Little Scare

Yesterday was quite an eventful day for us.  Fortunately, baby is still perfectly ok, but we did have a little bit of a scare (I will warn you it is TMI):

It started yesterday morning when I did my first suppository.  I noticed a little pinkish discharge on the applicator afterwards, but thought maybe I just pushed it in too far and irritated my cervix...or something like that.  I was using the bathroom a lot throughout the morning, but didn't see any more pink.

DH and I had planned to have a day at the mall window shopping for baby stuff (and maybe to buy some comfy work pants because I am quickly running out!).  We ate at the food court first and then I had to go to the bathroom again.  I had a lot of white discharge from the suppository, but there was also a little glob of dark bloody mucus.  Since there was no more blood when I wiped, I again thought maybe it was from my cervix being irritated by the suppository.  But it definitely killed my mood to walk around the mall so we went home.  

We both took a little nap at home, but when I woke up I noticed some strange cramping on my left side.  Even though I was not bleeding anymore, and I know cramping can be normal, we decided to go to the ER just to be sure and to put our minds at ease.

Of course, we all know how very quickly thinks move in the ER (ha!).  So long story short: after giving a urine sample, getting some blood drawn, and getting an u/s,  they determined I have a small subchorionic hemorrhage.  And also a UTI.  

As I said earlier, the good thing is that the baby is still measuring fine and the heartbeat is still good.  They said the hemorrhage does not seem to be affecting the baby at all, so the threat of miscarriage is very low.  However, I am on bedrest until I can get in to see my RE (hopefully tomorrow).  

....and growing!

The good news is... only 3 more days of PIO and then I get to switch to suppositories.  Hooray for booty relief!


Now, the GREAT news is....baby is still perfectly healthy and growing strong! Nearly doubled in size since last week (now 9mm).  And the heart rate is 144 bpm. I could spot it flickering away as soon as baby came on the screen!

The RE made sure to print out a few good u/s pics for me today.  This one is my favorite because even though I know the head is just beginning to form, it totally looks like baby is chowing down on yolk sac lol!

    

"Mmmmmmm....delicious!"

My next u/s is in 10 days, and the RE says we will be discussing invasive vs. non-invasive options for prenatal testing.  Oh boy will this be fun.  :)

Baby, baby, can't you see my heartbeat?

(Ok, I meant to post this much earlier, but I was once again so exhausted I fell asleep very early)


Today's appointment (well, I guess yesterday afternoon's appointment) was just as perfect as we could have hoped for!  We had had a little bet going on how many babies we had.  DH thought 2, my [crazy] neighbor thought 3, and I thought 1.....

I won the bet.  I was kind of hoping that maybe it would be twins, but I just knew it was 1.  Everyone has been telling me "mother knows best."  I guess that's true.  :)

The absolute best part of yesterday, of course, was seeing that little flickering heartbeat!!! It was so magical!!!!!  And the heart rate was a very healthy 126 bpm! We are so thankful!!!!


Now the only *bad* thing about today, was that I asked the RE if I could PLEASE switch from injections to suppositories, but he wants me to continue the PIO for 10 more days and after next week's visit, he'll give me the ok to switch (maybe?).  Boooooooo.   I've been doing the PIO for 4 weeks now, I have HUGE lumps in my booty, and it's sooooooooooooooo sore.  But hey, I'll do whatever it takes to keep me & baby healthy.

Beta #2

206!!!!!!


My levels decided to more than TRIPLE in 48 hours!!!  DH thinks this means I have more than 1 baby in there.  I said not necessarily.  No more bloodwork for now.  Just waiting another 2 weeks until we get to have the 1st ultrasound.....and hoping I don't go crazy waiting in the meantime.

Update on symptoms:  Other than the bloated feeling, we have noticed since around Sunday that my BBs have definitely gotten bigger/fuller.  I already have a pretty good sized chest, but now my nipples are GINORMOUS! LOL

Also, I've been having a lot of trouble sleeping for the past few days.  I will fall asleep around my usual time, 10 or 11 (usually while watching TV).  But then just sleep 2-3 hours before having to get up to pee.  Then after that, when I come back to bed, I just can NOT get comfortable and can NOT sleep for like 3 hours until I fall asleep for another 2 hours and then get up.  Yesterday evening, I was already feeling tired after my 7:30 PIO shot.  I was telling myself I can NOT go to sleep or else I'll be awake all night.  So I begged DH to take me somewhere just to keep me awake and alert.  We decided to just go for a little walk.

