Beta #4

712

My RE wanted it to be at least 671 so we are WAY good. You know what that means?? NO MORE blood draws! YAY :) US is scheduled for Oct 10th to detect the heartbeat! Keeping my fingers crossed that all goes well until then.

Thanks to all of you ladies who have followed & responded to my posts! Your words have been encouraging, thoughtful & very helpful during this stressful time.

One more hurdle crossed....

Beta #3

381

So what I thought was a good number turns out to be "not quite where we would have liked it" according to my RE's nurse :( They want to see at least a 1.5 x's rise which would have been 389 & obviously I am not quite there...but almost. My progesterone was >20 which is good so all meds will remain the same until further notice.

So the plan is to repeat my levels on Wed & see what that shows. This is so frustrating & a pain to have to get blood drawn every 2 days. Since I am on Lovenox AND baby aspirin my arm is bruised horribly so I will definitely be glad when the blood draws are done.

On to beta #4...

Beta #2

173

Well, the number didn't exactly double but according to my RE she isn't counting me out just yet either. She said as long it rises at least 1.5 x's then she is comfortable with that which would have been at least 166 so who knows!?

I would have liked to have seen the number above 200 but it is what it is. The good news is it DID rise & it IS above the level it needed to be so maybe it is all good?!? Ugh - all I know is that being in beta limbo is making me crazy - so nerve wracking. I return on Monday for another HCG check so we will have a good idea of how this is going to play out when those results come in.

It's going to be a long weekend!!!

8dp6dt

Ok ladies, I know you have been anxiously awaiting the results so here they are:

Being the POAS addict that I am, I started testing on the 4th day post transfer & as you can see below, I got a faint line which only got darker :)

And drum roll please....

Today's beta is 109! Will repeat beta on Thursday & praying it doubles! Looks like for today I am pregnant :)

5dp6dt

Well, today is day #5 post transfer. Only three more days left until my beta.

Some of you have FB'd me, emailed me or texted me with questions on how I am doing or if I am going to test early! Well, here are are my answers:

How are you feeling? Well, so far I am feeling noticeably crampy, extremely tired - especially around 4pm the past couple of days & according to my husband very moody & snappy. I keep telling him it's the hormones I'm taking & if I end up PG that it could get worse. I think he is scared :) Other than that I don't feel any different.

Are you going to POAS before your beta? I have 4 HPT's under the bathroom cabinet that I may or may not have started using but will continue to give in to my POAS addiction a couple more days before I post the outcome. Need to keep you in suspense so you will keep checking back!

Lucky for me time is going by quickly so Tuesday will be here before I know it. Wish me luck, cross your fingers or praise the baby Jesus - whatever you feel you need to do for a good outcome on Tuesday & as always, thank you for your love & support!

xoxo - H

Polish

We had another "gift exchange" on the IF forum I'm part of & the theme this time around was nail polish. We were to buy some "lucky" nail polish for our selected person & send a little card of encouragement for their upcoming cycles.

Mine was waiting for me in the mailbox today after I came home from my FET & couldn't wait to see what I had gotten.
I love, love, love all the different colors of nail polish & my cute little pedi kit! The colors are perfect for fall! Out of them all the turquoise color is my favorite! Can't wait to try them all!

Thank you so much Elf "jillychris" for the awesome gift!

FET #2

Well, it's official.

I am PUPO - pregnant until proven otherwise.

I got the call from the embryologist around 9:30am letting us know that both embryos had survived the thaw, were looking good & transfer time was set for 11am. I was so relieved to hear that they had made it through the thaw.

When we arrived they were running right on schedule so we were taken back to the transfer room right away. They verified my info & then showed us the pics of our embryos. I got a fancy new phone last week & am still trying to figure all the features out so these pics of our embies aren't the greatest but you can still get an idea of what they look like:











The embryologist was taking a long time to bring my embies in so I asked my RE if there was a problem. She assured me that everything was fine & that they were taking pictures of my embryo on the left. I guess my embie decided to be a "rockstar" & was hatching out of it's shell & she said it looked like "textbook" hatching so they wanted to get a few pictures of it. Of course that is the one pic I took that isn't clear but if you look at the embryo between 3-5 o'clock you can see it coming out of the shell. You can see the embryo on the right is just starting to hatch out if you look at 1 o'clock. Pretty fascinating!

The transfer was all over with in less than 5 minutes & all went well. I laid there for about 15 min & then went home to start my 48 hours of bed-rest. Beta will be next Tuesday - it's going to be a long 8 days!

Please say a prayer & keep your fingers crossed for us!

Ute check

Had a lovely date with the dildo cam this morning for my lining scan. Also had some blood work drawn & both checked out good. Today's findings:

*Estradiol = 228 (RE wants it b/w 200-299)

*Lining = 9.3mm (RE wants it b/w 8-10mm)

So I guess we are a "go" for the embryo transfer this Monday. The embryologist will be calling me Monday morning to let us know if the embryos survived the thaw & if so, what time to be there for the transfer. I am off of work Monday - Tuesday & looking forward to lounging around the house, catching up on the DVR, finishing the book I started a few weeks ago & being lazy.

Good news - my last Lupron shot is tonight. Bad news - my PIO shots begin tomorrow morning along with my Lovenox shots & my progesterone suppositories x 2 daily. Not looking forward to that. I had to make out a daily list of all my meds again so I can keep track of everything I have to take. This is what awaits me every morning until transfer:

Vivelle patches x 4 (every other day)
Estradiol 2 mg x 2
PIO injection
Progesterone suppository (AM)
Lovenox injection
Prenatal vitamin
Folic Acid 400 mcg
Medrol 16 mg
Z-pak tablet
Baby ASA
Progesterone suppository (PM)

Hard to believe we are only 6 days away from transfer. I can't say my feelings have changed much the closer we get to the date. I am still feeling discouraged & continue to think this isn't going to work. If anything I am more nervous & scared of the outcome than I have been in the past. Ugh - such a tough thing to go through. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. Would appreciate all the prayers you can give :)