Cheat On a Blood Test?

Being off of Metformin made me nervous with my upcoming gestational diabetes test.  I did the short test and my bloodwork came back on the borderline, so my Dr ordered the long test.  

Ugh...I wondered if there was a way to cheat on a blood test?  I did not want to have to shoot up any more than I already had to get pregnant.  I did my best to cut back on all sugar several days before the test and I continued to walk each evening as I had been throughout the entire pregnancy.  It was as close to cheating as I could arrange.

The long test came back fine!  No shots for me!  And I continued to walk & eat well.

It's A...

GIRL!

We found that out on May 29, 2012 at our 18-week appointment.  Everything looked good & measured right on time and there was a good, strong heartbeat!  I had noticed that my frequency of peeing had gone up, but other than that, no real changes were to be reported.  I was wearing maternity clothes, but wasn't really popping out...just kind of getting bigger all over.

I told the kids at my Youth Center that I was having a girl in a creative way at our cookout & party for the end of the school year.  My co-worker made cupcakes that were pink in the middle and put blue icing on half of them and pink on the other half.  They had to pick the cupcake with the icing of the color that they thought we were having.  When they bit into their cupcake, they saw that it was pink and we were having a girl.  The kids (and their parents) thought that was a really cute way to tell them.

Pregnancy I've Never

OK, so we're going to play a little virtual game.  Maybe you've played it before?  It's called, "I've Never."  The rules of the game are simple....I'm going to make an "I've never" statement.  Usually this game is a drinking game, although since I was pregnant when I started this post, we're just going to play on here and pretend.  It's almost like I can taste that Chocolate Martini...  Assuming we were all together enjoying drinks of choice, you have to drink if the statement doesn't apply to you.  Here's an example:

I say, "I've never checked my mailbox."  If you have ever checked your mailbox, you drink!

Ready?

• I've never gagged so hard while brushing my teeth that I puked thus having to start over on brushing my teeth.  (one drink for me!)
• I've never coughed or sneezed in public and peed my pants.  (two drinks for me!)
• I've never told a co-worker to get into my purse to get out a piece of gum and told her to overlook the spare pair of underwear I carry in there just in case I pee myself in public....again (three drinks!)
• I've never gotten up more than 5 times a night to pee.  (four drinks!)
• I've never woken up in the morning with my nightgown crusted to my chest.  (five drinks!)
• I've never had to have someone put my shoes on me because I can't bend over to tie them.  (six drinks!)
• I've never been envious of people who get more ultrasounds than me.  (seven drinks)
• I've never googled images of ultrasounds at each week of pregnancy to see what our baby looks like (eight drinks)
• I've never wondered if there was a way to cheat on a glucose test.  (nine drinks)
• I've never had a former classmate who is now an OB/GYN fill in for my Dr and check to see if I'm dilated (ten drinks!)
• I've never flashed all my friends (male & female) with the back of a hospital gown left open (eleven drinks!)
• I've never stressed about getting my blood pressure taken (twelve drinks!) 
• I've never noticed that my belly button is off center (thirteen drinks!)

And the best for last:

• I've never gotten out of the bathtub, gagged so hard while brushing my teeth that I peed down my clean leg, and had to get back in the bathtub.  (oh hell, I might as well just drink the whole bottle!)

Feel free to play along and add your own!

I Laughed Out Loud

A couple months after we found out that IVF Round #3 worked, I was out with my staff for a meeting over lunch.  My staff and I usually go off-site and talk a little about work and a lot about life during these few cherished moments away from work over lunch.  We had just gotten our lunches and sat down when my newest staff member said that she had an announcement.  She looked up and said that she was pregnant and due Nov 27th-exactly one month after I am due.

All the rest of my staff around the table were very quiet.

Know what I did?  I laughed.  Out loud.  And then I proceeded to blurt out, "How does that happen?  Can you draw me a diagram?"

She knew what I had gone through to get pregnant, and laughed too.  The whole staff did.

Now, mind you, my co-worker is in her late 20s, has a college education, and two jobs.  However, she is not married and just recently began seeing this guy (who we don't think is a great guy).  We came to find out later in the conversation that it happened the night they met-due to a little too much alcohol and too little protection.  She was actually a bit embarrassed telling us, saying that her family had given her such a hard time because she was always giving her nieces and nephews the you-HAVE-to-use-protection talk.

