Today's beta

My beta today was 336 so it has more than doubled since last Friday!! Woohoo! The next step is I'll go in for blood work next Tuesday to check my estroiol and progesterone, and then I'll schedule my first ultra sound for two weeks from today, or as close to it as they can get it. I'm feeling a little more relief, but I'll probably continue to be super nervous until I hear that heartbeat. After that I'm sure I'll still be nervous all the time, but it will feel more real at that point. It's still just so early that it terrifies me! But at least i know something is happening right in there so that's a good sign!!

What a morning!

It has been quite a morning! I decided to go to the LSU health center to have my blood drawn this morning, because we're on the LSU insurance and it would be covered at the clinic. So I got there as soon as they opened at 8:00, had a nice conversation with the doctor who also struggled with infertility (it's amazing how many people really go through this), and then went back and had my blood drawn. Well, after I got my blood drawn they told me that they may not be able to get the results until Monday! What?! I explained that it was very important that ccrm get the results today and they said they would try but couldn't guarantee it. Ugh! So I immediately emailed my nurse and asked her what I should do. She told me to try to get it done somewhere else because if its positive they'll need me to get it done again on sunday or monday to make sure it's doubling. So I had go call the RE that I first went to (the same one who was so rude at my baseline ultra sound and they were nice enough to let me come in as long as I got there before 10:00 because they close at noon on Fridays. It was 9:30 when I called and I live at least 20 minutes from his office. So I jumped in my car, while emailing Julie to fax an order to them. I made it at 9:59! Whew! Luckily they were actually really nice to me and the doctor was asking how everything went as in how many eggs they got, etc. So all in all it ended up being okay - $180 later. But hey, that's money that I'm willing to spend I suppose. It's annoying because it is free at the lsu clinic, but oh well! Regardless of what ccrm needs me to do, there's just no way I would be able to wait until Monday to hear the results - I would go insane!


Okay so I know y'all are dying to know - I just got the results as I was typing this. I'm pregnant! My beta was 79. They like to see it about 50 so that's good. My progesterone is 28 and they like to see that above 6, so that's awesome! I'll go back in on Monday to have my levels checked again and make sure my beta is doubling. I am still in complete shock and completely worried that something's going to go wrong. We just aren't used to getting good news!

On a side note, for all of you friends who read my blog. Please don't tell anyone unless they flat out ask you. We know a lot of people know what we've been going through and people are curious so if they know and ask, then by all means you can tell them. But we're not going to make any big announcements until after the first trimester. There are so many things that can go wrong that we just don't want to risk it. We're going to tell our immediate families, and close friends who know that we did IVF, but no one else.

Please keep the prayers coming for our little peanut or peanuts! And thanks for all of the support. I really think it has made all of the difference! Lots of love to all of you!

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Can't sleep

It's like Christmas morning! R came in from working at 3:30 this morning and it woke me up, but then I couldn't get back to sleep. For one thing, I had to get up to pee, and if I get out of bed I have a really hard time going back to sleep. Also, I was STARVING which is weird because I am never hungry in the morning. Plus, I couldn't stop thinking about what today is --- the day I get my beta! It's going to be a very long wait for that phone call, but I will update as soon as I hear the news. I'm going to test at home, but I'm not going to announce anything until I get that beta number - so try to be patient! ;)

So anyway, now I'm up. I just ate a waffle which will hopefully tide me over for a while since we don't have anything else to eat in our house. I'm trying to stay away from google - I've already freaked myself out enough this morning by googling (bad idea!) I think I'm going to throw up - not from morning sickness (don't get your hopes up) but from sheer anxiety! Oh man I wish that clinic would open already!


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Oops! I forgot about the embryo report!

