official, ER will be 8am Sunday. We have to do our hcg trigger shot tonight at 8pm, this one goes in the muscle.
My estrogen was 2053 today, the nurse said I plateaued and that is ok. I still have enough for about 20 mature follicles, if we have that many again.
I have been awake since 1 this morning, maybe nerves, I'm very sleepy.

I am working on my waddle

Holy cow!!!! My ovaries must be the size of lemons. I will find out this morning at what should be our last sonogram before Egg Retrieval. I have slept the last two days straight away. I am so thankful I can just be lazy for the week. :0)
Cetrotide this morning was just fine. Cody really has been doing an awesome job with my injections.
Now to wait until my appointment, I'm getting restless and anxious. Just a few more days!!
Estrogen for today was 2373. We didn't get a good count on our follicles but there were many, one in the left ovary was almost the size of the ovary. We go back tomorrow for another look. The best estimate is we will go in for Egg Retrieval Sunday.
I'm so excited!! I was less sleepy today too. :0)
Happy Thursday!!

Day 6

Holy cow!!  Just got back from my morning appointment and WOW, that medicine does the trick.  I had blood drawn and a sonogram.  My ovaries are huge and the follicles growing inside are many and large.  Both ovaries look great, the left side is a little larger than the right side.  There are 8 and 6 follicles between the two and a couple of them are already 8, 10 and 12mm.  They will be mature to harvest when they reach the 18mm point, I think that's right.  Cody held my hand as I was prodded in a very uncomfortable manner, and they are only going to get bigger.  :o)  I will wait until my blood work comes back this afternoon to know how well my nurse thinks things are going and see if my medicine concentration changes.

We started the morning with our Cetrotide, today was better.  My belly is getting sore, oh well only a week left.

What a long day. My estrogen level came back at 463 today, up almost 300 in 3 days. Gonal-F 225 at 6pm, my belly is getting sore. I have felt exhausted all day. Tomorrow will be better.

Day 4 and 5

Yesterday was a blur. We were up early and headed to work. It was drill weekend and we had our annual Golden Corral breakfast, yuck! I had 200 emails from not being at work for a month. Got my shot at 6pm.

Today was busy, lots of work and lots of party people. It was a great day. I'm so lucky to have good friends and working on making more all the time. I got a new shot today, Cetrotide at 6am. It's a longer needle and it hurt for quite a while today. We think this is the shot that is supposed to be inserted at a 45 degree angle. We'll try that tomorrow. At 6pm we did 225 Gonal F. That is that for the day. I am exhausted and ready for bed. I hope to not have a sweaty night of sleep, wish me luck. Tomorrow is sonogram and blood work. I hope my levels are at a good level. My belly feels full but the other stuff is holding off. :0)

Day 3

No early morning medicine today. I had blood drawn first thing this morning and had to wait until 1 to get the results. They are super fast!! My nurse is awesome and added encouraging words in her email. So, my estrogen level is 173. That is very good. I will keep the same medicine but we will switch to evening shots.
I had a really good day, lots of energy but I think the medicine is starting to work because I could feel ovary twinges. The goal is both ovaries stimulated with lots of mature eggs.
I go back Monday for another blood check and a sonogram.
6 pm, 225iu Gonal-F, no pain no blood. Hopefully another great nights rest!

Day 2

5:30 Gonal-F 225 delivered again without pain or blood. I now have two small needle marks on my belly. Just the beginning of the traceable evidence of this trip.
I forgot to say yesterday that my ovaries took well to the birth-control pills, meaning the were not actively trying to produce an egg and there were no cysts. :0)
Still feeling good. I slept really well last night!!

Day 1

Gonal-F 225 iu at 5:30 this morning. I did not sleep very well so the mixing of the medicine was a little comical. Cody was a champ, shot given without pain or blood!!

1p.m. Sonogram screening
Thin uterus lining, good thing. Now this multiple week period should be ending very soon.

A brief history

I am not a blogger but I decided this round of IVF I will share what I am going through with family, friends or a passer-by in need/want of a shared story.  My last/first round of IVF was last summer.  I didn't share much of anything with anyone except my husband.  I was afraid of my feelings, the events and uncertainty.  Everything went right, I had 22 follicles, 20 mature eggs.  I was a rock-star performer!!  They transferred 2 embryos and we were on our way.  The blood tests came back positive 3 times and then it was negative.  So for a very short lived time I was pregnant, they call it a chemical pregnancy. I skipped a cycle because of work and now sit on the anticipated eve of cycle 2.

I will update as often as I can because I always have something to say ;) and I know I will be feeling an awful lot too.  If I glaze over something unknown please ask and I'll do my best to explain.  I want this journey to be shared.