How's that ENTIRE story for irony? 

IVF: 10 Things I Hate About You

I started this post many months ago, before I was fortunate enough to get my BFP.  I started to write this post as a joke.  As most of my posts are, it's only about half a joke, with a dash of tongue-in-cheek truth.

So here is my top 10 list for why I HATE IVF....

10. Insurance Companies.  You do cover certain things and you do not cover other things.  You need pre-approval for certain things.  You take your sweet time getting me answers.  You don't really seem to be concerned about ME, your customer.

9. Specialty Pharmacies (at least the 1 I've had to deal with, per #10).  Your right hand has no idea what your left hand is doing.  You quote me 3 different prices and 3 different delivery dates, only for me to not receive the syringes and needles with which to inject myself.  And never, never, NEVER have you ever been able to to fill an entire order of mine without SOMETHING being on back order.  You should be alleviating stress, not causing it.

8. Night Sweats.  Even though I bathe at night before I go to bed, thanks to Lupron for continually allowing me to wake up in drenched in a pool of my own sweat.  You make me late to work because I have to bathe again before I can go out in public.

7. Progesterone Suppositories.  Your oozing is gross.  Wearing a panty-liner in the middle of a round of IVF is defeating the purpose.

6. Hot Flashes.  Again, thanks to Lupron, I can sweat, almost on cue.  This is not what I'd consider a real talent.

5. Trigger Shots.  You are a B!+CH.  You hurt.  You hurt going in, but that's not the end of you.  You have to hurt for days just to prove your point.

4.  Progesterone in Oil (PiO) Shots.  You hurt worse than trigger shots.  Know why?  Cause you just keep coming...day in and day out....which hip will swell & hurt for this 12-hour stint?

3. Ovarian Hyper Stimulation Syndrome (OHSS).  You were the nastiest, rudest surprise I've ever gotten.  You made me feel like I was giving birth to my ovaries.  While giving birth is the point of all this, I'd rather keep my insides on the inside, if you don't mind.

2. Retrieval.  It's been a scary experience both times.  Not only during the procedure have I felt everything that was going on, but I also have turned white and tried to pass out afterwards.

1.  BFNs.  You're just the rotten, worm-eaten cherry on top of this mess.  I spend all the money, inject myself with hormones (which I think I read somewhere come from horse urine?), go through humiliation, and put my body through hell, just to get negatives.  And notice that this is plural...most of us experience this hell more than once. 

Chunky or Baby?

So, getting that cute little baby bump was more of a mental challenge for me than others. 

I'm 5'2" on a good day with shoes on.  I'm also not the skinniest girl in the world.  I see posts on facebook and other blogs and think part of the pregnancy journey requires some of those taken-from-the-side cute little baby bump photos.  And they are cute....if you are a size 6.  However, I had a bit of that baby bump long before I had reason to...and that, my friends, is not cute!

I had Hubby take a side-picture of me at something like 9 weeks and I've not shared it with anyone.  My sister-in-law keeps begging me for a pic & has even taken some and sent of herself in order to coax me into it, but I haven't done it.

At the beginning of August, I could tell when I'd go to the store or see people I hadn't seen in a while that people were eyeballing my waistline.  It was just like to kind of sly little  downward glances that you get when a guy is eye-balling your chest.  A couple times I wanted to say, "Hey.  I'm up here!"  Believe me, I wanted the whole world to know that the extra pudge I was carrying was not due to eating too much ice cream on hot summer nights.

It wasn't until August (about 7 months into pregnancy) that people all of a sudden began saying I looked pregnant.  I didn't know whether to take it as a compliment or not when I walked into work one day with a tighter maternity shirt on and a co-worker exclaimed, "WOW!  You really look pregnant TODAY!"  Whew...at least it was finally obvious! 

So, while most girls love to show off that baby bump, I didn't really look like I was pregnant for the longest time and that, my friends, does not help the psyche of a chunky girl!

