11 weeks

Wow! We hit 11 weeks Wednesday. It's been a while since I posted anything, but there's a reason for that- I've been too sick and tired to want to write. So here's a nice long summary post of the last month.

Morning sickness (or really mostly just nausea) hit me pretty bad, even with medicine and sea bands. I wasn't as bad as some women who end up in the hospital or anything though; I was able to function for the most part, but it has been hard. Trying to find something to eat has been rough the last few weeks. I'm hungry and know I need to eat, but very little sounds appealing. I like bland, mushy foods, fruit, cheese (in any form really), and New York Sub Hub (I've probably had this for lunch and dinner at least 5 days in the last two weeks).  I only lost about 2 pounds, mostly from just not eating as much. I'm not worried about that since I'm back up to my normal weight. My hope is that in the next few weeks I'll start feeling better and wanting to eat more.  My only other real symptom of pregnancy is exhaustion. I'm tired all the time (maybe because I don't get enough calories). I mostly have just lounged in bed watching dvds or go to be super early (like 8 pm). Growing two humans is hard work.

At our December ultrasound, the nurse had said we would probably stop shots around week 10 (January 11). Turns out at our January appointment, we get to keep doing those until 12 weeks. Because of previous losses, the doctor wants to be sure we do everything possible to support the babies. So that means extra estrogen pills and progesterone shots until next week, January 25th. The biggest problem I had with this was that Spencer went on his first recruiting trip to Oklahoma this week, so we had to find someone else to help with the shots. I don't think I could do them on my own; just can't bring myself to push the needle in quick enough. My best friend graciously volunteered to help out. She and her husband only live about 15-20 minutes away so it's been easy enough to run over to each other's houses. She has done an excellent job with them! I don't feel much of the shot at all. I'm so thankful to her for taking time away from her baby girl this week to help me out. She's a rockstar!

We graduated from the RE's office at our first appointment in January. The babies were doing great at that point. Given the amount of morning sickness I have had, I've never been very worried about losing the babies (so there's the positive of feeling so crummy lately). We got a recommendation for an OB at the hospital nearby us. My first appointment there was Wednesday this week. My mom came with me since Spencer was out of town. (Can I just say right now how lucky I am to have so much support nearby already?! Love you all!) I really like the staff at this office; they are very friendly. I had to leave a urine sample and give a decent blood donation for a bunch of tests (so far everything has come back normal). The doctor went over my medical history and answered all of my questions. The babies are indeed di/di twins, the safest kind. We will find out the genders at the normal time, between 18 and 22 weeks (so March). I need to gain about 35 pounds and drink more water. My due date will be 37-38 weeks (so July 19-26ish) and I'll be doing a c-section. Neither childbirth method appeals to me; but given it's twins, I don't want to risk the babies or end up have one each way.

Because I'm carrying twins, every doctor's visit will include an ultrasound to make sure they are growing properly and one doesn't fall behind the other. I'm kind of excited about that. This visit, the babies are stacked on top of each other, like they are in bunk beds. Baby B is on top; s/he was pretty chill, resting his or her hands under his or her chin. Baby A is on bottom and was dancing a bit during the ultrasound. The pictures the doctor took were ok, but it's hard to see them so I won't post them. But I will give yall a baby bump shot...yeah that's right, I have a little bit of a bump already.

First sonogram

It's twins!

Spencer and I went for our first sonogram yesterday afternoon.  Almost immediately we could see one big, dark blob (which I assumed was the baby based on other sonos I've seen).  The nurse moved the wand around some more and spotted another blob under the first.  So twins!  She took a bunch of measurements of each baby. Baby A (the one on the bottom in the pictures) measured 6weeks6days and had a nice strong heartbeat around 145bpm.  Baby B (the one on the top of the pictures) measured 7 weeks and also had a strong heartbeat of 145bpm.  Spencer recorded their heartbeats on his phone so we can try to share that later.  We continue medications for another few weeks and come back in on January 4th for another sonogram.

