Pregnant Or.... Not?

Since the retrieval and transfer, I have had various symptoms that have continued until now.  I should be nearly six weeks along and due at Christmas, however, our first ultrasound is Monday (our 7th wedding anniversary) so we will know more then.

My symptoms have included:  sudden extreme fatigue, sore and swelled breasts right away, urgency to urinate, craving really hot tomato juice, don't sleep well at night, loss of appetite earlier in day, cramps in low abdomen. I swear I feel the baby or babies changing my body which is super cool!  Ice cream upsets my stomach and so do sweet drinks like cappuccino.  My sense of smell is super human!

Have I ever mentioned that when I want to do something I am impatient? I wanted to know so bad if either of the 2 embryos we transferred had implanted. I put post-it notes up counting down the days until our first beta test.

It was so hard during the 2ww (2 week window) after the transfer.  It was too early to take home pregnancy tests (hpt) but I couldn't resist.  I was reading profusely soaking in all the information I could on the experience of others and the science behind hcg beta blood tests.  What is hcg?  That silly fad diet I am so not a fan of (no offense to anyone)?  Ahh, yes. HCG is a hormone found in pregnant women.  So.  I did a trigger shot of HCG on Friday the 31 of March and then within 36-72 hours the embryos were ready to be retrieved.  Then I did the 3dt (3 day transfer IVF procedure) as previously  mentioned.  Well, you need the hcg out of your body to get an accurate result on your hpt.  The first pregnancy test I took at home was one of those outdated interpret-the-line tests.  It was negative.  Well.  It was much too soon since.  However, what that test was possibly telling me is that the hcg from the trigger shot was out of my system.  I read and read and believed that it takes a maximum 10 days to be out of your system.  HCG is what pregnancy tests read to determine a pregnancy.  BFN.

I didn't take any hpt's that next day but did the following 4 days.  All POSITIVE.  BFP!!  Started testing positive 7dpt3dt.  My transfer was 4-5-12 and retrieval was 4/2/12.

My first beta test was 10dpt3dt and I was PREGNANT with a beta result (reading hcg levels) of 145. The next test needed to yield a 290 and we ended up with 375.  After doing research and speaking to my cousin (pregnant with twins), we learned that these numbers are within the twin range on the beta master list.  Could it be true? Could both of the beautiful embryos have implanted?  When Dr. Doherty was told of my high beta levels she had replied that they should be that high as they are the best embryos she has seen in years! WOW.  What a compliment! LOL

So, here we are and we should be nearly 6 weeks pregnant.  I am so excited for Monday's first ultrasound but scared at the same time.  I hope all goes well.  I am sure it will though!

The only sad news I have to mention is that we were only able to freeze 3 embryos- the other 5 didn't make it and that did make us sad.  We are attached to these embryos we have a picture of.  So, we really do want twins.  We are 100% unable to conceive on our own without the help of IVF due to male factor infertility.  We must retrieve his sperm to get it via testes biopsy.

Onward we move. Muah! -The Lucero's

Transfer: Such a Beautiful Experience

Time for the Transfer 

April 5, 2012 Thursday

So, we received calls each morning letting us know how great our beautiful embryos are doing.  As previously  mentioned, we retrieved 11 eggs and 10 fertilized on their own.  We remained at ten beautiful healthy embryos.  Dr. Doherty called us the morning of the procedure to do the transfer to uterus.  She said the embryos were just beautiful and did we went to transfer one or two.  We decided we wanted two.  

Just before our 9am arrival at the Methodist Women's Hospital (Reproductive Health Specialties) I was prescribed Valium for the procedure so I took one.  I was told to have a large breakfast and a very full bladder.  At the office I did my normal blood draw and my husband and I were walked over to the hospital where we given our stylish gowns to put on.  We couldn't help but giggle when getting eye contact with each other since we thought he looked a little silly.

We were brought into the same IVF room that I was in on Monday for the retrieval.  They wheel you on a cart/bed to the outside of the doors, they open, you walk in and present your name and birth date to the man behind the glass door which reminded me of the fine Oz from Wizard of Oz.  Well, he happened to be a little late this morning so it was comical to hear him get scolded for not answering his phone or answering the glass doors right away.  It lightened the mood for sure.  

