Amazingly enough! I went to my new OB on Monday for an initial appointment, and I really like her. She's thorough, nice, and young (that last part I don't LOVE, but she came highly recommended). Net net, I didn't get an u/s that day, but I did get a referral to the MFM doctor since due to the IF/twins/some other issues I am considered "high risk." My first appointment with her is in early December.
I had an u/s today with the tech at my OB's and everything looks great. Apparently I have a tilted uterus (who knew?), so we couldn't see anything on the "above the belly" u/s, and had to revert to the old fashioned wanding that I am used to. I was told my cervix is long, and this is a good thing. All of this stuff is new to me. But on to the best part - the babies are measuring perfect - right on target, with nice, strong heartbeats (175 and 182). They have cute little circles for limbs and nice looking yolk sacs. I blurted out my gut reaction which was "they look like baby mice." I think the tech found that odd and DH gave me a funny look. But they sort of do! I'll scan in the photos and post them. Baby A was even bopping around a little! So funny to see him/her moving. Still, I couldn't be happier. However now I have to keep it together for 3 weeks until my next ultrasound. That's going to be a bit of an emotional challenge.
I feel pretty good overall, other than the nausea, which is not constant but more like comes and goes, sometimes resulting in actual vomiting and sometimes just gagging and heaving. The acne is the only other real pregnancy thing, I break out every few days. Yesterday I finally started getting my appetite back, which is good. Food was a complete turn off for about 2 weeks. I still don't love to eat, but there are times when I actually do feel hungry instead of completely put off by food. Oh yeah, and none of my pants can zip up anymore! This is my favorite part. Just a smidge of a poufy belly and overall a little "wider". I like that my body is changing. That's what makes it feel more real to me.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
7w2d
Dare I say it? Things are going well. I had my last u/s at the clinic today with my RE. DH had to miss the scan because he was stuck in traffic, so I ran up as we were already 30 mins late. That was a stressful situation in and of itself.
It went as well as it could have. The babies measured 7w1d and the heartbeats were strong. My RE said they looked "great" and "healthy". He was so sweet and we had a tender moment together actually. He told me how happy he was for DH and me and how he loves the fact that he gets to help get such good people pregnant. He said he was sorry about how hard it was for me to get here, and that I was a sweetheart! I was floored at how genuine he was. I nearly cried.
I have an appointment on Monday with a high risk OB that my RE recommended in my area. I'm glad to be moving so quickly on this. I still have to go back to the clinic to get my b/w monitored for e2 and p4, since I was an FET cycle. Eventually I will be weaned off all the meds, but for now we are continuing full-force.
It almost doesn't seem real. I can't believe there are 2 babies living and growing inside of me.
Otherwise, I am pretty much fine. I do want to puke pretty much constantly. But what can I expect, I guess that happens with twins. Honestly, I don't mind it very much. Guess I should just feel extremely lucky, and blessed.
It went as well as it could have. The babies measured 7w1d and the heartbeats were strong. My RE said they looked "great" and "healthy". He was so sweet and we had a tender moment together actually. He told me how happy he was for DH and me and how he loves the fact that he gets to help get such good people pregnant. He said he was sorry about how hard it was for me to get here, and that I was a sweetheart! I was floored at how genuine he was. I nearly cried.
I have an appointment on Monday with a high risk OB that my RE recommended in my area. I'm glad to be moving so quickly on this. I still have to go back to the clinic to get my b/w monitored for e2 and p4, since I was an FET cycle. Eventually I will be weaned off all the meds, but for now we are continuing full-force.
It almost doesn't seem real. I can't believe there are 2 babies living and growing inside of me.
Otherwise, I am pretty much fine. I do want to puke pretty much constantly. But what can I expect, I guess that happens with twins. Honestly, I don't mind it very much. Guess I should just feel extremely lucky, and blessed.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
just so happy.
(Editing to add photo)
We saw 2 h/b's today: 114 and 118. RE said everything looks good for 6w2d, measuring on target. I have one more u/s at the clinic before they release me, next Tuesday, with my regular RE who is out of town at the moment.
