Wednesday, February 29, 2012

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!!

Monday, February 27, 2012

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)

Saturday, February 25, 2012

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!!

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Final fertilization report

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

That is all today. Have a good weekend!

Thursday, February 16, 2012

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!!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

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!!

Monday, February 13, 2012

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!

Sunday, February 12, 2012

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.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

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.

Friday, February 10, 2012

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.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

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!!

Monday, February 6, 2012

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.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

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)

Friday, February 3, 2012

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!

Thursday, February 2, 2012

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!!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

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.