Stats and other stuff...

After a marvelous weekend with my family, I was headed back to the lab for blood work on Monday. Unfortunately we did not get stat results this time and had to wait til yesterday for those. When they called, I was more than pleasantly surprised at the beta number they gave back to me!

So here are the numbers thus far:

Beta 1- 7.75 days past transfer : 132

Beta 2- 10.75 days past transfer : 549  -- Doubling time of 35.01 Hours

Beta 3- 17.75 days past transfer: 6802! -- Doubling time of 46.27 Hours

Here are some questions I've been asked, so I thought I'd answer here...

What do these numbers mean?

A beta blood test is a test that tests how much HCG is in your system. The hope is that they double every 48-72 hours. Which means, we're doing great!

Am I feeling pregnant?

Why yes, yes I am. Which is kind of weird, I guess. In a typical pregnancy I would still barely just have found out I was pregnant. The difference is that the meds we take for surrogacy make the symptoms all that more obvious, not to mention we're looking for them. Things I've dealt with thus far include butter-fingers (I dropped a jar of hot oil all over my kitchen floor), inability to decide what I want to eat, waves of nausea and heartburn (before this I hadn't taken a Tums in quite a long time), needing a nap almost every afternoon, and a very weird craving for Lifesavers (I'm not a fan of hard candies at all). There are also a few things I'm dealing with that are related to the meds and not so much pregnancy- bloating being one, and the other I don't see fit to write about on this blog. Needless to say, it's all there and we're definitely on the right track!

When is the ultrasound?

I'm so glad you asked! I'm so excited! The ultrasound is next Tuesday (7/3) at 11am. Unfortunately it's too costly for Katie to fly down to join us at this ultrasound, so I will be recording it on video and hopefully talking to her on the phone while we look around. Since we put in two embryos, I'm anxious to see whether one or both stuck around!

Thanks for reading and supporting us along the way! I can't wait to update you after the ultrasound!

Long Overdue Update - Pt. 2

The 2 Week Wait

If you could call it a 2 week wait, anyway, was not so long really! My first beta was to be Friday the 15th, only 8 days after transfer. Which was okay since the embryos were 6 day embryos and they usually implant between 1-4 days after transfer. Plus it made for a really short "unsure" time.

Monday night I talked to Katie on the phone. Both of us knew that at point I could probably start testing and possibly see something soon. We were both super anxious to know. I had planned on holding out until Wednesday because I didn't want to see any negatives. But dang it, talking to Katie got me. I couldn't wait. Monday night I took a test. 

It was stark white. I laid on my bed and cried to my husband. I knew it was too early to test. I knew I should have waited til Wednesday. 6 day embryos + 4 days, there had to be a positive by now, right?! I got back up and looked at the test again. Out of the corner of my eye I saw something on the test. But when I picked it up and studied it more, I didn't see anything. I put it down and told Shane I thought I saw something. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. Shane held me up and said not to give up. Then he said he thought he saw something, too. I ended up saying "I'm not giving up hope," and then decided to test again in the morning.x

In the morning, I did another test. This time there was DEFINITELY something there! But it was still Oh so very very faint. No way was I going to give up now! But I also wasn't ready to tell anyone, just in case. I tested again Tuesday night and it showed up more, but still faint. But I had run out of tests. I had to go to the dollar tree and get more! Wednesday morning I tried with a dollar tree test, which was even fainter, if that's a word, than the original tests! I said screw it and we went to Target and got some good ones. Wednesday at 11:30, I got my first "definitely there if you have surro-eyes" positive. After a quick consultation with some of my surro-friends, it was time to tell Katie!

I texted Katie and asked her to call me when she could. She called immediately. Then I asked if she was by her computer, and I e-mailed her the above picture asking her if she thought she had "surro-eyes".

I could hear her happiness over the phone and it made me have happy tears. Both of us were ecstatic, yet realistically we knew we really needed to wait til Friday... but we were so excited! It was so hard to not say anything! And, Katie was so excited, she forgot it was her anniversary the next day! Pretty good anniversary gift, right?!

I tested again each morning and evening. Here's another one of the ones I took that was a definite!

 Friday's beta came back at 132! Woohooo! Repeat beta, Monday! Get the weekend over with, right?!

Not so much. I don't know what happened, or if it's hormones or what, but my back decided it was not going to behave. I went to work on Saturday morning. I am still on "light duty" per my transfer instructions, so all I did was sell portraits. I sat a lot. I stood a little. There was no way my back should hurt that bad! I went home after 3 hours. And laid in bed all weekend. When I was able to walk, I was walking like an old woman. Still am. 

Fortunately, the tests kept getting darker. Sunday's was darker than the control line.

Today, Monday I was worried all day. After the back pain all weekend and some questionable symptoms, I really was concerned about the beta not coming back high enough, or worse, dipping lower. I asked my friends to pray, and let Katie know that I was praying about it too. Tried to keep positive. 

My friend Brooke, who came to transfer with me, came over to help out while my back was hurting today. Lovely friend that she is fed me and my kids lunch and helped get my kitchen in order... seriously she was wonderful. 

Later, while I was with my younger son waiting for my older son's therapy to be done, the call came. Right before my phone died. 

Fortunately it didn't die til after I got the news about our beta! Beta had risen to 549 from 132! That, in case you are wondering is great! They are hoping your beta doubles every 48-72 hours. My tests were about 72 hours apart, and the doubling time was 35.01 hours. Woohoo! The grueling 2 week wait is OVER!

