If you can call a home pregnancy test unofficial, but I would say a double line is a double line! I tested on Tuesday just for fun and it was negative but yesterday the double line came up pretty fast. I had not really been given the go-ahead to test so I never said anything about the negative but couldn't keep good news in! I sent the intended mother a picture of the double lines with the word "surprise". Apparently she did not have her phone with her all morning so did not see it till after lunch, I was starting to get worried they were mad at me for testing! But quite the contrary, they were elated.
The fertility doctor called later in the afternoon to offer congrats and to let me know I could move up the. Loos test to today but since we could not get the request over to REACH I will just go on Monday. They will take hcg and progesterone levels on Monday, then again on Wednesday to see how the levels are increasing. I am just ready to get done with the fertility clinics and to go see my midwife.
I am already feeling the difference from carrying my own children. There is a disconnect with this thing growing inside me (still unbelievable that someone else's child has such a connection to me) and being pregnant is just a job I am doing. It will be interesting to see how the feelings will differ through this whole process.
36 weeks to go!!
Friday, May 18, 2012
Friday, May 11, 2012
Last Chance
Today was the day, the final embryo transfer. It is definitely the last one since they only had 5 viable embryos after her egg transfer and we used 2 for the last transfer. There were 3 embryos frozen but as suspected, one did not survive the thaw. When they freeze the embryos they take out all the water from the cells and then rehydrate them during the thaw. I did not get to see the pictures of the embryos but they seemed to be happy with them and one looked a little better then the other. She said that they have 100+ cells and it is typical that around 20% of the cells die during freeze.
The transfer was at 10:30 and it is a very simple procedure. Not much more difficult then an annual exam (except the fact everyone in the room has scrubs, hair nets, masks and shoe booties!) The procedure itself took about 5 minutes and most of that time was waiting on the embryologist to bring in the embryos. Standard protocol for the clinic is to complete the procedure and then allow the patient to go right to the bathroom (in order to see the uterus better they ask you come in with a full bladder), but the intended mother felt better if I laid there for 30 minutes post transfer. I enjoyed my quiet time laying there but was getting a little restless as I really needed to pee!
We were out of the office by 12 and headed to East Village Deli for lunch. Overall a pretty easy morning and now have to take it easy the rest of the weekend. Any excuse to let Tim do more with the kids is a good one!
There is a 50% chance for each of the embryos to implant. If they do implant they should do it between the next 24-36 hours. The pregnancy test will be on Monday, May 21st. I am very ready to know if I am pregnant or if this is the end of this journey.
Thanks to everyone for their support during this journey and the wonderful thoughts and well wishes!
The transfer was at 10:30 and it is a very simple procedure. Not much more difficult then an annual exam (except the fact everyone in the room has scrubs, hair nets, masks and shoe booties!) The procedure itself took about 5 minutes and most of that time was waiting on the embryologist to bring in the embryos. Standard protocol for the clinic is to complete the procedure and then allow the patient to go right to the bathroom (in order to see the uterus better they ask you come in with a full bladder), but the intended mother felt better if I laid there for 30 minutes post transfer. I enjoyed my quiet time laying there but was getting a little restless as I really needed to pee!
We were out of the office by 12 and headed to East Village Deli for lunch. Overall a pretty easy morning and now have to take it easy the rest of the weekend. Any excuse to let Tim do more with the kids is a good one!
There is a 50% chance for each of the embryos to implant. If they do implant they should do it between the next 24-36 hours. The pregnancy test will be on Monday, May 21st. I am very ready to know if I am pregnant or if this is the end of this journey.
Thanks to everyone for their support during this journey and the wonderful thoughts and well wishes!
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Here we go again...
As I have warned most of you, I am a horrible blogger. I am sorry for not keeping this up to date. I will do my best to keep at it at least once a week from here on out. Not much happened after we finally got the intended parents convinced that my 2.5 HCG levels did not mean a pregnancy. Still no answer why I had a level at all but from what I read, it is normal to have a level below 5 and not be pregnant.