DH was more ecstatic than I was. It was so amazing to see him so thrilled. I think I wanted this for him more than for myself. We know it's early, but this was a big hurdle for us, and we're thrilled to be here right now. I'm sure the worry will start again soon. Oh, and the spotting stopped again. The RE said she is only concerned with bright red blood, so that was a little bit of a relief.
I then hopped a flight to Orlando for a conference. The flight was short, but interesting. Definitely starting to have more symptoms. They are not what I expected. Really intermittent and different, not always the same thing. I think that's good though.
Thank you everyone for keeping me and the babies in your thoughts and prayers. I am a strong believer in the difference it makes through all of this.
Monday, November 12, 2007
oy.
Yesterday some symptoms picked up, and last night I actually puked my guts out.
This was coupled with the fact that I also started getting some barely-there light brown spotting intermittently around the same time.
So the score is: 1 good thing, 1 not-so-good thing. I keep thinking about the blood next to one of the sacs, and as it grows, is it just going to keep pushing bits of it out? The RE seemed to think it was entirely possible.
Trying to keep myself from losing it for the next ~17 hours until my 6w2d u/s.
This was coupled with the fact that I also started getting some barely-there light brown spotting intermittently around the same time.
So the score is: 1 good thing, 1 not-so-good thing. I keep thinking about the blood next to one of the sacs, and as it grows, is it just going to keep pushing bits of it out? The RE seemed to think it was entirely possible.
Trying to keep myself from losing it for the next ~17 hours until my 6w2d u/s.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Feeling apprehensive
I know I've not really had a great deal of crazy symptoms to begin with, but I am starting to get nervous/paranoid about it now. I'm 5w6d today, and not really anything more. I was tired this week, but today I feel less so. I've only had very mild and very occasional bouts of queasiness, but nothing substantial outside of last Sunday. I know my P4 levels are borderline, although apparently acceptable, so that may have something to do with it. No cramping, no bleeding or spotting. But my most terrifying fear is that of the "missed miscarriage" - what I had with my first IVF - the one that started out with the beta of 9. That's right - 9 - @ 10DP5DT. That one rose well for awhile, then slowed and nothing ever grew, other than a very small sac with nothing in it. So that is my ultimate fear, that we go back in for u/s #2 and nothing is progressing. I wish I could feel better about it, but I at this point, I'm just scared, and it's starting to turn into depression.
Is it better to know or to live in a state of obliviousness. Is that even a word?
Is it better to know or to live in a state of obliviousness. Is that even a word?
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
A v. nice turn of events @ 5w2d
Wow. I am sort of stunned. Had my u/s this morning, with Mr. World Famous RE scanning me himself. He prefaced with the following: "It's really early, so I don't expect to see much." Ok, so expectations are managed. No fetal poles and heartbeats yet. But, guess what? We saw TWO sacs! They were right next to one another, he said that could have been causing the bleeding. He also saw what was possibly some blood in another area, so it could have been that too.
My beta jumped to 6,000+ (didn't get the exact number), so the doubling time is less than 37 hours. RE said the twin thing was "subject to change" but we are looking at a potentially happy outcome. And he was not at all concerned about my progesterone levels.
Feeling symptoms of on/off nausea and tiredness with dizzy spells. Oh, and my face is breaking out like CRAZY - I have at least 2 new zits every day. Gross, I know.
We'll go back in a week for another u/s to see if we can detect 1-2 fetal heartbeats.
I am trying not to get TOO excited. But I am a little excited :) Ok, more than that. It sort of feels like a dream. Don't get me wrong, I know the risks and I realize there is a LONG way to go from here. But, it's a step closer.
Thanks again everyone for all of your support. This network of IF blogs has changed everything for me. I love reading your own stories and getting your advice. So thank you.
My beta jumped to 6,000+ (didn't get the exact number), so the doubling time is less than 37 hours. RE said the twin thing was "subject to change" but we are looking at a potentially happy outcome. And he was not at all concerned about my progesterone levels.
Feeling symptoms of on/off nausea and tiredness with dizzy spells. Oh, and my face is breaking out like CRAZY - I have at least 2 new zits every day. Gross, I know.
We'll go back in a week for another u/s to see if we can detect 1-2 fetal heartbeats.
I am trying not to get TOO excited. But I am a little excited :) Ok, more than that. It sort of feels like a dream. Don't get me wrong, I know the risks and I realize there is a LONG way to go from here. But, it's a step closer.
