I am so grateful! Today I found out my 10dp5dt beta results! We transferred two little snowflakes on Jan 15. Yesterday, Jan 25 I had my blood test. My HCG levels are 772!!!! Yay!!! I’m so happy with this number! A few months ago we transferred one embryo and my 10dp5dt blood test HcG level was 40. Three days later it was only 24. I had a chemical pregnancy. It was heartbreaking. So to hear 772 makes me feel so much better! I know it’s more about how the number grows but I know I’m off to a great start!!! They won’t do another blood test for a week. I’ll update then 😁👌🏻
Symptoms thus far:
-extremely bloated
-Gas.... lovely Gas
-mood swings.... my poor husband.
-sore boobs!
-nausea (which is weird to have so early and I didn’t have this symptom with my twin pregnancy)
-numbness in my arms and fingers
I’m so grateful for this pregnancy and thought this transfer I’ve been more aware of giving thanks and having an attitude of gratitude
Friday, January 26, 2018
Monday, January 15, 2018
Frozen Embryo Transfer Day!
Today was a special day! Transferred two little embabies that have been frozen for almost exactly four years.
If you look closely you will notice the little snowflake embryo on the left is hatching. It is trying to find something to grab on to. Praying it grabs on to its momma! The embryos are thawed about three hours before transfer time and they watch them to make sure they are viable. These two snowflakes are day 5 AB grade embryos. They are from the same batch my twin 3 year old boys are from.
Unfortunately my husband had to go back home to St. George while I went up to Pleasant Grove for the transfer because he has a kidney stone! Poor guy! We used to always joke about the fact my husband doesn't even need to be there when I get pregnant. Today it became our reality. When these things happen you just have to embrace them and realize they are all part of your story and journey. Knowing my husband and I we will make many many jokes about this in the future. I definitely cried when we made this decision sitting in the Emergency Room in Fillmore but in reality he wouldn't be able to drive because of the pain meds and I cant drive because of the Valium. Luckily I have an amazing support system. So much of my family stepped up to the plate to take care of kids, take care of my hubby, and to take me to my appointment. It was special my sister was able to be there and we face timed Gavin.
Dr. Foulk is incredible. He helped me to have my twin little boys and he is so great at making these moments special. I am so grateful I found him and his clinic. UFC (Utah Fertility Clinic) in Pleasant Grove is where we go and I highly recommend it to others going down the road of infertility. utahfertility.com
Transfers are very special because you literally receive a little growing embryo. Or TWO in our case. We transferred one a couple months back, got pregnant and then quickly miscarried. That is how we decided to transfer two this time. Increase our odds and our doctor recommended it. We now have 8 remaining frozen embryos. I was so fortunate to have 53 embryos retrieved during my Fresh cycle 4 years ago. By day five we had 13 good embryos that had turned into blastocysts and we transferred two. Now twin boys that are 3.
THINGS TO KNOW FOR TRANSFER DAY
* Wear warm socks, you want to keep your body warm so you have good blood flow to your uterus and the room can be a little chilly
* Wear comfortable clothes so you can easily get dressed afterwards and relax
* Dont forget you need a semi full bladder. I almost peed right before but luckily a nurse reminded me as I was heading for the restroom
* At my office they have you bring your valium with you and take it 30 minutes before your transfer
* Have some healthy snacks ready for after. I made sure to have some fresh pineapple cut up (helps for implantation). I had some to go olives for good fats. I had a 5 hour car ride home afterwards so I had some easy snacks for the car. I also had a bag of walnuts for their good fats.
* Dont drink ice water or eat anything cold. It takes more blood supply to digest cold foods. Drink room temperature water.
* Dont wear strong perfumes or lotions, the embryos are sensitive.
My fuzzy socks and comfy sweats
Remember to have positive thoughts. I kept a simple affirmation in my mind that my body was ready for these little embryos and I am ready to protect them so they can stick and grow.
THINGS TO KNOW FOR AFTER A TRANSFER
*my doctor has you take 3 "Princess days", basically rest and just get up to use the restroom and get snacks"
* After the three days you can resume normal daily routine with a few exceptions
-No lifting more than 20 pounds
-No exercise that makes you break a sweat or contract abdominal muscles
-Take it easy until Pregnancy test and once pregnant continue to be careful with lifting and exercise
In my case my doc wants me to take it a little easier since I miscarried last time. For me returning to my normal daily routine wont happen until after pregnancy because I am an avid outdoors girl who loves to Hike, play volleyball, and workout. It will be a big change for me to take it easy. I am going to try to maintain a healthy weight with eating clean and mild exercise like walking and some yoga.
Now here is to surviving my two week wait. One of the longest two weeks ever! I am going to try to stay busy with homework, visits from friends and family, and some good movies and shows.
STICKY THOUGHTS!!!!
Biochemical Pregnancy after FET
I received a tragic phone call last night.
