Beta #3

When I first read the word beta on the infertility website blogs I thought it was the name and number assigned to each embryo and I used to wonder how they could pinpoint the embryo when they were only a few weeks old, if that, and their were multiples...some women had 4 betas so I'm thinking they were pregnant with 4 babies...the things you learn after spending hours reading what other have to say...I think I've explained it before, but just as a reminder, the beta is the amount of HCG (hormone baby produces) that is contained in your blood. This number should double every 24 or maybe 48 hours (honestly can't remember and don't feel like looking it up). Well, Beta #1 was 143, Beta #2 was 411 (taken 8/23) and Beta #3 taken today, was 819! Those are great figures and very high...I have a gut feeling that there are twins in my belly...but we will confirm if my "mothers intuition" is correct a week from tomorrow, Thursday September 2 where we will take my first ultrasound. I will be 6 weeks pregnant. Connie said it might still be a little early to hear a heartbeat/s but we will confirm our number :0) I'm so excited for next week...

This week has had it's shares of ups and downs already, the good news, non-baby related, is that I passed my second CPA test, yay! 2 down 2 to go! Tyson got invited into the honors society at college (a huge accomplishment for a guy who had a high school gpa of 1.9 - not from lack of smarts, just because he never cared)...With our brain power combination, our baby/s will be so smart! The bad and ugly part of the week is that we are at war with the car dealership, we were under the impression that we bought a certified used car, now they are saying it isn't certified and our warranty is up, so of course everything starts falling apart...example - we bring it in for a gooey (melting rubber) handle, they call and inform us it is no longer under warranty, the new handle is $500 and btw, your battery is dying and it will be 270 to fix,. My hubby, being the amazing handy man he is, decides he is going to replace the battery himself and save us $150...well, I go to pick up the car, and the battery is now officially dead. Hubby is frustrated with work, I don't want to focus on anything but baby and can't muster up the stamina to go into full blown study mode, and to top it all off, I'm having some issues with a good friend. UGH...

But when I look at all of those things, and I see how blessed we are to be pregnant, I realize that it is all insignificant to the bigger picture. We will have our highs and our lows, but we need to stick together...I always like to say "it's us against the world"...and now our "us" includes very special embies that don't want their mommy to stress about the small things...so I'll listen to my embies (and all those wonderful caring ladies who keep reminding me stress is not good) and let them hibernate in a safe and stress free environment.

Speaking of which, it's an hour past bedtime and I'm exhausted!

It's Official!

I'M PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday (8/20/10) was my blood test. I went to the office alone, thinking they would call me later with my pregnancy test results, Yolanda (front desk lady) was surprised when I walked in by myself, apparently, they would give me the results of the blood test right there...I immediately called my hubby, but he said he couldn't make it because he was at McDonalds with no car (drove with work people)...then my heart started racing...I kept thinking, o my gosh, they are going to give me the news, good or bad, and I'm going to be here alone...because He is at McDonalds!!!! I tried to convince him to get them to drop him off but he said it was too late, I should have told him earlier...well I had no idea that they would give us the news on the spot...

So after a very painful blood draw, they had to poke me twice, Connie (my wonderful nurse) told me to go and grab some breakfast, it would take 20 minutes for the blood to process...just as I was walking outside my phone rang...Tyson to the rescue, he was on his way! Thank God!!! I really didn't want to be there alone.

15 minutes later, Connie and Genevieve (my 2 nurses whom I love dearly) walked into the waiting room...my heart started pounding because I thought they both came out to give us bad news, and then Connie said Congratulations and hugged me...that's when the tears flowed...tears of joy...I cried, Connie cried, it was such an emotional moment, all those shots, side affects, and pain became a thing of the past...
It is finally official, 2 home pregnancy tests and 1 blood test later (3 BFPs), we can finally say WE ARE PREGNANT! There is no greater feeling in the world, it was better than being proposed to, sorry babe!

In the afternoon, Connie called back with the results of my beta (test to see how much HCG hormone the babies are creating). It needed to be above a 10 and it was 143...yay!!! This is supposed to keep rising so on Monday I have another blood test. We will also schedule my first ultrasound for a week or so...that's when we find out if it's twins or a singleton. At this point I'm so attached to both of our orange seeds (that's how big they are this week) that I would be sad if we lost one...don't misunderstand, I would still feel so blessed if we just have one.