While we were walking, I was telling DH about how much trouble I am having getting to sleep at night. Then he asked me if I wanted a new mattress.  You see, the mattress we have now, we've had it for 4 years.... but it was used before then.  My mom got it at a garage sale somewhere and at the time it was great because anything was better than sharing a twin bed.  But it is really not very comfortable.  Now it just so happens that tomorrow (Thursday) is my birthday, and DH was stressing about what to do/get for my birthday.  (He's just not good at thinking of any gift that is not practical, and besides I don't even wear jewelry that often).  So we decided to walk down the street to the mattress store (gotta love living in the city) to take a look.  We ended up finding one that I really like that was on sale, and DH was willing to just go ahead and order it.

Isn't that ironic? Going for a walk just to stay awake, only to end up buying something to sleep on. LOL

And the beta is.....

60!


They said they like to see it at least over 50 by this point, so I am pregnant.... fo shizzle! :)  I'm just a tad disappointed because I was hoping for some whopping high, possible twin-range 1st beta like I see so many blog friends have.  But hey, pregnant is pregnant so I'm definitely taking what I can get!!! Praying it doubles (or more than doubles) by Wednesday.  :D


After this morning's bloodwork, I just want to say how much I really freakin love my doctor and his office.  Actually, even before we started the IVF, even when I was just doing the SHG a few months ago, I was already impressed with his bedside manner compared to other doctors we've had.  (Then again, it could just be that I've only had really mean doctors.  My RE in OK seemed more interested in my charts and my ovaries than me as a person).  For my baseline u/s, my RE was out of town and I had to go to his partner doctor in Beverly Hills.  I felt like that office was too big and impersonal, the nurses seemed bitchy, and the doctor was just weird.
This morning I was waiting in the waiting room longer than usual (to be expected on a Monday morning, I suppose).  There was an older lady in there, as well as a couple.  I think the guy must have said something about the waiting time because the other lady told him that it's nothing to do with them, and that this doctor was very well worth the wait.  For the couple it was only their 2nd visit, but the lady had already gotten pregnant with his help a couple years before.  So we were all sitting there talking about how awesome this doctor is.  The lady said that with her last pregnancy, she had an OBGYN that was so mean that she fired him and was begging the RE to deliver her baby (which of course, he doesn't do) until she finally found a new one. LOL  Nice to know we went through a doctor with that good of a rep.
When I was called back to get my blood drawn (after peeing in a cup, of course), the nurse asked me if I had tested at home.  I told her yes, 3 times and they were positive.  I said "But I know that doesn't mean much if my beta is low."  She assured me that a lot of times they see low betas at first, but then everything turns out to be fine.  She was also doing a pee test while she took my blood, and sure enough we got a line.  She went to go tell the doctor, then the other nurse (who is the one usually taking my blood and accompanying the ultrasounds) came over and looked at the test with a huge grin on her face. The doctor came over and looked at the test, then gave me a hug and everybody was saying "Congratulations!"  It was such a nice feeling to have the whole office get as excited as I was; like one big happy family LOL  :)

I am SOOOOO glad I was recommended to this RE.  Which would not have been possible had I not been given a recommendation for an AWESOME urologist by Emmy.  Thanks Emmy!!!

Unofficially....official?

I meant to do this post last night, but I was so exhausted I just fell asleep.  These last few days have been crazy emotional!

First, an update on my "symptoms": since Wednesday night I noticed that my BBs would feel pretty sore and sensitive whenever I'd take my bra off.  (But this wasn't happening much since most of the time I was at home wearing very loose-fitting clothing and no bra.)  The painful, nauseating cramps went away after Wednesday.  When I went in for my bloodwork on Thursday, I told the nurse about those and she said the progesterone is what does that.  However, I have continued to have this.....feeling below my stomach.  Hard to describe because it's not really a "cramping" feeling. It's like a dull pressure/heaviness/bloated feeling.  And it is constant, making it really uncomfortable for me to wear anything but stretchy exercise shorts or pants that are too big for me.  This is the one symptom that has been driving me crazy because it is so unusual and unlike AF symptoms.

So I planned to hold out until Sunday morning to test, thinking that since I only had one HPT in the house the desire to save money would tide me over.  Ha!  By Friday night, I was already getting anxious to test.  That night, I couldn't sleep too well.  I went to bed around 11:30, woke up around 2:30 to go to the bathroom, came back to bed, and had the weirdest dream.  I dreamed that I used the HPT and the test line instantly turned really dark (the way it did morning after my HCG trigger).  Then I wanted to surprise DH with the test by leaving it by the computer table, but when he finally came to look at it, it was completely blank as if it hadn't been used at all.

