Starting Anew...

I never thought I would be typing this out again, but I need to get it down so that I don't forget what has happened. We've been pretty hush-hush about our frozen embryo transfer cycle just because we didn't want to make the same mistakes we made last time...we didn't want the "is everything ok?" and "when is this happening? when is that happenings?" As much as we are truly grateful for the support of our family and friends, it just made it that much harder to have to eat our words last time and say that we had miscarried.

So we started out not telling a soul. I told my boss just so that she didn't get upset when I took a couple days off of work & I told one of my co-workers because she was helping me with my shots and that is it. No parents, no other friends, no one. In fact, when we went up to my parents' house this weekend for Easter and two weekends prior for a family dinner, I learned to do my own shots rather than spill the beans.

On March 18th, we transferred 2 beautiful blastocysts. Seeing as how this is pretty much our last effort, we put all our eggs in one basket (pun intended, I guess!) and sprung for the laser acupuncture that they were offering. They boast that it improves implantation rates 5-6% in their study group, so we figured for the extra $200 it cost, it would be worth it.

In the time since our original donor cycle, we also had repeated pregnancy loss bloodwork done on me, which revealed one mutation of MTHFR which inhibits my absorption of folic acid, so we added a folic acid supplement to my protocol. I also self-added one baby aspirin to my medicine chart, which is to help with any clotting disorders I may or may not have (to prevent miscarriage).

On the morning of our beta, March 27th, I took a pregnancy test, which came back negative. Actually there was the faintest of faint lines, but seeing as how I had some spotting and cramping the night before, I took it as a BFN.

Lo & behold, I got the phone call several hours later that, not only was I pregnant, but my 1st beta at 14dpo was a SUPER number at 163. We were both in shock, but not excited like we should have been. We had been to that place before & we knew better than to get our hopes up prematurely. But we hoped, and we prayed, and we prayed some more.

2 days later (16dpo), I went back for repeat bloodwork & discovered that not only had my number doubled, it had almost tripled to 412! I was beginning to get more excited at this point. However, when I inquired about my progesterone level, which they said looked "good," I discovered that it was low by most RE's standards at 13. So I did what any desperate girl would do. I first called and got my PIO dosage increased (only by a 1/2 mL). I also pleaded for a prescription for progesterone suppositories, but to no avail. You see, some REs don't give much thought to p4 levels (or apparently to their patients' sanity!!!!). So again, I did what any desperate girl would do...please don't tell...I self-medicated. You see, I had some expired progesterone suppositories in my refrigerator & with the help of my enablers (aka my online infertility girls), I started taking my p4 supplements.

I also begged for a 2nd repeat beta for some peace of mind (especially since we were traveling to my parents' house for Easter). Again, I got the call with good news! My beta needed to be at least 1648 to meet the standard 48 doubling time (now at 20dpo) & it came back with a SUPER STAR number of 2379 & my p4 went up to a comfortable (for me) number of 20. Not sure if it is the extra p4 supplementation, but I'll take it. Many of my online girls were thinking twins at this point because my betas are so high.

I went back today for more bloodwork and our first ultrasound. I was terrified. This was the point last time when we discovered there was nothing there. No gestational sac, no yolk sac, just an "indeterminate mass" & we were crushed...
BUT NOT THIS TIME!!! This time we saw ONE beautiful gestational sac with a yolk sac inside! Just what we wanted to see. The PA said it was too early to measure for a due date, but that everything looked just like it was supposed to look today (5w2d according to my calculations). My bloodwork also came back stellar with my p4 holding steady at 20 & my beta shooting up to 8067!! That's an awesome number!

SO now we wait for next Monday's ultrasound & bloodwork to check on the progress! I'm not sure at what point I'll be able to relax and get really excited, but I'm sure the day will come. Right now, I'm just happy to have made it this far...farther than we've ever made it before!