I forgot to mention that when we were boarding the plane to come home, the embryologist called with the report on our remaining embryos. None of the remaining three grew so we were not able to freeze them. I'm a little disappointed, but it's also what I was expecting.I'm still waiting! I'm really tired lately. I don't think I have made it through one day since we've been home without taking a nap. I'm hoping that's a good sign, but it could just mean that I'm being extra lazy lately! :)- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting

Okay so I was doing pretty well with the whole waiting thing. When I was in Colorado, I was patient and felt like I could wait forever for the pregnancy test. But now, for some reason, the waiting is killing me! I guess maybe I feel like I'm not as in control here...which is weird! I'm in my own house, but I feel like I am so much more susceptible to things that could hurt me or my chances of getting pregnant. Such as the whole moving process, or my dogs jumping too close to my stomach,or the excessive heat of Louisiana! I'm trying to just let go and leave it up to God. It's in His hands and there's nothing I can do about it...I just want to know!

The progesterone is messing with my head... that or the estrogen patches. Either way, I have an off and on crampy feeling in my uterus/ovaries. It's not exactly like period cramps, but pretty damn close. Different enough that it makes me think that I might be pregnant, but close enough that I freak out that my period is on her way. I am also super bloated - to the point where I actually look pregnant. Which is fine and everything if I actually do turn out to be pregnant, but if not then it sure is uncomfortable! And the worst of the side effects is the acne. Oh my goodness is it terrible!! My forehead hasn't looked this bad since I was a teenager. In fact, I'm not even sure it was this bad back then! Like i said, I am okay with all of these things if it means I'm pregnant, but if I'm not pregnant...ugh! I know that all of these things are probably the progesterone. It is known to mimic pregnancy symptoms and I kind of remember that from my last IVF, although it is amazing what you forget from cycle to cycle. That's kind of why I want to make sure to get it all down in this blog so that just in case I have to do this again I can remember exactly what I was feeling at this time.

Anyway, that's it for now. Six more days until the blood test! I haven't decided yet if I'm going to take a test at home before then. I'm going to try really hard not to, but it's going to be really hard!




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So long Colorado, it's been real

I am officially off bed rest, although I'm still trying to take it easy. I am getting up more and actually took a shower today and went to lunch, but other than that I'm still being pretty lazy. I also went to ccrm today to have my estrogen levels checked - per my request. On the day of transfer, my nurse called and told me that my estrogen level was 485 and they want it to be at 1,000 so they wanted me to go ahead and start my estrogen patches instead of waiting until the 19th. Well R and I have both been pretty worried about it so I emailed Julie this morning and asked if I should have it rechecked to make sure it's getting better. She said that i shouldn't worry, but I could have it checked if I wanted to...I wanted to! So she just called and told me that it is rising and it is now 680. It still worries me that it's not to the 1,000 mark that she told me a couple of days ago, but she said to not worry that as long as it is rising it is okay. I guess I'll take her word for it and trust the doctors at ccrm. Worrying certainly won't help anything!

I'm feeling pretty good. I am cramping a little, but that is most likely the progesterone working so that's a good thing!

We fly home tomorrow and I am so ready! I have really enjoyed my "vacation" but there is a lot to get done at home and I am ready to see my dogs! We sold our house today (wooohoo!) but now we have to get everything packed and moved in about 2 weeks! It's going to be interesting considering I'm not allowed to lift anything over 10lbs! I'll just take it slow and easy. At least it will be a magnificent distraction and hopefully the next nine days before my pregnancy test will go by quickly!


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Here's a picture of our two precious embryos

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Transfer day!

Well I am back from my transfer and officially on bed rest! It was a very long morning because we were expecting a phone call from the embryologist but we didn't actually get a report until about 15 minutes before transfer. Oh well!

So today we had two great looking 9 cell embryos and the other three were still growing but only at 4 cells. they like to see them between 6 and 10 cells at day three so they were pretty pleased with the two 9 cells. In fact, when the embryologist came in and showed the embryos on the screen the doctor was impressed with the amount of progress he had seen in them since this morning. He said that the cells were all starting to merge which is a good sign. I don't know how they classify these embies according to the 1-5 scale such as 5a, 4a etc so if anyone has some insight let me know!

Anyway, we're pretty happy. They're going to keep watching the other three embies over the next three days and let us know if they're good enough to freeze.

