3rd Beta 8/3/09

So the doctor's office called today with the results of yesterday's blood work. My HCG went from a 645 last Thursday to a 3,526 yesterday, and my Progesterone is up to 20! I was overjoyed. I'm really feeling like this is going to be a sticky little bean. Even better, they scheduled my first ultrasound! Brad and I go this Friday to see our little one and hopefully we'll get lucky and see or hear the heartbeat-even though it may still be too early. I am on cloud 9 today! I'm just so happy the pregnancy is moving along and I can't wait for my appointment on Friday!

Telling the folks

Well, we did it! Shared the news with the grandparents :). Friday night Brad and I went to my Grandfather's for a family get together. Not the most private place to give up information you aren't ready to share with the world yet, but oh well. By the time we got there, my dad had gone home because he wasn't feeling well. I decided to tell my mom anyway, figuring I'd stop off to see my dad on the way home and share the news with him too. I had photo cards made at CVS, as you can see in the pic below, for each of our parents. So I sat by my mom in the kitchen where they were very few people around and gave her the card. She started crying, so I hugged her and said "shhhhhhhhhhhhh". Lol, I tried to play it off by saying "we just wanted to do something nice for you guys" as loud as I could without being obvious. She was so happy! We swung by to see my dad as promised and showed him the card as well. He congratulated us and asked "how many?" lol, as in how many babies I was having. I'm like, um, ONE...no multiples for me! It was a reasonable question since he took my fertility treatments into consideration, but even with the Clomid, my chance of twins is only 7%, so it's not too likely. We chatted for a bit and then headed home. I was so exhausted I could barely keep my eyes open-I guess the fatigue is starting to set in.

I got a call from my mom the next day. Apparently my cousin's girlfriend, who I had met for the first time the night before, had figured out I was pregnant and opened her stupid mouth to my aunt and God knows who else. It's annoying, but I'm not too mad. It's just a.) too early to tell the world and b.) our news to tell. Some people are so inconsiderate, but whatever. I'm too busy gloating over being pregnant to really care about the ignorant people in this world.

Next came the in-laws. We went over Brad's parents on Sunday for dinner. I had the same card for them as we gave my parents, and despite his earlier warning of "let's not do it right away" Brad eagerly brought me my purse without provacation while I was sitting on the couch and waited anxiously for me to pull the card out. His parents read it together and at first, his mom simply said "that's cute." Not exactly the reaction I was anticipating, but I waited. She flipped it over to read the personalized note I had written on the back which was addressed to "mum-mum and pot-pot" (pot-pot comes from the fact that we have a running joke about my father-in-law being a potted plant after a particular night down the shore. We think it's adorable, but he won't use it because he's afraid people will associate it with marijuana) Still, no reaction. She must have just gotten to the part that said "I'll be blooming in 9 months" when she burst with excitement. Lol, it was so funny, the whole time she had no idea what the card was trying to tell her. My father-in-law said "It's about time, I was wondering when you'd figure it out." It was great. Of course everyone is excited and we can't wait for all 4 of them to meet their grandbaby!

Our 2nd Beta 7-30-09

Well, my HCG went up!! Almost tripled from Monday to Thursday, from a 220 to a 645!!!!!!!!!! Yay! The nurse said that's exactly what they like to see. That means, so far, my little bean is doing good and growing appropriately. My Progesterone went from a 9.1 to an 11.6. I asked her what was the normal range they were looking for. She told me not to worry about it, they couldn't measure an appropriate level in my blood because I'm taking the suppositories, but I'm fine. I told her I'm freaking out, lol. She said not to fixate on it. And my thyroid was good too. Obviously it's still WAY early, but (if I go by my LMP), I'm already 5 weeks, 2 days. I'm happy things are progressing as they should. I'm still not really feeling many symptoms. My BB's are actually less tender so far today, though they tend to get progressively worse throughout the day, so we'll see how they feel later. Still no morning sickness, and I have a healthy appetite, not too much though. My body tells me when I'm hungry. Actually, by the time it tells me, I'm usually starving, lol. I'm peeing all the time now and occassionally am having trouble sleeping. Overall though, things are still going great.

Spilling the beans

t was my plan to tell our parents first-as soon as the pregnancy was confirmed, but let's be honest, things don't always go as planned. My best friend, Karen, is visiting from California this week, so we had a day planned on Monday (7/27). Another close friend of mine, Erica, was tagging along, so it was the 3 of us hanging out and gabbing, talking about old times, new times, and growing up. Karen doesn't really want kids as of right now, she's about to marry her soulmate and she has the life she loves. So she was talking about being grossed out by pregnancy (not really in a mean way) and started to say "when you get pregnant..." I just looked at her with a giant grin on my face and said "I am, I'm pregnant." They both congratulated me, but without much fanfare. I'm sure it didn't really come as a shock to them though. Later, another one of Karen's friends joined us, and has we were talking, I pretty much told her too. Brad was the next to spill. He told his boss, just in case he needed to adjust his schedule for the upcoming train of doctor's appointments. Next came happy hour Wednesday with our old manager and director from work to catch up. Of course, preggo me was drinking water. So when one of them asked me what I wanted and I said "I'm good" the cat was out of the bag. Without hesitation she said (all in one breath I think) "Why are you drinking water? Wait are you pregnant? Oh my God, you're pregnant!!!" Neither of us even said a word, but I'm sure my giant grin and Brad's smirk gave us away instantly. Let's see, from there I told one of my current supervisors and Brad told a friend. But we're done for now. Our parents just have to be the next to know!!