Dr. Doherty and her wonderful staff helped me up on the infamous stir up table as my name band was verified and the room then darkened.  I could see the ultrasound machine to my right and my DH sat in a chair just at my left shoulder.  Dr. Doherty mentioned how we will be able to see the embryos on that screen before they are transferred.  That is when Nate pointed out to me the larger screen to his upper left side.  It gave off a coral color light in the dimmed room as we waited to be able to 'see something'.  Then a moment later I see the petri dish and my name and info on it before they take the labeled top off revealing the treasure.  There are what appear to be translucent globs in a liquid a few spots- nothing that would appear familiar to me.  Then they point out that two black spots were the embryos.  We observed as they sucked them into the catheter that would be the portal of transportation to my uterus. :) Ahh.  This is so moving.  I feel tears go down the sides of my face and directly in my ears.  Yup- wet ears.  LOL But I didn't care.  I was moved.

*we have 10 embryos, transferred 2 and froze 8

After the catheter did its part it was flushed back into the petri dish to confirm the embryos were not stuck in it. "All Clear." I hear.  I wipe my tears.

I was on bed rest for 24 hours meaning NO sitting up at all. Eat laying down- no jokes. It's boring but you gotta do it! :)

So- we have five days before I do my beta pregnancy test to see if our little embryos have attached.

If one attaches, we would have a singleton given a healthy pregnancy.  If either split, that creates identical twins and if both do not split but both do implant/attach then they would be fraternal twins- etc.  We would be due just before Christmas with a singleton.

We have 10 healthy embryos- we implanted 1 and 2 shown previously in this blog. The other 8 are being frozen.

Right now I am still doing PIO (Progesterone in Oil) injections in my upper buttocks and it sucks.  Let's not play.  It doesn't hurt to do it but the after effect gives me headaches and bruises for days.  Not so sure the first one has gone away yet.  I need the progesterone for a healthy environment for the embryo to attach and imbed into.  The oil is so thick that Nate has to push the plunger down after I put the needle in.  I am switching sides but that makes little difference after this long.  All4Baby... All4Baby

From Menopur Through Retrieval

We are working the calendar. I can't believe how this is moving along.  Tomorrow is our transfer already. Yep, let me fill you in on what has happened over the last week.

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I realized that I was in need of about 26 more vials of Menopur and Aetna was causing hoops by not honoring refills and they did not send me what I needed- they sent 40 instead of 60.  Luckily, I was helped by Dr. Doherty's office and my medicine was rushed for $2,500 ding on my insurance and $50 copay for myself.

I also did Ganirelix one evening after going to an ultrasound appointment to find out the size of the follicles. We were looking at six on the right side and seven on the left. They were 11-12 in size and needed to be near 18.  The Ganirelix caused a injection site reaction and was not much more than just annoying.

Ganirelix: Injection Site Reaction

Friday, March 31, 2012: Trigger Shot HCG

This shot is the most time sensitive and the most important. I had to do it at 10pm.

Monday, April 2nd 2012: Retrieval

Nathan and I had Nate's dad bring us to our appointment. Due to Nate's lack of vas deferens he must do a testicular biopsy to extract sperm.  Today was the day to retrieve eggs with me put under and Nate in an outpatient procedure doing a testes biopsy for sperm.  This would be the first time his sperm and my eggs would meet.  They have been probably screaming that they couldn't get out all these years!  Retrieval went well for both of us.

We ended up 11 eggs retrieved.  I would receive a call each day on the quantity, quality and status of the eggs.  Day 1: 10 out of 11 fertilized on their own and were considered grade a by day 2

I have been doing the Progesterone in Oil shots and those are NOT fun. I can handle injecting the needle but its had to twist around like I want to.  The oil is so thick that I have to have Nate now push in the plunger.  It hurts the next day and then for a few days after. Ugh. I just researched that some sit the vial in warm water a little while before injecting so I am going to try that today. Yup. Anything to ease the bruising feeling I get with each PIO shot that I have to repeat through the pregnancy test around April 16th.

So, here we are the night before transfer.  Dr. Doherty is calling us early to discuss how many to transfer. I think it will be two like we discussed when we started this journey back in October.

Here we go!