5 weeks, 4 days.

KNOCK ON WOOD.

Today is exactly the day I lost the last pregnancy; the farthest we ever made it.

But-- KA-POW! We are bustin' down that door, thank you very much! Tomorrow begins a whole new frontier for us. It also marks the one-week point until the first Ultrasound. I think I might explode! How am I going to make it??!?!

Every day I am second guessing symptoms and pains. Currently, I am feeling some pains and cramping. The lovely ladies on the chat room told me I have what's called Round Ligament Pains (RLP). Sheesh! It is sharp sudden pains that stop me in my tracks quite often. I usually get them on my right side which worries (worried?) me that I am having another ectopic. Sometimes it can also seem like minor beginning menstrual cramps.

Oh well. . . hopefully just part of the normal progression.

Current stats:

Weight Gain: Less than 5 pounds. Maybe 1-2? I can't wait to get back on the elliptical.

Cravings: In love with "Delmonte" fresh fruit cups with pineapple and papaya. YUM! They are cold and I could eat them all day.

Nauseous: Nope.

Belly touches: Just DH.

Feeling: TIRED. Feeling crampy and the good 'ol RLP.

Boy or girl: DH had a dream last night that it was one boy.

Single or twins: I think maybe two right now. . . I'm too fat for one :)

Emotional state: An emotional mess. I cry at all shows on TV. I am moody. I am also trying to stay positive. Very anxious to get to the u/s.


In other news. . .

I still need to set-up the appointment with a new OBGYN. I didn't and don't trust my old doctor. So I've found a few names and will start calling when I decide on one or two this weekend.

5 weeks, 5 days here we come!

BETA #2 IN!

So take a BETA guess. . . "500," you say? . . . Higher.

"700?" . . . Higher.

"1000?" . . . HIGHER.

1346!!!

Yeah, I can't believe it either! I was hoping for 500!!! Wowza! Both progesterone and estrogen are looking great, too!

So now what? . . . we wait. Another 2ww until the first Ultrasound on April 8th. We will be a little over 6 1/2 weeks. O.M.G. Is this for real???

Until then we will be on pins and needles, trying to be healthy and not gain a bunch of unnecessary weight eating crapola. So tonight, to celebrate, DH and I are going to Red Robin :) LOL. No seriously, we are! Red Robin is the only place I can order a Salmon salad and eat it without gaging. Sounds crazy, I know. They have the BEST blackened salmon salad EVA!

After dinner, DH and I are going to Barnes and Noble to buy a new "baby journal".

Ah yes, the life I've dreamed of. I am waiting until about 6 weeks to make a ticker. (I don't want to jinx it). We are also waiting until Mid-May (11-12 weeks) before we tell people.

*Sigh*

I'll have to begin my registry in secret! :) 4 weeks and 2 days pregnant. . . and counting. . .

BETA #2 tomorrow.

Getting up at the butt-crack of dawn tomorrow morning so I can have BETA #2 drawn before work. DH and I will go in and have the blood drawn and then go our separate ways to work.

I have yet to decide if I will check my messages right away and call him at lunch OR if I will wait until he gets home. Tricky thing is I'd have to call them back and tell them to leave a message with the results because DH won't be home by the time they close tomorrow. Hmmm. . . what to do???

Either way I won't be able to update until after work. AND I'm going to have to find of the results at work or wait all day starring at my phone.

Hoping for at least a 500 BETA. Wish me luck!!! Double vibes and Sticky babies!!!

BETA #1 IN!!! :)

BETA #1. . . . 9dp5dt. . . .

272 !!!

Holy crap! That is our highest first BETA ever!!! Higher than any other BETA we ever had within the first 5 weeks!

I am at a loss! Now we wait and hope to see it double (or more) on Wednesday! :)

OMG!!!

. . . and to be compleetly honest, I POAS yesterday afternoon and it was positive :)

See photo below :) Look how DARK that sucker is at 8dp5dt!

Here's what's weird. This morning, I got up and was so dang excited to POAS to see it get even darker! But look! It's lighter! WHAT THE???
Oh well, maybe it was a shorter length of time without peeing or the stick was bad. . .or who knows! I am sitting here with 272 beta reading from this morning, after the light pee stick! I say, "Screw you, second pee stick!"

Beta #1 DRAWN!

Beta was drawn this morning at around 8:45am.

Now we wait-- and wait. . . hopefully, I will have results around noon.

Please, please, please-- HUGE BETA!!!!

Hump day.

Well, not for DH and I.

More like half-way to BETA on Sunday.

I am very antsy and anxious to POAS! But I won't. This time I;m going to do this different. Mostly because DH and I are having a combined birthday party the night before BETA. The last thing I want to do is have bad news before the party. . .UGH. I don't know.

Of course it would be great to party knowing I had the BFP-- but I am just so nervous-- so used to disappointment. Not that I've gotten bad news at the BETA necessarily, but more the aftermath of the BFP has turned sour--each time. *Sigh*

4 days. . . dear Lord. Please give me strength to get through the week: Job, politics, home, IF and the stresses of life in general.

Yesterday, I screwed up the estrogen pills. Monday night I feel asleep without taking it. Tuesday morning, I took it ASAP. Then Tuesday night, I took one exactly 12 hours later, thinking that would help. But then I took ANOTHER one for night-time from my pill box with the other 9 pills I take each day. WHOOPS!!! I hope that is okay. I called the RE's office and they said it was fine :/

Now time for another PIO shot!!!

And for fun--

The snowbabies! Remember I said I picture them in winter hats and mittens???

Frosties on board!!!

SNOWBABIES! FROSTIES! SNOWFLAKES!!!

