After such a difficult loss with our first IVF pregnancy, you would think I might need some time to heal. I did, but it was short lived. I was back in the saddle and wanted to move forward as quickly as possible. I wanted to be pregnant again, and now! Doctor wanted me to wait one cycle before starting birth control leading into our Frozen Embryo Transfer (FET).
I started birth control the end of February. Then I had to have another SIS done beginning of March where they put saline solution into my uterus and do an ultrasound to look for abnormalities of the uterus. Last Fall they found polyps that needed to be surgically removed. Well guess what? They found more polyps. Go figure. So they scheduled me for another polypectomy. This didn't delay our schedule, Thank GOD! A couple weeks later I took one single Lupron shot. This is to suppress my ovaries so that my body doesn't try to grow it's own follicles and potentially release an egg. This is a way for the doctors to take control of my body's schedule and do what they want it to do.
I have to add a small twist to the story here. Back in February I applied for a new job. I interviewed with them 3 times from the end of February to beginning of March. They offered me the job and my first day was April 8th. By this time I knew my transfer was scheduled for either the week of the 8th or the following week, depending on how my body responded to the meds. I was freaking out having to let my new boss know that they have hired someone with quite a bit of baggage and oh! by the way, I will need to take a couple days off my first week. She was extremely supportive and knew by hiring a young woman, that they need to be prepared for that.
A week after taking the Lupron shot, I stopped birth control. A few days later, I started taking Estrogen pills to help build the lining of my uterus. I did this for 3 weeks with weekly ultrasounds to watch the progress of my lining and to make sure my ovaries were calm and quiet. Which they were behaving great. I finally got my transfer date and that was April 10, which was two days after I start my new job!
Fast forward 9 days, I had an overwhelming urge to take a test (I was 9 days past 3 day transfer). I still had 3 days until my blood test at the clinic. I told myself early on that I would test the day before my blood test, but I just couldn't get it out of my had that I needed to test that very day (Friday, April 19). I had 1 digital test at home leftover from my previous IVF cycle. So I took it without letting John know. Guess what? It said NOT pregnant! My heart sank for a second, but something told me that it was too early for a digital. The digital's aren't as sensitive as the regular ones. I kept the results to myself for a little bit and then finally I confessed to John. I told him that I wasn't going to take it for an answer and that I really wanted to head to the store and get real ones. He said let's go then. We headed out at around 7:00 that night and I picked up a box of 3. We came home and I took one right away. There were TWO lines! Faint but there were 2! I'm PREGNANT!! I started crying and I proceeded to walk out to the family room where John was. He heard my cries from down the hall. He jumped up thinking something was wrong. I said "It's there! It's positive!". I showed it to him and we hugged. He said "that's good right? I think my crying threw him off a bit. It wasn't how I reacted to our first IVF pregnancy, although it was how I had always imagined it. It was such a sweet moment.
Although we went out with family to dinner the following day, we kept it quiet. We were being much more cautious with our news this time around. It was our little secret and I liked it that way.
Monday, April 22 (12 days past 3 day transfer) was the day of my blood test. I took another test that morning to see if he lines got darker. They did. So I felt really good about it. I got the call later that day that my number was 66. Not exactly the number I was expecting but our pregnancy was confirmed. I'm clinically pregnant. 66 is a lower number. But it doesn't really mean anything. What matters is that it doubles or more in 48 hours. My next blood draw was Wednesday the 24th. That number was 126. It didn't quite double. The nurse wasn't concerned and actually said" it doubled", but I knew it didn't really double. I was starting to get nervous. I started to research and research success stories of low and slow rising numbers. I started to convince myself that frozen transfers are slower implanters. They were frozen for crying out loud. I need to calm down and give this baby a break. The doc wanted me to return Friday for a 3rd blood draw.
The next morning (Thursday) I woke up to blood. Quite a bit of it. I freaked out ad started crying. I just knew I was losing it. Why else would I be bleeding right now? It would all make sense with my low beta numbers. I reluctantly took a shower and got ready for work. Through out the day the bleeding lightened up to brown spotting. I wasn't really experiencing cramps which is a good sign. the next day, Friday, I went in for my 3rd blood draw. That number was 252. Exactly double. This was better but it's still a low number for how far along I was. I just didn't understand. Because it was still on the low side, they wanted me to come in on Monday for a 4th blood draw.
I continued to have brown spotting all weekend long accompanied with some of the worst cramps of my life. They were pretty intense for a couple nights straight. I was so scared what this meant. Monday rolled around for my 4th beta. Mind you, I'm still spotting and thinking the worst. They called me with my number and they said it was 1,088!!! It more than quadrupled in 3 days. This was very promising! They wanted me to schedule my ultrasound later that week.
My ultrasound showed a very small gestational sac. Doc was not all that optimistic. He said its measuring about 4 days behind. I was devastated. He didn't really show any reason for the bleeding/spotting I was experiencing. He said to come back in a week for a repeat ultrasound. That whole week I scoured the internet for hope and answers. I could barely keep it together and focus at my new job but luckily it did keep me busy and my mind off of it at times.
We went back a week later, STILL spotting. This was 2 straight weeks of spotting. I cried on the way to the appt and in the waiting room. I just knew they were going to give us bad news (our second u/s with our first IVF pregnancy is when we were told something wasn't right). As soon as he started the scan he said "oh, we have a heartbeat!". He turned the sound up and we heard the most beautiful heartbeat. I lost it right there. Just bawled my eyes out. Could not believe it. He said it was even measuring more on time too. He wanted to see me in 2 weeks to make sure everything is progressing and then I would be released and graduate to my regular OB office.
After this appt I stopped spotting and started to have some relief. Still cautious but trying to enjoy it some. 2 weeks later I return for my last ultrasound with the specialist and there was my baby....looking like a baby at 8 weeks. Heart beating away still and growing so strong. It was the best feeling. I ordered a home Doppler so I could listen to the heartbeat at any time I wanted. It has kept me sane and happy. We have had a couple ultrasounds at the regular OB office and baby seems perfect and healthy.
Today I am 16 weeks pregnant and due 12/28/13 :)
We scheduled an early gender 3D ultrasound at a private clinic to find out what the gender is. That appt is on July 20th. One week from today. This pregnancy certainly didn't start off well. Anything that could have gone awry, did, except a miscarriage. But Baby G has proven to be a fighter
:)
Here are some pictures of our precious baby:
Me the day of transfer after we got pictures of the 3 embryos.
The far right one was the best of the 3. We think that one was the one that took :)
Positive pregnancy test!
5week 4 day ultrasound. Just a gestational sac
6 weeks 4day ultrasound. Baby is the small white spot in the black circle. This is when we heard the heart beat.
8 week 4 day ultrasound. Baby's head to the right with arms below that and then the body. The circle to the left is the yolk sac.
9 week 5 day ultrasound. At this point the baby was measuring one day ahead.
12 week ultrasound. This is the baby's profile of the head and body. To the left you can see its thigh and knee. It was moving around so much!
