Now I do want to acknowledge a couple things here: 1) we still have a very long road to maneuver with many potential speed bumps along the way. I've said this before, but our journey will only truly be considered a success when we're holding our baby in our arms. But we're a great way along in that journey. 2) I want to be cautious about how much I celebrate our success here because I know there are women reading this who have been trying far longer than we have or had far more disappointments than we've had to this point too, and I don't want to gloat since it may have seemed "easier" for us. The infertility journey is completely different from couple to couple and I'm not unsympathetic to that. I hope overall you get motivation and hope from my blog and not disappointment...
But we are allowed to celebrate a little, yes?! :)
Today was my official blood test at Dr. A's office (also known as a "Beta hCG" test). As I may have mentioned before, hCG (Human Chorionic Gonadotropin) is a hormone which the rudimentary placenta begins to secrete after an embryo implants into your uterus. It can be detected in your urine or blood and gets higher and higher during the first trimester, before leveling off. This hCG is what a home pregnancy test is looking for in your urine - that's called a qualitative hCG test. A quantitative hCG test is the blood test at your doctor's office since it is measuring quantity of hCG. It's called a “Beta” because the test actually measures a beta chain portion of the hCG hormone molecule. So while the urine test just gives you a yes/no, the blood test will give you a number and that can tell us how promising the pregnancy is looking (a number too low could be a bad sign). In general, at this stage, the hCG levels will double every 48-72 hours. Here's an article that talks a bit about the levels during pregnancy.
I stopped by Dr. A's office this morning for my blood draw all happy and stress free (since I already had 3, count 'em, THREE gradually darkening lines on pregnancy tests up through this morning!) I was feeling pretty confident that my hCG levels would be good since I've been seeing that line darken on the pregnancy tests each morning and that would mean the level is getting higher!
As I was chatting with Dr. A's staff member who was taking my blood, we had a glitch in our communication and after admitting to her that I'd cheated and been testing at home - she thought I said it "wasn't good". But here I was smiling and happy so she must've been baffled. After a few sighs and sad faces she asked me if I'd already gotten my period and I said "wait, What?! No! We're pregnant!" (OMG it's so weird saying that out loud!) The smile that lit her face up was truly genuine and so refreshing to see since we haven't told anyone and don't plan to for at least a couple more weeks. What a wonderful feeling!
So I got the numbers back in the afternoon:
hCG: 76 mIU/ml
Progesterone: 65 ng/mL
Dr. A called my hCG "PERFECT" and was very happy. She wants this to be at least 15. If it was 200 then it'd be twins (which is possible when transferring a single embryo because it CAN, in rare situations, split into identical twins.) Progesterone continues to look great. Whew! Another hurdle down!
Next stop is the 2nd hCG blood test on Thursday (2 days from today) to ensure that the number is about doubling. If all looks okay after that then she'll set me loose for a couple weeks before our first ultrasound. Since we WILL continue to have a normal, uneventful pregnancy (please, please, please!) we'll continue to take all my current meds (estrogen, progesterone) and see Dr. A every couple weeks until week 10 of my pregnancy. Then we would "graduate" and head off to an obstetrician who will see me through to childbirth. In a weird way, I'll hate leaving Dr. A and her staff behind...
Back to the daily updates (which I'll probably continue through our 2nd blood test and then stop reporting on):
7 Days Post Transfer:
Felt pretty normal all morning, no dizziness or anything else for that matter. Took another First Response Early Results and the line is getting darker! But interestingly enough, I tried a Clearblue Easy digital (so that I could take a picture of the actual word “Pregnant”) and it is not yet registering a positive. I’ll just hold onto the second one we have of those, until tomorrow. I felt those faint, faint cramps again but they aren’t obvious. I only notice them when I’m sitting still and kinda paying attention to my body.
8 Days Post Transfer (today):
Still feeling fine and mostly normal. Still get the slight cramping but it’s not even as strong as menstrual cramps so they’re extremely manageable. I do notice the occasional dizziness. Haven’t noticed any additional spotting in the last 3 days. The line on the pregnancy test is getting darker, still. I've had this weird dry mouth feeling the last day. Not sure what that's about.
By the way, the Progesterone shots are becoming totally manageable and routine. When you do the shot in the upper, outer quadrant of your butt like you’re supposed to - it’s not a commonly used muscle so it barely hurts when I sit (just a tad when something actually makes contact) and doesn’t even really bother me to sleep lying on that side of my body. Hubby massages the area after the shot each night which I think not only helps distribute the medicine he just administered, but also helps to massage the existing soreness. Plus, I sit on a heating pad for 20 minutes after each shot. I think these things are totally helping. Plus, I think like with anything, you just get used to it. We’ve done a week of the shots now...another 6 weeks? Sure...anything for our little one.
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