We are very excited! And quite nervous.  I'm just happy the doctor was able to give me something for the morning sickness/nausea I've had for the last week.  It had gotten pretty bad to where I just wanted to nap all day and could barely function at work. In fact, that's why this post was written the morning after and not last night (I was in bed shortly after 7).  A couple of pills later and I feel much more like myself. I still have lots of aversions to food, but with the medication, there seems to be more I'm willing to eat so far.

New favorite number

Second beta this morning came back at 955! More than doubled which is excellent news! We go back for an ultrasound on the 21st to hear heartbeat(s).  Thanks for the good thoughts, prayers, etc! We love you all.

And the score is...

It's been 9 long days of trying not to parse every twinge or feeling.  It's hard to tell if any symptoms that could indicate pregnancy are because of hormone medication, because of pregnancy, or just in my head because I know that's a typical symptom.  Do my boobs hurt because that's what progesterone does or because the turkeys are cooking? (FYI if you didn't see my last post, I'm calling the embryos our turkeys). Am I tired and ready for bed at 8:30 because we walked around Six Flags or decorated the house for Christmas; or am I exhausted because the turkeys stuck? Crazy dreams because I'm stressed out or because I'm pregnant? We didn't want to test at home because we've never had good luck with those tests; my only positive, at-home pregnancy test was one I took after our positive beta last December. So we had to wait until my beta blood test today.

Blood draw was early this morning.  I got there a little early, so I got in and out before my actual appointment time. It was quite busy; the nurse said they had about 8 women in today for betas.  She told me that they would call with the results later in the day.  And thus began the excruciating wait for that one phone call.  I went back to work and tried to distract myself.  I carried my phone around everywhere I went so I wouldn't miss the call.  The more the day went on, the more anxious and nervous I got.  I convinced myself that when the nurse finally called, she would have bad news for us because I no longer felt any symptoms; they had just been in my head.

Finally, around the time I was getting ready to leave work, the nurse called.  I was shaking as I took the phone into the back hallway for privacy in our the conversation.  There was no dodging the issue.  The nurse told me that our beta came back at 344, a good strong positive. (25 is what will usually trigger a home pregnancy test for those of you wondering).  I'm to continue meds and order more if needed.  I go back on Friday for a second beta to hopefully see that number at 700 minimum.  Less than 700 would mean that the pregnancy is biochemical; more than 700 means the embryo(s) are growing like they should.

So we are again cautiously optimistic.  We had a good strong first number, so that seems to be a good sign.  I have plans to sit around all day tomorrow while at a training for work; hopefully that will provide an ideal environment for the turkeys.  We firmly believe that all of the positive energy from friends and family over the last month, especially the last few days, helped us get to this point. Please keep it coming.  And thank you!!

Turkeys are in the oven 😊

Today was transfer day!!

Here we go!

The lab called last week to confirm that my transfer would be at 1pm and to arrive by 12:15.  It's not the usual doctor's office in Southlake, but rather the lab in Dallas.  That meant an hour drive, so we left super early and got lunch out beforehand.  We got to the doctor's office a little early, where they had more paperwork for us to fill out.  Then we waited for them to call us back.

I expected a similar situation as at our old clinic.  There, the transfer was done in the same exam rooms the regular ultrasounds are done in.  The embryologist would bring in the embryos from the lab, carefully carrying them through the hallway when told to. Then I'd lay there after transfer for about 10 minutes.  

He wanted to take these home
 and wear all day...

My transfer garb...

This clinic is very different, but in a good way.  A lot of the details are the same- dark room, full bladder, ultrasound-guidance, no scented lotions, pictures of the embryos... But at this clinic, they took us into what looked like a surgery pre-op room.  I was told to change into the gown, put on special socks, and cover my hair.  Spencer got his own special outfit to wear as well. Turns out, this clinic does the transfer in an operating room connected to the lab.

