Well Look At That!

Looks like we've got ourselves a baby cookin' in there! I had an ultrasound on Thursday (4/15) just to check for placement, and sure enough, there's something in my uterus! We go on the 23rd for our first OB appointment and to check for a heartbeat.

In other news, I can't get enough chocolate milk. I'm not a milk person at all, I don't even drink it out of my cereal bowl, so for me to crave milk is just weird. I'm still craving pastas and breads, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to gain about 947 pounds in the next 8 months if I keep giving in to cravings. K and I are going to Olive Garden after the ultrasound, and I think I'm more excited about that than the ultrasound, haha! I just want breadsticks and alfredo sauce, I don't even need an entree.

I'm feeling pretty good. Morning sickness has started to slowly settle in, which I knew was inevitable. It's not really that bad yet *knock on wood* but I fully expect it to get worse. I'm hoping that it won't be as bad this time around as it was with both of my own children. I wonder if the baby's genetics makes a difference? Hmmm.... Probably not, ha! I'm also having an issue with sleep. I can't seem to make myself get up in the mornings, and I'm tired the entire day. I feel like a zombie. But then it comes time to go to bed, and I can't fall asleep to save my life! My brain just won't turn off, even though my body is tired. Which results in me being up all night, and not being able to get up in the morning, and the cycle begins again.

Oh, and we're going to visit K & J in May for Little K's birthday! We're staying the whole weekend, and I'm really looking forward to it. I can honestly say I've never been to Tulsa except when passing through on my way to & from Missouri when I lived there years ago. I will get to meet K & J's family and friends, which is very exciting, but I do admit that I'm a little bit nervous. I'm not sure why, but I just am. I guess I just hope that they like me!

Oh, yeah!

at 14dp5dt, our beta is.....

359!!!!! Oh yeah, we are SO pregnant!! I have an ultrasound scheduled for Thursday just to check to make sure that things in my uterus are lookin' good. Then K & I, and maybe J, not sure, are going to my first prenatal appointment on the 23rd. We'll get another ultrasound and then the best part- K has promised me Olive Garden! I can't stop thinking about those darn breadsticks. I had a dream last night that I went to Olive Garden and ordered 10 baskets of breadsticks. Sheesh.

Look at that line!

12dp5dt (ok, 11.5dpt if we're being technical) and my lines are looking good! Our official beta at 10dp5dt came back at 61! It tripled in 72 hours, woohoo! The RE wanted me to have another one today and on Monday, but said I could skip todays and just do Monday's since I already had stuff to do today. So Monday we'll have another beta and then I think after that I'm done. I'm going to call the OB's who has been doing my monitoring on Monday too and try to get in late this week, just to make sure everything is where it should be. We have our heartbeat ultrasound scheduled for the 23rd at 10:00.

I've been craving water for the last couple of days. I craved water when I was pregnant with Major, too. I also had the worst leg cramp today that I've ever had in my LIFE. I seriously thought I was going to die. It lasted about 5 minutes and I just screamed the whole time and tried unsuccessfully to massage it, but my muscle was hard as a rock. I would've cut my leg off at the knee had I been able to walk outside to get the saw. I'm still walking with a limp. Maybe that's why I've been craving water? Makes sense to me.

*Yawn*

I'm tired. All the time. I could seriously sleep all day if you let me. And today, I almost did! No one woke me up, and when I finally woke up on my own I grabbed my phone to see what time it was, and it was 1:30! Good grief! How did that happen? 

Tomorrow is our second beta, well, first "official" beta. I'm going into town to have it drawn & then I'm heading over to one my best friends houses for a massage, then she & I are getting pedicures & going shopping. Great day! Hopefully our beta will have more than doubled, and if so, I'll call the OB and set up our ultrasound! She wanted to see me at 6 weeks, so that would be April 21, but we're gonna try to get the appointment set for April 23. My other OB (the one who's been doing my monitoring) wanted to see me at about 5 weeks just to check for placement, so I'm still debating whether or not to go ahead and see him, too. With my previous ectopic, I would feel much better about seeing him next week. But it seems silly when I could just wait a week. *sigh* I'll decide sometime this week.

It's Official!

We snuck in an early beta today, and at 7dp5dt it was 20! We are DEFINITELY pregnant!

And I am definitely FEELING pregnant now, too. This baby is kicking my butt! I'm so tired, I can hardly stay awake during the day. It's 9:00 and I really want to put in the New Moon DVD but I'm not sure I can stay awake for the whole thing! My lower back has been killing me too, I could really use a massage! I also have this really weird feeling in my stomach. I don't know how to describe it, other than it feels full. It's just strange. I don't remember feeling anything different in my stomach until around 6 weeks. So either there are twins in there, or I'm just more aware of my body this time around.

So, we have another beta on Thursday. I'm really anxious to see what the number is this time!

Happy Easter

In the 2ww!

Ok, so really it's a 10 day wait. Our transfer yesterday went beautifully, we transferred two embryos. One was a 4AB, the other was a 3BB. If you don't know what that means, you're gonna have to Google, because I can't explain it, haha! The RE was very pleased with the quality of the embryos, and the thickness of my uterine lining, and he said that he was giving us a 70-80% chance of pregnancy, with a 40% chance of twins!

