Sharing the News

The IVF process can be a roller coaster, and I was extremely lucky to have been successful after just my first transfer. Knowing about how rare first time success with IVF can be ahead of time it made me want to wait to share the news with my oldest son, who is 5 1/2, until we saw positive results on the ultrasound. (My youngest child is only a year and a half, and will probably not be able to comprehend much of what is happening throughout this pregnancy.) On the evening after my ultrasound, my husband and I carefully explained to our son that I was helping another couple start a family of their own, because they were unable to do so on their own. I also explained that, unlike his baby brother, this baby would not be coming home with us after he/she was born. And that this baby would not be related to us, and he was not the baby's big brother. My son said, "I know, I know." But think got real quiet for a couple seconds, and said, "But..." (This is where I panicked, and wondered what his little brain could be thinking at this very moment.) "But... will I still be able to see the baby??" my 5 year old asked. "Of course," I replied. He said, "Ok, GOOD! Because then I will know if it's a boy or a girl!" It was so sweet. I should have known that he would be completely fine with the idea. Although I am sure we will need to remind him throughout the process, especially as my belly grows larger, that we are not giving up our baby - that this baby was never ours to begin with and we are simply giving him or her back. 

My 5 year old wasn't the only person to learn about my news last week. I ended up telling three other people, as well as making this blog "public" on the same day. Guess I was still feeling all the excitement from the ultrasound. :) 

~The Baby Fairy

Ultrasound #1

There is ONE bun baking in my oven!!!

So for all of those who thought twins, nope! Just one healthy baby growing in there. I was able to share the first pregnancy ultrasound with the Intended Mother (IM). It was awesome to see her reaction to the little heartbeat flicker on the screen, and to be able to even HEAR the heartbeat as well! Such a fun experience. Unfortunately, the Intended Father (IF) couldn't make it, because of work. But he was able to hear the doctor tell us the good news via speaker phone. The baby is a whopping 5.2mm right now, and is measuring on track for being 6 weeks & 3 days pregnant. My estimated due date is February 17th - a Valentine's baby! So sweet. :)

I had blood work as well, and my estrogen level was high enough that I am able to stop the patches now. However, I have to stay with the Progesterone injections for another 3.5 weeks. I asked the nurse about the numbness I was feeling at the injection site and on the outside of my legs, and she said I was injecting them too low. Oops! So hopefully injecting higher will help with the numbness, but she did say it may take a couple months for the feeling to come back completely.

After the appointment, the IM and I had lunch together. It was fun to get to know each other better, we talked about everything from reality tv shows to working together on a possible sibling project in the future for this baby. That will take some time to consider, so we'll see how this one goes first. I am so happy for the new parents-to-be. Looking forward to the next 8 months!!

Up next... we'll get another peek of baby via ultrasound on July 11th!

~The Baby Fairy

Blood Test #2

My second hCG level check was done on Monday, June 18th (17 days post transfer). And this time, I didn't get a call from the nurse around the afternoon like before. I was impatient and wanted to know my number! So I picked up the phone and called myself, and a different nurse called me back a couple hours later with this: 

3,176!!

My hCG level had doubled just over every 43 hours! THIS IS GREAT! And again, I got to be the one to deliver the good news to the couple. The IM was shocked and very excited! The IF had no idea what that number meant! Same with my husband as well. We explained that it was a good strong number. We scheduled an appointment for the first pregnancy ultrasound for the following week. It would be a long week and a half of waiting to see what exactly was going on in there. With my hCG level doubling so well, some people wondered if maybe there would be twins in there??!!


Up next... ultrasound results!


~The Baby Fairy

Blood Test #1

On Monday, June 11th (10 days post transfer) I went to have blood work done. They would test the level of the human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) hormone in my blood. HCG is a hormone produced during pregnancy that is made by the developing placenta. An hCG level of less than 5mIU/ml is considered negative for pregnancy, and anything above 25mIU/ml is considered positive for pregnancy. That afternoon, I got a call from the nurse, my level was: 

222!!

A great number! And the nurse even let me call the IM with the good news. She was very excited and thrilled that the number was so high. Now we have to wait one week, for the second blood test. In a bout 85% of normal pregnancies, the hCG level will double every 48 - 72 hours.

Up next... wait for blood test #2!

~The Baby Fairy

Home Pregnancy Test

After a long 8 days of waiting, I took a home pregnancy test on the morning on June 8th and saw this wonderful word: 

!!!!!! It worked !!!!!! 

I sent a text message, with the picture of the test, to the couple and they were both very excited, and yet still cautious. They had been down this road before, with a positive test, only to be told the devastating bad news that the pregnancy was not viable at the ultrasound a few weeks later. But we have to celebrate each little victory, so for today, the news was good! It is incredibly lucky to also be successful on the first transfer, sometimes it can take 3-4 transfers before receiving a positive result.

Up next... "official" blood tests results! 

~The Baby Fairy  

Transfer Day

Preparing for the transfer meant starting the much bigger, scarier, progesterone medication. The Progesterone gives support for the lining of the uterus and is needed to maintain an early pregnancy. The Progesterone is taken until reaching 10 weeks pregnant, at that time the placenta produces enough of its own progesterone so that the supplementation can stop. And even though I considered myself a "pro" at giving myself the Lurpon injections in my stomach, I was definitely not confident enough to give myself the Progesterone injections in my backside. (Insert my loving husband here, who offered to help me with the injections.) This hormone is in oil, so it's thicker and needs a bigger needle, and needs to be inserted intramuscularly. The nurse had explained how to give the Progesterone injections to me in person, but no one actually SHOWS you how to do it. So, you are left to turn to the wonderful "YouTube" for help! I found dozens of videos of women preparing their bodies for an IVF transfer and giving themselves a shot of Progesterone. It was very helpful, love YouTube!


