Amazing News!

My beta today was 178! I don’t know very much about betas but I’m told it’s “a good, strong number.”

I couldn’t wait (shocking) and tested positive Monday night and today but didn’t want to post until I had a number. I have been having a lot of bleeding which has been scary but my nurse has reassured me it’s OK.

I have a funny video of me telling my husband the news. He was half asleep and I woke him up to show him the test.

Today my family came for the holiday and we were able to tell them the news in person. Tomorrow my in laws come and we are looking forward to telling them. The only draw back to “coming out” to your friends about infertility is you have to spill the beans so early because of course everyone is asking. I can’t complain because our friends have been family have shown us wonderful support.

Today we are four weeks and should be due August 5, 2009. I am so excited but am still very cautious. It still doesn’t seem real.

7DP5DT - 2WW Hell

Well, I’m 7 days past my 5-day transfer and I’m slowly going insane. If I were to POAS it would likely be accurate. But, I’m not going to do it.

During the 2WWof IVF #1 my mom and I were on a long weekend in NY. It was great because I was completely distracted and hardly ever thought about testing. Unfortunately, my period came in full force unlike any other period I have ever had. It was awful. We were at my mom’s friend’s apartment/gallery and I probably went to the bathroom every 6 minutes. Then I would step into a bedroom and call my IVF nurse for her advice. When it became apparent there was no way I was pregnant, we went to lunch. During, lunch I stepped outside onto the streets of Soho to call DH. I broke down in tears and wept on the street, it was so hard to be away from him. I was pretty numb the rest of the trip.

FET #1 wasn’t nearly as dramatic. I just tested like a mad woman and got continuous BFN’s. Since my beta was a weekday we went home at lunch to get the call. When we got the confirmed negative I busted out a bottle of wine, had a glass, and then went back to work.

On Wednesday my mom, dad and brother will be in town. We can’t decide where we want to get the call. DH will be working and I will be off for the day with a houseful of family. I’m thinking we could meet at a park and just wait for the phone call together. We’re not sure yet.

I have two days of work this week (whee!) and a lot to get done. I don’t know how I’m going to be able face my boss at our weekly meeting because I just cannot concentrate and my projects have piled up.

Hello, Estrogen

All this free time on my hands today (hello two posts in one day) has me really overanalyzing things. I ran to Target this afternoon and surprise, found myself in the family planning aisle. I lingered for a few minutes debating on whether or not to pick up a test. I thought better of it and got the hell out of dodge.

I had the tiniest bit of spotting today, which of course, led me to think my period is coming. I am 5dp5dt and there is definitely some action in my right lower abdomen. I’ve been feeling a little bit of cramps and sharp pulling/pinching. Nothing too painful, just noticeable.

Also, I started my Vivelle patches yesterday. I think the surplus of estrogen kicked in pretty quickly because I found myself tearing up not once but twice yesterday. I’m more than a little ashamed that it was this Rachel Ray show that brought on the tears.

Fertilization Report – 9 Embryos

For some reason I have been in a funk ever since we got yesterday’s fertilization report. We have 9 embryos which is 2 more than we had with our first fresh cycle. With our first cycle we had 3 embryos make it to perfect blasts and obviously none of them resulted in pregnancy. I’m definitely grateful but for some reason I thought this cycle would be overwhelmingly different than the last. Maybe it’s best to be cautious so that it will be that much more exciting when we get our positive beta. I’m still pretty sore from the ER and driving around downtown with uneven roads and speed bumps isn’t particularly helpful. Yesterday I had a constant headache which thankfully has disappeared. Let’s hope today I cheer up and get over myself.

Perhaps I should resume obsessing over Thanksgiving or even Christmas. I already have my bedside table stocked with magazines, books and even my Christmas cards to write while on bed rest. Oh, and I’m thinking about finally getting around to finishing my wedding album, 4 years later. Who am I kidding; I’ll probably end up watching re-runs of 90210 and Law Order for the 48 hours of bed rest.

No News is Good News

Embryo retrieval will be tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. This means no food or water after midnight tonight. Going without water will kill me because anyone that knows me knows I am a water hog with my pink water bottle always at my side.

My IVF nurse sent me an encouraging e-mail out of the blue which really made me happy. Usually I am hounding her for an answer to a question but this was just a note of support from her.

Yesterday’s levels looked good and we did the trigger shot last night at 9:30 p.m. (my bed time these days). I went in this morning for my last round of blood work. The nurse had a difficult time today and had to prick me twice and call in for reinforcement, swell.

Yesterday I was told that no news is good news so I shouldn’t expect to hear from the clinic today.

I’ll post tomorrow with how many eggs were retrieved.

Egg Retrieval Wednesday

I have spent the last three mornings at my clinic for ultrasounds and blood work. Saturday’s follie check measured 17 and Sunday’s measured 23. No word yet on this morning’s visit but egg retrieval is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday. I’ve been steady at 250 IU of follistim and had a bit of a freak out on Friday night when I realized I was almost out of the liquid gold. Luckily, a good friend was in my neighborhood and I met her to pick up her leftover follistim from her successful IVF on Saturday. Thank goodness for donated medication, such a blessing!

The longer we are in this fight the more I realize how many of us there are. At Thursday’s appontment my husband ran into a former colleague and his wife. I’ve lost count of the people we know that we have come across at the clinic. I know several co-workers, acquaintances, friends and friend’s of friends who are suffering from infertility and are undergoing or have been through various types of treatments.

On Friday my husband catered an event for a local adoption group that deals exclusively with kids from Russia. Coincidentally, on Sunday we ran into one of the families and their two little boys on a grocery run. If this IVF doesn’t work (it will, right?) then I am may take this as a sign.

Does it Get Any Better Than This?

After a couple of Halloween parties and a girl’s night out in Charlotte, NC I ended the weekend with a (sober) slip down some stairs. It’s really the icing on the cake to an already stressful time for us.

I’ve sprained both ankles a few times and have lost count of which foot and how often. Luckily I have a set of crutches and my husband made a CVS run to stock up on a new brace, an ice wrap and some magazines. I can only imagine how standing in line at the polls will go tomorrow. Since the media is reporting record turnout (and lines) we are planning on going early and bringing folding chairs.

After this morning’s blood work we found out my estrogen level is 85, which is low. My doctor decided to aggressively increase my follistim dosage tonight from 187 to 250. Lupron and HCG will remain at 10 IU respectively.

My husband is having a tough time remembering to take his doxycycline with food. He already has a bit of a weak stomach, which is a bad combination with antibiotics on an empty stomach. I think he might have learned his lesson the hard way this morning, let’s just say it wasn’t the most pleasant ride in to work. Things can only go up from here, right?

Please excuse my lack of pedicure, it is November after all.