Thanks again everyone for all of your support. This network of IF blogs has changed everything for me. I love reading your own stories and getting your advice. So thank you.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Happy Daylight Savings!
I hope everyone is enjoying their extra hour of sleeping/relaxing/etc. I literally think gaining that extra hour makes this one of the best days of the year. Coupled with the fact that it came as a complete surprise to me the night before by randomly reading about it. Oh yeah!! We get an extra HOUR!
Prefacing the rest of this with a TMI warning, which will probably be the case for most of my posts.
I don't know what to think about the UTI sitch now. My peeing is totally back to normal, and the only weird thing is this light whitish/yellow-y mucus discharge, but who know what that could be from? It's not in any significant amount.
This morning I woke up at 5 am having to pee like crazy, so I took those 2 UTI tests, and got the same result on one and 2 negatives on the other. So I think I am probably fine. On Tuesday I'll tell my RE about the WBC being slightly positive and see what he thinks.
The other thing is, the second I woke up, I felt REALLY sick, so nauseous it felt like I had food poisoning, only no fever or chills, just the nausea. Since DH and I had the same dinner (only he had lots more of it!) and he had no reaction whatsoever, I'm guess it couldn't have been from the food . It passed in about 45 minutes with minor actual vomiting. So I am hoping this is a good thing?!
My P4 levels are crappy, despite the 1.5 cc I take daily, Friday's test came back at 20.5. Shouldn't the levels be JUMPING by now? This is the reason why my bb's are not sore. My RE's assistant never got back to me. I'm sort of annoyed, like, hey this is important, and an area where we actually have control! Just put me on suppositories too. I mean, I would literally do anything.
When will I be slightly less stressed out about this?
Prefacing the rest of this with a TMI warning, which will probably be the case for most of my posts.
I don't know what to think about the UTI sitch now. My peeing is totally back to normal, and the only weird thing is this light whitish/yellow-y mucus discharge, but who know what that could be from? It's not in any significant amount.
This morning I woke up at 5 am having to pee like crazy, so I took those 2 UTI tests, and got the same result on one and 2 negatives on the other. So I think I am probably fine. On Tuesday I'll tell my RE about the WBC being slightly positive and see what he thinks.
The other thing is, the second I woke up, I felt REALLY sick, so nauseous it felt like I had food poisoning, only no fever or chills, just the nausea. Since DH and I had the same dinner (only he had lots more of it!) and he had no reaction whatsoever, I'm guess it couldn't have been from the food . It passed in about 45 minutes with minor actual vomiting. So I am hoping this is a good thing?!
My P4 levels are crappy, despite the 1.5 cc I take daily, Friday's test came back at 20.5. Shouldn't the levels be JUMPING by now? This is the reason why my bb's are not sore. My RE's assistant never got back to me. I'm sort of annoyed, like, hey this is important, and an area where we actually have control! Just put me on suppositories too. I mean, I would literally do anything.
When will I be slightly less stressed out about this?
Saturday, November 3, 2007
A new twist
Thanks for your supportive comments on my beta! I have alot of hope/anxiety for Tuesday's u/s. My beta should be over 2500 by then, so we should see the gestational sac and the yolk sac. If not, that's when my next worry stage begins. Evidently in order to see a fetal pole, beta needs to be 5,000+, which unless my doubling time goes into hyper-overdrive, is not very likely to happen.
This is random, but I think I have a Urinary Tract Infection. After the bleeding incident, a couple of people suggested it as a possibility. So this morning, when I realized that I wasn't urinating like a racehorse as per usual, but rather a pathetic two second trickle, and there was an ever-so-slight uncomfortableness, my husband and I decided to do some research. This, coupled with the fact that I was finding I now occasionally have a small amount of light-brownish tinged mucus on the TP after going to the loo. It's always SOMETHING, isn't it?
Some searching showed us that, all signs point to UTI!
We ended up making a dash off to Rite-Aid, where I loudly asked the pharmacist if she had any urinary tract infection tests, which sent my husband running up a different aisle in humiliation, pretending he didn't know me. Turns out no, they did not have any tests! So off we went to CVS where we found a nice variety, and bought a couple. My husband chuckling at how nonchalantly I treat the process. Embarrassing purchases? Please. That's the least of my probs.
