Saturday, March 26, 2011

7w1d update

I'm once again behind on updating this.

I had blood work and ultrasound done on Thursday when I was 7 weeks 1 day pregnant. My husband came to this one and he got to hear the heartbeat for the first time. It was my second time hearing it and it was 144 beats per minute. I was with Dr. Cool this time and when he first came into the room he seemed very concerned and caring and asked how I was and if there had been any more bleeding since Sunday and I told him no.

The baby measured at 6w6d. One other time it was 1 day behind and now it was 2 days behind but they are not changing my due date over it. Besides I know I conceived on either 2/14 or 2/16 and this due date is based on the 2/16 conception and that is the latter of the two.

My progesterone was 14. It is almost a pattern now - 16, 12, 13, 16, 12, 14.

I don't go back again until next Friday which will be 8 weeks 2 days. I believe that will be my last day and Dr. Cool said my homework is to figure out who will be delivering our baby. Yikes. I'm still so undecided!

My symptoms are still mostly fatigue and breast tenderness. I also wonder if I've had rhinitis of pregnancy. I've felt phlegm-y and nasally this entire month. I used my neti pot today and I haven't had that problem. I have to remember to use that every day.

Monday, March 21, 2011

All is well! 6w5d

Great news - the bleeding had stopped before bed and also there was no fresh blood this morning so I felt better just from that but I got reassurance in a bigger way... I called the doctor's office first thing this morning and they fit me in at 8:00 a.m. I got there a few minutes early and was taken right back. I was holding my breath but then there on the ultrasound monitor was the baby and there was the flickering heartbeat. I even got to hear the heartbeat today. It was amazing and going strong at 178 beats per minute. Ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump! I got a huge grin after that! Of all days for my hubby not to make it, this had to be it!

Dr. Wonderful was so funny. He said, "Cute kid, great heartbeat!" Here I thought I was the only one who thought that little 1/5" creature was adorable. :)

So for me there will be no heavy lifting or fun times with my hubby for a bit. Yay to the first, boo to the second! But everything looked great.

And they called later with my numbers. hCG is now up to 12,629 and progesterone is at 12. It seems to be a pattern now - 16, 12, 13, 16, 12...

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Friday's appointment (6w2d) & a scare (6w4d)!

So I'm way behind on updating my blog.

We had an appointment on Friday at 6 weeks 2 days. We got to see the tiniest flicker of a heartbeat! I really struggled to see it but Dr. Cool said it was there and my hubby says he saw it. The baby also grew so much. The doctor said the following week it would look like a string bean and then at 8 weeks you'd really be able to see it looked like a baby. I cannot wait for then although each one is just incredible.

They didn't do hCG for me (not sure why) but they did progesterone and it was at 16 so it went back up which is good.

Today my hubby and I were, ahem, intimate for the first time in awhile and afterwards I had some spotting on and off today. I'm worried out of my mind! I called the after hours number and Dr. Cool called me within a minute. He doesn't feel there is anything to be concerned about since everything up to this point has been progressing so well but he said so he can try to get an explanation for me to call in the morning and get an appointment for tomorrow morning for an ultrasound. I seriously wanted to drive myself to the ER to get an ultrasound NOW because I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight with all the worrying. Last time I checked it was back to no bleeding so I pray it stays that way and then I pray I'll get some reassurance tomorrow. There are lots of prayers going up right now.

It's a funny thing - all along I thought Dr. Wonderful was my doctor. He was the one I originally went to back in 2009. He diagnosed me with PCOS. He is the one who told me I could take Clomid and then when I expressed concerns about that, told me I could do Femara instead. He sent me for an HSG and my hubby for his semen analysis. The day I actually went in to get started on Femara though he was on vacation so I saw Dr. Cool and somehow he became the "owner" of my chart even though while I was there he relied on the other doctor's notes to figure out what to give me. I did not know this for the longest time. Every time I went in I circled Dr. Wonderful's name on the sign-in sheet. I always thought it was odd that the nurses would say they'd talk to the other doctor when I called with any questions and that time in my January cycle when Dr. Wonderful said he'd talk to Dr. Cool but he thought Dr. Cool would end it with Provera. I just figured maybe he was the head doctor. When I was there at 5w Dr. Wonderful made a comment about how I saw him more than Dr. Cool and I said, "Well, you are my doctor." He didn't really explain what he meant though and I started wondering if HE thought he wasn't my doctor. Finally when I was there at 5w2d I asked the nurse who she had listed as my doctor and she told me it was Dr. Cool so I told her how confused I was and she thought it was so funny and laughed and laughed. They are both wonderful doctors so it doesn't matter but I hate any type of confusion! I do wind up saying Dr. Wonderful much more often though. In all the times I've been there I only ever saw Dr. Cool four times and two of them were the last two times I was there.

I'll update again tomorrow, I hope with good news!

Friday, March 11, 2011

Quick update

Today's hCG levels are up to 1644. It wasn't *quite* doubled but very close. To double it would have been at 1666 so I'll take it! I don't think 48 hours doubling is a hard-and-fast rule. I've heard 55 hours too.

Progesterone was up to 13 today.

And my hubby swore during the ultrasound the sac was bigger. When he said it the doctor (Dr. Cool) looked in my chart and confirmed that it was larger today. He said he could see a bit of a yolk sac too. We are going back next Friday and he said that is when we could probably see the heartbeat! Yippee!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Third beta & first post-BFP ultrasound.

The week is finally up! I had my blood work and ultrasound at 8:00 a.m. today. I had my blood work and then my ultrasound. Before the doctor started the ultrasound he warned me we may see nothing. But then we saw the black spot on the screen. He said he was pleasantly surprised. He told me that I'm exactly five weeks today and due November 9. I really think my due date is November 8 but I'm going to let it go. :)

The nurse called later to say my hCG is at 833 and she said that was great. My progesterone is 12. She said nothing about it but I know it dropped from 16 last week. Hmmmm. The nurse simply said to continue taking progesterone suppositories and they'd like to see me back in two days.

They gave my husband and me pictures of the ultrasound to bring home. Of course, they did not scan well. :( I could see the dot on the screen, I can see it on the print-out, but on the scanned image I see almost nothing.

Oh, well, I'm off to bed. I'm still exhausted. This is my main symptom still - that and the tender breasts. Other than that, I'm feeling pretty good. I have cramps on and off but they're not that intense. I've had no spotting and only one day of nausea and I suspect now that it may have had to do with my dry eye problems rather than morning sickness.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Quick update...second beta!

I'm super tired but I wanted to update this before I went to bed.

I had blood drawn today, 48 hours after the last one. The last one showed my hCG levels as being 21. They were worried it was low and were saying they like it at 100. However, I was not even 4 weeks at that point. I was just 4 weeks yesterday or today. So I went back today and was just looking for it to double...and it did! After a long tense day I found out my hCG is now at 47 and my progesterone was at 16.

I got a new prescription for Endometrin, the progesterone suppositories I've been taking since 3 days after the IUI. If all goes well, I'll be taking those until approximately the end of the 10th week.

The nurses and office staff really had me stressing today. I decided I'm not going to stress though unless there is something wrong. And right now my numbers have doubled and I certainly still have the same symptoms (acne and sore boobs!) so I think things are going well.