I've Been a Bad Bad Girl

Actually, I've been a bad, bad blogger.  I've struggled over the last couple of months about writing on my blog.  I have so many supportive friends on here who are going through the process or have experienced loss.  I'd never want to write about my pregnancy and make them sad.  We are strong and supportive of each other and that's why I've joined this little community.

However, I don't think it's fair to quit writing about my whole experience, including pregnancy, because we are never guaranteed tomorrow in the infertility world.  I think it is unfair to cut the story short.

So, I've decided to do some catching up on my blog and write about the last few months.  Thanks to several of you who have left comments or sent me emails asking if I'm OK.  I'm hanging in there!  And if you think some of my IVF posts have been funny, just wait till you hear about the craziness that has ensued over the past few months....peeing my pants, overnight stays in the hospital, and stupid bedrest.

Hang on, ladies.  I'm back. 

What Was Different the Time that Worked

There were several things that we did differently on this 3rd round of IVF that was (finally) successful.  I'm not positive that any of these things were the "make it or break it" part of the cycle, but if just one small thing helps someone else, it is worth it to share!

1. This 3rd round of IVF was our 1st FET.  The FET was easier on my body.  I wasn't having to heal from a retrieval procedure.  I had no OHSS going on. 
2. I used acupuncture this time.  I saw someone who knew the protocol for assisting with reproduction here in my town who had had success in the past with getting people pregnant.  While I'm still not sure acupuncture is the reason it worked this time, it was a stress reliever, for sure! 
3.  I had read that laughter was good for implantation, so I listened to and watched comedies the entire time I was down for bedrest the couple of days after transfer.  We even listened to funny radio DJ's on our way home from the dr. 
4.  I took an extra day at home.  The dr. said I had to be on bedrest for a couple of days.  I went ahead and took one more day at home.  I wasn't on strict bedrest, but I did take it easy for an extra day. 
5. I took a baby aspirin each morning.  I hadn't done that the other 2 rounds.  The dr. told me to go ahead and try it this time.  He said that the medical community used to always make this part of the drug protocol, but research was "iffy" nowadays as to whether it actually helped or not.
6.  I ate the core of a pineapple for 5 days starting on transfer day.  I had read that there is something in the core of a pineapple that actually helps with implantation.  Hubby went and got a fresh pineapple, cut the core into 5 pieces, and served it to me each day, starting on transfer day. 
7.  Then, of course, there was the Baby Dance I did with my kids at the Center.  See THIS POST if you don't know what I'm talking about.  The kids' dances always work.  It's some sort of magical thing that I cannot explain.

As you can see, this round was more of a "if it doesn't hurt and may help, we'll try it!"  Who knows whether any of this really helped or not.  But, I figured it was worth sharing if it can help someone else!

Cravings

The night I took my first positive pregnancy test, I wanted seafood.  Of course, I always want seafood, so I'm not sure if that was a pregnancy craving or just an excuse to go to our local seafood place.  We'll blame it on pregnancy, OK?  I also wanted chicken patties for lunch the 1st couple of weeks after I found out I was pregnant.  I haven't seemed to want them since.  I'm thinking that all of this is just craving of protein.
Somwhere between the 4-week and 8-week mark, I put salt on food for about a week.  Normally, I use salt very sparingly, but during this week, I coated all my food with it.  Luckily that craving has gone.  (I read Progesterone can strip your body of salt.  I'm now off shots, so maybe that's what was going on at that time.)

I live on Antacids.  Even a cold glass of water seems to upset my stomach a bit.  This has not "turned off like a switch" when I hit the 2nd trimester like many books and websites say it will.  I am just fortunate that I'm not vomiting like some of my friends have when they were pregnant.  I work with a girl who has to stop her car and puke on the way to work.  So glad that hasn't happened!

I am also very thirsty!  I get up several times a night to pee.  Seems like every time I get up, I drink a big glass of water.  Then I go back to bed and sleep for a couple hours.  Then the cycle repeats!  This usually goes on 3-5 times per night.

For a couple of weeks around the 12-week mark, I ate an entire can of peaches every night before going to bed.  I blame this on the baby's father being a Georgia peach!