Then we got to speak with a nurse, the doctor, the embryologist, and another nurse.  They answered questions and told us what to expect.  The embryologist gave us pictures of the embryos they'd thawed for us.  She said that one embryo looked good; the other one was still collapsed (I think that was the phrase she used) but she said that it'd likely continue to progress and get better.  After chatting with everyone, the nurse walked us back to the operating room.  I got on the table and the nurses got me into position.  The cool part about this transfer is that there is a TV in the OR that lets you see your embryos get sucked into the tube for transfer. I thought that was kind of neat.  The rest of transfer went as normal.  A nurse used the ultrasound machine to help the doctor guide a catheter into my uterus.  Once in the right spot, the lab brought in the tube of our embryos.  We got to see the little puff as the embryos shot in.  And that was it.  I scooted to the travel bed thing, and was wheeled back to the room.  I had to lay around for 20 minutes afterwards.  Then we got to change and head home with orders to take it easy until the first pregnancy test on the 30th.

Nervous/excited to get these turkeys in where they belong.

Our little turkeys.
The top one is still collapsed but ought to expand and get better soon.
The bottom on is rated well.

Almost halftime!

I had my check up today with the doctor to see that everything is progressing as they want. Even though it's never been a problem in the past, I was a tad nervous about this appointment since we are on a different drug protocol. However, like usual, those nerves were for naught. Everything has checked out ok (if the blood work comes back funky, they may call me later).

I got more instructions, as well as circles drawn on my backside to show where the shots go.  Those start tonight. I also was told to start taking low-dose aspirin every day. This is a technique doctors use with women who have had multiple losses. They think it helps prevent clots that could mess with embryo growth, but it's not 100% proven. But it also doesn't hurt anything, so we are trying it. So much new stuff this round we will never know exactly which part needed to change if it works. But at least we will have finally stumbled upon the right recipe for success (hopefully).

Anyways, there isn't much more to report. Shots and pills for 6 days, then we should transfer two embryos on Monday, Nov. 21st around lunchtime. Blood test is on Nov. 30th and hopefully I'll have more to schedule after that. Keep sending us good thoughts please!

Ready, set, go!

I went to the doctor on Friday for a follow-up to my follow-up appointment a few weeks ago. Originally, the doctor had said that he wanted to do an ultrasound in a few weeks to check that everything was healing ok. Then based on those results, we might be able to jump into another frozen transfer (FET) cycle. We never really spoke about specifics or paid any money, so I wasn't expecting much to happen really soon. Our last clinic was so methodical about stuff like that; we'd have paperwork and payment due (plus order meds) before ever getting scheduled for an ultrasound.

Boy, was I wrong about what to expect! My appointment started with a blood draw so they can check hormone levels. Then an ultrasound to check for cysts and see how my lining looks. Turns out everything looked ok, because the nurse told me to get dressed and meet her in the consult room when she finished the exam. She came in with the instructions for our FET cycle, much to my surprise!

We scraped the lupron we have used in the last few cycles. This saves us several weeks, about $500, and a couple dozen shots; so no tears over that change in protocol. I start taking Estrace (an estrogen supplement) twice a day for about two weeks. Then I go back to the doctor for another lining check. If that looks good, then we are all set to move onto the next step- progesterone shots. Not looking forward to these, but Spencer's always been good about giving them so I'm not concerned. Less than a week after we start the progesterone, we get to do the transfer. Then a 9-day wait before my first pregnancy test. It all takes less than a month, so it seems so much quicker than I'm used to. Kind of like a whirlwind.

In addition to the directions, I got consent forms to fill out and then sent to the front desk to check out and pay. It was a total of $2950, so a little more than our last clinic, but the lupron savings offsets the extra cost. I was still in a little shock by the time I left the office. If everything cooperates, we could do the transfer before Thanksgiving!

So, as usual, please send lots of good thoughts our way as we begin this process again. I'm feeling very confident that this is our cycle. The fourth one will be the lucky one. New doctor, cleaner insides, new protocol.