Grow Baby, Grow!

I have waves of queasiness throughout the day but am thankful I haven’t had any morning sickness. It’s hard to figure out what to eat that doesn’t sound nauseating but once I do eat something I feel much better. Lately fruit, smoothies and veggie pizza have been sounding good pretty regularly.  On Monday night around ten, I started bleeding bright red blood. I had just read about another surrogate’s experience with this and she went to the ER and everything was just fine, so I wasn’t completely freaked out but still a little worried. I called the on call doctor and got a call back about a half an hour later from my doctor. He said not to worry, this is very common and I could go in for an ultrasound the next morning or get my blood work done locally to make sure my HCG levels were still rising. By the time he called the bleeding had stopped so I went to bed and called mom to be in the morning. She ended up calling the OB we planned on transferring to once we “graduated” from the fertility clinic and got us in for an appointment that afternoon.  I met our new doctor, who is wonderful and she did an ultrasound. Everything looked perfect. The baby is measuring at 7 weeks and had a strong heartbeat. There was no sign of where the bleeding came from so she ordered lab work to check my progesterone levels as well. Apparently bleeding is very common in IVF patients, up to 75% experience it at some point! It was so reassuring to see that everything is okay and on track and mom and dad now have another photo for the baby book!

A Flicker!

Mom, Dad, Grandma to be and I all went down to the clinic for our six week ultrasound today. They called us back relatively quickly and once the nurse realized the size of our party she had us wait a few minutes while she prepared a bigger room. Mom to be and I went back first, and then once I was all situated she went and got the others. After about thirty minutes of visiting and waiting, another nurse came in and said the doctor had just been called in for an egg retrieval and would be another 15 to 20 minutes. We ended up waiting around an hour total but the results were well worth the wait. At six weeks, four days he said we might not be able to see the heart beat yet and he was mainly looking for the placement of the embryo and implantation. Everything was “perfect” and he pointed out the yolk sac and the flicker of a heart beat. Our next appointment is a week and a half away for another ultrasound and to discuss weaning off the progesterone and delestrogen. We are officially due December 11, 2010!

Life is Good!

My computer died last week. There is no hope for any sort of future for it. I am just hoping that someone can revive it long enough to retrieve some documents and the hundreds of pictures I’ve saved on it over the past few years. I have revived a friend’s old laptop that hadn’t been turned on in over three years and it’s ALIVE! I had to run a few updates and it makes crazy noises at times but at least I have something to get me by until I get a new laptop. 

We had an event filled weekend with my mom in town visiting and parties every night. Being pregnant, you can drink sparkling water all night and still wake up feeling slightly hung over.  Overall, I’m feeling really good, just excessively thirsty and can go from not hungry what so ever to starving. I’ve been making fresh ginger lemonade in the afternoons and that seems to help me get through nap time (some days I give in and have to doze off) and makes me feel great. I am already starting to feel my belly bulge. I’m only six weeks and I can barely button my jeans. I have a feeling I’m going to show a lot sooner with this pregnancy. 

We are only three days away from our first ultrasound and then hopefully I can start counting down the days until I’m done with injections!

5 Weeks Today!

According to an online pregnancy calculator, we’re 5 weeks today! The pregnancy hormones are kicking in and I feel pregnant. I have been waking up feeling the slightest queasiness but it is quickly relieved with something to drink. I’m making myself eat in the morning, even if it’s a half a bagel with cream cheese. I have been so thirsty lately and no amount of water seems to quench it. I’ve always been a big water drinker but now I am drinking non-stop. And the fatigue, that’s kicked in too. Thankfully my kids still love to nap. I have to wake my four year old up after two hours or she’d sleep all day. This afternoon I took a long nap on the couch and it felt so good. I can’t fully blame the napping on being pregnant though. I have always loved naps, now I just have a good excuse for them! I love all of these little reminders that a new life is coming to be.

Another 2 Week Wait

The past few days have been incredibly exciting. The two hour time frame after our blood draw was seemingly as long as the eleven days we had waited since the transfer. A friend had come down with me and was at a nearby mall waiting with my kiddos while I went in to get my blood drawn. I was back within thirty minutes so we went and played with adorable puppies at the pet store, went to Build-A-Bear, and let the kids run around in the play area. I was surprised to get a call from the mom to be but was so happy that she was the one to tell me the news! The clinic had called her first with the beta results and she was the one to fill me in. I think it’s fabulous they did it this way; it’s her baby after all. I had a repeat beta today and while I don’t have the exact number, it was good! My hCG level was just shy of doubling every 48 hours. Our next appointment is an entire two weeks away from today, when we’ll have our first ultrasound. I will be six weeks pregnant by then and we should be able to see the itty bitty heartbeat.

My medications remain the same until then, 2 ccs of progesterone daily and .25 mL of delestrogen twice a week. Last night was my double injection night and I managed to get blood on my draw back twice! After the needle is fully in, you pull back slightly to make sure there’s no blood. Sure enough, there was. So I had to take the needle out, put on a new one and poke again. I went to my other side for the next injection and did it again! I ended up jabbing myself four times instead of two. It freaked me out a little so today I asked the phlebotomist what would happen if I had injected it into that spot and she said it would probably just cause bruising and I’d probably just hit blood vessels. I was imagining much worse!

I am supposed to take it easy until the ultrasound and continue to use my stomach muscles as little as possible. I keep asking, “Can I vacuum yet?” And she keeps telling to hold off as long as possible (now until after the U/S). When our babysitter was here on Tuesday, I reluctantly asked her if she’d please do me a huge favor and vacuum for me. I said I’d pay her a little extra. I came home from work to a completely clean house! The kids’ room was organized beautifully and their million animals were all nicely tucked away onto the bookshelves. My day got even better when the dad to be dropped by with a gift card to my favorite Mexican restaurant to help with my pregnancy cravings. I am surrounded by caring, thoughtful people and I couldn’t be happier about this surrogacy!

We’re Pregnant!

Rather than stress out over the anticipation of what was going on, we did a home pregnancy test on Thursday. Mom to be came over and there was no doubt, it was positive! Since I had a three pack, I tested again on Friday and Saturday, both positives! On Saturday the test line showed up before the control line. Today I had my blood drawn for the beta, which measures the amount of hCG in your blood (the pregnancy hormone produced after implantation- this is also what hpts measure, giving you a positive or negative result). The IVF coordinator said they like to see somewhere around 70 based on our days past transfer (today we are 11 days past 5 day transfer) and mine was at 245! We are all beyond excited and looking forward to watching that number grow. I have a repeat beta on Wednesday and it should double by then. Congratulations to mom and dad to be! We are growing a baby!

Yay for Holidays!

My mind never stops working; I am even busy in my dreams. I am so thankful that this is Easter weekend, as Monday is our beta day! A beta is a blood test used to confirm pregnancy. If it is positive, they’ll retest a couple days later to make sure it is doubling sufficiently. We are dying eggs tomorrow and then letting the weekend unfold with all sorts of celebrations. I know I said I was trying not to over analyze but that is not really in my nature. I am very hopeful and optimistic that everything will go well. I am doing everything in my power to encourage this pregnancy. From eating fresh pineapple the night before and two days after the embryo transfer (this has been said to be beneficial) to avoiding vacuuming, I’m doing whatever it takes. Grow baby, grow!