I started the daily Progesterone injections one week before the transfer. Some other medications that I was required to take to prepare for the transfer were an antibiotic called Doxycycline (Doryx) and a steroid called Methylprednisolone (Medrol). The Doryx minimizes the risk of injection from the transfer. And Medrol is a steroid that helps prevent the body from rejecting the transferred embryos. Both of these were oral pills that I took for 5 days before the transfer.


On the day of the transfer, my husband and I drove out to LA for the 10am appointment. I was nervously excited for the big day. I was given one Valium pill to take 45 minutes before the procedure, to help relax my muscles and me! We got settled into the room, and the Intended Mother (IM) met us in there. The Intended Father (IF) was also there, but just said hello briefly and remained in the waiting room during the procedure. They wheeled a big incubator with the embryos into the room, and plugged it in. Then we all got a chance to get a peek at the three embryos that would be transferred through the microscope. It was so neat! I don't have an actual picture of them, but they looked something like this: 

 {image source}

After implantation into the womb, the sphere you see is what later would become the placenta, and the clump of cells on the bottom would become the fetus. All that work leading up to the transfer, and the actual procedure took no more than 15 minutes. It was simple, and painless. I was asked to remain lying down for another 30 minutes with my legs elevated slightly. Then I was wheeled out of the clinic, and told to remain on bed rest for the next 24 hours only getting up to eat and use the restroom. The couple had graciously reserved us a room at a hotel nearby for the night. The next morning, we woke up and met the couple for breakfast. It was good to chat with them and learn more about each other before we headed home.


Up next... wait, wait, wait... for the pregnancy test results!


~The Baby Fairy 

Medications

After obtaining legal clearance, it was time for medications! Now I love me some Google, and sure enough, Google did not fail to provide LOADS of information on what to expect while preparing for IVF. And sure enough after my meeting with the doctor, I was reassured that yes, I would need to get familiar with needles because I would soon be dealing with LOTS of them. Apparently, there's a lot more to getting pregnant with someone else's baby than just "implanting an embryo."


The good news was, at least for me, I got to take baby steps with the meds. After my first ultrasound, the doctor had ordered me to start estrogen patches to improve the thickness of my endometrium lining (the inner wall of the uterus). This is monitored closely, because a thin lining is no good, but neither is one that is too thick either -- looking for that happy just right place of 8-12mm. I began the Vivelle-Dot estrogen patches on April 15th. I applied 2 small patches to my lower abdomen and reapplied 2 new patches every other day. I was scheduled for an ultrasound on April 27th but was rescheduled due to a note in my file that said the doctor wanted me to go up to 4 patches a few days before the ultrasound. So I added more patches and rescheduled the ultrasound for the following week. The patches were easy and I did not feel any side effects from them. Yay for a easy first start to meds. On Tuesday, May 1st I had the ultrasound to have my uterine lining reassessed. The doctor said my lining looked great! It had thickened to 8.4mm (originally it was only at 3mm prior to the start of the estrogen patches). The doctor gave me the green light to move forward with a new cycle!

So a few days after my second visit to the doctors, this GIANT box arrived...

This box included everything I would need to get me through the transfer and a little beyond. The box came with less scary items like prenantal vitamins (though they were the prescription kind and bigger than any over-the-counter prenatal vitamin I had remembered taking with my first two pregnancies, and I was asked to take two different vitamins, which I had also not done with my first two pregnancies), more estrogen patches, and four different bottles of oral pills. And then there was the scary stuff - the alcohol swabs, the needles, the fluid for the injection, and the bio hazard container!! 
  
In addition to staying on the estrogen patches, I was also asked to take an oral pill, called Provera, for 7 days - these pills would induce my period, so that I could begin the other meds and prepare for an IVF transfer. After my period arrived, the fun stuff began... injections! I was asked to do one daily injection of Lupron. This medication would temporarily suppress the pituitary and ovarian hormone production and prevent ovulation from occurring. 


Preparing to give myself my first injection of Lupron...

Surprisingly, this injection was not bad at all! It's a very small needle, and you pinch the skin in your stomach before injecting. I was able to do this myself and felt no side effects from the Lupron, other than a little weird hand tingling on day 3. But it went away after a day or so.

The Monday (5/14) after my period arrived, I went in for lab work. The results were good, estradiol (estrogen) level was 22 and progesterone level was 0.6. At the time, I honestly did not know what these numbers meant and actually still do not understand them even now. :) But the nurse tells me they are good, so I just go with that. All meds remained the same, daily Lupron injection, and 2 estrogen patches changing every other day.

On May 21st, I went back in for lab work, estradiol level was 211 so I was instructed to increase to 3 Vivelle-Dot estrogen patches beginning 5/22, changing every other day. I went in for a final ultrasound before the transfer on 5/25, and had my lining reassessed, now at 9.44mm! Doctor said it looked perfect, just as it should. And we were ready for the transfer in one week. I took my last Lurpon injection that morning. And would start the infamous big, nasty, progesterone injections the next day.


Up next... preparing for the transfer! 


~The Baby Fairy