I can already feel the subtle changes in my body, I can no longer sleep on my stomach because my breasts are so swollen and sensitive, when I'm hungry I feel like I'm starving, and there just aren't enough hours in the day for all the sleep I need. I love feeling all this, it makes it so real.

My potential due date is April 28...which is so ironic to me because the last 3 years I have been a bridesmaid for weddings all at the end of April, which somewhat interfered with tax season, and now I'll be having a baby...I'm starting to think April is my new favorite month!

2 week wait

This 2 week wait is killing me...and it isn't even a full 2 weeks, only 10 days...Friday is my official pregnancy test...but of course I couldn't wait to pee on a stick so I did it yesterday morning. I woke up dreaming about it, and my hubby gave me the go ahead...so we are sitting at our computers chatting waiting for the stick to finish doing its work, I looked at it over 20 times but it still kept "thinking", and then I glanced down not thinking and their it was...in big bold letters...PREGNANT! My initial reaction was shock, I mean, if I'm completely honest with myself, I've been subconsciously thinking I was pregnant before I even had the embryo transfers, just because of everything we were going through to actually get pregnant...but I was shocked when I saw the PREGNANT...I've never seen a pregnancy test say that and I was overcome with emotions!

But then the doubts start creeping into my mind...mainly - is it a false positive? After the excitement wore down and I thought about it...in reality, the hormones I took before the egg retrieval will produce a positive on any pregnancy test, some people say it takes 10-14 days for it to get out of your system. That's why the doctors make you wait for 10 days after the embryo transfer to take an official test. I took the pregnancy test 13 days after I received my trigger shot...it could be to early, but I'm just going to hold onto that positive and try to keep busy for the next 3 days.

It's not hard to stay busy, I have so much to think about and do, but my brain just keeps going back to all things baby...it's worse than ADD...but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Tyson has already started taking nightly pictures of my belly, he wants to do one of those morphing photos that you play really fast and watch the belly grow...it's his project/"baby". I'm all for it, as long as the pictures are taken at the right angle, I say document every possible thing so we can always remember. So I have to go take our nightly picture now and then I think I'm going to hit the sheets. I'm exhausted! (Yay - that's a prego sign)

Poppy Seeds

Yesterday was a complete success! The entire experience was surreal. The morning started off with a wet drive from Key Largo to Miami and we actually arrived 20 minutes early. The butterflies were in full swing as we waited for the acupuncturist to show...they told me to be well hydrated and to arrive with a full bladder, well I took that literally and drank 4 huge bottles of water and a Gatorade. My bladder was so full during the acupuncture (at the beginning) that I thought it would burst. There was nothing relaxing about it because of my bladder, the needles needed to stay in for 20 minutes and by the end I was in tears from holding it all in, there is nothing pretty about this process. From the side affects to the actual procedures, I've learned that I can't hide anything and privacy has gone out the window.

After the acupuncture I was allowed to pee 3 times, they kept sending me back to go some more (I would have to stop in the middle, 6, 9, 12 seconds at a time, stopping is not an easy task). Even after all that, I still had a full bladder. After all the partial pees, I was at least comfortable during the procedure. My doctor was amazing and explained every step. They gave us a picture of our 2 embryos/blastocysts that were transferred...they are graded a perfect A, they couldn't get any better. These little guys were fertilized by the regular IVF method (each egg received 100,000 sperm and the one sperm had to fight its way into the egg). Believe it or not, the sex is already determined at this point and our little ones are the size of a poppy seed. How incredibly amazing is that!

Here's the beautiful picture:



The outside lining is the beginning of the placenta, and the embies now have 3 distinct layers that will grow into specialized parts of our babies bodies. And guess what, the follies (what the eggs were held in) are now called the corpus luteum, it collapsed and starts to produce the hormone progesterone and estrogen. This will help nourish and support the pregnancy until the placenta takes over in about 10 weeks. In addition, I am now taking progesterone and estrogen twice a day for the next 2 months, so our babies will be well fed already! I am so amazed at the miracle of pregnancy, this entire process has been so educational and the more I learn the more amazed I become.

We were able to watch the entire transfer on the ultrasound machine. They dimmed the lights and played soft music in the background. After the procedure was over I had to lay still for 20 minutes and was place don bed rest for 48 hours. My hubby recorded the entire procedure, and he's working on editing the footage so we can share it on the blog. For now here's a picture:



The 2 embies are inside the circled area...they look like little white beans.