I woke up from that dream around 5:45 and had to go to the bathroom again (but not much).  Thought I would go back to sleep but I just could NOT sleep after that.  I kept thinking "Should I test or not test? Was this dream a sign to test or not test?  I surely won't even get a dark line this early, but I should get something right?"  Ok I eventually got out of bed about an hour later, having made up my mind that I would test.  But I made the stupid decision of trying to drink a lot of water to make myself go instead of holding it for longer.  So I used it, and thought I saw a line appear right after the control line, but it was sooo sooo faint I wasn't sure whether or not I was just imagining it.  It was like deja vu of the olden days, when I would try so hard to make myself see a line when it was obvious there was no way I was pregnant.

So then, I did what any woman in my shoes would do......consult Dr. Google.  Sure, THAT will calm my crazy head.  After agonizing over what a 9dp3dt BFP should look like, I decided that I would go out and buy more tests.  So I told DH I was going to get some shaving razors (hey it's true, I DID need razors).  But he figured me out anyway; after he got up he was like "Did you buy more tests?"  That man can read me like a book.

I told him that we needed to go somewhere today because I just HAD to get out of the house.  We decided to go to the beach, but not until his friend came over several hours later.  Just enough time for me to go even more crazy on the internet.  So then we did drive to the beach....except the whole road was jam packed and there was absolutely NO parking ANYWHERE, so we just drove back home.  That was a wasted hour.  So we sat outside by the pool and played a card game to pass the time.  Then the boys decided to jump in the pool.

While they were swimming, I decided it was time to go inside and test again.  (I had made sure to hold my pee for at least a good 4 hours).  I started to see a line very soon after the control line showed up.  Then I started screaming/squealing/laughing to myself because the line kept getting darker!  It was not "dark" but there was no way it was imaginary this time! Now I always thought that I would try to find some nifty way to "surprise" DH if I ever got a BFP, but I just couldn't keep it to myself! I ran out to tell him (or rather, I briskly waddled because of the heavy/bloated feeling).  Of course he was in disbelief (I think he still is).  I tested again yesterday morning: once again, BFP!  So I called my mom before church to tell her the news and ask her to keep praying that however many little babies have latched on, for them to hold on tight for the next 9 & 1/2 months!

Last night, I tested AGAIN (okay, POAS addict here) so that DH could see it in action.  I tried with a cheapie from the Dollar Tree first, and got nothing.  DH was like "What? What's going on?"  I'll admit I was freaking out just a little too, but figured that the cheapie must not detect as well as the others.  So DH told me to use the pricey FRER, and sure enough, we got a line!  I had him take a picture while we were still within the 10-minute time window (I couldn't get a good enough picture on my camera with the previous tests).

Ta-da!

(Okay, you probably have to click to see it better)

And here it is again, next to the old tests:

I go in for the BETA this morning.  Even with 3 BFPs at home, I'm still soo nervous about this.  (High numbers please please please....)

Stupid side effects :(

Since my last post, we have resolved the issue with the PIO shots.....and by resolved, I mean that I've fired DH and my neighbor is continuing to do them.   Hey, she actually enjoys it, I guess it gives her something to do.  I still make DH draw it up for me though (I think he likes playing scientist with the syringe, just not stabbing me lol).


Today is 6dp3dt, and I'm beginning to fear that this didn't work.  Beta is not until Monday.  I have ONE hpt in my house, so I'm planning to hold off on testing until at least Saturday or Sunday.  However, it seems that I had more "symptoms" right after the transfer (when it was DEFINITELY too early for pg symptoms) and those have all seemed to wean off now.  I think I have yet to have any symptoms that are enough to convince me they could be implantation/early pg symptoms.

Here's what I have been feeling:

2-3dp3dt: Sore BBs (particularly the left):  WAY too early: obviously a progesterone side effect.  Now my BBs are not sore at all.


2dp3dt-present: Lower back pain:  Progesterone? Pressure sore from lying down a lot? Or just the fact that I have a really crappy back anyway?


4-5dp3dt: Waking up in the wee hours of the morning or right after a nap with EXTREMELY PAINFUL cramping throughout the whole midsection that lasts about 5 minutes (TMI ALERT: the last time it happened, the cramping was relieved by using the bathroom):   Implantation? (very doubtful) Or gas pain from the PIO?


4dp3dt-present: Mild, dull cramping and/or bloating feeling around the uterine area: Implantation? Or just the PIO & Estrace playing more mind games with me?


5dp3dt: Random cramping in right leg:  ....actually I have no clue what that's all about.  Estrace side effect, maybe?


5dp3dt: Irritability:  PMS? Or just from being on pelvic rest for so long I can't remember the last time we GOFO?  lol