Today I'm 6w1d and we were lucky enough to see the heartbeat. It wasn't able to be heard yet even with the wand, and it doesn't even look like a baby yet, but you can see the flicker that is the heartbeat. With previous pregnancies we didn't have an ultrasound early in the 6th week so we either didn't see the heartbeat yet in the 5th week or saw the gummy bear looking thing in the 7th week. It's just as cool this time. It was measuring at 6w even, the heartbeat was at 112 bpm and it's .33cm long. Amazing what technology can show you.
(Side note: A pair of pants I had been wearing is getting snug. As I said, it is .33cm long. How does that work?!)
Next week we have another ultrasound at 7w3d.
Oh, and I only have to take both the progesterone and estrogen two times a day. That adds the opportunity to sleep in! It was hard to have 3 doses just eight hours apart. This 12 hour thing is much better.
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Thursday, July 10, 2014
2nd Beta
They like to see your HCG double or more every couple days. Mine more than doubled to 4588 in three days.
That's nice, since today I officially cross the line into "advanced maternal age." The big reason we cycled this summer and not next like we would have preferred was that the success rates really go down once you hit 35 and we didn't need any more obstacles than we were already facing.
Next week we get to have an ultrasound at 6w1d, so we might get lucky and see a heartbeat. They start right around then. Fingers crossed!
That's nice, since today I officially cross the line into "advanced maternal age." The big reason we cycled this summer and not next like we would have preferred was that the success rates really go down once you hit 35 and we didn't need any more obstacles than we were already facing.
Next week we get to have an ultrasound at 6w1d, so we might get lucky and see a heartbeat. They start right around then. Fingers crossed!
Monday, July 7, 2014
1st Beta - FINALLY
With the old version of the protocol, our clinic did a HCG ("beta") test the day you would be 4 weeks pregnant. In regular people land, that'd be the day you woke up without a period and knew without testing that you were pregnant.
If you did an IUI, that means a 2 week wait. ("2WW")
If you did an IVF cycle, that means a 2WW after retrieval, but less than that after transfer. (Since some of the meeting/growing/etc happened in the lab and not inside you.) With a 5 day transfer, that'd only be 9 days to wait instead of 14! (And less in reality because of the sensitivity of the tests on the market these days.)
But now they do the first test at 4 weeks and 3 days. For my cycle that fell on the 4th of July. They're open every day of the year for important testings, but this isn't considered vital so I had to wait until the long weekend was over.
As a result, my first blood test was a day short of 5 weeks. Last cycle, 2 years ago, my 3rd blood test was as that point!
My HCG was 1600+. (I don't remember the exact number.) Last time it was only 1100+ at this point, so yay!
If you did an IUI, that means a 2 week wait. ("2WW")
If you did an IVF cycle, that means a 2WW after retrieval, but less than that after transfer. (Since some of the meeting/growing/etc happened in the lab and not inside you.) With a 5 day transfer, that'd only be 9 days to wait instead of 14! (And less in reality because of the sensitivity of the tests on the market these days.)
But now they do the first test at 4 weeks and 3 days. For my cycle that fell on the 4th of July. They're open every day of the year for important testings, but this isn't considered vital so I had to wait until the long weekend was over.
As a result, my first blood test was a day short of 5 weeks. Last cycle, 2 years ago, my 3rd blood test was as that point!
My HCG was 1600+. (I don't remember the exact number.) Last time it was only 1100+ at this point, so yay!
Saturday, June 28, 2014
6dp5dt
Today's 11 days after retrieval, 6 days after transfer. That's the same as being 3 days before a "missed period" in a regular person's world.
And there's a line on the expensive home test. (Seriously people - First Reponse Early Result (pink box) is no joke with the sensitivity!)
It's faint, but it's there.
It's only a first step - we've been this far before - but it's a positive sign. :)
And there's a line on the expensive home test. (Seriously people - First Reponse Early Result (pink box) is no joke with the sensitivity!)
It's faint, but it's there.
It's only a first step - we've been this far before - but it's a positive sign. :)
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Snowflakes
We have 2 embryos that were able to be frozen. While I still very much want this cycle to work, it is a load off the back of my mind to have a back up plan. If we had not been able to freeze anything, then this cycle would have been our last chance. We are out of insurance coverage after this cycle, but saving up to pay for a frozen cycle is much more feasible than a fresh. (approximately $5k vs approximately $25k.) I really hope that we don't need a back up plan, but I'm glad it is there.
