Friday July 29, 2011 - 5 Weeks

I had my first ultrasound today and everything looks really great! It was so surreal to see the gestational sac and yolk sac in my uterus where every other ultrasound that I have had has been empty. Dr. Patel was so thrilled for us, as were all the nurses and staff at his office. They have all been fabulous to us! I still can't believe this is happening! I'm so amazed and humbled by God's blessings. We are so fortunate and know how lucky we are that we have been so blessed.

This past week a little bit of nausea has set in but nothing too horrible. I have found that when I have a little bit of food to eat, the nausea goes away. My breasts are still very sore, I'm cramping still, although not as much, and I have steadily gotten more tired as the days go by. All in all, not too bad so far. I wonder if I just don't know what I have in store for me yet, ha!! I will take anything thrown at me, as long as I can carry this beautiful baby to full term and have him/her be very healthy! I pray really, really hard everyday that everything will be ok and that this baby continues to grow and will be extremely healthy and happy!

Our next feat will be the ultrasound on August 8th. At that time, we will look for the baby's heartbeat. I cannot wait to see it on the screen! After that appointment, I will officially graduate from Dr. Patel and go to a regular ObGyn. I will definitely miss having my hand held throughout this process but I pray that I find a wonderful doctor that is just as attentive as Dr. Patel has been. I cannot wait to see my baby's heartbeat in 10 days!! I have been staring at the ultrasound picture all day....I'm beyond excited!!

Friday July 22, 2011 - 4 Weeks

Our latest beta number is 644!!!!! I am beyond thrilled! The nurse said that's a wonderful number. Our next step is an ultrasound next Friday to check for the sac and yolk sac. Then we will do another ultrasound the next Friday after to look for the heartbeat. I am so excited and just can't believe this is happening. This is after we were given a 5% chance of success. I feel so blessed!!!

Wednesday July 20, 2011

We received wonderful news today! The baby's HCG level is 315 as of yesterday! That's a very excellent number for 14 days past IUI. The nurse said it was a great starting number! I am so thrilled and relieved! She told me to continue the Progesterone suppositories and to make sure I'm taking my Pre-Natal vitamins and drinking lots of water. She said it's very important that I don't get dehydrated. So the next step is another HCG test on Thursday to make sure the number is going up. It should double, ideally. So now we wait for two more days to find out our next number. I'm keeping my fingers crossed & prayers going!!

Tuesday July 19, 2011

I tested with a digital the last two days and both were positive!! Hooray!! It was so nice to see the words, "pregnant" on the test this morning!! It is literally a dream come true. I went ahead and called Dr. Patel's office today to let them know and they had me do a beta blood test today to see what my HCG level was. We will get the results tomorrow. We will then do another test on Thursday to see if the level has doubled. I have no idea what a good starting number is but I know that a successful one will double every 2-3 days. So we are of course, hoping and praying for excellent numbers tomorrow!! I'm still cramping a lot and from I've read online, it's normal. I'm just worried of course just because the cramping comes and goes like my period is getting ready to start. I can't wait for tomorrow!

Sunday July 17, 2011

Well, the line was significantly darker today!! We are super excited!! That means that there is more HCG in my body and that the baby is growing! We were so excited to see that! Today was much different in church for us then last week. Last week we were so depressed and we both cried and today we were both so happy and rejoicing!! We just cannot believe this is actually happening!! We are just hoping and praying that this little one will stick and we will have a successful, full-term pregnancy. Tomorrow we will start the digital testing!!

Saturday July 16, 2011

So I woke up this morning and tested again. Rich jumped out of bed when I did so he could be there when I tested today. It was pretty funny! Well, it's still positive today! Hooray!! We are cautiously optimistic but still pretty excited! I still can't believe it. We came up with a game plan today that I will test everyday until Thursday when I call Patel's office. So we went to the store and bought another box of tests to get me through the rest of the week lol! I'm excited to test tomorrow because the HCG level is supposed to double every 48-72 hours so the line should be darker tomorrow. After tomorrow, all the tests we have are digital so they will state either "yes" or "pregnant". The test that I hated so much last month I will absolutely love this month! I can't wait to test again tomorrow!