Having tried to "cure" my potential UTI on my own, I had been drinking a ton of water all day so my peeing could normalize, which it did - going in the other direction of having to pee so badly every five minutes I wanted to cry. So when I got home, I had more than enough saved to do one of the tests.
What do you know - the "nitrate" test came back negative, while the "white blood cell" presence test came back looking slightly positive. So now I guess I have to call my RE and tell them I may have a UTI. I guess they can give me antibiotics and it's supposed to be safe in pregnancy.
I don't know if the possible UTI has anything to do with the bleeding, but it is interesting that it came about at the same time, is all I am saying.
This is random, but I think I have a Urinary Tract Infection. After the bleeding incident, a couple of people suggested it as a possibility. So this morning, when I realized that I wasn't urinating like a racehorse as per usual, but rather a pathetic two second trickle, and there was an ever-so-slight uncomfortableness, my husband and I decided to do some research. This, coupled with the fact that I was finding I now occasionally have a small amount of light-brownish tinged mucus on the TP after going to the loo. It's always SOMETHING, isn't it?
Some searching showed us that, all signs point to UTI!
We ended up making a dash off to Rite-Aid, where I loudly asked the pharmacist if she had any urinary tract infection tests, which sent my husband running up a different aisle in humiliation, pretending he didn't know me. Turns out no, they did not have any tests! So off we went to CVS where we found a nice variety, and bought a couple. My husband chuckling at how nonchalantly I treat the process. Embarrassing purchases? Please. That's the least of my probs.
Having tried to "cure" my potential UTI on my own, I had been drinking a ton of water all day so my peeing could normalize, which it did - going in the other direction of having to pee so badly every five minutes I wanted to cry. So when I got home, I had more than enough saved to do one of the tests.
What do you know - the "nitrate" test came back negative, while the "white blood cell" presence test came back looking slightly positive. So now I guess I have to call my RE and tell them I may have a UTI. I guess they can give me antibiotics and it's supposed to be safe in pregnancy.
I don't know if the possible UTI has anything to do with the bleeding, but it is interesting that it came about at the same time, is all I am saying.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Still Rising!
Albeit, not as quickly as before. Today's beta is 992 (sooo close to 1000!). So, since I got that third beta at 2 pm rather than 9 am, I had to find a calculator that lets you do the doubling rate using hours rather than just days.
In case anyone ever needs this, it's very useful. But it doesn't work in Firefox, just IE.
http://www.betabase.info/doublingCalc.php
Anyway because I am completely OCD, I put together a beta doubling chart and this is what I found:
*beta from mid-afternoon!
Overall doubling rate from Beta 1 - 4: 50.3 hours
So I don't know what to think because it sped up a bit, then slowed down. I think I am still in an ok range though. At least that is what I am holding on to for now. The nurse told me to come back on Tuesday for another beta and an u/s. I asked her what she thought, and she said, "you had a bleeding incident this week, right? Well, it really could go either way." Yikes. Well at least they are not trying to sugar coat anything for me.
Trying to look on the positive side:
The beta did not stay the same.
The beta did not fall!
The beta is slowing but not tremendously.
I am not even spotting anymore! All clear. No more cramps either.
The nurse said if I start bleeding again to call immediately. I am guessing that given this and my previous pregnancy history, if I make it "out of the woods" by getting to the heartbeat stage (which I do not expect on Tuesday! I will only be 5w2d) - I will most certainly need a high-risk OB. Probably not a bad idea to be honest. I'm just assuming that there is still something in there, and it's still making HCG. So that's got to mean something, right? Ok, my attempts at optimism are making me feel a little bit better.
I've been on bed rest for the most part since Wednesday afternoon, working from home. Now that the work week is officially over, I have a mission: catch up on everyone's blogs. That's a fun thing to do!
Updating this to say: I am getting shooting pains through my right breast and nipple. Ow.
