What I’ve Been Up To….

So I promise I did not fall off the face of the earth! I have been reading and following along with all of you but I haven’t been able to do much commenting since I do most of my blog catching up at work.

I really do want to list the details of my FET before I forget so I apologize in advance if this turns out to be a really long post!

May 20, 2011 – Day 1

After a month of birth control pills, AF finally decided to show up. I went in to the RE’s office on Day 2 for blood work and ultrasound… all looked good and I was told that we were ready to start my medications in preparation for our transfer. This was the first time I was introduced to Progesterone in Oil (I was on suppositories in all my past cycles) as well as Del Estrogen (also an IM injection). Overall, I think I really do prefer the IM injections over the suppositories – I have a high pain tolerance so I’d much rather deal with a little bit of pain than a mess!

June 8, 2011 – Lining Check

Went in for a lining check at was already over 12 mm! Was excited that the meds were doing their jobs. Transfer date was confirmed for June 13, 2011.

June 13, 2011 – FET

Transfer day. Mark and I got there early and I started filling my bladder in the waiting room. I was a wreck. I could not remember being this nervous for my fresh transfer. I felt sick to my stomach and I was so worried that one or both of our little embryos wouldn’t survive the thaw.

Finally, they took us back to our transfer room and they took my blood pressure. I can’t remember what it was but it was pretty high. I explained to the nurse that I was really nervous. She said that the doctor and embryologist would be in soon.

It seemed like forever before they finally came in. Finally, the RE who would be doing my transfer came in and said, “You’ve got some beautiful embryos – they both had an almost 100% cell survival rate.” After I heard that, I definitely shed a few tears. The doctor must have asked us 3 times if we were sure we wanted to transfer two because the quality was very good on both of them. He kept saying, “Are you okay with twins?” At this point, we were okay with anything. We had tried the eSET and that didn’t work so we were pretty much set on transferring them both.

The transfer was pretty easy and after it was over, I stayed lying down for about 20 minutes before getting up to use the bathroom. They did take my blood pressure again before I left and it was almost back to normal.

I then went home to my bed for the rest of the day with this picture:

TWW

I’m not going to say this tww was any better or any worse than the tww for my fresh IVF… it was about the same. Mark asked me every day if I was feeling any different and I really didn’t. I felt like I was going to get my period any second.

9dp5dt

My beta was not scheduled until 14dp5dt and there was no way I was going to wait that long without peeing on a stick. I told Mark that I would take an HPT the morning of 9dp5dt so that I could prepare myself for the next cycle.

That morning, I peed in a cup but before I dipped the test, I prayed… “Please let me be okay.”… I wanted to prepare myself so that I was not completely crushed by a negative result. Then I dipped the stick… and I saw the test line come up immediately… before I even saw the control line. I was shaking! I’d been pregnant twice before and I’ve never had that happen! I ran into the bedroom to wake Mark up and show him the test… he was definitely excited but neither one of us wanted to get our hopes up since we had been in this situation before.

We took a picture of my test next to the picture of our embryos (sorry for the quality… all of these pictures were taken with my phone):

Over the next few days, I took a few more tests to make sure the lines were getting darker… they were! On the last test that I took, you almost can’t even see the control line!:

Beta #1

2545

Beta #2

Over 5,000 (I didn’t write down the actual number)

Beta #3

They told me not to bother with Beta #3… my first two beta numbers were great!

July 8, 2011 – Ultrasound #1

My first ultrasound was scheduled for 6 weeks, 2 days… the day after I returned from our trip to Milwaukee. I had started having morning sickness a few days before which was reassuring but I was still a total wreck before the ultrasound. It was much worse than transfer day. I was so afraid that they wouldn’t see anything. We had never gotten to this point in either of my previous pregnancies.

Finally the RE and the ultrasound tech came in and the wand went in almost immediately. I couldn’t look at the screen – I was too nervous. I just looked at the RE…. first she said, “Okay, I see two….” I was still holding my breath… and THEN she said, “…and I see two heartbeats!!” I cannot even put into words how I felt at that moment. I started crying and Mark even got a little teary eyed. TWINS! With two heartbeats! Unbelievable! The RE said that they were measuring perfectly and that we should come in for another ultrasound next week.

After our appointment, Mark and I went to breakfast but I don’t think either one of us ate very much. We were in shock! We just couldn’t believe that we had gotten to this point.

Here’s a pic of our twinsies at 6 weeks, 2 days:

Ultrasound #2

7 weeks, 1 day

Ultrasound #3

8 weeks, 0 days

After ultrasound #3, we officially graduated from our RE’s office. It was bittersweet leaving since I adored every single person there but sooo exciting at the same time. I left with my discharge paperwork and a prescription for Zofran (since I couldn’t keep a single thing down for three days straight!).

My first OB appointment was last Friday and it was painfully uneventful. I had to pee in a cup for a pregnancy test… even after I handed them my discharge paperwork from my RE and my ultrasound reports and then they didn’t even do an exam. Ridiculous…. Anyway… I sat down with the doctor and he answered a few of my questions, they took some blood and that was it! It felt like a total waste of time. I’m so glad that I’m going to be seeing a high risk OB in addition to my regular OB. I have an appointment with them next Monday and I’m really looking forward to having an ultrasound!

Tomorrow, I will be 10 weeks… which is crazy to me. We are still very cautiously excited but we are hoping that things continue to go smoothly. I’ve continued to have morning sickness (I still throw up every morning and every evening) but the Zofran is really helping to get me through my work days. I’m not complaining though… I would MUCH rather be sick than not since it’s typically a good sign.

So that’s what has been going on with me! Again, I have been reading and cheering you guys on… but I need to start reading from home a bit more so that I can comment.

Thinking of you all!