These are our two blastocysts currently residing in the ute. DH is typing this for me right now (Hi everybody!) since I am currently on day two and a half of self-ordered bed rest.

The FET was on 3-11-11 at 11:45 -- suppose to be at 11:45. To make a long story short the time the actual FET took place was 12:35 PM. When the RE finally came in he said that we had two embryos ready to go. I asked if these were the two highest quality blasts that were suppose to be thawed as discussed with the nurses several times before the FET. So, I questioned, since things often go wrong, "Is our 6AA one of the two?" Our smart ass RE quickly replied, "You don't have a 6AA embryo." I said, "Uh, yes we do. The nurses told me about the 6AA several times and I've seen the paper work. They were also suppose to unthaw the highest quality embryos first." He then, in an attempt to prove that he was right, because he never thinks he is wrong, told the embryo techs to give him the papers back and, lo and behold, I was right. As I knew I was because I had seen the papers a bazillion times before.

What happened next is something I question to this very moment. Instead of admitting that they made a mistake it seemed like he was doing nothing other than covering his own ass. He babbled on about something to do with the 6AA not being the best embryo, blah, blah, blah. This of course to me is ironic since he had no knowledge that we even had a 6AA embryo a few seconds ago. Also, ironic that they have a grading system that means nothing.

So, what's inside the ute currently? A 5BB and a 4BB... I think.

I felt like from that point he was more agitated than anything and he felt like having a conversation about the crappy governor and bad excuse for a repair bill that is screwing Wisconsin since my husband and I are both teachers. A 15% pay cut is not exactly the best stress reliever during and FET procedure. Especially when the RE lives in a different state and has no idea what he's talking about... again.

To add to this awesomeness, the two nurses running the ultrasound machines couldn't even find the freaking uterus on the screen. They actually had to switch jobs at one point.

So, the moral of my story, the RE office was clearly not on its "A" game. I was the only FET that day and the last appointment. I was the only one in the back office and I could tell I was not their top priority. This PISSES ME OFF. But, I'm suppose to be calm, right?

So, right now I'm trying to ignore the stupidity of nurses on cell phones and people that can't do their jobs, when I'm doing way more than my part.

So, how do I make myself feel better about this whole situation? I ask for FET success stories on the chat. I look at my clinics success rates, which are clearly good for IVF, but not as hot for FET, and make DH prepare mac and cheese for this afternoon.

In other news, one of my blasts had hatched before FET. Kinda cool, huh? If you see the top picture, part of its goo is spilling out of its shell. Statistics say, this Wednesday, 3-16, would be the last day for implantation to occur. I am really going to try hard to do absolutely nothing until Thursday morning despite the fact that I have to go to work everyday this week. How am I going to do this? I have no clue. I'll let you know how it goes.

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY!

...Well, the BETA, I guess, is also the "big day"-- but TOMORROW is the FET!!!

I am so excited to get the snowbabies out of the deep-freeze!

I was telling the ladies on the chat today, how I picture them with tiny mittens, scarves and beanie hats on.

So what does one do the night before FET?

Write a poem, of course!

'Twas the night before FET. By: Christine Vaughn.

'Twas the night before FET

and all through the crib

I was all by myself--

no really, no fib!

DH was at work,

teaching kids not to fail.

I was at home,

watching Oprah and Gail!

The house it was still,

but my tummy was not.

It demanded I feed it,

tasty treats on the spot!

To Outpost,

the local co-op I did run;

For almonds and sushi

and more tasty fun!

The sushi was perfect,

like heaven on my teeth!

The nori encircling the rice,

like a wreath.

I ate till stuffed,

not a rice grain in sight.

'Till tomorrow, snowbabies!

Sleep well and Goodnight!

I hate PIO

I had the WORST dang headache all day today. I think it's the PIO.

Life has been a mess to say the least.

With the craziness in Wisconsin politics, my ever changing job security, IF, losing my lesson plans for an entire class because my jump-drive died. . . UGH. The list seriously goes on.

I am going to try VERY hard to de-stress tomorrow. . . after all-- the FET is FRIDAY!!!

I can't hardly believe it! It has been soooo long since we have been able to try-- 5 months!

Tomorrow, I will receive the phone call with the final details for Friday.

Details and embie pics to come! :)

Last test before FET.

Friday, DH and I went to the RE for the last u/s and blood tests before this Friday's FET.

My goal was 8 for the lining check-- actually it ended up being a bit under. (See above 7.94?) I hope that's okay.

Yesterday, I also began the dreaded Progesterone and HcG shots. It was a bit tricky. . . .we were at a birthday party with family. At 9:45 we had to run-off to the bathroom. DH went in first and I "tried to sneak in". We had very time sensitive shots-- and had to do this one way or another. There was seriously no where else to do this. It probably took us 5-10 minutes.

I decided to walk out first and turn off the lights like no one else was in there with me. . . . but when I opened the door, the entire party was staring at me and "Oooh", "AHHHH-ing" me. DH stayed in there for a few extra minutes to avoid most of the comments. I took the brunt of it and tried to play it off. Right now just about all of my family members think we were in there for a quickie. . . .great.

But they shots were done. Now my ass is sore and my family thinks I'm a skank. I can't wait until I can tell them what was actually happening-- nothing erotic--at all.

On to the progesterone, tetracycline and medrol.

My 28th birthday--sheesh!

It's my birthday!

What's my wish? . . . Take a guess. :P

I've made several wishes today. Co-workers bought me a cake, I made a wish. DH took me out to dinner--for dessert I had a cookie with a candle, I made a wish.

In 10 days, (DH's birthday) I will be sitting here on bedrest. Hopefully with two little embies nuzzling in for a long ride-- nine months to be exact.

Next appointment? This Friday morning, praying for a lining at 8+!!!!