It would have taken about 5 weeks to get back ready for a transfer but doing that would have put the due date right around Dec 26/27 which is something that neither of us wanted. If possible I would not prefer to spend my Christmas morning in the hospital (even now it is a possibility). We delayed things another month making it a late January due date, January 27th to be exact. So if both embryos stick it could still likely be a December birthday, but we had to take our chances with that.
The drugs are a little different this time around as I did not have to do the 2 weeks of Lupron at the start. All I have had to do so far is 1.5 weeks of the patches. The big progesterone shots start on Saturday:( I have had to make 2 trips to REACH for monitoring but nothing too bad. They have the system worked out very efficiently and we feel like nothing more then cattle as we cycle through the office! I am able to be in line when they open at 7, have my blood drawn and ultrasound completed and out of there by 7:30, in time to get back home so Tim can go to work.
The transfer is now on Friday, May 11 and I am ready to know if this is it or not. Not really the birthday present I would have thought I was getting for my 33rd birthday but oh well! Goodbye until next week...
It would have taken about 5 weeks to get back ready for a transfer but doing that would have put the due date right around Dec 26/27 which is something that neither of us wanted. If possible I would not prefer to spend my Christmas morning in the hospital (even now it is a possibility). We delayed things another month making it a late January due date, January 27th to be exact. So if both embryos stick it could still likely be a December birthday, but we had to take our chances with that.
The drugs are a little different this time around as I did not have to do the 2 weeks of Lupron at the start. All I have had to do so far is 1.5 weeks of the patches. The big progesterone shots start on Saturday:( I have had to make 2 trips to REACH for monitoring but nothing too bad. They have the system worked out very efficiently and we feel like nothing more then cattle as we cycle through the office! I am able to be in line when they open at 7, have my blood drawn and ultrasound completed and out of there by 7:30, in time to get back home so Tim can go to work.
The transfer is now on Friday, May 11 and I am ready to know if this is it or not. Not really the birthday present I would have thought I was getting for my 33rd birthday but oh well! Goodbye until next week...
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
What a week
Last week was a very trying one mentally. After I heard from the nurse at the fertility clinic on Monday that I was not pregnant and to stop all drugs I heard from the intended mother, she questioned why I had a HCG level but the clinic was saying that we were not pregnant. After some discussion we both agreed to keep doing the progesterone injections until I had another pregnancy test on Wednesday. We did not tell the clinic we were doing this but I wanted to help the intended parents get a better piece of mind that there was really not a baby after this first IVF attempt. So, Wednesday I went into my OB office to had another blood pregnancy test done. I was hoping for same day results but of course that would be too easy. We had to wait until Thursday afternoon to get the results and when the OB's office talked to me they said "you are pregnant" which I had a brief moment of excitement until I asked what my numbers were. On Monday my number was 2.5 (anything under 5 the clinic deems not pregnant) and on Wednesday the number was 2.25. HCG numbers are supposed to double every 48 hours so these low numbers that are staying low would indicate that there was not a viable pregnancy at this time. I was sure that these results would help ease their mind, but instead it only gave them more questions. Since the 2 tests were done at different labs it was then decided to do the test yet again on Friday (and of course that means that I have to keep doing the shots, not what I am wanting to do). Finally on Monday we got those results and my numbers have continued to go down to 1.8.
During all this over the last week and all my frustration I have tried to put myself into their shoes and everything they are going through to have another baby. I can't imagine what they must be going through with the disappointment and knowing that this whole process is out of their hands.
I start the birth control pills tomorrow as the beginning of the second round is now beginning. The estimate is that transfer can happen in about 5.5 weeks from now. The big question is what does that do for a due date. From what I have figured it would make a due date around the middle of December so I am not sure what the intended parents are going to do with that. They are trying to decide between going forward as soon as possible or waiting and doing a late January due date. It seems like there is always something up in the air and a decision to be waited for. As I keep saying, I just want to get to the pregnancy part...the part I am experienced in!