By the way, I did do acupuncture before and after transfer and for those of you on the fence about doing it I strongly recommend it. It definitely helped me relax. In fact, I fell asleep during the session after transfer. It was very calming!



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Fertilization report

The embryologist called this morning. Of our seven eggs, 6 were mature and 5 fertilized normally! We're pretty excited, but trying not to get our hopes up too much. We won't get another report until monday morning - this is going to be a very long 48 hours. The embryologist mentioned that if all five are still looking good on Monday morning that they may push it to a five day transfer. That would mean me needing to change my flight from Thursday to probably Saturday in order to give me more time to lay low, but if that's what it takes to make sure we get the very best embryos I will do it...what's another couple of hundred of dollars at this point, right?

I'm feeling okay today. I'm pretty sore, but it's not too bad. The worst thing is my allergies have been acting up every since egg retrieval yesterday. I've had some allergy issues ever since we got here, but I think my immune system is concentrating so much on healing my ovaries that it's not working as hard on keeping the rest of me healthy. I'm not allowed to take anything for it, so I'm going to go get some Vicks vaporizer stuff to put in my humidifier and hope that helps! I don't know if there's something in my room or if it's the dry weather out here, but I'm ready to not be sniffling and sneezing anymore!

I sure hope my little embryos keep growing and dividing and I have five great ones to choose from for transfer. In the meantime I'll be prepping my uterus to accept the little guys/girls. :) I'm taking an antibiotic, tetracycline, and a steroid, medrol, that's supposed to keep my uterus from rejecting my embryos. The bad news about that is it probably works by weakening my immune system which is not good news for my allergies...oh well! I'll also be starting endometrium suppositories tomorrow. I've never used the suppositories before, but it has got to be better than the progesterone injections I took for the last IVF cycle. Those needles were terrible! And then in about a week I'll start wearing vivelle patches. So the hormones haven't ended yet, but at least I am finished with shots- hopefully for a long long time!


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Egg retrieval

This post is going to be short and sweet because I'm still a little groggy and looking forward to some r&r. But I did want to check in and let everyone know how retrieval went today. We got 7 eggs retrieved today! I am pretty happy about it but now it's a matter of waiting until tomorrow for the fertilization report. We should hear sometime tomorrow morning how many fertilized and then we will have a three day transfer on Monday morning. I'll let everyone know what they say tomorrow! Thanks for all the thought and prayers!


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Ultrasound 5 - cycle day 14

My ultrasound this morning showed seven follies still growing strong! They all measured between 17 and 21mm. Julie called a while ago and told me to do 150iu of gonal f (half of my normal dose), my normal 20iu Lupron and my dexamethasone. Then I do my trigger shot tonight at 12:30 (set the alarm!) and I'll have egg retrieval Friday morning at 11:30. I'm starting to get really excited and of course nervous! I go in tomorrow for blood work to make sure the hcg (trigger) got into my system and did its job - something my former RE never did and one of the things that Dr. surrey said could have been the problem. Please keep those prayers coming! Thanks!

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Ultrasound 4 - cycle day 13

I'm sorry it took me so long to post about yesterday's ultrasound. The hubs got to Denver yesterday so most of the afternoon was spent hanging out with him.

The ultrasound yesterday still showed seven growing follicles. I had four that were at 15mm, one at 16mm, and two at 18mm. Julie (my nurse) said they want them to be at 20. My estrodiol level yesterday was 1,162 up from 875 on Sunday. It's still not high, but at least it has made to the 1,000 mark! Julie said that the ultrasound today will tell us more when egg retrieval will be. I'll other trigger tonight for an egg retrieval on Friday or I'll trigger tomorrow for an egg retrieval on Saturday. Part of me hopes it's on Friday to get it here and over with and also because then I won't have to worry about changing flights. But another part wants it to be n Saturday to give these little follies a chance to catch up. Of course, I'll do whatever the doctor thinks - he is the expert after all!

