Wonderful quiet long weekend

Mark and I were both off for the long weekend. We spent a few hours with each of our families on Thursday, and Friday ventured out to Costco. We bought a new DVD player for a really good deal, but that was really about it. Friday I decided that we didn't bring home enough Thanksgiving leftovers, so we made our own mini feast of our favorites. Ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes and green bean casserole. The last cooking we did for the weekend :) Friday evening we went out, stopped at Starbucks and got a Carmel Apple Cider, (yummmmy!) and drove around to find a good parking spot to watch "Christmas in the Nighttime Sky." It's a local tradition we've never taken part in, but I think we will make it a tradition. The business that puts this on hosts a Potato/Chili dinner that is free with a new toy donation, then they have a beautiful fireworks display with Christmas music. We decided to have our own dinner, and view from the warmth of the car. Partly because we just didn't want to mess with being bussed to the location, etc, and partly because I think Mark is afraid the baby will get cold if I'm outside too long. :) This kid is well insulated in LAYERS AND LAYERS of fat! Mark is taking great care of us though.

We did venture out a few times this weekend, but the majority of the weekend has been spent lounging around. Thankfully the bleeding has stopped, and is only occasional spotting. Usually once or twice per day. I'm very anxious for our next ultrasound. Hopefully there will be a lot more to see this time!

Lady did her share of lounging. She's sleeping next to me right now. She's been dreaming a BUNCH this weekend. She's running in her sleep right now. Both yesterday and today she woke me up with her muffled sleep-barking. I think it's cute.

Well, it's time for me to get some sleep. I had a nap this afternoon. That is the only thing that has enabled me to be awake this late. Goodnight. Thanks for all of you who were checking in on me.

The last couple of weeks

The last couple of weeks have been both eventful and uneventful. Let me explain. With my last post, I was very excited to tell you all of the fantastic increase in my hcg beta. I didn't anticipate anything to update you with until my ultrasound appointment on Friday, November 21.

Last Wednesday while I was at work, I used the restroom, and noticed some spotting. It reminded me so much of how last year's miscarriage started. I was terrified. I called and spoke to a nurse at my clinic who did her best to reassure me. It's very normal. It happens in one in four pregnancies. Reduce activity and increase fluid intake. Call if I'm filling a pad in an hour. The unfortunate thing about the speech is that it is the same one I received last year as I miscarried, so I was able to find very little comfort in it. I went to work for 2 hours on Thursday, and the spotting continued, so I went home again for the day, and notified them I would be gone all day Friday. I came home and rested Thursday for the rest of the day. That seemed to be the end of the spotting. I fully expected more Friday after the ultrasound. (I knew the ultrasound would be via the magic wand, which can agitate things in there). But I escaped Friday with NO spotting. Must have been a fluke thing.

We had the ultrasound Friday. The purpose of this was to determine how many of the 3 embryos transferred actually attached, and to verify that they were in the correct place. I could not see a THING on the ultrasound. He had to do some searching, but found one little bean, snug where it should be. It was very tiny, and he said he could see the heartbeat. I saw a little bit of movement, but I would never have pointed that out as a heartbeat. However, this guy was the expert, so we're going to go with his opinion on it!

Saturday morning I lounged around a bit, and did a some ironing. I tried on several outfits, and decided what I would wear to Mark's company Christmas Party later that afternoon. Before you start with the comments, I KNOW! It's EARLY for a Christmas Party. I didn't plan it, I was just planning to attend. I went to the restroom, and what I saw was far beyond spotting. I went into total panic mode. I quickly went to bed, where I spent the remainder of the weekend. The bleeding lasted several hours. Mark really needed to attend this party for work. There were several reasons, one of them being he is management, another is that he had a portion of the gifts to be handed out at the party. I called my mom, to let her know what was going on, and she insisted on coming over. She stayed with me until Mark got home.

She prayed for me several times. Before the end of the weekend there were hundreds of people all over the country, and some around the world praying for us. Thankfully the bleeding stopped that evening. I had spotting for several more days. Today seems to be in the clear, but my family insists on keeping me on light duty. That's OK, I'll do whatever I can to keep this little been snug where it needs to be!

Next ultrasound will be in a couple of weeks. We should see a very clear heartbeat (I'm thinking Mark and I should be able to identify it) and maybe arms and legs! I'm excited for that one. I just want to get through this scary first tri stuff!

Thank you to those of you out there who already knew most of this, and were praying for us. Your prayers were appreciated and effective!

Major Praise!!

I had another beta hcg test today. Monday's level was 333. For today we needed to see a minimum of 650-ish, but we were hoping for more in the 1000 range. Oh me of little faith was just expecting the 600's, but God amazed me once again.

My hcg today was 1236!! I'm in awe. So much more than I hoped for. We were praying for at least 1000.No more beta tests now. Next step is an ultrasound in a couple of weeks. She gave me a due date of July 14. I had already figured that, but it was nice to have it confirmed.

I pulled out my work calendar, and compared the beta numbers from my previous pregnancy last year that ended in miscarriage. My hcg was 59 at the same time that now it is 1236. Thankfully we're way ahead of that.