I've been resting for the last 2 days...I cant stop staring at my tummy and I keep thinking that every pregnancy like symptom I have is a sign, but we have to wait until Aug 20th for our prego test. So pray that our little embies implant into the uterus.

We love our Poppy Seeds!

Embryo Transfer Day

Everyday for the last 4 days I've called my personal voicemail at the doctors office hoping for info on our embies. But I didn't have a message until yesterday...the wait was driving me crazy. They scheduled my embryo transfer for today at 10:15! Hurray!! We are on our way now, it's a gloomy day, but perfect for snuggling in bed with 2 embies inside me praying for them to stick, I'll be on bed rest for 2 days so they will have the best chance. We are also increasing our chances of success by 16% as well because I am having acupunture before the transfer and right after.

Its the strangest feeling, knowing that we are finally here, I'm sooo excited but it's so hard to explain. I feel like we are going to get the greatest gift God has to offer, nothing else matters now, not the pain I went through to get here, the hell I'm going through at work, or the looming CPA in front if me. Life is too precious, and we are being blessed in the best possible way!

One thing I've learned in this process is that you do not need a child to be a parent, we have made sacrifices and have loved our future babies, and now we are on our way to get them. Our prayer is that our 2 embies stick, they nestle deep into my womb, their new home for the next nine months and grow into healthy babies...our babies!!!

Fert Report

Yesterdays egg retrieval was different then what I expected...it was at the doctors office but in a side wing down a creepy hallway and in a little room. All the nurses spoke a mix between English and Spanish, but if they weren't talking directly to me, then it was in Spanish. Made me feel a little uneasy because I didn't know what they were saying, but overall they were very nice. They put you in this horrendous chair that has leg braces (way worse than the regular obgyn stirrups). We brought a pillow from home for the surgery but it somehow "blew up", Tyson grabbed it out of the car and their were feathers everywhere, so he had to tie a knot on the pillow case, and that made me laugh. It could have been the 3 Valium I took before the procedure. They told me I shouldn't feel any pain during the retrieval because I would be sedated. They put me under local anesthesia but it wasn't strong enough. I could feel every move the doctor made and tears were streaming down my face. Then suddenly and thankfully it all went black. The next thing I remember is Tyson staring at me with a video camera in his hands, I'm documenting this life event with words, and he is documenting it with pictures/video, it will make the perfect memories!

Overall they retrieved 25 eggs...that's a ton (on average they retrieve 4-16 eggs). I slept the whole drive home and napped in bed...we had to wait 24 hours before we would know the fertilization report (fert report)...it was the longest 24 hours ever. I've been a little worried that the follies wouldn't grow big enough since we only had one 18 on Monday...well, the scores are in and God heard everyone's prayers:

Of the 25 eggs retrieved, 20 eggs were fertilized and are growing. We had 8 inseminated through IVF (take the egg and some around 100,000 sperm and let the sperm battle their way to the egg) of which all 8 fertilized and 14 inseminated through ICSI (embryologist selects the best sperm, one for each egg and inseminates the egg with the sperm) 12 fertilized. Now they will watch how the embryos grow and eventually form blastocysts.

I am overjoyed for our one day old embies...the pain is nothing now that I know that our babies are growing. In fact, last night we had their first party, in honor of their conception. Uncle Justin came over and cooked an amazing meal for us, and Nana and Auntie Jen came too, bearing flowers and sparkling apple juice. It was a great day!! Now I just cannot wait for our embryo transfer which will be on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Our baby is so close, he/she/they are the brightest star in our sky!

Good Luck Charm

Tonight is the night before our big egg retreival. We are both so very excited to move forward...we are staying in Miami tonight so we won't have to worry about traffic in the am, I'm so thankful for that, we need to be at the office by 8:45 am and the retrieval is at 9:30. We had an excellent sushi dinner (one more item crossed off on my to do list) with my Daddy and now I'm so tired!

We didn't have to pack much for our one night trip but I was a little perplexed...all the gird on the bump have some sort of ritual or good luck charm that they do/bring when they do this process, and I couldn't think of any, I wanted to bring Tys italian socks but couldn't find them, so we just left empty handed. Well, as I was unpacking for tomorrow I discovered that Ty and I brought the exact same really soft orange gator shirt to wear tomorrow. So that's it, our lucky charm...matching gator shirts! Yay

Gotta get lots of rest! Going to bed now, good night and goodbye follies, hello eggs to embies!

