First Belly Pic

7 weeks 5 days pregnant...starting to pooch out.

Why one of these babies MUST be a girl...

...because I absolutely MUST have a few things from this collection!!!

http://www.gracobaby.com/catalog/browse_by_pattern_detail.aspx?pid=390

Here's a preview:

7 weeks 4 days Pregnant

Just thought I'd share that this is what the babies should look like today.

Doctor Appointment

Today I met with our doctor to get final confirmation of the ultrasound results. He told me that my spotting was likely from a small hematoma near baby A. It should go away on its own sometime soon.

Also, I was told that I'm not allowed to travel or do much at all after week 16. Then I'll be on half-day bedrest starting at week 20, and 3/4 day bedrest starting at week 24. In addition, I will start meds during week 24 that will help the babies' lungs develop in time for an early delivery.

Although the due date is January 11th, we can expect delivery around November 15th. Of course, the longer my body can hang on to these little babies, the better.

3 Heartbeats!!!!

I had another ultrasound today and that little empty sac from Friday has done a lot of growing, because we now have three perfect little heartbeats!!! All babies are measuring within about 6 weeks and 3 days, on average...which is just perfect for right now.

Here is what they look like right about now:

First Ultrasound @ 5 weeks 6 days

Well, we had an unexpected ultrasound today following a scary gush of blood this afternoon. I must say that following the ultrasound, I feel so much better and all this spotting and nausea are making some sense.

At an early ultrasound like this, one would expect to find a small gestational sac with a round white yolk sac inside. As the pregnancy progresses a few days, one can find a fetal pole and eventually a heartbeat.

That said, our ultrasound tech found two gestational sacs without any hesitation. She had quite a bit of trouble locating a yolk sac in the first one, though, and so she moved on to the second. She found that yolk sac right away. Then she went back to the first gestational sac and was eventually able to locate a yolk sac. As she was finishing the ultrasound, taking one last look, she came across a 3rd gestational sac! Unfortunately, she was unable to locate a yolk sac there. It's not uncommon to have trouble finding all of the right parts this early on, so it may or may not mean anything. All we know for sure is that we have three embryos that implanted from this embryo transfer. All gestational sacs are measuring a day ahead of schedule at exactly 6 weeks.

We have another ultrasound on Wednesday, the 21st, at which point we should be able to see more details. Hopefully we'll even see some heartbeats!!!

For right now, though, we're saying that we have 2 1/2 babies in there :-)

2nd Beta HCG

I had my second beta HCG run yesterday. It came back at 20,701. The doubling time was 1.33 days, or every 32 hours. This should be at least every 48 hours, so everything is looking fantastic!

I'm still taking tons of hormones to sustain the pregnancy, but I feel pretty good overall. I'm not yet moody or emotional. I started getting little waves of nausea yesterday, but it was nothing bad. I am definitely sleepy a lot of the time, but have trouble sleeping in very late...and naps are almost out of the question. I can fall asleep quite easily at night, but otherwise, It's not so good.

Next big hurdle is the first ultrasound, scheduled for 4pm on May 23rd. Can't wait!!!

Beta HCG Results

Of course everything MUST have a story. Nothing can just be simple anymore, especially with us. So I had my first beta done today. The nurse was supposed to call me with the results. By 4:30 I still had heard nothing, so I figured I would call them. Apparently they had not yet gotten the results from the lab via fax, but had spoken with someone via the telephone. They told me my level was 17.70. What??? I was expecting something around 100-200 or so. My home pregnancy test an hour before the beta was as positive as positive can be...and it's only supposed to measure hcg higher than 25. So I'm like "no, there's something wrong. I have been getting positives for 5 days. There must be a mistake." So the nurse called the lab and then called me back. She told me that the number was definitely wrong and that new results were being sent to my Cleveland doctor....and that she wasn't allowed to tell me the results. So we hung up and I freaked out, called the on-call doc in Cleveland so they could call the lab and get my results for me. Then, in the meantime, my local nurse called back. She said she felt really bad for me and that she would give me the results and that if she got fired, I'd have to help her find another job, haha. So the number was 915. Pretty darned good! I have another one in a week...and an ultrasound in 2 weeks.

4 Weeks Pregnant!!!

I woke up this morning with some pain in my left ear and on the back of my head. Being that my headaches are going on 4 days now, I figured it was time to check it out with the doctor. We made a last-minute appt this morning and quickly made our way over to the base. Prior to even examining me, the doctor, upon hearing of our pregnancy, sent me over to the lab to confirm with a blood test. Although it was unexpected, it was a relief to have blood confirmation of the pregnancy. As for my head, they felt a bit of fluid behind the ear, but since everything looked pretty good, said it's probably nothing to worry about. Plus, because I'm pregnant (still can't believe I get to 'say' that), they can't give me anything to take down the inflamation. Tylenol only. So they said just drink a ton of water and try to sleep a lot...and it should hopefully go away in a couple of days.

That's about it. My actual beta hcg test is still on Tuesday. Then it's off to Modesto for Mother's Day weekend.

Finally Pregnant!

After two years of trying to conceive, I am finally pregnant with our first child! We did a frozen embryo transfer while visiting family in Ohio in April. On the 22nd, we transferred three embryos and on May 1st we received the good news.

We had gone to a movie that afternoon, where I drank about a gallon of Sprite. On our way out of the theater I was whining to Paul about how badly I had to pee, when he started whining back "pee on a stick, pee on a stick!" 'Pee on a stick' means take a pregnancy test. So we went to the store and bought some tests. On the drive home, I told Paul that the test would be negative because we were testing too early. I had just used the restroom four hours prior and diluted every bit of hormone in my bladder...so there was just no way the test would pick up anything. I was nervous about getting a negative test, but for the first time ever, I was actually nervous about getting a positive one, too. Suddenly I started thinking about all of the new worries we would have to consider as future parents and I became overwhelmed. I teared up as I mentally prepared to accept the good or even the bad news....but I fully expected bad news this early on.

Upon arriving home, I rushed into the bathroom to finally pee. Before I could even flush the toilet, a line indicating a positive pregnancy test appeared! I was shocked and immediately in tears. I rushed out of the bathroom and met Paul in the entryway to our home, where I showed him the test. He held me as I sobbed and sobbed...and the dogs joined in the party, jumping on us and barking. They were just as thrilled.

I proceeded to take another few tests over the next 24 hours to confirm and all are positive. I will have a blood test on Tuesday to make sure the hormone levels are adequate, and if all goes well, we should get our first glimpse of our little baby (or babies) at the end of the month.

We're gonna be parents and we couldn't be happier!!!!!!!!