For the first time in my life, the words "This is too sweet" came out of my mouth.  This has never happened.
We went to the Cheesecake Factory when I was about 14-weeks along - I ordered banana cream cheesecake rather than anything with chocolate.  The people we were with looked at me like I was an alien.  I went without chocolate.  It is a strange event.  One day right after the Cheesecake Factory incident, I even called mother-in-law to tell her I didn't think the baby was related to either of us.  She's as much of a chocoholic as I am.  She just laughed.

Now that I've hit the 17-week point, my appetite has hit overdrive.  I've eaten nonstop since Friday.  Baby must be hungry!

Glowing?

I've heard the term "glowing" tossed around when people get pregnant and now I'm beginning to wonder what the word really means.  I tend to think of someone looking happy and radiant when I hear the word glowing.  However, it's been used on me several times lately and I'm beginning to think it's really a code word for something else.  Here are some more reasonable definitions in my opinion:

Glowing - adjective - tired.  I felt exhausted one day and so Hubby and I went out to eat.  Someone who had seen my facebook announcement saw me in the restaurant, came over to me, and told me I looked glowing.  Now mind you, my hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail, I was uncomfortable from wearing pants that hurt, and I was hungry.  I'm pretty sure in this instance, I was a glowing, tired mess.

Glowing - adjective - put thought and effort into how one looks in public.  I must admit that I've been washing my hair in the morning and letting it dry as the day goes on.  I've been wearing more of what's comfortable and less of what's stylish these days as I'm growing and the weather is unpredictable.  One day, I put some effort into my outfit and makeup.  Now mind you, I said some effort.  I put on a cute top and smeared a little makeup onto my face.  People came up to me and said I was absolutely glowing.  Is this a nice way of saying, "Way to go!  You dressed yourself AND put some effort into your hair and makeup!"???

Glowing - adjective - chunky.  My pants don't fit right.  My already large chest doesn't help my appearance.  On a day when I was feeling like "5 pounds of sausage in a 3-pound bag," I was told that I looked glowing.  Was that a nice way of saying, "Woah!  You're gaining weight!"???

At any rate, glow on, my friends!  However you'd like to define it!

Crazy Ass Dreams

People had told me that you tend to have some strange dreams when you become pregnant.  Strange I can handle.  Crazy ass dreams every night is another matter altogether.  Here is a sampling of what my crazy mind has conjured up over the last several weeks:

I went shopping for bigger underwear.  I kept trying on bigger and bigger sizes in an effort to find some that were comfortable.  I eventually quit looking at sizes and just kept trying on what was handed to me.  Eventually, I did find a pair that fit.  I looked at the size.  Size 30!  (I'm NO WHERE near a size 30.)  On another occasion, I went underwear shopping (do I have a complex about my growing booty?) and found my favorite kind, but none in any size that I could wear.

Some dreams have been sad or sentimental.  And old employee (who I was never close to) of our coffee shop called asking me for life advice.  My brother lost his job and his wife and four children left him.  And possibly my favorite: My Dad and my cat (who was a kitten again in the dream) were walking down a country road just talking and visiting with me.

Other dreams have just made no sense at all.  In one dream, I was a game show host.  The winner of my game show won the title of Executive Director at my work.  My old Executive Director and one of the smaller children from my youth center were vying for the position.  The kid won... In another wild dream, Hubby and I were having a "moment" in the front living room at my Mom's house.  My Mom walked in on us.  Later, she scolded me for having tan lines and said I should not be going tanning while pregnant.  In one that I had just last night, Hubby's brother and his wife were renewing their vows in some small church.  I helped my sister-in-law get dressed in an ugly pink, furry, sequined knee-length sweater that she was wearing for the ceremony (It was prom last weekend.  I'm blaming that one on the prom dresses I saw.)

And finally, I'm already beginning to worry about parenting in my dreams.  I had a dream that the baby just would not latch on to me in the hospital and it was losing weight because I could not feed it.

I hope these are not ever used against me in a court of law....

Points for Me!

Today, I didn't puke while brushing my teeth, like I did yesterday!

That is all.

Feline Sixth Sense?