My IVF coordinator called. I thought it would be to tell me my bloodwork looked good but when she said "Do you have a minute to discuss your results" I knew something was wrong. The rest was really a blur. She told me my HCG levels had dropped to 24. This meant I didn't have a viable pregnancy anymore. WHAT. I was in shock. I walked into the kitchen and poked gavin in the side while I had my bottom lip out and tears in my eyes. I put the phone on speaker. She told us it was a biochemical pregnancy. I had no idea what that meant but a few hours later I learned a few things from google. A chemical pregnancy means you lose the baby before you ever see it on an ultrasound. Once you have seen the baby on ultrasound it is then considered a "clinical" pregnancy. A chemical pregnancy does in fact mean you were pregnant.
She told me a few other things but I don't remember all of it. She made sure I understood to stop taking my shots. Last time I had done a fresh cycle so this was my first time doing a frozen transfer. In my opinion the shots for the frozen transfer are worse but that could be because its been a few years. The shots are painful as crap. This is the first time I was depressed I wouldn't be able to wake up the next morning and give myself a shot. She told me I would continue to have bloodwork done until my HCG was 0. They would make sure I don't have an ectopic pregnancy. This phone call happened on a Monday night. She told me I would have bloodwork done Friday and then we would schedule a follow up appointment with my Dr.
She said she was sorry several times, I think I was frozen and not responding to anything she was saying. I finally found some words and basically just tried to make sure I understood, "so stop taking my shots and the next step is to have bloodwork done Friday?" She confirmed and then said sorry again and we ended the phone call. I walked a few steps into my living room and basically just collapsed. I started sobbing uncontrollably. It was painful. Gavin scooped me up into his arms and held me. My boys came over and held my hand and asked over and over "Mommy ok?".
I took the next few days off work and thought I would miscarry soon. I actually didn't miscarry until one week after the phone call. I happened to be at work. I passed a blood clot the size of my palm. Within the next hour I became extremely tired. My friend pointed out I was probably anemic from the loss of blood. I went home from work and just relaxed and sat with my feelings. i had my follow up appointment with my doctor and we set a plan to do a transfer in December. It ended up that I had a very large cyst on my ovary and my hormone levels were way off. They were too high which meant I would need another period before doing another transfer. We set up a new calendar to do a transfer in January. They put me on another round of birth control and we basically just started over.
This experience has helped me a ton to feel for others who miscarry and it has made me appreciate when things go right. Looking forward to my next transfer with a little anxiousness.
My IVF coordinator called. I thought it would be to tell me my bloodwork looked good but when she said "Do you have a minute to discuss your results" I knew something was wrong. The rest was really a blur. She told me my HCG levels had dropped to 24. This meant I didn't have a viable pregnancy anymore. WHAT. I was in shock. I walked into the kitchen and poked gavin in the side while I had my bottom lip out and tears in my eyes. I put the phone on speaker. She told us it was a biochemical pregnancy. I had no idea what that meant but a few hours later I learned a few things from google. A chemical pregnancy means you lose the baby before you ever see it on an ultrasound. Once you have seen the baby on ultrasound it is then considered a "clinical" pregnancy. A chemical pregnancy does in fact mean you were pregnant.
She told me a few other things but I don't remember all of it. She made sure I understood to stop taking my shots. Last time I had done a fresh cycle so this was my first time doing a frozen transfer. In my opinion the shots for the frozen transfer are worse but that could be because its been a few years. The shots are painful as crap. This is the first time I was depressed I wouldn't be able to wake up the next morning and give myself a shot. She told me I would continue to have bloodwork done until my HCG was 0. They would make sure I don't have an ectopic pregnancy. This phone call happened on a Monday night. She told me I would have bloodwork done Friday and then we would schedule a follow up appointment with my Dr.
She said she was sorry several times, I think I was frozen and not responding to anything she was saying. I finally found some words and basically just tried to make sure I understood, "so stop taking my shots and the next step is to have bloodwork done Friday?" She confirmed and then said sorry again and we ended the phone call. I walked a few steps into my living room and basically just collapsed. I started sobbing uncontrollably. It was painful. Gavin scooped me up into his arms and held me. My boys came over and held my hand and asked over and over "Mommy ok?".
I took the next few days off work and thought I would miscarry soon. I actually didn't miscarry until one week after the phone call. I happened to be at work. I passed a blood clot the size of my palm. Within the next hour I became extremely tired. My friend pointed out I was probably anemic from the loss of blood. I went home from work and just relaxed and sat with my feelings. i had my follow up appointment with my doctor and we set a plan to do a transfer in December. It ended up that I had a very large cyst on my ovary and my hormone levels were way off. They were too high which meant I would need another period before doing another transfer. We set up a new calendar to do a transfer in January. They put me on another round of birth control and we basically just started over.
This experience has helped me a ton to feel for others who miscarry and it has made me appreciate when things go right. Looking forward to my next transfer with a little anxiousness.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)