Morally and ethically, this definitely adds to the thought process of our lives, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. We knew what we were getting in to, and we haven't come to complete terms about what to do with any that are left when we consider our family complete. That's almost as hard as the rest of the process.
Morally and ethically, this definitely adds to the thought process of our lives, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. We knew what we were getting in to, and we haven't come to complete terms about what to do with any that are left when we consider our family complete. That's almost as hard as the rest of the process.
Monday, June 23, 2014
Still Waiting On News
We didn't get our snowflake yay or nay call today. I figured it would come during afternoon call hours, so I didn't call them. Then by the time I realized we hadn't gotten a call, it was too late to call them. I'll call in the morning if I don't hear by then.
I wasn't going to lay on the couch all day today, but toddler child and I butted heads (literally) by accident this morning and my nose got slammed to the point where it bled and I couldn't see straight. So I spent most of the day with ice on my face. No kidding - the pain was up there as possibly the worst I've ever felt. I thought I heard my ears ringing but then I realized it was me screaming - I was that out of it for the moment after impact.
I can't believe athletes just go back out there and play, because holy cow. It hurt.
I wasn't going to lay on the couch all day today, but toddler child and I butted heads (literally) by accident this morning and my nose got slammed to the point where it bled and I couldn't see straight. So I spent most of the day with ice on my face. No kidding - the pain was up there as possibly the worst I've ever felt. I thought I heard my ears ringing but then I realized it was me screaming - I was that out of it for the moment after impact.
I can't believe athletes just go back out there and play, because holy cow. It hurt.
Sunday, June 22, 2014
5dt
So today we did our 5 day transfer. It's a much more pleasant procedure in the new office. When they were in the hospital, you had to get on a stretcher and be moved to a little back room attached to the lab in space they had carved out of another room. During my first transfer, there was a person to wheel me, a sonographer, 2 lab people, a doctor, and a med student. (No hubby because it was past the 'clean' doors.) In the new surgical center that is just theirs, it was similar to a regular doctor's office room. Hubby could be there, and they have closed circuit TV to the microscopes that actually flashes up a picture of the embryo they're transferring. That was pretty cool.
We transferred the one embryo that made it to the blast stage. The other three haven't made it that far yet, so they will check them tomorrow. If they blast overnight, then they are eligible for freezing and safekeeping just in case. We did not have any "snowflakes" last time because of the rescue ICSI issue and sub-par quality issue. They did grade the transferred embryo as "fair" but the nurse said that doesn't necessarily diminish our chances.
Back in the day, the blood pregnancy test was scheduled for 2 weeks after egg retrieval/conception, because that would be the day in a regular person that they got a positive test. However, they were picking up so many low numbers that then didn't take, that they decided to bump it a few days. I'll "cheat" with a home test anyway when it's time. But on top of all the extra waiting, pregnancy tests ("betas" is the IF lingo) aren't bloodwork that they do on holidays and weekends. Since they have a smaller staff on weekends they only do monitoring that has to be done for cycling patients. That means I have to wait until July 7 to get my official beta numbers.
Compared to my last cycle, that is on the same day as my 3rd beta last time. So hopefully by the time that day rolls around, there will be a nice big number on the result list.
We transferred the one embryo that made it to the blast stage. The other three haven't made it that far yet, so they will check them tomorrow. If they blast overnight, then they are eligible for freezing and safekeeping just in case. We did not have any "snowflakes" last time because of the rescue ICSI issue and sub-par quality issue. They did grade the transferred embryo as "fair" but the nurse said that doesn't necessarily diminish our chances.
Back in the day, the blood pregnancy test was scheduled for 2 weeks after egg retrieval/conception, because that would be the day in a regular person that they got a positive test. However, they were picking up so many low numbers that then didn't take, that they decided to bump it a few days. I'll "cheat" with a home test anyway when it's time. But on top of all the extra waiting, pregnancy tests ("betas" is the IF lingo) aren't bloodwork that they do on holidays and weekends. Since they have a smaller staff on weekends they only do monitoring that has to be done for cycling patients. That means I have to wait until July 7 to get my official beta numbers.
Compared to my last cycle, that is on the same day as my 3rd beta last time. So hopefully by the time that day rolls around, there will be a nice big number on the result list.
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