I got to come straight home after the transfer instead of staying the night in a hotel, and I had to lay down in the backseat of the pickup the whole way. I was so uncomfortable! That seat was rock hard, and I got car sick a few times. I tried to sleep but couldn't sleep very well. Needless to say, I was so glad when I got home! I got in the recliner and layed flat the rest of the night, and decided to put myself on 24 hours of bed rest, even though I was only required to be on bed rest for the rest of the the day. Now that my 24 hours are up, I'm still taking it very easy. I've just been hanging out in the recliner and bumming all day. I'll get up tomorrow and be a little more productive. Plus I have to go buy pregnancy tests, haha!

T Minus 18 Hours

We're all set for our transfer tomorrow! K spoke with the embryologist on Saturday, and of the seven that they started with, four were looking great. There was one 7-cell, one 8-cell, and one 9-cell. They didn't say what the fourth was. But they were all grade B (which is great!). And tomorrow, the best looking two will be transferred to me, where they will hopefully settle in for a cozy 37-40 weeks :)

I'm meeting K & J tomorrow at On The Border for some yummy fajitas, and then we're off to get pregnant! I'm wearing my green "Let's Go Get Knocked Up" t-shirt, and my socks with little green 4 leaf clovers on them. I'll take all the luck we can get!

100%

K had her retrieval on Wednesday, and despite having many follicles, they only retrieved 7 eggs. The RE was disappointed, and I think we were all a little worried about how many would fertilize and grow. K sent me a text this morning and said she'd heard from the embryologist, and all 7 eggs fertilized! How awesome is that?! So we'll hear from them again either tomorrow or Saturday to see how the embryos are growing, and we're all set for a transfer on Monday at 2:15. K & J are flying into DFW a few hours early & we're gonna have lunch before the transfer.

So, fingers & toes crossed that at least two of those embryos grow to 5 days & implant!

All set for Monday!

K had another ultrasound today, and they're doing the retrieval on Wednesday, and we'll transfer on Monday the 29th at 2:15pm! Tuesday will be the last day for lupron, too! YAAAAY!

Right on Track

K's ultrasound on Wednesday went great, she has several big follicles! My ultrasound on Thursday showed that I have no follicles at all, and my lining was almost 10mm thick! WOOHOO! Very, very good! K has another ultrasound Saturday morning, and retrieval should be Wednesday or Thursday. I can't believe how close we are!

Getting Close

K goes in for an ultrasound Wednesday to see how many follicles she has & how big they are! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a good report. I go in on Thursday for an ultrasound to see how thick my lining is, and a blood test to check my estrogen level. Hopefully my lining will be nice and fluffy, it took a while for me to build it up last cycle.

The estradiol/lupron combo has turned me into a manic depressive maniac. At least that's what I feel like! I'm ready to get rid of this darn lupron & get back to semi-normal! I have to keep reminding myself that this is temporary, and the outcome is going to be amazing.

So cross your fingers for K's appointment on Wednesday, and mine on Thursday!

5 down, 25 to go!

So far, it's been a roller coaster. I haven't had any of the terrible side effects yet (knock on wood) but we are only 5 days in. I had a headache on Saturday, but so far that seems to be it.

My first injection was hard, it took me about 10 minutes of counting to three before I finally just did it, and I didn't even feel it! The second one wasn't as bad, it took me a few minutes to psych myself up, but it was easy. The third one just took a second, but the fourth one, well, it pinched. I think I hesitated a little when I stuck it in, and it pinched just a teeny, tiny bit. So tonight, it took me another 10 or 15 minutes of counting to three, breathing, almost passing out, and then finally doing the injection. And I didn't feel it. I feel like such a big baby! The needle is so tiny, if I do it right, I can't even feel it. It's just the idea of actually stabbing myself that I can't get over. I'm thinking it will get easier, but who knows.

In other news, I got a gift certificate for amazon.com yesterday from my very amazing friend Angela, and decided to order a Flip UltraHD camcorder. I've wanted one for a while, and thought I could use it quite a bit during this surrogacy. I can take a video of myself doing a pregnancy test & send it to K & J so that they can see the positive results appear! I can also take video of any ultrasounds that they miss, and of the baby (babies) kicking in my belly so they can see. I can't wait for it to get here!

We have a calendar!

K went in for her ultrasound yesterday & everything looked good. The RE said he'd look over my chart & send us a calendar in a few days. Then last night he called K & said for her to continue her birth control pills, and he'd start her on stim meds on 3/13. I just checked my e-mail & the IVF coordinator sent me my calendar! This is how it's going to work:

2/25- I start lupron, 10 units

3/3- I stop birth control pills, an have my E2 & uterine lining checked

3/6- I begin taking estrace 2x a day, start Vivelle patches, and baby aspirin

3/13- K begins stim meds

3/14- I drop lupron to 5 units

3/18- I have E2 & lining checked again

3/25- I stop lupron, begin crinone, and they'll retrieve K's eggs

3/30- Transfer two of K & J's beautiful little babies into my cozy uterus where they'll (hopefully) hang out for the next 36-40 weeks!

I am so excited I can hardly stand it! The clinic is ordering my meds & I'll have my lupron overnighted to me so that I can begin tomorrow. I knew at some point I'd likely have to give myself injections, but now that I know I'm starting tomorrow, I'm starting to crap frisbees. I know, it's a teeny-tiny little needle and it's no big deal and I should thank my lucky stars that I'm not having to do PIO injections because that's a 14 inch long 10 gauge needle in the butt (ok, maybe I'm exaggerating) but I'm still slightly nervous about it! I've watched some YouTube videos demonstrating the lupron injections to psych myself up. I'm sure tomorrow when it comes time to do my first injection, I will sit there for over an hour trying to talk myself into it.