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!