695 HCG this morning :)

Woot woot!
Monday Beta- 292.3 (12dp3dt)
Wednesday (today) Beta- 695  (14dp3dt)

Awesome!  Praise God!  It's supposed to double every 48-72 hours... so I'm pretty much right on track.  Last time (with the twin pregnancy) it quadrupled.  So... not so hopeful for twins, but won't know for sure until the ultrasound which will be at 6 weeks, according to Peggy.

Who's Peggy, you ask?  Why, she's the new IVF nurse!  Much more friendly.  I called after confirming that U of MN had faxed the results (patience is a virtue that I lack), and pressed 4 for the IVF nurse- Peggy answered.  I told her I was calling for Nancy, the IVF nurse, and she said she was the new IVF nurse.

Well that's great!  Nancy is probably a perfectly nice person, just not friendly enough to be an IVF nurse, IMO.  I'm not friendly enough to be an IVF nurse... I'm not really a people person... But anyway, Peggy was much nicer!  So glad that I get to work with her from here on out :)

And my friend from church offered to give me her cloth diapers!  Rock on!  Great day :)

God is awesome.  I've known for ages what a blessing adoption is... but we're the first couple who we actually know (aside from my online friends I've met since we've started, and you rock!) who have gone through the miracle of embryo adoption.  We're so blessed!  We weren't cursed with infertility, we were just blessed in other ways :)

Just did an online calculator and my HCG levels are doubling every 38 hours :)
HCG doubling calculator

BFP!!!!!

Woot woot!  My HCG is 292.3

We took our first tests on Thanksgiving... I didn't sleep well at all the night before because I was so nervous about it!  What if it wasn't BFP (big fat positive)?  That would ruin Thanksgiving but there would still be a good chance that we were...  but we took it!  I think I would have slept poorly that night too, had we not taken them.
8dp3dt

 Mat dipped both tests... just to make sure.  It's faint, but you can definitely see it!  Definitely lots to be thankful for :)

 The one above is from Saturday, 10dp3dt.
Below is from Sunday(darker!) 11dp3dt

And then today was the oficial lab work!  292.3!  My due date is 8/4 :)

Nancy about killed me... I was positive we were pregnant, but she put me on hold twice before telling me!  Apparently she had something to figure out before she told me... but honestly, couldn't she just say "you're pregnant!  Now I have to figure something out..." I was just praying fervently while on hold!

I'm having some nausea.  Yesterday was pretty bad.

I go back on Wednesday for another test to make sure my HCG is progressing at the right rate.

And Mat got a job offer!  He has another interview today... Either way we'll be living at the homestead full time in two weeks!

God is great!  Woot woot! 

7dp3dt

I'm going crazy... I need to test! I'm not sure that I could handle a BFN (big fate negative)....

But, with the symptoms I've been having, I'm pretty positive that I'll get a BFP.  I actually woke up at 5 am Tuesday morning just famished!  I couldn't get back to sleep without eating something!  That hasn't happened since the last time I was pregnant... with twins!  But then last night I ate right before bed and made it through the night.

I am really tired... but that could be the progesterone.  Although I was taking that for a few days before the transfer and I didn't get really tired until this past weekend.  Sunday night I went to bed at 9!  Even after getting a nap!

And last night I watched Criminal Minds from last week... I cried... happy tears!  When Rossi honored his fellow military men.  It was really sappy... wouldn't have made me cry under ordinary, non-hormonal, circumstances.

The lab test is Monday... I doubt we'll make it that long without testing....

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  :)

5dp3dt

Or for those of you unfamiliar with the infertile lingo, 5 days past a 3 day transfer.

That means a bit over 3 weeks pregnant, or 8 days that the babies have actually been growing, 5 of them in my womb.

I've had a bit of nausea... but I think it might still be the Estrace... or the fact that I'm expecting nausea.  And I've been pretty tired.

My clinic test is next Monday!

The waiting is the hardest part...

