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Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Our New Journey: Part I (March 2015)

Back in December I wrote that Dr. D had ordered a bunch of blood tests along with the endometrial biopsy before we could schedule our next FET. Well, we actually did schedule the next FET at the same time; it just wasn’t confirmed until all those test results came back clean.

And so, we secretly began our second FET from this IVF cycle in March 2015… and I managed to keep my mouth shut about it too!

March 6 - injection training: 

Dr. D put me on progesterone shots (PIO) this cycle so DH and I needed to learn how to do them. We met with a nurse, she marked my hips where the shots go and then handed DH a saline filled syringe. Next thing you know, she is telling me to bend over the desk so DH can inject me!?! Wait, what? That’s how you SHOW him how to do it? Using ME as a pin cushion? Long story short, for someone who hates needles he did really well! That night I had my first real shot and, despite the nurses’ request not to, injected myself just to see if I could do it and it wasn’t so bad. They are taken through the first trimester of a successful pregnancy so I wanted to be comfortable with them considering DH would be traveling a couple of times at least. (Note: as this cycle was successful, I actually continued the injections until May 14… ouch! Affectionately referring to my repeatedly re-drawn, not-exactly-triangles, as pork chops!)

March 12 - transfer day: 

This was my fourth transfer ever, and the first time DH was able to come with me! Last time Dr. D was unable to be there, so this time I was barely in the front door of the clinic before asking the receptionist if she had seen him that morning. She smiled, knowing exactly why I was asking, and told me she HAD seen him and he WAS in the operating room that day! Yippee! DH and Dr. D are here at the same time! First we saw the embryologist who confirmed that they only needed to thaw one 5-day embryo again (leaving me with half a dozen still frozen) and it was perfect quality. Next, we did the transfer and, according to Dr. D himself, it went extremely well. His only words of advice were to drink 2L of water a day, no skydiving, and 10 days off work. Pretty simple! Oh, and since I had an extra set of hands with me this time around we even took a picture of the embryo.



March 13 – 22, the 2WW (or 10 days in my case): 

The first few days went extremely well; a day of complete rest followed by a couple of days taking it easy and doing nothing more than going for brunch with my in-laws. A friend had made me a special soup that she swears by and suggested I follow a Traditional Chinese Medicine diet focusing on “warm” foods to help make this one stick. Why not? It couldn’t hurt! While I was at it, I included the old wives tale of pineapple core. I cut my pineapple into 5 pieces and ate one a day starting the day before transfer as suggested. I had been eating pretty healthy for a while in anticipation of the transfer, but those 10 days were the best I have ever eaten in my life I think! In fact, I lost 3 pounds that week!

 I tried to be patient, I really did. But one week in, or 7dp5dt for those of you living in my world, I couldn’t take it anymore! I had to pee on a stick (POAS)! I waited for DH to leave the house and jumped out of bed as soon as I heard the front door lock. Got my First Response Early Response out, did the deed, and waited… and waited. Honestly, 3 minutes never felt so long! I went back into the bathroom and saw the control line from a mile away but nothing else. Grabbed it and was about to throw it away when… wait… is that a line? Turn on the other light. It’s a line! It’s faint, but it’s there! Am I pregnant? Are we really pregnant?

I cannot begin to explain the rush of emotions that went through me at this time. DH can probably explain better because he was the first person I called, sobbing. I was hysterical. Then, I took pictures of the stick to send to him as well as a couple of my closest friends because I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. Nope, all 3 of them saw the line! I was elated! And… terrified.

The next morning, 8dp5dt, doubt entered my mind. What if the stick was wrong? Maybe it was defective. Just wait for your blood test on Monday I tried to tell myself… no, test again! And, sure enough, the line came back! And just a little bit darker too! 10dp5dt, another test just to make sure it’s still in there! And darker! (Note: I have since tested twice more, even after seeing baby on ultrasounds! I thought people were crazy when they told me they did it too, but I get it now!)


March 23rd – beta day: 

They did my blood test and then I waited to see Dr. D. I had previously e-mailed him to tell him the good news and I wanted a medical note for work just in case. I also wanted to know what my follow-up would be like and when. After waiting a while, he calls me in and says that since an hour had passed my results may have come back from the lab already. And, they had!

Because my beta was 11dp5dt, he said he was looking for anything over 100… and I was… 162! He grinned from ear to ear while I sat in shock for a moment, truly not expecting to hear this despite POAS numerous times! He shook my hand and told me it was official, we were expecting! He told me to go call DH and pick up another 8 weeks of PIO (ugh) on my way out.

YES! Finally! Expecting! Bring on the injections!