Surprise!

So, it sure has been a whirlwind of a couple of weeks!!

Let me back track a little bit. Following the embryo transfer, my OHSS symptoms got stronger (as expected). My ovaries were VERY sore and I was quite bloated. Thankfully the symptoms were very mild!!

Saturday (February 14th), I got a wonderful message from my cycle buddy that was a pregnancy test with a very faint positive!! Of course they got darker each day, it sure was making me want to test, even though I said I wouldn't and I would wait for the beta (blood pregnancy test). On Monday, my ovaries started aching again. Dr. Griffin said OHSS symptoms would come back when the HCG hit my system again. So I took that as a VERY good sign that I was pregnant.

Well, Tuesday morning (February 17th) I was anxious all morning and decided to run to Rite Aid on my lunch break to pickup some pregnancy tests. I was still debating whether I would use them or not. Well of course as soon as I got home. I ripped open a test, read the instructions (haha) and peed and waited what felt like forever!! I saw that 2nd line come up and got so excited. So excited that I wrote on the test wrong. It should say 8dp5dt which means 8 days past 5 day transfer (I switched the p and the d haha). I immediately called Casey and was so glad he answered!! He was excited but couldn't believe I gave in and tested. I never tested with my previous two pregnancies, I always waited for beta. I was so sure I was pregnant though, so I had to do it! Haha! So of course I had to continue testing the following two days, it was so awesome watching it get darker each day. I can't even describe how much more gratification I got out of these tests than I did a beta number haha! And the reason I never tested before was because I've only ever gotten negatives on pregnancy tests, so I literally hated them!! Something came over me!! Haha!!

Anyways, beta was on Friday February 20th and came in at 248, which is great! It was higher than it was with Hank and a day earlier. I had follow up blood work on Tuesday February 24th and that came in at 1169, which is awesome! It should double every 48-72 hours so it more than did this. They scheduled my first ultrasound for Thursday February 26th.

On Wednesday February 25th I took my first bump picture. Because of the OHSS, my ovaries are very swollen which contributes a lot to my "bump" haha!

The first ultrasound showed exactly what we thought it would. One perfect look gestational sac! The doctor thinks he can kind of see a yolk sac in there too but it's a little too early to really see that. The gestational sac is the little black hole in the middle of the picture. Down in the bottom right and bottom left of the picture shows all the free standing fluid. My ovaries are filled with fluid as is the area surrounding my uterus. This is very normal for OHSS. This fluid will start going down over the coming weeks. There is no harm to the baby, just causes discomfort for me. I couldn't hide this bump if I wanted to from all this fluid haha!! 

So on Thursday night we decided we would send Hank to dinner at the hotel in his new big brother tee shirt so we could announce the pregnancy. I handed Hank to Mary to take off Hank's jacket (in hopes she would read his shirt), of course she sat him right down haha!! Casey and I just kept staring at each other wondering when she would notice!! Finally after 10 minutes or so, we couldn't take it anymore. Casey leans over to his Dad and says, "Tell Mary to read Hank's shirt!" So Bob yelled over to Mary and she finally did and started crying and freaked out!! It was so much fun finally being able to do a fun announcement like this as most people didn't know we were doing IVF again. 

I sent the picture below to our close friends and family that weren't at the hotel to announce the pregnancy. Of course everyone was super excited, as are we!! 

Thank you everyone for all the thoughts and prayers during the process, we really appreciate them!! We would appreciate them to be continued over the next 8 months as well. Official due date is October 28, 2015 :)

PS -- This still is not Facebook Official so please no sharing on there! :D

The Two Week Wait

Ahh the two week wait (2ww), anyone whose seriously trying to have a baby or going through the infertility process knows exactly what the 2ww is. Sometimes the 2ww is shorter or longer than 2 weeks depending on what you end up doing or what the doctors end up deciding. Either way, it's complete torture. The 2ww is the time between ovulation and "Aunt Flow (AF)" (your period)/positive pregnancy test. For those going through IVF the 2ww can be the time between the egg retrieval or embryo transfer and whenever your doctor decides to do the test. During this dreaded wait, you over-analyze every little thing! Even if it's something that literally happens every day, all of a sudden you're wondering if it's a pregnancy symptom. It is complete mind torture. It's a mind game, that's what it is, for me I play a mind game with myself for most of the 2ww, it's hard not too, especially if you've been through it before and have actually gotten a positive. Also, progesterone can mess with your "symptoms" as well, it can make you believe you have pregnancy symptoms when really, they're symptoms from your daily hormones.

Here are some of the mind games that happen:

• All of a sudden you notice a funny smell, yup you must be pregnant. 
• OMG you have an upset stomach, that's definitely a pregnancy symptom (even though you're prone to upset stomachs), but it's different this time.
• You're cramping...now this one goes back and forth. One second you're pregnant, the next you're fully convinced that this didn't work and you're going to have to do this all over again.
• You get a 5 second burst of heartburn, yup you must be pregnant because you only get heartburn when you're pregnant.
• You get a headache every day for a few days, that's definitely a pregnancy symptom.
• And the list goes on...