The First Blood Test 7/27/2009

I went for my first blood test on Monday, to confirm I am indeed pregnant. The nurse kindly called me late morning Tuesday to give me the results. My quantative HCG was 220 and my Progesterone level was 9.1. She said that my Progesterone level was a little low, not a cause for grave concern, but they started me on Progesterone Suppositories 2x a day to make sure my numbers stay where they should be. I consulted with alot of women who have gone through this, and I feel confident that it's really not a big deal. I go for another round of bloodwork tomorrow (7/30), and as long as my HCG numbers at least double, the baby is ok for now. I'm still so worried something will go wrong. I'm sure it's the natural reaction to all things pregnancy-especially when you fought so long just to see that little + sign. I'm really trying to stay cautiously optimistic and not stress myself out about it, but I can't help feeling like something could be wrong. Physically, I'm totally fine. I think that's part of what freaks me out. So far, none of the dreaded morning sickness or constipation. Just tender breasts and the beginnings of the frequent bathroom trips associated with being pregnant. But one step at a time, for now, I'm just overjoyed to be pregnant.

Oh Holy BFP! 7-25-2009

I was feeling incredibly down about this cycle. I was convinced that not only was I not pregnant, that I never would be. I vented to the wonderful women on the WebMD TTC 6 Months and Still Trying boards, and really just went through an all around pity party. My chart looked dismal to me, I really didn't see any hope. When my temperature dipped and the mild cramping started, I thought for sure AF was on her witchy way. Come Friday I decided to break down and buy some HPT's, since I was already at the drugstore and I still hadn't gotten my period. My intention was to not test until Tuesday if AF had still stayed away, but with all the encouraging posts on the message board and my huge temp jump Saturday morning, I just had to pee on a stick, lol. At first it looked like yet another disappointment, but all the sudden my eyes adjusted and I saw that + sign on the EPT. I couldn't believe it. All logic escaped me and I had to look at the directions for the test to make sure the + actually meant I was pregnant. Emotion took over me, I was sobbing and shaking, I just couldn't believe it. All the elaborate ways I had planned to tell Brad when this moment finally came were out the window, I walked out of the bathroom, two tests in hand, and he just looked at me dumbfounded. I can't blame him. It's a little scary when your wife comes out of the bathroom at 7:30am on a Saturday crying the way I was. I managed to sit next to him on the bed and shove the tests in his face, barely mumbling the words "we did it" in between my sobs. He said "I thought you were supposed to be happy?" I was happy. These were the happiest tears I'd ever cried. I was elated, overwhelmed with emotion. We finally did it!

I'm starting a movement...

It's dedicated entirely to the abolishment of Mondays. I hate them. I really, really do. Nothing good comes from Mondays. And I feel it's safe to say, unless you are happily unemployed or a drunken college student, you probably hate Mondays too. They're the dreaded end to whatever fun and/or relaxing things you did on the high holy days known as Saturday and Sunday. The beginning of another annoying, stressful, boring, and overall hellish work week. I'll be honest, if I had the remote control from Click, I would, without hesitation, fast forward the time between 7am Monday and 5:30pm Friday. I'm sorry, but it's unlikely I'd miss anything of importance.

I know what you all are thinking. If we abolish Mondays, then Tuesday will be the new Monday, and thus, what's the point? Not true my friends, not true. Ever worked a 4 day week? Was it not unequivocally better? Mondays are the bane of our existence. No good can come from them. None. Nada. Nil. So, for the sake of all our sanity, please, join me. Join the movement for the utter destruction of Mondays.

On another note, lol. I had a decent weekend (before, of course, being tainted by the horror that is a Monday morning). We enjoyed cocktails, burgers, and swimming with Joe and Mer Friday night. Unfortunately, we had to avoid the Jacuzzi since it's bad for Brad's swimmers and my eggs. It was chilly, but luckily the pool was heated, so as long as I stayed underwater I was warm. :) The RE (Reproductive Endocrinologist-you all will get used to my lingo) thought I'd ovulate on Friday, so imagine my serious annoyance at the fact that it's *sigh* Monday, and I have yet to have the temp spike indicative of an egg release. I have no idea what's up with that. At this point, I think if I ever get pregnant it will be a miracle.

So for now, the only positive thing I really have to look forward to is our yearly vacation to OBX. 48 days and counting. It can't come soon enough. Here's a peek at the gorgeous digs we'll be enjoying come September. Sadly, again, we'll be avoiding the hot tub, but other than that, couldn't be better!

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