Monday, July 30, 2012

7/30/12 - Blood Work

I had blood work this morning. The nurse called this afternoon and said the Dr wants me to decrease my progesterone to one per day, which I think is good because I must be producing enough on my own.

Next blood work is in two days.

Monday, July 23, 2012

7/23/12 - 2nd Ultrasound

This morning was our 2nd ultrasound.  At first when the image showed up on the screen there was just one big black blob and the ultrasound tech said "here's you're baby" and we both immediately said "There's only one!?" then she said "NO, here's the other..." as she moved the angle of the ultrasound wand and showed us both babies.  :)  For a second there we thought we lost one.

They took a bunch of measurements and monitored the heart rates.  144 and 147.  I asked if that was normal and they said yes.

Then we saw the heart flutters :)  It's too early to hear the heart beats but we could see them on the screen!  It was so neat. 



The Dr. called this afternoon and said my blood work showed that everything looked good and I can stop the Estrace (estrogen) pills AND the Vivelle Dot (estrogen patches).  Yay!

Oh and I decided to jump on the scale this morning and much to my surprise I have lost 6lbs since getting pregnant.  No throwing up, just lots of food aversions and I can't eat as big of portions as I used to.

This is still real!!  Corey and I are loving every moment.  Anytime I tell him I feel naseous he says "GOOD Kim GOOD!".  :)

Friday, July 20, 2012

7/20/12 - Blood Work, Is This Real?

I missed the call from the nurse this afternoon.  Her voicemail said that my blood work was fine and to continue on all meds and next blood work will be Monday 7/23.  I'll also have an ultrasound that day!!!  :)

I'm in my 7th week and I have a tiny bump/bulge on my lower abdomen.  It's definitely not my normal tummy.  It's all firm.  This is cool.  :)  I know it's SUPER early, but this is the life of a twinner mommy. :)  I'm definitely not "SHOWING" by any means, but Corey and I can feel a small difference. 

It's so weird because I still sometimes feel like it's not real.  I'm sure other IVF-er moms understand.  I sometimes think... "well, I haven't started my period yet, so the Dr. MUST know what he's talking about... and there was that ultrasound that we saw... so I guess they're really in there and this is really happening"

We are SO grateful :))))

We can't wait till Monday.  I hope everything looks good.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

7/18/12 - HAPPY HAPPY!!

What a great day!

I'm sooo happy, for TWO reasons:

1st:  My blood work looked good today and they're having me STOP the progesterone in oil injections! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!  (They're also having me decrease my estrace patches to 2, switched out every 3 days instead of 4 switched out every 3 days.)

2nd:  I'm SICK!!!!  I'm sooo happy to FINALLY have morning sickness!! :)  I remember hearing women complain about their morning sickness to me or reading it on their infertility blog and I always thought "Really!?  I would LOVE to have morning sickness!  That means you have a baby on the way!"  :)  I've just always felt that an infertility blog was no place to complain about that kind of thing.  SO YAY!!!  I'M SICK!!

Anyways, they also said to come in on the 20th (Friday) for more blood work and then my next ultrasound is the 23rd (Monday).  I think we'll hear the heartbeats that day!

BTW, I've decided to keep this blog updated while I'm still being seen by the fertility center - before they transfer me to my regular OBGYN.  I just want to keep everyone updated on what to expect from the fertility/IVF experience if it's something they're going to do or are currently going through.  I don't want to turn "My In Vitro Blog" into a Pregnancy blog or Toddler blog.  I have a family blog for that.  I will just update it with major milestones or if there are any IVF related issues.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

7/12/12 - High Beta Numbers

I got a call from the nurse today with my blood results from yesterday. She said everything looks good and to stay on all meds, only stopping Estrace suppositories on Monday the 16th. They want me back for more blood work on Wednesday the 18th with next ultrasound still on Monday the 23rd.

I asked her what my HCG level was today and she said 38,847! For everyone in IVF land that's 20dp5dt.That's REALLY high!

I had consulted the google and wrote down what my level MIGHT be on day 20 based off of what other girls had. The number was 13,000 (and that's for twins). Mine was 38,847!

Here are my numbers so far:
11dp5dt 762
15dp5dt 5,127
20dp5dt 38,847

Average numbers for twins according to betabase.info:
11dp5dt 401
15dp5dt 1,691
20dp5dt 8,938

I've been pretty concerned about the numbers being so high. I've read that it can be a sign of molar pregnancy or down syndrome. I mean, it's HIGHLY unlikely that there's a secret triplet in there.

Then I came across this comment on a message board, which helped me chillax. "My doctor told me that with those high numbers he suspected a twin pregnancy and a healthy one". I'm going to go with that scenario.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

7/11/12 - TWINS!!

This morning was our FIRST pregnancy ultrasound!  I was having such a hard time sleeping.  I couldn't stop thinking about the appointment.  I was just HOPING we'd see twinners in the morning :)

Clear as day - they showed us the two sacs.  Officially TWINS!!!

Here's the video when we found out:


This is a picture of the monitor:


Our next appointment is an ultrasound on 7/23. 