So, since the time I came home from embryo transfer on Feb. 10th, my cat has been my best friend.  Now, mind you, I do have a cat that is very much a "people cat."  She will go to whatever room or floor of the house that you are in.  She likes to see what you're doing.  She will rub up against you and even jump up in your lap if you are sitting in the sun or have a nice warm blanket on your lap.  At night, she usually comes up to our room and will sleep on a dresser.  She is by no means the stand-offish cat that some people have.  However, she has been glued to me ever since embryo transfer...

As soon as I came home and laid on the couch on transfer day, she hopped up onto my lap and laid on my abdomen that entire weekend I was on bedrest.  If I'd get up to go to the bathroom, she'd wait for me and jump right back up onto my lap as soon as I returned to the couch.  And she's also taken to sleeping on the bed in between Hubby and me. 

I think my cat knew.  Is that crazy?

We Have a Heartbeat!

Monday, March 12th was my 1st OB appointment.  I wasn't supposed to have it for another week and a half, but the spotting deemed an earlier appointment necessary.

I was taken to the room where I had always had ultrasounds to make sure my ovaries were "quiet" before we began stims and also where we had counted and measured growing follicles during both rounds of fresh IVF.  Dr. Larry King came in, asked a couple questions about the spotting, and went right to work hooking up the ultrasound machine.

And then we got to see the most precious thing I've ever seen.  There was a little blob.  The Doc allowed Hubby to take a little video on his phone of him/her.  Then we got to hear the heartbeat - squish squish squish - 138bpm.  Music to my ears.  A weight had certainly been lifted!  Doc measured our little blob and it was measuring right on time at 6w1d.  He also took the time to look around at my ovaries and tubes, finding no reason for spotting.  He finally just said that it may be something that I do for a bit - that he's astonished more women don't spot given all that is going on in there.  Well, I guess that's one way to look at it...  He said that they think my due date will be Oct. 29th - and then he said that he would send all my files to my Doc here in town and good luck...

And with that he shook Hubby's hand and walked away down the hall.


That's it? 

I felt bad that I didn't give him some giant bear hug or thank him more profusely for the hand he had in our little miracle.  (One of the IVF Nurses came rushing down the hall asking if that was our ultrasound on the screen of the room she was just cleaning up, gave us a hug, and just about cried.  She, as well as the rest of the staff, are awesome.)  I figured that I'd remain his patient through the 1st trimester till I was done with the Progesterone and Estradiol shots that he prescribed.  I had no idea this may be the last time that I see him and his staff...at least for a while.  I left, kind of stunned.  I guess his work is done!

Drug Saga Finally Resolved...For Now

I got ahold of my IVF Nurse on Sun., March 11th  - they happened to be in doing a procedure early that morning and I caught them.  I explained what had happened with my meds with stupid BioScrip and asked what to do about my lack of progesterone suppositories.  She said that I was fine to substitute a shot for the suppository.  I also asked if it would be detrimental if the suppositories were not refrigerated for the weekend - the shipments that had arrived before had clearly been marked as a refrigerated product and even were shipped with ice packs.  She assured me that they would be fine - the refrigeration is merely to help them keep their shape.  She said if they were soft that they could easily be put back into the fridge to regain the shape - that being warm will not actually hurt the drug compound at all.

She went on to state that if I have any more problems I'm to tell them - they are more than willing to call the insurance company to explain that I'm not getting adequate care from the pharmacy which they make me use.  I thanked her, breathed a little sigh of relief about substituting a shot for a suppository, and went about my day.

I had more spotting today - dark red and more than just a little.  I kept reminding myself that I had no major cramping with it and the blood was not bright red.  Just tried to keep calm till my ultrasound the next day.

Drug Saga Continued

On Sat morning, my Progesterone suppositories were supposed to be left at our doorstep.  I had left town early to go to a conference with my Mom.  Hubby was upstairs in the tub when he heard the knock at the door, but knew that we had given them the usual instruction to leave the meds.  They knocked again, so he got out of the tub and threw some clothes on in time to see the FedEx man driving away with a note stuck to our door that they'd tried to deliver my medicine, but needed a signature to deliver.  They would try again Monday morning....