Trigger Shots = Last Shots, YAY

Hurray!!! We finally got some good news today, I was cleared for my trigger shots, which are the last injections I take to get my eggs ready for retrieval. The egg retrieval is scheduled 35 hours from the trigger shot...so we need to be in Miami bright and early Thursday morning.

Last night I woke up to belly scratches and the sound of Tyson's voice talking to the follies and telling them to grow, and it worked (it was definitely one of his sweetest moments ever, he even sang them a lullaby). My ultrasound revealed one size 18 follie and two 17s and a handful of 16s...so we need these follies to grow...there is still time and they had me take an extra shot of menopur (drug to help them grow) this morning...the more large follies the more chances of retrieving a mature egg and creating a strong and healthy embryo...which translates into a strong and healthy baby Franco.

All these drugs have caused side affects that will not be missed...but it's going to take a while for my ovary swelling to go down, I'm not exaggerating when I say I look like I'm a good 2 months pregnant, I can't even wear pants to work in the morning, I've gained an official 5 lbs, although I feel like it's all in my chest...I'm a little worried about how big my boobies will be in the end, they are already so sensitive and painful, but it will all be worth it, every last pound I gain, I just can't wait until I actually have a baby in my belly to blame it all on, for now I'll just blame the injections. A good side affect, the prenatals are making my nails super strong and I'm having excellent hair growth.

So tonight I will say goodbye to seeing needles and alchohol swabs covering our counters. You have taught me courage and showed me strength I didn't know I had, but you will NOT be missed.

The journey continues and we are that much closer to the beautiful end...

Another day

Good thing I wrote the plan down in pencil yesterday, b/c once again plans changed...I had one follie grow to 17 but we need them to be at 18 to contain a mature egg (and we need more than 1 in order to increase our chances of having a strong embie to transfer). So now we will have to move the egg retrieval to another day, Thursday...which means more injections tonight and tomorrow night should be my Trigger shot. My doctor is still being positive but I'm starting to worry...they can't extend it any longer because the longest you can wait is 12 days (12 days of stimulation), so I'm not sure what will happen if we don't get multiple follies to grow to 18, I'm thinking it would be canceled and we would have to start all over again. That is my fear.

I'll keep holding onto the HOPE that tonight, my follies will grow and grow and grow. Thank you for all the prayers and continued support. The good news is the risk of hyperstimulation has decreased (I think). My doctors appointment is at 9 am tomorrow morning...I will find out more then.

Now, I think I'm just going to put my ovaries to sleep early tonight. Good Night <3

God's Plan!

"For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord.
“They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."
Jeremiah 29:11

You can't fight God's plan and his timing is much better than mine, but ugh, do I want to try! Just when I thought everything was under control in my ovary world and that our plan was set in stone...the plan changes. If only God would tell us ahead of time so I could be prepared for the change of plans it would be so much easier...but He is a mysterious God.

Tonight was supposed to be my Trigger shot which would have meant that it would be my last night of injections and Tuesday would be my egg retrieval day. Unfortunately, my follies didn't grow to be as big as they needed to be...we need them to reach 18 cm to contain a mature egg, I had five fifteens as of this morning. It's such a double edged sword, they took me off of the follistem medicine for 2 days because they were concerned that I would hyperstimulate, which could then cause me to ovulate early, my ovaries to twist, and also decrease the chances of my embies sticking. I have also been put on a no activity type of bed rest for the next couple of weeks, it's work and then straight the feet up position. No cooking, cleaning, ironing, vacuuming, sweeping, and even no dogs on the lap...I never realized how much stuff I do during the day until I can't do it anymore. Luckily, my hubby made some emergency contacts...first to my Mom for food support, and then to a cleaning lady. My Mom showed up the first night and made us the yummiest dinner ever and then we even got breakfast the next morning. The cleaning lady should be here next week, which is actually really exciting!

So tonight we will pray that the follies grow and my ovaries stay relaxed...and tomorrow morning will be great news at my doctors appointment. And if all goes according to this plan, Wednesday will by my egg retrieval and tomorrow will be my last night of shots. YAY!

But who knows, I'll keep it written in pencil just in case...