During all this over the last week and all my frustration I have tried to put myself into their shoes and everything they are going through to have another baby. I can't imagine what they must be going through with the disappointment and knowing that this whole process is out of their hands.
I start the birth control pills tomorrow as the beginning of the second round is now beginning. The estimate is that transfer can happen in about 5.5 weeks from now. The big question is what does that do for a due date. From what I have figured it would make a due date around the middle of December so I am not sure what the intended parents are going to do with that. They are trying to decide between going forward as soon as possible or waiting and doing a late January due date. It seems like there is always something up in the air and a decision to be waited for. As I keep saying, I just want to get to the pregnancy part...the part I am experienced in!
Monday, February 13, 2012
In shock...
I know that many IVF cycles do not end in a pregnancy but I did not ever really consider that IVF would not work for us the first time through. We are not doing this because I need help getting pregnant or even because the intended parents can not get pregnant (she has already carried her own child) but rather because her body does not handle the stress of pregnancy well. Why would I not get pregnant when 2 good looking embryos are placed right into my "great looking" (or however the doctors indicated that my uterus looked just as they would like) uterus. My first thoughts are to what did I do wrong, even though I am very certain that I did not do anything to not enable these embryos to implant.
In all my planning and thinking through this process I never thought about what would happen if we did not get pregnant the first cycle. Yes, it is in the contract that we will attempt 3 times, but I just never thought that we would have to be concerned with that. Now is the time when we are very grateful that we have 2 frozen blastids waiting to be transferred. We don't have to wait on the intended mother to do another egg retrieval, we just have to worry about me. Also, blastids have a higher chance of implanting then the embryos that were implanted the first time.
The question of the day is now do we go right into another transfer or do we have me stop my medicine and wait for my period before starting again. Hopefully we will know by the end of the day so I know what I need to be doing. In a way I am hoping that we can go right into another transfer and not have to wait the extra month for the whole cycle to start again. I am just waiting on a phone call to give me instructions on where we go next!
In all my planning and thinking through this process I never thought about what would happen if we did not get pregnant the first cycle. Yes, it is in the contract that we will attempt 3 times, but I just never thought that we would have to be concerned with that. Now is the time when we are very grateful that we have 2 frozen blastids waiting to be transferred. We don't have to wait on the intended mother to do another egg retrieval, we just have to worry about me. Also, blastids have a higher chance of implanting then the embryos that were implanted the first time.
The question of the day is now do we go right into another transfer or do we have me stop my medicine and wait for my period before starting again. Hopefully we will know by the end of the day so I know what I need to be doing. In a way I am hoping that we can go right into another transfer and not have to wait the extra month for the whole cycle to start again. I am just waiting on a phone call to give me instructions on where we go next!
Friday, February 3, 2012
Did that really just happen?
So after thinking about being a surrogate for 5 years and going through the process, yesterday was such a surreal experience. I drove to Raleigh and got there around 10. Before I even got out of my car my nerves were tested when a guy backed out into the passenger side of my Tahoe. Thankfully, he was not going very fast and there was absolutely no damage to either of our cars!
The intended parents were there when I got there and we went right into my acupuncture appointment. It was a great experience and got me totally relaxed, but at the end of the 45 minutes I was feeling a little ready to move again. After that appointment we went upstairs to the fertility clinic. After about 10 minutes we were called back to get ready for the transfer. We were shown pictures of the embryos and learned that the 2 they were placing were both 9 cells and compacting. They were great quality and as good as they could be expected to be. I was then sent into the bathroom to change into my gown, shoe booties, hair net and mask. The intended parents were given scrubs, booties, hair net and masks too. Seeing our new outfits made this all seem so real. We were taken into the room, all white with the "surgical" feel to it. Immediately I was put onto the table with my legs in the stirrups, an awkward position when you are in the room with another man that is NOT your husband (I was covered completely so there was no risk of him seeing anything!)