Sounds fun, huh? On top of all the "symptoms," I refuse to take a home pregnancy test. I am one of a minority here as many TTC (trying to conceive) people are POAS (pee-on-a-stick) addicts! They start testing the second they inject the trigger (which contains HCG) so they can see when the HCG leaves their system, so they know for real when they get a positive. I stopped POAS a LONG time ago! I got so sick of "being slapped in the face twice" (negative test, then AF), that I decided to stop using them all together. So while I'm analyzing every little thing, I refuse to POAS. So it's truly a waiting game. The day of beta (HCG blood draw) is the longest day of your life. Time moves slower than you could ever imagine because you honestly have no clue what to expect. You've convinced yourself so many times you're pregnant, then convinced yourself so many times that you're not pregnant, that you honestly don't know what's going to happen. So you continue wondering until you get the phone call...did it work? or did it not work? Only time will tell...

1st Pregnancy Post!

I'm so excited to finally be writing in my blog about it's originally intended purpose!!

Last Monday, March 26, is a day that I will never forget! My 2 week wait was finally over! I had experienced many pregnancy symptoms but many of them were like PMS, so I really didn't know what Monday would bring. I went to Brooks Hospital at 7 am for my first pregnancy blood test which measures the level of HCG (pregnancy hormone) in my body. Then I had to wait, I thought the wait would take me into the afternoon but I was shocked when my phone started ringing from my doctors office at about 10:30 am. I was hoping for the best, but preparing myself for the worst! The words out of IVF Nurse Kathy's mouth were "Angie, I have good news for you," thinking about this moment is even making me emotional, I couldn't believe I was receiving THAT phone call, a phone call I wasn't sure if I'd ever get after everything we'd gone through, she told me I was pregnant! I immediately called Casey, and his phone went to voice mail. I knew he was with his Dad, so I called Bob and Casey answered the cell phone. He was in a bad service area and could barely hear me. I was sobbing while trying to tell him that I was pregnant! Well apparently I scared the shit out of him because I called him up crying! I was crying with joy! We immediately started telling our families and some close friends. Casey was ready to tell the whole world then but I wanted to wait a few days. Ohh and my HCG level came up at 350 on Monday, which was good.

I had to go for follow-up blood work on Wednesday to test the HCG level again. In typical pregnancies, the number is supposed to double every 48-72 hours. My doctors office likes to see it double every 48 hours. The nurse called me and told me my HCG level was 536. She said that they weren't too concerned yet, and that they would re-test me again on Friday. I instantly became worried then. Yes, my levels were going up (and not down) but they weren't doing the double like they had hoped for. This scared me and I was so nervous going into Friday.

I had my follow-up blood work on Friday. I waited and waited and waited which felt like FOREVER, I even called once hoping she had my results, but the nurse I speak to was on lunch! My stomach was twisting and turning all morning. I finally talked to her and told me my HCG level was now 871. It's still going up, but certainly not doubling every 48 hours. She also scheduled me for my first ultrasound on Tuesday, April 3. They still weren't concerned because the levels were rising.

I went for my ultrasound and one more blood work on Tuesday morning, this time up to Buffalo IVF. I had the ultrasound with my favorite nurse, Small Judy, she did the ultrasound and there clearly was the gestational sac, it looked good and it was exactly where it needed to be! It was so exciting seeing what our little baby is growing in! We even saw the tiny little yolk sac. Baby is too small to see just yet, but seeing that sac was definitely great news! Later on in the afternoon, I got a phone call that my HCG has now risen to 3230! Yay it's finally close to doing the doubling it's supposed to. While I was at the doctors, the nurse pointed out that generally with IVF and multiple eggs, the levels take longer to double...wish I had known that from the beginning instead of worrying myself, but oh well, that's what I do! Haha.

So now I have a picture of "Orville" hanging up on my desk in my office! I look up and just smile. It's absolutely amazing knowing I have a little baby growing inside of me. Ohh and I'm sure you're wondering about Orville?! Haha. Casey has seen the name Orville everywhere lately, and says we are naming our kid Orville. Well we're not gonna name the kid Orville, instead while it's in my belly, it will be called Orville. So that's what it's referred to as. That's what I call it when talking to it and so does Casey. My Mom pointed out that the poor kid is gonna have the nickname of Orville because that's what it will be called for the first 9 months while growing in my belly! Haha. I am 5 weeks, 6 days along right now, estimated due date is 11/29/2012. So I'm thinking Thanksgiving baby!!

So that's it for now, with my first pregnancy post.

Here are a few stats for myself and Baby Orville.
3/26/12 4w4d HCG 350. Weight 133.4 lbs.
3/28/12 4w6d HCG 536.
3/30/12 5w1d HCG 871.
4/3/12 5w5d HCG 3230. First ultrasound.