In case anyone ever needs this, it's very useful. But it doesn't work in Firefox, just IE.
http://www.betabase.info/doublingCalc.php
Anyway because I am completely OCD, I put together a beta doubling chart and this is what I found:
| Date | Beta | Doubling Rate (hrs) | ||
| 10/28/07 | 190 | |||
| 10/30/07 | 376 | 48.7 | ||
| 10/31/07* | 580 | 46.38 | ||
| 11/2/07 | 992 | 55.53 |
*beta from mid-afternoon!
Overall doubling rate from Beta 1 - 4: 50.3 hours
So I don't know what to think because it sped up a bit, then slowed down. I think I am still in an ok range though. At least that is what I am holding on to for now. The nurse told me to come back on Tuesday for another beta and an u/s. I asked her what she thought, and she said, "you had a bleeding incident this week, right? Well, it really could go either way." Yikes. Well at least they are not trying to sugar coat anything for me.
Trying to look on the positive side:
The beta did not stay the same.
The beta did not fall!
The beta is slowing but not tremendously.
I am not even spotting anymore! All clear. No more cramps either.
The nurse said if I start bleeding again to call immediately. I am guessing that given this and my previous pregnancy history, if I make it "out of the woods" by getting to the heartbeat stage (which I do not expect on Tuesday! I will only be 5w2d) - I will most certainly need a high-risk OB. Probably not a bad idea to be honest. I'm just assuming that there is still something in there, and it's still making HCG. So that's got to mean something, right? Ok, my attempts at optimism are making me feel a little bit better.
I've been on bed rest for the most part since Wednesday afternoon, working from home. Now that the work week is officially over, I have a mission: catch up on everyone's blogs. That's a fun thing to do!
Updating this to say: I am getting shooting pains through my right breast and nipple. Ow.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
In Limbo...
So I have to share my drama with everyone...
Yesterday we had quite a scare and I'm not sure where we stand now. In the middle of the afternoon I felt dizzy and crampy, so I went to the bathroom and realized I was bleeding. Not just a spot, but it was coming out when I urinated. I called the clinic nurses and after ripping off my halloween costume, rushed over for a beta. They said it could be nothing, but it was too early to scan me so we can only do the b/w for now. I guess I bled about a few hours (only when going to the loo) before I got home and got to bedrest, when it slowed down alot and by evening there was just a small brownish spot when I wiped. The cramping stopped overnight. This is still all I am seeing, a small dark brown spot when I wipe after the loo. I never filled a pad.
The beta was 580 with about 29 hours between the tests. The previous one had been 376 so it is still rising normally. I mean I still bled a bit after the test so I don't know what that means. Nothing clotty or clumpy ever came out so I am hoping that's a good sign? Not really sure how to feel, just really scared and staying on bedrest today. They said to rest today and come in Friday AM for another beta, so I guess that will really be the one that tells us if this is going to progress or end at this point. I cried alot yesterday, but now I just don't know how to feel. In my other 2 losses, one was a missed miscarriage and one was a chemical. I just never had the unexpected bleeding before, so this is different and scary.
So that is my crappy Halloween story. I hope everyone had better ones.
Yesterday we had quite a scare and I'm not sure where we stand now. In the middle of the afternoon I felt dizzy and crampy, so I went to the bathroom and realized I was bleeding. Not just a spot, but it was coming out when I urinated. I called the clinic nurses and after ripping off my halloween costume, rushed over for a beta. They said it could be nothing, but it was too early to scan me so we can only do the b/w for now. I guess I bled about a few hours (only when going to the loo) before I got home and got to bedrest, when it slowed down alot and by evening there was just a small brownish spot when I wiped. The cramping stopped overnight. This is still all I am seeing, a small dark brown spot when I wipe after the loo. I never filled a pad.
The beta was 580 with about 29 hours between the tests. The previous one had been 376 so it is still rising normally. I mean I still bled a bit after the test so I don't know what that means. Nothing clotty or clumpy ever came out so I am hoping that's a good sign? Not really sure how to feel, just really scared and staying on bedrest today. They said to rest today and come in Friday AM for another beta, so I guess that will really be the one that tells us if this is going to progress or end at this point. I cried alot yesterday, but now I just don't know how to feel. In my other 2 losses, one was a missed miscarriage and one was a chemical. I just never had the unexpected bleeding before, so this is different and scary.
So that is my crappy Halloween story. I hope everyone had better ones.
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