How am I feeling?

I have been asked several times how I am feeling. I don't mind the question at all. Answering the question, however, has been a bit of a challenge. I am trying to stay upbeat and go about life like I am doing just fine. Honestly though, I am not feeling well most of the time. I am nauseous all day. I am exhausted and walking around in a fog. I frequently get headaches and hot flashes. I go back and forth from being hungry all the time to not feeling like eating. Either my food taste like the best thing I have ever tasted or it turns my stomach. Funny how I go from one extreme to another. There seems to be no middle ground with me right now. I am seriously bloated. I already look PG! It's not just in my belly though, my whole body looks puffy. Aside from all that the worst part is my crankiness. I am trying so hard not to let my mood affect my family. I can't say I have been 100% successful in my efforts. They have been very understanding and patient with me. I love them for that!

Please don't mistake this for a rant. I really am thankful for each and every symptom, regardless of how bad I am feeling. That is because I know that with each bout of nausea and every bit of lost sleep I am creating a miracle. I would not trade this experience for anything. I will continue to look ahead to that day I get to see my IPs holding their new baby and that makes it all worth while.

Baby Update:
At the u/s on Tuesday Baby N was measuring 5 days ahead of the last u/s. The previous u/s was exactly 5 days prior so the measurements were right on. Still no heartbeat but everything continues to look good. By the time we go back on 9/4 we should be able to see a nice, healthy heartbeat. IF was able to make arrangements so he could be there with us as well. It will be fun having both of them there for this appointment. We can all breathe a sigh of relief together once we finally get to see that little heartbeat. :-)

First Ultrasound

I had my first u/s on Thursday. There is only one baby in there, much to IM's relief. Lol. It was too early for us to see a heartbeat but we could see the pregnancy sac and the yolk sac. The nurse said it appeared to be a healthy PG. All the measurements were accurate for our due date. I finally got a due date! Baby N, as I will refer to him/her, will be due on April 19,2010. This is also my DD's birthday. We thought that was pretty cool.

IM was at the appointment with me. It was fun watching her expression as the nurse explained to us what we were seeing. She was able to get a picture for IF. When I talked to him he said he keeps looking at the picture in fascination. They are both so happy. I can't even explain the feeling of warmth I feel when I see their faces or hear them talk about the baby. It's a good feeling my friends.

I go back on Tuesday for another u/s and more blood work. I was originally scheduled for a third u/s Friday 8/28 but we are going to see if we can reschedule for the following Friday so IF can be there too. They were not kidding when they said they monitor these pregnancies more closely. Oh well, it will be fun to watch Baby N's progress. :-)

The results are in!

And it is fantastic news.....I am pregnant!!! The Beta was 598miU at 14dpt. The nurse said the numbers sound good for a healthy singleton. Perfect! Of course there is still the possibility that both embryos took and we could have a little extra surprise at the ultrasound. I should have an ultrasound performed sometime within the next couple of weeks.

I was hoping to be able to tell IPs the good news myself but the nurse had already called them before I had a chance to speak with them. I had planned on having a little fun with them. :-) I was going to tell them I had good news and bad news. The good news was that I am pregnant and the bad news being that they were stuck with me for the next nine months. Haha! I told them what I had planned and laughed about it. They were just so happy. Their excitement made my day. I feel blessed to be able to give this gift to such an amazing couple. This is going to be one lucky kid.

Symptoms

I had some blood work done on Thursday and they said everything looked good, BUT they want me to increase the PIO injections from 1cc a day to 2cc a day. From what I have been reading most clinics want the progesterone level to be at least 20ng/ml. Mine was 15.8ng/ml. I wasn't too happy about doing two shots a day. DH was not too keen on the idea either. He is the one that gives me the injections. He does a good job at it but he does not like doing it. We opted to try doing one 2cc injection. It really is not as bad as I thought it would be. It burns a little more but nothing I can't live with. Hopefully everything will check out when we go back to the RE on the 13th.

4 days until the moment of truth! I am feeling better and better about the results every day. I have had a lot of the same symptoms I've had with some of my previous pregnancies. The cramping and the fatigue started on day three post-transfer. I started having bouts of nausea around day seven post-transfer. Today my appetite has been insane. I woke up starving, ate breakfast and less than 2hrs later was starving again. I have one other symptom but it is not very lady like so I will refrain from typing it. I'm sure some of you know what I am talking about.

I did ask IPs if they wanted me to do a home pregnancy test(HPT). They thought about it for a little bit and decided it would be better to wait until the beta. I can't blame them. I know they are nervous. If the results were negative, regardless of PG or not, then it would probably crush us all. I've read stories where women get a positive beta and take a HPT just to see the lines and it came back negative. I can see how that would be discouraging. I'm trying to be patient. It's not easy!

FET-Frozen Embryo Transfer

On Thursday July 30th we transferred two perfect embryos. I don't know the grade, quality or even how many days old they were. I guess they felt I am on a need to know basis? Hearing the doctor say they were perfect was good enough for me. :-) Originally they thawed out two embryos and one was not looking so great. IPs made the decision to thaw out two more. Both of those thawed out perfectly. That left IPs with a big decision to make, 2 or 3. IF wanted to do three but IM really only wanted two. I can't blame her. They already have a set of twins. The more embryos they implant the greater the risk of having multiples again. Although I would not mind carrying twins, I want what is best for my IPs. We would all be thrilled with one healthy baby. They were able to refreeze the third embryo so that does give them an option for the future.

The procedure itself was not bad at all. The worst part was the full bladder. They make you fill your bladder to the point of near explosion (kidding, but it was uncomfortably full). The reason for that is to help position the uterus. It also helps create a clearer picture for the ultrasound. They went through the cervix with a catheter containing the embryos. The ultrasound helped them to see where the tip of the catheter was in the uterus. Once they reached the ideal location they released the embryos from the catheter into the uterus. There was a monitor for us to see the whole process. IM got to be in the room with me. I was so glad to have her there to go through it with me. We were both pretty amazed by the whole process.

After the procedure they had me lay tilted head down for about an hour. IPs and DH took turns coming back to check on me. I was trying to keep up conversation but the Valium they had me take before the procedure finally started to kick in. Any other time you give me a medication that says may cause drowsiness I will be out within 20min. The excitement from the procedure must have won over. After that it was all over. I slept the entire ride home.

I had to do three days of strict bed rest following the IVF. It was okay. I started to get restless by the end of day one. I am not used to staying still for very long. With four kids who has time to stay still?! DH did a great job taking over for me. He was glad to go back to work on Monday though. LOL. IPs and their little ones came to visit on Saturday. They were sweet enough to bring take out from my favorite Mexican restaurant. They also brought me a box of Godiva chocolates and some books for the kids. I knew I picked the right couple. hahaha! No, really, it was very sweet of them to do that for us. I was just happy to get to visit with them for awhile. It was cute watching the kids play together.

I am not going to say these are symptoms but for the past couple of days I have been very tired, even more than before. I have also had some cramping and a couple of dizzy spells. I am dying to know if the transfer took. IPs are excited and nervous about the results as well. I say a prayer every night that we will be blessed with a positive result next week. The Beta HCG test is scheduled for 8/13. Not soon enough! ;-) I hope to have some good news to share soon!!!