Monday, August 17, 2015

Like a Butterfly Emerging from a Cocoon

I'm alive!! This stork has not fallen off the face of the Earth, nor been run over by a bus, never to be heard from again. No, it was not some ill-fated adventure or injury that has kept me from my blog, but rather a tiny little wombmate that has been sucking all of the life energy from my entire body for the past 8 weeks.

As you may recall from my last post, we had very strong positive home pregnancy tests, and the transfer appeared to be successful. We had only transferred a single, PGD-normal, male embryo, so our dark lines on the home pregnancy tests gave us the impression that he was snuggling in nicely. Around that time, the pregnancy exhaustion hit me with full force, and has only given me a couple of reprieves since. The morning sickness came with it, although the nausea was quite predictable; arriving late-afternoon each day and hanging around until sometime into the night. I would wake each morning feeling well rested with a calm stomach, just long enough to be productive for a few hours and get some food into my system. By the time 2:00 pm rolled around, I had to close my office door for a brief siesta just to get myself through the afternoon, and any chance of productivity was shot for the day. But today is one of those blessed reprieves, so I'm taking full advantage of it to fill you all in on how things have developed over the past couple of months.

At our first blood draw 10 days past transfer, my beta-HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin - pregnancy hormone) result was 221 mIU/mL, which is a great starting number. With the goal of doubling the amount of HCG in my system every 48 hours as a healthy embryo should do, we tested again at 12 days past transfer where our result was 542 mIU/mL. Far better than doubling, this little bean was really taking off in there. The clinic scheduled the first ultrasound for the following week when the pregnancy was 5 weeks and 2 days along. Mandy, Wes and I knew that we wouldn't be able to see much on that ultrasound other than a yolk sac, as the fetal pole doesn't develop until the end of week 5 and the heart doesn't start beating until early in week 6. Much to our surprise, the bean measured 5 weeks and 4 days (2 days ahead), and had the beginning of a fetal pole forming. It was great to see we were right on track with a little overachiever on board.

Our next ultrasound was scheduled for the end of the following week when we were 6 weeks and 5 days. I was surprised when I showed up that morning with quite a flutter of nerves in my stomach. It felt like the weight of the world rested on this ultrasound and whether the bean was able to get that heart beating or not. As the sonographer lit the screen up, she immediately moved past the bean and there on the screen was the undeniable flutter of a fetal heart. My eyes leaked a little as I was so relieved and awe-inspired by the work that we had done to get that point. I immediately sent Mandy the pictures, which elicited the expected exuberance that also made my eyes leak a little. Aside from what I predict will be an amazing feeling when they hold their baby for the first time, this was one of the greatest moments of this journey. To help these wonderful people to finally be able to achieve something that they have dreamed of for so long breathed pure happiness into my soul.

The final RE ultrasound was scheduled for 8 weeks and 1 day, and again showed the bean growing like a weed, still measuring 2 days ahead. The nurse coordinator emailed me to say that everything looked perfect, that I was to transition to my OB, stop my progesterone shots that day and start progesterone suppositories for 13 days until I was 10 weeks pregnant. After 2 days of the suppositories, I was deeply regretting the switch and wishing for a nightly injection of progesterone into my backside. The suppositories caused some irritation and light spotting, as is common for many women that use them. Mandy and Wes, however, were panicked by the spotting and requested that I see the OB. I was able to get a quick view on ultrasound to let them know that the bean was still doing fine with a perfect heart rate, and we set our first regular OB appointment on the Monday after we hit 10 weeks.

The first OB appointment was great fun. Mandy and Wes are not currently stateside, so they likely won't be able to attend many appointments. Such was the case with this first one. The nurse, the OB and the staff all seemed to really enjoy having a case that's a little new and different. We joked around and had a great time, as well as running through the usual first appointment information. We got yet another peek at the bean on ultrasound, where he was still outperforming expectations. Our next appointment is set for August 31 when we'll be 14 weeks. We're now 12 weeks and 1 day, and I'm just starting to emerge from the exhaustion and nausea cocoon of the first trimester. Here's to increased energy and keeping the blog updated!

3 comments:

  1. Is there any update? I have just poured over your blog. Please update if you can. <3

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    1. Aww, thanks for reading and enjoying. I have been far too neglectful of the blog in the past few months for sure. I'll sit down to work on another good update today or tomorrow.

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    2. Thank you! I speak with my IPs tonight and I have gone crazy researching and reading about the experience of others.

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