It's been crazy busy lately between the last failed FET, appointments, the holidays, my broken computer (still broken by the way...) and the boys!
But I will try to give a recap to the best of my ability of what has happened since I saw my RE at the end of October.
At the meeting with my RE we discussed everything about FET 2.0 that was worth analyzing: embryo quality, endo lining, medications, etc. By the end of the meeting I had decided to try the next cycle un-medicated (no estrogen pills/patches) but to also add an HcG shot at ovulation time during the transfer cycle. RE said he has heard of some women responding better to their natural estrogen then to the medications. Basically, it was a cycle just to see what my lining would be during the mid-cycle u/s.
During the Late October/November cycle DH and I had sex several times before ovulation to hopefully get my ute to "act" as if I would be prepping for a normal "pregnancy". I did OPK's until I had a surge on Nov 6th. The mid-cycle u/s was Nov 7th and guess what? My lining was 8.72?!?!? WTH?
Apparently, coffee and vodka do great things for my lining. Go figure. No meds and it's 8.72. With expensive meds, barely hit 7.00. Huh. . . .I took this to mean that I will not be on estrogen anymore :)
Following the results, my plan was to cycle 'naturally' until I had a great lining. Then, do the last frozen transfer.
AF showed up Nov 20/21st. I wasn't positive this cycle was the one, because it had to be a big lining sans meds. We did have sex 4x before ovulation and I used OPK's again until I finally got a surge much later than usual on CD 14/15.
I met with the RE for a mid-cycle u/s to check my lining on December 4th. My lining was high again--8.38! Crazy. I wish I knew this sooner. I could have saved so much time and money! (Not to forget the estrogen patches that would make my skin bleed!)
It was on!
Two days later, I did the HcG shot in the afternoon and began my 1cc of progesterone in oil IM each day.
December 10th, (1pm) was transfer day for our last frozen embryo. (5-day Grade B embryo). During the transfer, the embryologist thought it looked better than what it was graded in IL at the old clinic. I had baby listen to music through my earbuds (Michael Jackson, Bruno Mars...) and despite their opinion that it didn't matter, I laid flat for about 30 minutes covered by the blanket I remembered to bring this time as I was freezing last time.
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| Embryo for hopeful 3.0 |
Once we left, I put myself on fairly strict 'bedrest' for that day and 'modified' bedrest for the next two days. DH took off work and was able to watch the boys for me. I would come in and sit on the couch so I could watch them play and see what else what happening in the world--there is NO TV in any other room.
I had some very concerning days before the BETA. On December 19th and 20th I had some noticeable dark spotting and cramping. I stressed over that for days even after the BETA.
Late at night, after I had gone to a musical (Lés Miserables) with a few friends, I went to the 24hr dynacare lab and had my BETA drawn. The next morning, we got the results. 19 (9dp5dt) . . .Low, but something. Of course I wanted to POAS after that. I honestly held off this time and didn't POAS one time until the BETA results were back. It was also faint, but something.
Two days later (Dec 21, 11dp5dt), I had BETA #2, again late at night after a friends' birthday party. It almost doubled in 24 hours to 37.2! It was going up well considering that it started out so low but it was, of course, nothing like the numbers I had with the boys. To help reassure me after the low numbers, spotting and cramping, I asked for another BETA with an additional progesterone test.
The last BETA and progesterone test was Christmas Eve (14dp5dt). I decided to go in early that morning instead of late the night before. It was cold and snowy. I was afraid I would get bad news before Christmas but knew it would stress me out all day if I didn't know. BETA #3 was 103.1 and Progesterone was 26.77. That rise being over 100 made me feel much better. I was able to go into Christmas celebrations feeling much better about the situation. The RE told me to make an u/s appointment with him in about 2 weeks.
The images below were from that first ultrasound on Monday, January 6th, 2014 (6w,4d). It was, of course, another dildo-cam u/s. I knew immediately that I saw an embryonic sac. Thankfully, it was one this time as I think DH would've lost his mind if we had twins (or more) again. One beautiful baby. I was in such shock (and still am) that I didn't react much. I looked, I listened and tried to figure out how the embryo that had been so often disregarded as "not worth much" was growing, in me. Wow. To this day, I still fully cannot believe it. The approximate due date is August 28th (I've heard August 28th- September 1st, 2014. We'll have to wait and see who is correct).
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| Yolk sac in first u/s for 3.0 |
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| Crown to Rump :) |
And that was it-- my last visit to an RE. I have no more frosties, eggs, sperm or anything left waiting for me to come and claim it. Ironically, I remember hoping that the first transfer wouldn't work and that the second transfer would be successful so I wouldn't have to worry about what to do with the second one. I'll be damned.
Take that! You're caught up! :D
Yesterday, January 14th (7w,5d), was my first trip to our OBGYN with 3.0 (as DH calls he/she/it). I asked her about seeing the perinatologist again. She doesn't seem to think I need to see that doctor this round. She thinks, despite the boys being born at just 28 weeks, the preterm labor was due to a multiple pregnancy. I'm not convinced, but time will tell. I am not afraid to speak up or call the hospital if something doesn't seem right.
We did, however, set up an appointment with my old perinatologist for the nuchal translucency screening on February 13th. My OB and I discussed that and we will talk about the results at our next meeting which will be about a week after.
While I was there DH came from work and I had 3.0's second u/s. Guess what?!?!? It was another vag-cam! Good God. I hope that is the last one I ever have to do--ever. Either way, we saw 3.0 and got to hear the heartbeat for the first time at 142 bpm. They dated 3.0 at 7w,1d. That wasn't too surprising as it was a few says behind at the first u/s with the RE as well. This is why I'm giving a range for the due date, although I am going off the transfer date. You can't get much more accurate than that. :)
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| Baby 3.0 at 7w,5d |
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| Baby 3.0 and it's yolk sac |
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