For now, at least, I'm pregnant!  Praise God!  Let's hope and pray that I can carry this pregnancy to term :)

Mat is amazing!  He does the progesterone injections, keeps me calm, lets me rest regularly... The house is a mess and I haven't even unpacked all our stuff from TN!  But he's ok with it and has been picking up some of my slack :)  I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful husband!

Here's a pic of our babies!

We're Pregnant!

Today they transferred two of our babies!

One was a grade 1, and one was a grade 2 (1-5 scale, 1 being highest quality).

I actually filled my bladder too much...  So the transfer was really difficult for me.  But the doctor also had some difficulties navigating around my strange insides.  So it took even longer, which was much harder with my too-full bladder.

Sandy was the recovery nurse, and she was just awesome!

We got some pictures, and we hope to one day make a book for our babies.

This is such a blessing!  Praise God!

On a sadder note, one of the embryos didn't survive.  We look forward to meeting him or her in heaven.  :)

This is a pic of Dr Keenan and us after the transfer.

We're here!

We have two days to relax and hike around Smoky Mountains before the transfer.  Today was awesome!  We took a picnic lunch in a back pack and ate on the mountain.  We saw deer... two of them were maybe 30 yards away while we ate.  One was at least an 8 pointer!  (8 countable points, maybe some smaller points that we couldn't see)

We drove up to the old mill in Cade's Cove from the early 1900s and wandered around there.  It was pretty neat.

Then we went to a quilt shop.  Mat had searched for one online last night (because he's just so darn sweet!) and I picked out 3 new fabrics to put in our future babies quilts :) 

When we were at the quilt shop I looked at my phone (which hadn't been working in the park) and I had a message from Nancy at NEDC.  It's all set for Wednesday and we're supposed to be there at 8:15 :)

Prayers are apreciated :D

Good to go :)

Finally got ahold of Nancy.  There was a problem with them receiving the lab results again... so my clinic here had to refax again.

endo=9.2
E2= 316

I'm told those are great numbers!  Don't really know too much about it... but at my first U/S and estradiol test I was 4.3 and 39.2.... so more fertile now.  Right?  Not really sure what estradiol has to do with anything... but something in the pregnancy preparations.

Woot woot!

Guess who's lining is 9.25mm!

That's right, mine!  So that's great.  I'm still waiting for the call from Nancy with the clearance to start the Progesterone (after she gets the U/S and lab results) but I feel pretty good.

God is great!  He is awesome!  He loves me and I love Him!  :)

I know I'm supposed to praise Him in both good and bad times, and I do.. it's just so much easier in good times! 

So if (or when) we get the clearance call for next Wednesday's transfer, we'll take off tomorrow morning for the drive and have a few days to relax and hike around down there before the transfer. 

I miss Kelly :(

Kelly was the IVF nurse at NEDC... she was thoroughly awesome and kind as could be.  Now there's a new nurse, Nancy... who I'm sure is just stressed about picking up patients mid-cycle, but she certainly came across as less-than-friendly.

Sucky.  I emailed her yesterday asking if I needed to order a refill of my Estrace... no response... so I called her today and she seemed a bit peeved that I would have to call and ask.  Well, I emailed to ask but didn't get a response... I need them by Friday if I need a refill, so, yeah, sorry, thought I'd call.

I hope she was just having a bad moment and that she's more friendly next week.

I'm getting some acne... not sure if it's a side effect from the drugs or stress.

Next week I'll be in TN about to get our babies in my womb!

nauseau...

Estrace makes me nauseous.  It's gotten slightly better since I stopped the Lupron (not sure if stopping Lupron had anything to do with it... my body could just be getting more used to them)... but between the Estrace and my prenatals I'm nauseous a good 50% of the time.

Today I ordered some chewable pre-natal vitamins.  Hopefully that will help!  They'll be here Wednesday.

The drive will not be fun if I'm nauseous the whole way.  More fun than a plane ride, but still not fun.

I hope I feel less nauseous by Saturday!