Our betas are in!!!

Whew!  I'm so relieved that wait is over!  It went by pretty fast, and wasn't as excruciating as last time- but I'm still glad it's over.  Friday afternoon, I got a call from Natalie, our coordinator.  She was very excited- our betas look great!

Day 7 beta:  60.5
Day 9 beta:  170

Woohoo!!!!  So our number did it's job and more than doubled.  If you don't remember, with our last pregnancy the numbers were:

Day 6: 2.2
Day 8: 15
Day 11:  112

Our numbers are in a much better place this time.  Next is our 20 day draw, then the heartbeat confirmation ultrasound after that.   I'm so relieved and so happy....  I was having a lot of anxiety about everything going the right way this time.  And so far, it seems to be.  So, fingers crossed for normal, healthy, happy pregnancy progression from here.

I love seeing those lines get darker!!!

Waiting and waiting some more...

And now we wait. 

The ease of waiting for those magical beta numbers directly coincides with my schedule, I've discovered.  When we flew to New Jersey for our transfer with Mia, we transferred, had our bed rest days, flew home, I worked three nights, then it was time for blood draws.  The week wait really didn't seem too awful at all and I was surprised at how fast the time went.  When we had our transfer last November, I took my three work nights off for the transfer and my rest days.  Then I had 4 days ahead of me before working again.  I wasn't running and busy (even though it was Thanksgiving week), and the week long wait seemed to take for.ev.er.....  I thought the blood draw days would never come!!!

This time around was a lot like the transfer with Mia.  We had the transfer, I had my rest days, then it was immediately time for me to head back to work.  2 busy days at home later and it was time for my first blood draw.  Again I wondered, where did that week go???  Waiting the two days from Wednesday to Friday, though hasn't even been bad.  My schedule is working in my favor!  I'm working Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday nights this week (which almost never happens) because of the Easter holiday.  So, I'll head to work tonight.  And at the end of my shift, it will be time for that second draw.  Then I'll go home and sleep, and when I wake up I should know what our betas are!  It'll go pretty fast!

Of course it's nerve wracking waiting for that set of numbers.  I'll let you in on a tiny secret though- we already know our first number.  And as I've explained many times, that first number doesn't really matter much.  It's just a reference point for knowing if the second number "has doubled or more".  I'm dying to know what our second number is, but it will be less than 24 hours now!!!

Here's hoping for big numbers this time around!!!  I feel like we all deserve a less stressful and unsure experience. 

Hoping the stars are aligned...

Sorry for the 20 days of silence.  I didn't blog because I felt like I would be repeating things I've said before.  Meds and ultrasounds and blood draws (oh my!).

Yesterday was that long awaited- I never thought it would get here again day- Transfer Day....  I spent the week indulging in my superstitious routines.  Massage with Linda: check.  Pedicure with green polish: check.  Lucky green transfer shirt: check.  And new to the routine this time, hopefully lucky green nail polish. 

As you all know, I was anxious about the thawing process.  We didn't have multiple embryos to work with, and I was afraid the thaw would damage the little embies that we did have.  Our doc assured me that the freezing and thawing techniques have been refined over the last 5-7 years ensuring an 85-90% embryo survival rate.  Seth and Johnny had discussed the possibility of transferring two embryos this go round to maximize the chances of a successful pregnancy, but ultimately decided against it. 

When I arrived at the clinic yesterday morning, the nurse gave me my magic little blue (green???) pill.  About 10 minutes later, my head was starting to feel swimmy, and they took us back to the transfer room.  The valium made me much sleepier this time, and I fell asleep on the table before the doc came in to do the procedure.  I woke up enough to hear her say that the embryo had thawed beautifully, and that it was already trying to grow.  She quoted us a 40% chance pregnancy with this transfer.  Which is double the chance of a "natural" conception every month, if you think about it. 

Next thing I knew, we were looking at the screen, and she was placing the new little embie between those two air bubbles.  Then I was laid back, propped up into the clinic's special post transfer position (they are a little superstitious too), and left to my own for 20 minutes.  I slept through most of those minutes..... 

Now I'm home again, on my days of "rest".  I'm catching up on movies I haven't watched in awhile, and checking out some shows on Netflix that I've heard good things about.  We're into the 7-10 day wait that seems to go on forever before we know if the transfer was successful or not. 

Here's hoping the stars are aligned and this little embryo grows. 

And here we go!

My lining check ultrasound yesterday went well.  It's about time the tech looked at the screen, then looked at me and said "everything looks perfect!" again.  I've learned that those are some of the best words ever....

I never thought I would be excited to start twice weekly shots, but there it is.  The estradiol shots aren't bad- they almost never hurt, and my hubs is getting to be a pro at giving them to me.  I also started the baby aspirin again tonight, along with the prenatal I've been taking.  The other pill there is the magnesium supplement I take anyway, but I'll stop that one when I start my right-before-transfer meds.

Things are right on track for the transfer on the 20th.  As I knew it would, the time has flown by.  Less than three weeks until T-Day, and I know that time will go by fast, too.  This journey has had some challenges, and has had its stressful moments.  But I feel like that just makes us stronger, and makes us want a healthy pregnancy all the more.

On another note, our surro-baby Mia is almost 1!!!!  Her dad posted the most adorable picture of her online today, and it warms my heart to see how much she has grown.  I'm still amazed that she's here!  Now, to find that perfect birthday gift.......