Thanks to everyone who's been a cheerleader for us, we hope you'll stick around and continue! For those who prayed for us not knowing a thing, I thank you! I know it's been a long week with no news but I wanted to wait til we were more "sure."

The next steps:

Tomorrow they're going to let me know if I need to increase my progesterone or not, based on the above symptoms I had this weekend. 

Next Monday I'll repeat the beta to make sure things are still going the way we want.

2 weeks- First ultrasound!

Have a great week, I'll update as the need arises!

*6/19* Just a quick note... we did increase my progesterone today based on progesterone levels and the symptoms I had over the weekend. Unfortunately it is by means of the icky sticky suppositories, though. Oh what fun!

Long Overdue update - Pt. 1

I hate to say this, but I've been holding out on you on purpose. Don't hate me!  Here we go, from transfer til now! Hold on to your seats, this is gonna be a long one!

June 6, day before transfer!

I dropped my oldest son off at therapy and went to meet my hubby at the bank to notarize a consent form we needed before transfer. Way to wait til the last minute! Woot! Well by the time we made it to said bank, half way between hubby's work and my son's therapy office, it was pouring rain and hailing. Luckily ;), hubby had a late call and wasn't able to get to us for an hour or so, so we got to sit in the car in the parking lot during the aforementioned rain. Thankfully, my youngest was very much asleep through that. Until the hail. But it worked out. We got the paper notarized.

Unfortunately, between hubby being late meeting me and the rain/hail, I was late for my massage. Fortunately, they understood... then I had the most relaxing 80 minutes of my entire life. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you Katie for the wonderful gift card to the spa! I have the best IM, EVER!

June 7, Transfer day and bed rest

I woke up today READY to get pregnant! I wore the shirt Katie gave me on her trip here that said "I grow babies, what's your superpower?" and green socks. Brooke came with me again, and she wore green as well. What a fun tradition. Unfortunately I became aware that my shirt might hurt feelings at the clinic only AFTER we had been sitting there a few minutes... then I covered up until we went back. 

We were able to transfer two 6 day embies. The one on the left looked ready to hatch!

After transfer, we ran through McDonald's for fries and grabbed lunch (elsewhere) and headed to the hotel. We got to hang out and eat lunch for a while while I got my bed rest started. The relaxation at the hotel was great, save for the pool being right below my window. Fortunately, they had cable and I was able to have a House Hunter's marathon when I wasn't resting. That part rocked. 

The part that didn't rock so much? We had selected that hotel because it was the closest hotel to my house that had room service. Unfortunately, the room service food didn't appeal to me at all, nor did the $30 they wanted for 8oz of steak. And, there was no delivery nearby, either. So finally after hemming and hawing for 2 hours over what I can/can't have/don't want for dinner, we got our chinese place to deliver my usual (broc/beef) at 10:30pm... unfortunately by the time it got to me, it was cold. Oh well, cold chinese food is good, right?!

In the morning my wonderful friend Aisha came and brought me french toast and we hung out for a few hours. I'm so grateful for wonderful friends! 

I went home around noon and my hubby took care of me the rest of the day. Saturday, Aisha took my kids for the day (as she did on Thurs as well) and I rested some more and read a lot. Sunday morning I let the kids fend for themselves and I let them try and make me breakfast and take care of me. I think they had fun with that. 

I enjoyed my 3 days of bed rest and really feel that the hotel stay really helped me get off to a great start with the embryos. I got to rest, visualize pregnancy and it working, and pray a ton. I'm so thankful for that time. And the time with my family, as well as the time the kids were able to spend with their friends was a huge blessing as well. I'm so grateful for my wonderful friends!

Read the next blog for the "Two Week Wait"!

Here we go again!

Whew, it's been quite a month since I wrote! A lot has been going on for me, personally, so there really has not been time to update at all.

Now that the school year is over, its going to be a great summer. Let's kick it off by getting pregnant, shall we?

Our 2nd transfer is happening this Thursday, June 7 at 12:30!

Today I stocked up on pineapple and will have a bit each day this week (it's supposed to help make my uterus more hospitable). This week before Thursday, I'm cleaning the house to get ready for helpers who will be here while I'm on bedrest, and also getting meals ready for easy meals for Shane to do while I rest.

On Wednesday, we have scheduled a time for me to use the birthday gift that Katie got me! I will be getting a massage that evening to help me loosen up. Thursday my friend Brooke will take me to transfer again and I'll grab some McD's fries (surro tradition) and head to a hotel nearby home for some real good rest for the day/night to help the emby(ies) stick. Friday, Shane will pick me up from the hotel and I'll finish out my bedrest in my bed at home.

Katie is enjoying a restful week at the beach with her family...I hope I can give her happy news when she returns!

I haven't done this in a while, but I would really appreciate prayers from all around, so... if you could join me in prayer, thank you!

Father in Heaven, thank you so much for allowing me to meet Katie and her family and for giving me the opportunity to help them have a second baby. Lord your ways are higher than our ways, and we know that in all things you work together for our good. You've shown yourself faithful to give us what we desire in our hearts when our desires meet up with your will for our lives. Katie's desire is to have a baby, my desire is to help her. You've shown me time and time again that you will give me that desire if I hold strong to your word. So I am holding on now and believing that your will and our desires meet up and that there will be life in my womb this week. Father prepare my body to receive that which you have created. We trust that you will grow the embryo/embryos according to your purpose, we trust that you will guide the REs hands when putting it/them in on Thursday. Father help me to be everything those embryos need and have to be able to make their home for the next 40 weeks. I believe Lord that you can make miracles happen, and children are miracles....We stand on Your Word, with faith, that you can do this! In Jesus awesome name, Amen