The Results Are In!

Today was the official pregnancy test today via blood work.  I got the call around lunch.  The nurse let me know that my HCG levels were 1642 and my Progesterone is 38.2.  What does that mean exactly?  Well....WE'RE PREGNANT!!!

That's right, we had a sticky one!  We're looking at a due date of April 4, 2014.

Are we surprised?  Well, no we aren't. If anyone knows me, they know I'm not an overly patient person and waiting two weeks for a blood test would have driven me crazy.  IM is much like me so the plan was to test last Sunday.  I tested the Friday before.  Almost instantly I saw those two undeniable pink lines!
I messaged IP's and my plan was to surprise them on their front step.  Unfortunately they were heading out of town so they got this photo instead.

 To say they were excited is putting it mildly.  They were over the moon and had tears of joy.  This is exactly what they had been hoping for.

One more thing about me, I like to be thorough.  The next day I took another test and sent them this picture with the title "And just in case we needed a second opinion."

 How am I doing? I am thrilled that all of this is happening.  I am so happy for my IP's.  They deserve this so much.  Last night I had a craving for chocolate covered almonds at 10pm.  I ran over to the store to get some and messaged IM about it.  What arrived at my door today?   1.5KG Costco sized bag of chocolate almonds!  Thank you IM and IF for taking care of me!

The Waiting Game

I'm feeling crampy.  That could be a good sign.  Are those implantation pains?  Or did I just eat too much pizza?  Oh I don't know!!

This past Thursday was the big day.  We transferred one excellent grade embryo.  The embryo was 5 days old after fertilization.  This is wonderful news for my couple.  This has been the highest graded embryo that they have had.  On day 6 the four remaining embryos were frozen for later use.

Now the wait begins.  I'm trying not to think about it too much but I have one very excited couple who are anxiously counting down the days until we can do a test. My heart is praying that they get the news they desperately desire.

My hormone levels were great when we did the transfer.  I go back again this week for more blood work to make sure they are still at the correct levels.  At this point I don't need to do the Progesterone injections. The suppositories are working just fine....whew!!

I did some research online today to see exactly where things are today.  Right now we are at 2dpt.


This is what happens with a 5dt:

-1dpt ..embryo is growing and developing
0dpt... Embryo is now a blastocyst
1dpt....Blastocyst hatches out of shell on this day
2dpt.. Blastocyst attaches to a site on the uterine lining
3dpt.. Implantation begins,as the blastocyst begins to bury in the lining
4dpt.. Implantation process continues and morula buries deeper in the lining
5dpt.. Morula is completely implanted in the lining and has placenta cells & fetal cells
6dpt...Placenta cells begin to secret HCG in the blood
7dpt...More HCG is produced as fetus develops
8dpt...More HCG is produced as fetus develops
9dpt...HCG levels are now high enough to be immediately detected on HPT

Here We Go Again

Sometimes we travel on a journey that doesn't take us from point A to point B like we had expected.  We take detours along the way and finally when we come to our destination although it was a different route than planned we are happy that we took it.  This is how I feel right now.

A few months ago I was with a great couple who suddenly decided to stop the process.  Shocked, saddened and confused by their choice we decided that our end goal was to help a couple and that's what we were going to do.  After putting the call out I quickly had three couples interested.  It's such a hard decision to make.  Having the power to decide who you work with is heart wrenching.  One couple gets the greatest news in the world.  The other two are left to pick up and start the search again.
We chose a couple who was local to us because that's what we had experienced the past year.  We liked the idea of date nights and being so close to each other for appointments.

That was in April.  Now we are on the eve of our IFV transfer.  We have gone through the tests and the meetings with the Dr....now it's baby time!  Saturday was the egg retrieval.  11 eggs were retrieved and fertilized.  As of Sunday there were 8 embryos.  I forgot to ask yesterday how many were left or their quality but in the end it doesn't matter.  It only takes one.

So, if you're a praying person I ask you to send a prayer up for us.  Please pray for sticky vibes and the healthiest baby this wonderful couple could ask for.  The next ten days will be the longest as we wait for the time to take a pregnancy test.  There are things I'm not looking forward to....morning sickness, heartburn, loss of sleep, but in the end it will all be worth it.  Time to bring a new little person into the world!