Once the doctor came in they showed us the embryos on the tv screen and then they were brought in for the transfer. I had a brief moment of oh crap what am I doing but I think I would have thought that even if it was for my own child. There is something about knowing from that minute on you are possibly pregnant. The transfer took about 5 minutes then we were let back out to get back into our normal clothes. All done, successfully impregnated, now to see how many continue to grow...yikes, there could be 2!!
After the transfer I had another acupuncture appointment that lasted about 25 minutes then we had a good lunch at Village Deli before I got back on the road to head home. What a day! I did not physically do a lot but I was completely drained when I got home, nothing that 9.5 hours of sleep could not fix.
I am able to go about my normal activities but have to keep my activity level as low as possible for the next 2-3 days. In a week and a half I go in for the pregnancy test and progesterone levels to see if I am indeed pregnant. If all went well then the baby/babies are due October 22nd!
The intended parents were there when I got there and we went right into my acupuncture appointment. It was a great experience and got me totally relaxed, but at the end of the 45 minutes I was feeling a little ready to move again. After that appointment we went upstairs to the fertility clinic. After about 10 minutes we were called back to get ready for the transfer. We were shown pictures of the embryos and learned that the 2 they were placing were both 9 cells and compacting. They were great quality and as good as they could be expected to be. I was then sent into the bathroom to change into my gown, shoe booties, hair net and mask. The intended parents were given scrubs, booties, hair net and masks too. Seeing our new outfits made this all seem so real. We were taken into the room, all white with the "surgical" feel to it. Immediately I was put onto the table with my legs in the stirrups, an awkward position when you are in the room with another man that is NOT your husband (I was covered completely so there was no risk of him seeing anything!)
Once the doctor came in they showed us the embryos on the tv screen and then they were brought in for the transfer. I had a brief moment of oh crap what am I doing but I think I would have thought that even if it was for my own child. There is something about knowing from that minute on you are possibly pregnant. The transfer took about 5 minutes then we were let back out to get back into our normal clothes. All done, successfully impregnated, now to see how many continue to grow...yikes, there could be 2!!
After the transfer I had another acupuncture appointment that lasted about 25 minutes then we had a good lunch at Village Deli before I got back on the road to head home. What a day! I did not physically do a lot but I was completely drained when I got home, nothing that 9.5 hours of sleep could not fix.
I am able to go about my normal activities but have to keep my activity level as low as possible for the next 2-3 days. In a week and a half I go in for the pregnancy test and progesterone levels to see if I am indeed pregnant. If all went well then the baby/babies are due October 22nd!
Here are the 2 embryos they used!
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
The details
What an exciting week. On Monday the intended mother had her egg retrieval and they were able to get 10 eggs, 7 of which were mature. Then 5 of those took the sperm and were fertilized. They are not checking the little embryos today to see how they are doing but will again tomorrow. The transfer will either be tomorrow (Thurs) or Saturday. From what I understand, if the embryos are doing well in the lab then they will give them 2 more days to continue to divide so they can see which 2 become the best embryos. If they do not look like they are doing as well then they will do the transfer tomorrow to go ahead and get them into their natural environment.
I will start my drive tomorrow morning to Raleigh at about 7 and wait to hear from the embryologist. If they would prefer to do the transfer tomorrow then I will continue my trip, otherwise I will turn around and head back home and go on Saturday morning. Before the transfer I have an acupuncture appointment. The fertility clinic has seen better success with their patients who have done acupuncture so at the intended parent's request I will try it. I am actually excited as it is something I have wanted to do but could not ever bring myself to try!
Today is my last day of non-pregnant Casey...CRAZY!
I will start my drive tomorrow morning to Raleigh at about 7 and wait to hear from the embryologist. If they would prefer to do the transfer tomorrow then I will continue my trip, otherwise I will turn around and head back home and go on Saturday morning. Before the transfer I have an acupuncture appointment. The fertility clinic has seen better success with their patients who have done acupuncture so at the intended parent's request I will try it. I am actually excited as it is something I have wanted to do but could not ever bring myself to try!
Today is my last day of non-pregnant Casey...CRAZY!
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