Thank you to all of you who pray for us!

What a difference a week makes...

I haven't updated in awhile, and this is LONG one... so skip to the picture now if you don't want to read it! :)

The long version:

We had a frozen embryo transfer (FET) with donor embryos (known to those in favor of embryonic stem cell research as "medical waste" - but that's a rant for another day) on October 24th. My first blood test (beta hcg) was on November 1, 8 days past transfer. My blood tests are almost always same day results. They warned me ahead of time that this wouldn't be. I had a repeat test on Monday, November 3. They said they would compare both results and give them to me at the same time. I was talking to someone that day and telling them I think this is a great idea if it's positive, but if it's negative, I think it's more hurtful. It's an unnecessary stick with the needle, and dragging things out longer than necessary. Oh how little I know!

I took the day off work Monday the 3rd. I didn't want to be anticipating the phone call all day while at work. The other side of that is with our last transfer I had an all out temper tantrum when I got the a negative result. Best not to be kicking, screaming and bawling at work. Call me crazy!

I went to the hospital lab right shortly after they opened at 7:00 am. I had taken a couple of home pregnancy tests over the weekend and they were negative. I was pretty sure that it was negative. And already trying to figure out where we could get the money to do another transfer next year. Barb, the lady who draws my blood most of the time is so sweet! I know she prays for me when she does the draw. (As a side note, it was a different lady who did my blood draw on Saturday the 1st, and she prayed for me too, and I didn't know her! Isn't it cool how God puts people in our paths!?) I asked Barb how long it usually takes for them to send the results to my doctor's office, she said they are typically done within the hour. So I decided to go to work for an hour. I knew it was going to be a crazy busy day for them being short handed. Then I went home to wait. Lunchtime came and Mark asked if I'd heard anything yet. Nope :( He asked if I had taken a home pregnancy test. I told him no, why waste it? But then I got impatient, so I decided to go pee on a stick. We got the wrong pregnancy test, and these were to be used after the first day of a missed period (some can be used as early as 4 days earlier). It showed negative really quick. I tucked it under the counter because I'd told Mark I wasn't going to waste it.

Mark returned to work for the afternoon, and I continued my wait. I went to retrieve the home pregnancy test from under the counter. I took one last glance before I tossed it in the trash. To my great surprise, there was the faintest second line. It was one that I had to look at it in a bright light, and at the right angle, and kind of squint just right. But there appeared to be something there. The only problem with this is results are only reliable if read in the first 10 minutes. So it could have been an what's called an evap line. So I grabbed my phone and my purse and headed out to the nearest grocery store. I didn't like their selection, and they were SO expensive. I really wanted an EPT, or First Response Early Response. So I decided to head across town to Target.

I decided to splurge on an EPT digital. I thought about it, and couldn't decide if I had 5 seconds worth of pee in me, and I couldn't wait ANY longer to take this test. So I grabbed a package of paper cups, went through the checkout and headed to the bathroom. Yes, I'm admitting this. you read correctly. I took my home pregnancy test in the bathroom at Target. I was correct, I didn't have 5 seconds worth of pee, so I'm glad I used the cup. I sat there while the little digital screen flashed a little hour glass for what seemed like an eternity. I'm sure it was only a couple of minutes. This is what I saw:

It's a blurry picture taken with my cellphone, and have no fear, I didn't take it in the bathroom, it was in my car right after I left the bathroom, but it says PREGNANT!!

I decided to go get a Cherry Limeaide from Sonic and take it to Mark. I took the drink in to Mark at work. He asked if I'd gotten the call yet. I told him no. So at this point he thought the drink was the only reason I was there. He walked me out to my car like he normally does, and when we got to the car I pulled the test out of my pocket. I was so excited to tell him. While we were there in the parking lot I got the call. It was a mixed bag as far as the results go. Saturday's result was an hcg level of 2. Anything under 5 is considered not pregnant. Monday's result was 29! That's a great increase in just 2 days, but we are off to a low and slow start. I was glad for a positive, but it reminded me so much of my low and slow betas with Gabe when that lead to a miscarriage. Oh, and that part I mentioned earlier about not liking how they did the 2 draws before giving me results. They know more than I. Because if we went off the first results it would have been considered negative, and I would have stopped taking my meds, which in my opinion, would have meant a certain miscarriage. But the second results were a certain positive.

Since then I've had 2 more betas. At this stage of pregnancy, hcg levels should double AT LEAST every 48 to 72 hours. My test on Wednesday was 51. So not quite a double, but within range. I had another today, and it increased to 333! That calculates to doubling every 44.3 hour since the previous test. The total hcg is still on the low end of the spectrum for where it should be at this stage, but it's increasing appropriately. I will have another draw later this week, and we need to see at least 600 then, but we are hoping for closer to 1000. 1000 would send me over the moon!

What a difference a week makes. Last week I was sure it was negative, today the outlook is so much different! We are excited and hoping and praying this is our take-home baby(babies).