I came home from work today and Rich had 2 dozen beautiful roses waiting for me and the book, "What to Expect When You are Expecting". It was so sweet and so thoughtful! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband who is so caring!! Now he will become a fabulous father!!

Friday July 15, 2011

So I did what I said I wasn't going to do today, I took a home pregnancy test. I woke up thinking about what my acupuncturist said to me a few days ago. She said once I find out I'm pregnant, I need to stop taking all the Chinese herbs and most of the supplements I'm taking. I started thinking, what if I'm pregnant and I'm taking this stuff? So I decided, I need to take a test just in case. It's 10 days past my IUI and the Ovidrel injection is out of my system now so what the hell? I went ahead and tested but really expecting it to be negative. When I walked up to the test after the allotted 3 minutes I was shocked beyond belief! Low and behold...a BIG FAT POSITIVE (BFP)!!!!! I just couldn't believe it! I just started crying and saying over and over, oh my God, there's two lines, there's two lines!!!! I immediately called Rich and he asked right away what was wrong because he could tell that I was crying. I told him I took the test and that it was positive!! He freaked out too, of course! He kept questioning me over and over about the test and whether or not I did it right. He just couldn't believe it either! We met for lunch and I brought the test for him to see! Ha, ha! We just can't believe this actually happened. It actually worked! Now for the hard part...waiting until next Thursday (6 more days) before I can test "officially" and call Dr. Patel. I am now incredibly worried that I could potentially miscarry. I have a high chance so I am taking every precaution. Most miscarriages happen due to chromosomal abnormalities and there's nothing that I can do about that but I will do what I can. I am over the moon with excitement that I can actually get pregnant! Dr. Patel gave me 5% chance to get pregnant with IUI so I have beaten the odds! Now I need to do it again and carry this baby full-term. I'm praying this little one will stick around, grow and come out very healthy!

Thursday July 14, 2011

Rich and I went to our first support group meeting last night with Resolve. Resolve is the National Infertility Association. It was really comforting to meet people going through the same struggles as we are. Everyone had a unique story but we were all brought together by infertility. I felt really supported, listened to and understood for the first time since my diagnosis. No one there told me it would be okay and that I would get pregnant if I just relaxed, stopped stressing out, when God wants me to be, when the time is right, etc. No one asked me if I have thought about adoption or what I'm going to do next. It was truly refreshing. No one really understands what I am going through except for other women going through infertility. I felt an instant bond with everyone and it was terrific!

Today I am 9dpiui and I feel pretty good. I am still cramping a good deal but it has been manageable. Today my breasts started hurting a little but not too bad. I feel different from my last IUI physically so I'm hoping that's good news. I'm really bloated this time and I just feel different. I'm crossing my fingers and praying like crazy! I promised myself I wouldn't take a test until 12dpiui so I am holding out 3 more days to test. It's going to be hard but I can do it!

Tuesday July 5, 2011

I had IUI #2 this morning. Everything went really well and the sample had 26 million swimmers. 4 million more then last time. Yesterday was a really emotional day for me but I have felt really great all day. I'm really positive about this one and feel like it's going to work. So another 2 week wait. I'm going to try & hold off on testing until 2 weeks time!

Sunday July 3, 2011

I went in for my ultrasound this morning and I have 2 mature follicles in my right ovary but Dr. Patel could not find any in my left at all. My left ovary is always difficult for him to see. I've been feeling my left ovary hurt this month so I thought maybe I would have some mature but it doesn't look like it. I did have one measure 22 cm so Patel said it's time for me to trigger tonight and have my IUI on Tuesday morning. It's a day earlier then we anticipated so I hope it works this time. I am just so nervous and excited. I just hope this is the month for it to work out. I am praying like crazy!!