I continue on all my meds:
2mg of Estrace 3x/day
Pre-Natal Vitamins nightly
Progesterone In Oil Injection (1ml) at 7pm every night
Progesterone (vaginal suppository) AM and PM
1mg of Estrace nightly (vaginal suppository)
4 Vivelle Dot estrogen patches switched out every 3 days

They also mentioned that I had a blood pocket (that's the dark spot above the sacs on the monitor) and I may experience some bleeding but not to worry unless it become bright red or heavy.  (I have had spotting since yesterday).  They said to always carry 2ml of Progesterone In Oil with me so that if I start bleeding heavily I can take an injection right away - then call them.

They gave me an official due date of MARCH 9th!  That's if I go full term - 40 weeks... which is unlikely.

I am officially 5 weeks and 4 days pregnant :)

After the appointment Corey and I went to breakfast together.  The first thing he said when we sat down was "Two dependants on next year's tax return!".  Hahaha... he's such an accountant.

I have been googling non-stop since last Monday: "Preparing for Twins", "Twin belly pictures", "Twin nurseries", etc... Now I'm going to be even worse!!  I'll sit on my couch with one google search on the I-Pad and another on my I-Phone.  Technology and information overload :)

I'm sooo excited to plan this pregnancy adventure!

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

7/10/12 - Second Beta Results

Great News! 

I got a call from a nurse this morning at 7:30am (which made me a lot happier with the clinic, for being on top of things and calling me so early). 

She said "I have your blood results and I entered them into your chart but I need the Dr. to review them before I tell you how to adjust your meds. He'll probably call you around 1pm".

I asked her if she could just tell me my HCG number...

She said it's 5,147!!! (15dp5dt)

That's really high! YAY! I think there's still a chance for twins!

Just to give you an idea of how high that is - I have been consulting The Google over the past week in order to get an idea of what my number might be (for twins) on 15dp5dt. I wrote down other ladies twin numbers at 15dp5dt transfer: 2,200, 3,097, 3,675, 3,860. Mine was 5,147. :)

Yesterday I called the office and scheduled my Ultrasound for Thursday at 8am but when the nurse called this morning she said I need to schedule my untrasound now. I told her it was already scheduled for Thursday BUT I asked if she would have had me schedule for a different day. She said she was going to suggest tomorrow (Wed). So I said "Let's move it to Wed!"! The sooner I can see these little guys, the better. It will be the official determination of a singleton or twins.

I moved it to Wednesday 7/11 at 7:00AM.

Oooh I can't wait to see!!!

Monday, July 9, 2012

7/9/12 - On a Happy Note

Yesterday I decided to take a home pregnancy test for funsies. I had realized that after taking maybe 100 tests over the past 6 years... hoping a line would appear if I just stared hard enough... I should just take one now and take a pic.


Before I could even set it down to read the results A BIG THICK LINE APPEARED! Wow! So thaaat's what a positive line looks like!?? :)


I was so excited!

7/9/12 - STILL No Results

I'm so frustrated right now.  I just got a call from the fertility center.  They informed me that they won't have my results until TOMORROW.  I did the blood work Friday at 7:45am and I won't get a result until Tuesday!?

I feel like the office doesn't care and they don't think it's important.  It's important to me, because we've been trying to get pregnant for almost 6 years, spent $20,000 and we've had an early miscarriage before.  I got one positive test Monday but we're suppose to monitor the levels and make sure the #'s are duplicating how they're suppose to.  My meds are suppose to be adjusted according to my blood results.  UGH...  I'm just venting.  Thanks for listening.

I'll post as soon as I have an answer.

Friday, July 6, 2012

7/6/12 - No Results Today

I went in for blood work this morning at 7:45am and waited all day for my results.  They were suppose to tell me my HCG number and basically check if everything's progressing how it should.  We would have also had a better idea of whether or not it was one or two babies.  I was also told that depending on my results today, I might be stopping my Progesterone In Oil injections tonight. 

I usually get a call with results from 1pm - 4pm.  They have told me in the past that if I don't hear from them by 4pm to call their office.  I was interviewing someone at work until 4:30pm so I called as soon as I was done.  Whoever answered the phone said she would transfer me to the front desk but she thought everyone had left for the day so I might have to leave a voicemail which would be returned on Monday. 

Ugh. 

So I left a voicemail and then emailed the Dr.  Hopefully they decide to call me tonight.

Monday, July 2, 2012

7/2/12 - OFFICIAL RESULTS!

The Dr. just called.  He said in a happy voice "HI KIM, It's Dr. D!...  CONGRATULATIONS!!"

...

...

(I'm in shock)

...

...

I answer with "Oh my gosh... oh my gosh... Wow... Oh Wow..."

Then I asked him what HCG level I was (I think I'm 11dp5dt (days past 5 day transfer - IVF lingo)), he said 762!

I asked when we'll know if it's ONE or TWO and he said "It's most probably TWO!!!"

Wow...

He said at this point most women have an HCG level of 300 or 400 but I'm at 762... TWINS!!!!!!!!!

I'm SOOOO HAPPY!  I was worried that it wouldn't feel real or I wouldn't feel like I could celebrate because I'd still be so nervous about complications... BUT I'M CELEBRATING!!!!  I know we still have a long road ahead of us and we'll just take it a day at a time and ultrasound at a time, but today, right now, I'm just so grateful.

Thank you so much for all your love and support!  I'll keep you all posted on my follow up appointments.  I have bloodwork on Friday 7/6 and an ultrasound sometime next week.

Tentative Due Date: February 14th, 2013!