Hubby called FedEx headquarters which were in another country.  The best they said they could do was call the local dispatcher here who could put in a phone call to the truck driver to see if he'd come back.  Three hours later, Hubby called headquarters again to find out that the phone call to the local dispatcher had never been made.  Hubby went to the local FedEx, and even though it said on the sheet that they were open, they clearly were locked up and not open at all.

He made a final call to headquarters and found out that the truck drivers were due back at 6pm and he might be able to catch them then.  He went out to find that they'd all completed their routes early and had already been back and left for the day.

So, now I don't have enough suppositories to get me through the weekend.  All because Mr. BioScrip supervisor marked the wrong box while "fixing" our problem.

I feel like the little boy on the YouTube video: Is this for real?  Is this real life?

Spotting Day Part II- or -That's When I Got Loud

Thurs. March 8th was the day I ended up screaming at BioScrip, the pharmacy my insurance company makes me use.  And I absolutely do mean that I screamed on the phone.  Not just difficult.  Not just demanding.  I screamed.  In order for you to understand the screaming, I gotta give you a little back-story.

I was supposed to have my refill on progesterone injections AND suppositories at my doorstep on Wednesday morning. On  Tues afternoon at 2pm, I got phone call from Katie at BioScrip saying they were having trouble filling the order for Progesterone injections.  I told her it's probably because my Doc has adjusted my dosage and I'm now running out before the script says I should.  I gave her my Doc's phone number and she said she would call right away to get the script adjusted so my meds would arrive as planned on Wednesday morning.

On Wednesday afternoon, Hubby got home from work and called me letting me know that there were no meds waiting for me on our doorstep.  I called BioScrip and asked what the deal was.  They said that they got no answer from my Doc's office when they called on Tues. I thought, "That's strange."  (And also wondered why no one had tried to call again the next day, but we'll get to that...  I asked them what time they had called my Doc on Tuesday because my Doc's office is open until 5pm throughout the week.  The woman on the phone said that they called at 5:30pm.  That's when I got loud.  I said, "Well hell no you're not going to get an answer at 5:30 at night.  Why did it take Katie 3 and a half hours to hang up the phone and call my Doc's office?"  The woman had no answer for this one and just kept apologizing.  I told them to make it right and they said that they were going to call my Doc's emergency number, since it was now after 5pm again, and get someone on the phone to OK the new prescription.

About 5 minutes later, my actual Doctor called me on the phone asking what was going on.  I told him that since he'd upped the Progesterone injections, I was running out before the prescription said I should and I needed him to OK the higher dosage so they can get the drugs to me.  He understood and said he just wanted to make sure he'd told them correctly - which he had.

Another 2 minutes after that phone call, I got a phone call back from BioScrip.  Apparently, I was loud enough that the woman sitting next to the woman I was talking to could hear me and had already began calling the Doc's emergency number before I hung up with them.  She told me that they had received the new prescription from my Doc and had 45 minutes to fill it and get it on the truck so it would arrive on Thursday - the day I was officially out of meds.  I thanked them for correcting the problem.

So, fast forward to Thursday afternoon - after the spotting, blood draws, waiting all afternoon to hear that my HCG levels were OK - fast forward through all that.  I get a phone call from Hubby when he got home from work that day to let me know that there were again no drugs waiting for me on the doorstep.  At this point, I think my brains oozed out my ears....

I called BioScrip and was loud from the get-go.  The woman on the phone said she had no idea why they would've tried to fill a prescription with only 45 minutes to get it on the truck the night before.  She kept apologizing that they had not arrived when promised.  I had had enough.  I told her that I didn't want her apologies, I wanted her to fix the problem NOW.  I told her that her apologies were not getting Progesterone into my body.  At this point I was so mad that I forgot I had 3 teens from my Youth Center sitting in my office looking at me.  I asked the woman how her company would like to have a lawsuit when I miscarry because of their blatant negligence.  At this point, I remembered I had 3 teenage girls in my office when their eyes got big and I could see that they'd figured out I was pregnant.  Finally, all the woman could do was say the drugs would arrive on Saturday.  I gave up.  She wasn't doing anything to help me.