Something else exciting happened yesterday. When I was having my ultrasound, the tech told me that there was a high profile patient coming in that day and they were all kind of freaking out because she was bringing her camera crew with her and generally Dr. Schoolcraft doesn't allow any cameras. I asked her if it was Guiliana Rancic because I watch her show about her struggles with IVF and the tech nodded her head. Of course the rest of my time at the clinic yesterday I was turning my head constantly to try to see her. I love her and would have loved to see her. I usually don't get into celebrity sightings, but I somehow feel a connection to her. She is so open and real about her struggles with fertility and I give her huge props for being so open about it to the world. That has to be hard! Anyway, I never saw her but I can't wait to see watch her next season and recognize ccrm!

My next appointment is at 11:00 today (mountain time). I think R will be working on his thesis all day today so I'm sure I'll have plenty of time to update the blog after the appointment!


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Ultrasound 3- cycle day 11

My ultrasound yesterday still showed about 7 follies mesuring between 9-15 mm. They said they were growing very slowly and may increase my meds. But then when the nurse called me yesterday afternoon she said to keep everything the same. Wtf? So I emailed my nurse and told her that I was worried they weren't being aggressive enough. She responded (on a Sunday which was impressive) that I shouldn't worry. I should think of it as crock pot cooking and that they're just letting them take their time. So I feel a little better I guess. I'm definitely looking forward to my ultra sound tomorrow and R will be there so I'm happy about that. I am sad to see my brother, sister in law, and nephew leave today though! It's going to be a much sadder place without that little guy's smile!

In Colorado tourism news: we went to the Denver zoo on Saturday. I was a lot of fun...for everyone. Baby miles obviously had a good time, but it was a great chance for my aunt, uncle, brother, sister in law, and me to all spend time together outside of the hotel room. Yesterday my aunt and uncle left, so we drove over to boulder so my brother could see it, and then continued up to the rocky mountain national park. It was beautiful! We saw so much wildlife - rams and elk mostly. I took pictures but haven't downloaded them yet so I will be sure to post them later. It was a gorgeous drive through the mountains. If we have time, I may take R there when he comes.

Next ultrasound is tomorrow. I'll try to post about it as soon as I can.


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Ultrasound #2 - cycle day 9

My head is all full of numbers now, so I'm not sure if I'm going to get all the facts right. After my nurse calls today I can right everything down and actually get the sizes of all my follicles. The important thing is that the five follicles that were 10-12 mm on Wednesday have all grown and then a few of the smaller ones have caught up. So I have about 7 follicles that are over 10mm and they saw about 4 small follicles that probably won't catch up but they are good support for the big ones. I am pleased with seven. I have never done this well before and now I just have to hope that they keep on growing at the right rate and that they all have good and healthy eggs inside. I'll try to post again after the nurse calls to give exact numbers.

Yesterday we drove over to Boulder and had lunch. Then we went to Nederland, CO to hike an easy trail. We also went to their carousel that has the most magnificent story and it was gorgeous! I highly recommend driving over to see it if you're in the area. It only costs $1 to ride and it truly is a beautiful thing to see. Plus, the tiny town of Nederland is really neat. There's a great ice cream, garden, and book store (yes it's all one store). Anyway, Boulder and Nederland are both worth the hour drive. It's a great day trip!


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First ultrasound

I had my first ultrasound this morning and so far so good. I had three follicles on the left all measuring about 10mm and then two smaller ones at 8 and 9 mm. I had two follicles on the right measuring 10 and 12 mm. For me, this is pretty good. I think my nurse was expecting me to start crying but I told her that this is the best I've ver done. At this point in my last IVF cycle I had 8 follicles all under 10 mm. So to have five that are countable, I'm pretty pleased. I would love it if those smaller ones catch up and they all keep growing, but we'll just have to see. Now it's just a matter of waiting for the call to see if I need to change my dosages at all. I go in for my IVF physical tomorrow and another ultrasound.

In the meantime, we're going to go to the ikea that is right across the street from the hotel, and then drive over to Boulder for the day. It should be good times!


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