This Will Be: An Adventure

Today was First Ultrasound day! Sylvia was so nervous all morning, I was afraid we'd have a puke-fest in the car on the way into the RE's office. But luckily for me, we both made it to the office without incident. We met Dr. P in the elevator on the way up to his office, and minutes after walking in the front door I was up on the table waiting for it to begin.

When Dr. P started looking, the nurse motioned to Sylvia for her to come around to my side so she could see, too. We got a great look at the largest gestational sac. He didn't say whether or not he'd seen any other components (e.g. the yolk sac), but he did say that it was in my uterus (yay!) and of an appropriate size for how far along I am (5w5d, based on the IUI date [I'm 6w2d based on LMP, but 5w5d is more technically accurate since our IUI was 3w5d ago]). I was so overwhelmed I completely forgot to ask him any of the many questions I had planned to ask.

He also saw a second sac, much smaller than the first. He said he thinks we have one, maybe two in there. Wow. I am so eager to find out with more certainty, but we have to wait a whole two weeks for our next ultrasound!

Dr. P kindly printed out two copies of the ultrasound image that showed the largest gestational sac. We walked out of the office positively buzzing with happiness!

See that dark spot at the end of the arrow? That's it! (5w5d)

On the way to work from the RE's office, Sylvia called her mother and spilled the beans. Sylvia was trying to explain what we saw, and her mother said "oh, you mean the bubble?" Yes, our bubbles. Our beautiful, beautiful bubbles.

You know how you think about a post, and it gets bigger and bigger in your head? To the point where you don't think you could do it justice in a quick minute or two? That was this post to me. But now it's been over a week since we got the results of beta #2, and I'm in "get it done" mode.

So, in an effort to both get this post done and to not lose too much of the emotion of the actual day, I'm going to crib from what I posted on a chat board that day...

They called with my beta! It's 312!!! Up from 31 last Thursday. According to my trusty-dusty beta calculator, that is a doubling time of 28.82 hours!

Sylvia and I both burst into tears (the good kind). We are so happy and grateful for the strong second beta! Also, my progesterone level is 39.8, which the nurse said was "great."

I know we have more hurdles to clear, but for the moment we are basking in the joy of our good second beta.

First ultrasound is scheduled for next Thursday, 7/30 at 7:30 am. YAY!!!

Blood has been drawn, small talk made with the ice-cold phlebotomist (I almost got her to crack a smile today!), and progesterone check requested. Nothing left to do but wait for the afternoon phone call. We so desperately want the results of beta #2 to be good! We already love this little baby so much, our tiny spark of possibility.

The results of our beta for IUI #3 came yesterday at 3:00 pm. I was in a management training class, so I wasn't at my desk to receive the call. I saw the voicemail message show up on my blackberry, and after waiting an agonizing few minutes as we watched the end of a video, I made a beeline for the door.

The results, without further ado: I AM PREGNANT!

I could scarcely believe it when I heard the nurse say that our beta was positive. I played the message over again just to make sure I heard it right. Then I stood in the hall crying happy tears until I could compose myself enough to go back to class.

My hCG level at 12dpo was 31. I was initially quite worried that it wasn't over 50, but when I was able to speak to the nurse she reminded me that while they do like to see first betas over 50, it is still early and (as she put it) "there is a wide range of 'normal.'" I also looked up the singleton pregnancy beta chart over at Betabase, and the median hCG level for successful pregnancies is 36 at 12dpo, which I found quite reassuring.

Our next beta is Monday. The end of the weekend has never felt so far away! Sylvia and I are both awash in love and joy, and praying for great numbers on Monday.

We can all use a little more good news in the world, right? Well, our good news of last week was my progesterone check result from Thursday (07/09/09).

Bloodwork
P4: 20.6

Can you believe it? That is my best-ever 7dptrigger progesterone level, and the first time it's been over 15 on my medicated cycles. And I had only been on prometrium for one day at that point. Needless to say, we were thrilled.

We are feeling good and counting down the days until our beta.   :)

I made crosshairs all by myself!! Atta girl, body!

Dr. P said to not start the prometrium until Tuesday (something about it slowing down the progression-- of what, he didn't say), so the temp shift in my chart below is not med-induced. How cool is that? I was so excited when I saw my chart this morning.

(By the way, the wacky pre-O temps are a testament to the awful hot flashes I endure while on the clomid and for several days afterwards. I promise I really do temp at the same time every day!)

I am very curious about the ordered delay in starting prometrium this cycle. Last cycle I was told to start the day of the IUI, but that was by a nurse who I now suspect did not talk to Dr. P before telling me to start. Has anyone heard of prometrium slowing "progression"? And if so, is it progression of the sperm or progression of the body's natural progesterone production? Things that make you go "hmmm..."

It was, indeed, a happy Fourth of July. I woke up early to the sight of Sylvia grinning ear to ear, eyes sparkling in the morning light. Like a kid on Christmas morning, she was full of anticipation. Not a morning person myself, it took me a while to warm to her excitement, but of course I eventually caught the bug and we headed off to Dr. P's in high spirits.

We left the house early, thinking we might encounter some Fourth of July traffic as people came into DC to tour museums and stake out spots on the mall, but the roads were clear and we got to the office over half an hour early for our 10 am IUI. At 9:30 they called us back, and by 9:45 Sylvia had pushed the plunger and our two week wait had begun.

The rest of the day was spent lounging around the house. I never did have any ovulation pains, which was very disconcerting. I didn't even have any cramping from the IUI itself. Nothing. I am trying to be relaxed and casual about it all, but truthfully I am feeling a little discouraged. Thank goodness Sylvia feels so good about this try-- she's the one holding us up right now.

Our life, in appointments and bloodwork results:

CHECK...
June 29, CD14

Ultrasound
Follicles:
    L: one 16 mm, three less than 10 mm
    R: one 16 mm, two 14 mm, two less than 10 mm
Lining: 9.4 mm

Bloodwork
E2: 323
Progesterone: 0.54
LH: 6.1 (the nurse said LH but usually they check FSH, so this might be FSH)

CHECK...
July 1, CD16

Ultrasound
Follicles:
    L: none
    R: one 19 mm, one 17 mm
Lining: 14 mm

Bloodwork
E2: 379
Progesterone: 0.3
FSH: 5.4 (same nurse, so LH -> FSH?)

TRIGGER!
Ovidrel trigger at 7:00 pm on July 2, CD17.

IUI scheduled for 10:00 am July 4th!