That's when Hubby got involved.  He called and asked to speak to a supervisor.  He told the supervisor what was going on - much calmer that I did.  The supervisor filled the order himself and made sure the injections were to arrive Friday morning via overnight services and the suppositories would arrive Saturday via their regular services.  Apparently the suppositories are a compound that has to be made by the Pharmacist and no one had actually put the Pharmacist on notice that those needed to be made.....  We reminded him to mark the packages so that we did not have to sign for them- that they could just be left.  He apologized again and said the problem was taken care of....

Stay tuned....Progesterone injections arrived on Friday.  Suppositories are another whole matter.....

SPOTTING?

Most everything has been going fine with me for the last several weeks...I've had a  few bouts of nausea, but no real sickness.  The only real effect I can tell this little thing is having on me is fatigue.  I get up after sleeping 10 hours and feel like I could take a nap.  And just about everyday at 3pm, right when the kids are supposed to arrive at my Youth Center, I feel like I could put my head down on my desk, amidst all the chaos, and fall asleep right then and there.  (And my pants are feeling a little tight.) Well, everything WAS going fine until last Thursday...

I woke up to go to my standing early morning meeting last Thurs (March 8th) and when I went to the bathroom I saw bright red blood and also discovered I must've been spotting all night.  I flipped out and called Hubby into the bathroom.  I called my Doc's office and it took them an hour and a half to call me back.  I was a bit ticked at this since I felt this was more of an emergency than 90 minutes calls for.  When the nurse finally did call me, she told me that spotting is common this early in pregnancy and she wanted me to go ahead and have the blood pregnancy test done tomorrow as scheduled.  Blood pregnancy test tomorrow as scheduled?!?!  I told her I had no idea what she was talking about.  I heard a rustling of papers and then she said that she had the wrong chart in front of her.  She then said that she wanted me to go for an HCG blood test to see what was going on, since I was 6 weeks pregnant.  Well, I'm glad you finally figured out who I am... I asked her if they saw people at this stage and she said only if the blood test indicates that they need to.

When I hung up, I have to admit, I called my OB/GYN here in town.  Not that the specialist hasn't been successful in getting me pregnant, but his nurse didn't impress me that morning.  Her lack of confidence gave me a lack of confidence.  I asked my local Doc's nurse for a 2nd opinion.  She called me back within 5 minutes and said my Doc agrees that a bloodtest is necessary at this time & if there's anything else wrong, I can always come see her.  That made me feel better.

So, at 10am, off I went to the hospital lab for another round of How Big of a Bruise Can You Leave on my Arm?  After I was done, we headed for home.  About a mile away, I got a phone call from the lab asking me to come back.  Apparently, they'd only drawn 1 tube of blood and actually needed 2.  Go figure...so both arms got to play in the gameshow that day....

At 3pm I still hadn't heard from my Doc, so I called and left a message.  What's going on with them?  I've never had this kind of trouble before!  At 3:45 the nurse finally called me and said my HCG was above 16,000, and so everything should be fine.  She did move my ultrasound up to Monday instead of Wednesday - I think more for my own peace of mind than for anything else.  She told me that unless the spotting became heavy or was accompanied by pain, I should not worry about it.

And the Betas Are...

Apparently there has been too much Grammy & Oscar Awards buzz in my head because I just imagine the announcer making a big deal about announcing my Betas..

HCG Beta #1: Mon., Feb 20th (10dp5dt): 100.5
HCG Beta #2: Wed., Feb 22nd (12dp5dt): 248.8
HCG Beta #3: Fri., Feb 24th (14dp5dt): 645
HCG Beta #4: Tues., Feb 28th (18dp5dt): 2,745

The winner is....US!  The music swells and the crowd goes wild!  And of course, I look stunning!

Picked Up an Old Hobby!

So from that 1pm 5dp5dt faint-2nd-line point on, I decided I was going to use all those pregnancy tests my staff smuggled into my office.  In part, because I kept having to take them to prove to myself that that 2nd line, as faint as it was, was there.  I was afraid and kept expecting it to disappear...and not in an evaporation line kind of way.  So here's how I spent those few days till my first Beta blood test:

I even had a digital one in the batch, so I took it too.  It helped ease the is-the-2nd-line-really-there worry I had: