Ultrasound Update

Of course ultrasound day is always exciting but for me, I have been feeling a little anxious.  Though it is common during IVF, bleeding or spotting during pregnancy never gets any easier! It is always scary.  For the last week off and on, I have been spotting while on our trip.  The last time I went to Wisconsin when I was 6 wks pregnant with Rowan, I had a serious bleed and it was terrifying!

So with that, we are 6w2d today and here is a little update on what baby shark is doing!

But you came for the ultrasound update -- Is it one baby shark or two?

Just one little baby measuring perfectly!  Baby Shark's heart started beating in the last few days so it is 111 right now -- which is totally normal for this gestation.  As it keeps beating, it will get stronger and the heart beats per minute will increase.  😍

Now some questions I will answer weekly or whenever I check in and decide to blog 😀

How far along?  6w2d
Total weight gain/measurements: 4 lbs since the start of injections -- Was that 7 wks of travel or estrogen?  Certainly not the blueberry sized baby! Maternity clothes: Not yet
Stretch marks? Nope
Sleep: At night, crummy.  Yet I cannot cope during the day around 2 pm.  I want a nap daily.  Too bad that can't happen. 
Best moment this week: When they put the ultrasound probe on and we saw a heartbeat.  A SINGLE heartbeat!
Movement: Not yet
Food cravings: Not really, But it is the season of fresh fruit and I love fruit!
Anything making you queasy or sick? At night, before bed, I feel nauseous.
Labor signs: Too Early
Symptoms: Fatigue and spotting
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or moody most of the time? Happy - but I have been accused of being moody which is annoying because the moment you are pregnant, you become hormonal if you have an opinion 😒
Miss anything yet? Margaritas -- I need those as a side to family drama
Looking forward to: My family camping trip next week! 

Until next time....

Beta Results & More

I have vowed to try and do better with my blog this time!  I think I only published like 8 the last pregnancy!!

Even though we have been traveling nonstop, and this will continue, I hope to keep everyone updated!

On the way home from Virginia to Denver (a 26 hour road trip!), I had to stop on Monday to get my beta drawn in Kentucky!   Unfortunately someone somewhere got my birthday wrong and they didn't get me the results until Tuesday afternoon.  But the good news, I was already getting beautiful positives, so I wasn't that worried!

10.5dp6dt or about 16dpo

I finally got the results and they were great.  This is what I sent the daddies!

We finally made it home Tuesday night and Wednesday morning I was heading to the lab to go get my next beta, progesterone and estrogen drawn.  Again, we had issues with paperwork at the lab and my orders were not in the system.

But first, that morning I had to take some pregnancy tests to compare to beta numbers.  I bought a few tests in UAE because, why wouldn't I right?  The instructions are in arabic but a pregnancy test is a pregnancy test -- two lines and you are knocked up.  (Too bad when I made this graphic, I didn't realize my phone took the photo of the instructions upside down, but I wasn't going to change it!)

12.5dp6dt or about 18dpo

A few more good solid lines -- What would my beta be?  Probably around 750 right?  My doubling rate with Rowan was 41 hours.  With Aggy it was 46 hour doubling time.

And for comparison beta numbers for each.
Rowan:15dpo 309, 18dpo 971
Aggy:  18dpo 473, 20dpo 970

So those were some nice healthy numbers that resulted in some beautifully healthy little girls.  So what does this number mean?  At around 18.75dpo, my results came back pretty high with a doubling rate of 27 hours.

In fun, I sent a message to the guys asking them if it was one or two chicks.  The coordinator said she was interested in seeing if there was as splitter at the ultrasound on July 23.  So naturally the guys and I talked about which minivan was the best since they were going to be the Fab 5 in a few short months!  Reality is that this number is just a number.  It *could* mean a splitter.  It could mean that we have one really healthy little baby growing and thriving.  Either way, everything looks exceptional for the pregnancy.  And I am hoping and thinking that it is just one, but it sure is fun to tease the guy that it could be two!~

So where are we now? Today we are 5 wks and baby is the size of an orange seed.  And I am not having a ton of nausea but the fatigue is killing me!!  Every day, around 2pm, I can no longer keep my eyes open.  I have to lay down to take a short power nap or I just cant make it through the afternoon.  I am also kind of a monster -- I have a very short fuse right now.  I don't know if it is the pregnancy, the hormone shots or the nonstop travel, but whatever it is has me crawling out of my own skin! And yes, I do realize I created this myself.  I try to remain positive throughout everything but you know, reality is that life isn't always perfect or beautiful.  I am flat out tired right now and sometimes I am lacking getting things done around my house or for my family.  That is reality!

Finally, when pregnant with sweet Rowan, I made almost the same road trips.  I also caught a blood test on the way out of town, drove to Denver, then we drove to Mount Rushmore (Which we will be going to at the end of July on a camping trip) and to Wisconsin.  Next week we head for Wisconsin.  Here is a blog from that road trip - Road Trip & Ultrasound Update

Rest is for the weary!  I will be sure to update after the July 23 ultrasound! 

Oops I did it again...

Probably just got that song stuck in your head but I wanted to share some big updates with our followers!  But what is it that I did again?  What is our big news?

First, my oldest daughter and I went to UAE for 3 weeks to visit our best friends and this was the trip of a lifetime!  It was seriously an amazing trip and we saw so many spectacular and moving things and ate so much great food!

Here are a few photos to show you just what we were up to...

Desert Safari - Abu Dhabi

Souk - Dubai

Snoopy Island - Fujairah

Pearl Journey - Eastern Mangroves, Abu Dhabi

Domes at Presidential Palace, Abu Dhabi

Grand Mosque - Abu Dhabi

   

What I didn't share with the world is that before I left for UAE, I started my estrogen injections so that meant that the entire time we were on our trip, I was doing injections... Which also meant headaches for a week towards the end.

We flew into Dulles, I dropped off the kid with a friend and ran quickly to Richmond to get a lining scan to see how the estrogen was doing in my system.

At the time of scan, Dr. Steingold was pleased with my triple stripe lining and the 12mm thickness and I was instructed to start Progesterone 3 days later with a transfer on 6/27 -- 27 happens to be my lucky number!

So off I went to drive back to DC to catch a flight to New Orleans for a chance to see my husband that I had not seen since before I left for UAE and also hang out with another of my best friends -- remember Crying Doula?  Melissa?  Yeah I got to hang with her too!
 

Last drink before the transfer - a yummy FRose with Melissa!

                        
Then I flew to Denver for a night and back to DC for the transfer.  But before the transfer could happen, I threw out my retainers and I had to fly back to Denver to get a new set of retainers.  Terribly expensive and inconvenient mistake, but I made it back on Wednesday night at midnight -- Just in enough time to make it for the embryo transfer on Thursday. 


Here's some photos from that day.  Of course we had to replicate the day of Rowan's transfer and again we went to PF Chang's for lunch then off to the clinic.

We transferred a beautiful 6 day hatching embryo. The photo of the embryo was taken right at thaw but before it was transferred, it was actively hatching which is a great thing!  The embryo was rated a 3AA and was from C's embryo batch.  Last cycle, they took 8 donor eggs for each guy from the same donor and created embryos.  Rowan was E's biological baby, of course both daddies are her daddies, but this time, they chose the best embryo from C.

These are the announcements that Melissa made me to tell the guys.  I started getting positive tests around 2.75dp6dt.  That means 8.75 days past ovulation or about 5-6 days before missed period.  I couldn't tell the guys until I had a no shit positive.  With my direction (and no internet), Melissa made these with my 4.75dpt photo.  My favorite being the Pregnant AF one but I knew that maybe that isn't appropriate for everyone -- appropriate for mine and the guy's relationship but maybe they didn't want to send that to mom lol  So she kindly created two other graphics and carried out my full intentions with me not having internet -- she's the best!

Of course I have to keep testing!

Their Little Wingman is due March 13, 2020 

(FYI - a wingman can be a girl or boy -- We don't know the gender of this baby!) 

Next up is Beta in a few days to say how strong these numbers are for this baby growing!  Can't wait to see how this pregnancy compares to my last one with the guys. May this be a smooth journey with wingman like it was with baby Rowan -- it was my easiest pregnancy by far... crossing my fingers for no morning sickness!  But the first trimester fatigue has already set in and I woke up at 2am last night with extreme nausea so there's that! 

And this is how I currently take my Alcohol -- Right out of the freezer and put it on my butt to freeze the spot before my injection -- Only 9 more weeks or so to go of shots.  I already have wretched muscle knots from a month of shots.  The joys! These freezie drinks are perfect for this gig  -- No more wasting veggies when I forget to put them back in the freezer lol