Tag: pregnancy

appointed time · Baby bugs · pregnancy

First ultrasound

isabelrn2 Comments

We went in for our first ultrasound yesterday.

Babies are measuring right on track (I think, he didn’t say otherwise!!) with good strong heartbeats right around 120 (also normal I think for 6w2d).

Yes. I typed that correctly. BABIES. There are two. It was pretty apparent the second the ultrasound started. TWO very clear separate sacs. Doctor measured each, and we saw/heard each heartbeat though the second one was a little harder to see as it was farther away from the ultrasound wand.

I had a feeling. I was hopeful. But it was so wonderful and surreal to see both on that screen. Baby A and Baby B.

We’re having twins!!! My husband keeps saying, “see, we got our babies back!” I’m really not sure I see it that way (each life is it’s own), but it is a really sweet blessing for this moment after *two* years of infertility and *two* losses to be expecting *two* little ones.

We go back next week for another ultrasound. I’m glad I don’t have to quite wait two weeks, though as it gets closer I’m sure I’m going to get very nervous. But if we make it to the next ultrasound and all is well, they will have already made it one day farther than their ‘sister.’ Small victories, taking this one day and one week at a time.

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I did tell the doctor that I’ve been having left sided pelvic pain on and off since the beginning (worse around week 4) but that since all the follicles were on the right I didn’t suspect any ectopic pregnancy. But he looked anyway, and unfortunately I do have a couple rather large cysts on/near/in (?) my left ovary; so he put me on activity restrictions for now. And any activity restrictions at all (no lifting) means I can’t be out doing home visits with patients in case something happens, so I’m off work.

Really hopeful that does not last for more than a few weeks (or just the first trimester); as we were not accounting for me to stop working until at least the third trimester, so finances may get just a little tight. But in the meantime a doctor-mandated break is a very welcome thing; work had become very stressful (which stresses me out in a way to have to leave with no warning), and I’m looking forward to not having to think about it at all for a little while.

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appointed time · iui · pregnancy

On BFPs, betas, and baby bug(s)

isabelrn4 Comments

The test was positive!!

I was going to wait the full two weeks. I really was. But then it got to day 10 and I just couldn’t take it anymore. So I tested. In the evening. Just to get it over with.

And there was a line.

It was faint; but not as faint as I’d have expected the trigger to be at that point given what it looked like when I tested it out before. It was also a darker line than my last first positive at 12 dpo back in February.

And then the next day the line was still there. And still there (yes I tested several times).

And it was still there on day 12, and day 13…and lines continued to darken.

Two weeks after the IUI, my cheap test and a First Response both showed very clear positives. I called the clinic; they had me get my first lab draw.

First beta results at 14 dpIUI: 525

Second beta results today at 16 dpIUI: 1203.

Our ultrasound is scheduled for Wednesday November 6th.

I am excited, grateful…and absolutely terrified of another loss. I know there’s nothing I can do to prevent that from happening if it’s going to…but it’s so hard to be both so unconditionally in love with this little bug (or two lol) and yet to know from experience that it could be so very temporary.

But if this is it; if this is the one that we get to meet…I don’t want to look back on his or her early weeks and only remember being anxious and scared. So I’m trying to just take it one day at a time and be grateful for each day that it looks like things are going the way they are supposed to.

after miscarriage · baby EL · D&C · grief and loss · missed miscarriage · pregnancy loss

Happy birthday, little waterbear

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March 29, 2019 at approximately 2:30 pm…our baby was born.

I had a D&C. It is done. I am no longer pregnant. (I will probably write another post on this experience later; it was rough)

My pregnancy lasted 54 days. I knew I was pregnant for 43 days. I thought I was pregnant with a growing baby for 35 days. Our baby lived for 37 days.

Numbers. I guess they don’t mean a whole lot. But they are all I have for this little one.

Little waterbear. One of my pregnancy apps let us pick the ‘size’ comparison and we were primarily using ‘strange but cute animals.’ At four weeks, baby was the size of a “waterbear,” which is a tiny, strange, resilient little creature that apparently can survive in the vacuum of space. The cartoon drawing of said waterbear was extremely appealing to my husband and from that moment on, it was our little waterbear even though the animals changed each week.

2/3/19-3/29/19.

Too soon a memory but forever in our hearts.

We love you.

Happy birthday.

 

appointed time · baby EL · pregnancy

112

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We had our first prenatal ultrasound yesterday.

Baby EL is measuring exactly at 6 weeks, 4 days (as it should be) and we got to see and hear the tiny heart beating at a rate of 112.

And there’s only one. (I’m secretly a little disappointed; I was kinda hoping for twins. I mean, I liked the idea of it…I guess the reality of carrying two and raising two for the price of one would have been a significant challenge. And I can’t be greedy; I’m over the moon that there’s even one; one with a steadily beating heart.

I know there’s still a lot of risks; I know there’s quite a few more weeks to go before it’s “safe,” but I also know that once that heart starts beating the risk drops dramatically. So I breathed a huge sigh of relief yesterday and have been just on cloud nine ever since. And it definitely feels a lot more real; even with a lack of any significant symptoms.

We’re having a baby!!

I guess I should probably change my blog tagline. I mean, this is still a journey of trusting. It’s just trusting for something different.  And while it’s still a journey of hope and fear, it’s hoping for new things and fearing new things. Interesting how those emotions don’t go away; they just change.

after miscarriage · appointed time · Infertility · iui · pregnancy · Uncategorized

Updates

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My repeat labs a week ago showed an increase in HCG (from 80 to 252 in 3 days!) and a very comfortable progesterone (44.2). My first ultrasound is scheduled at the clinic on March 6th; I’ll be 6 weeks and 3 days.

Symptoms so far have included mild cramping, sore breasts, intermittent fatigue, and a desire to eat constantly. In a twisted way I’m eager to at least have the morning sickness start (though it doesn’t have to stay!) just so I’ll feel more pregnant.

I’ve continued taking tests every couple days just to monitor the lines (I know, I should stop…it won’t do anything either way…but seeing them get darker is just so reassuring). The line yesterday was almost identical to Friday’s line, but I think I’m more on a ‘every 72 hours’ sort of schedule so I’m hoping tomorrow’s test is darker.

At this point, I’m pretty sure that I’ve already made it farther than the first time. I thought I was 5 weeks and change when I miscarried based on my period dates, but given how faint my tests were (and never got any darker all week), I’m beginning to think that the fertilized egg attempted to implant, released a little bit of hormone, and didn’t stick. Just enough to register on a test, but barely. Hence the light tests and the low blood levels the day I started bleeding. I can’t have even been 4 weeks; it must have been a true chemical miscarriage.

So if I’m already at a definite 5 weeks (since I know my ovulation date this time), the embryo has already firmly implanted. So that risk has already gone away. The question now is whether it’s growing. And there’s no way I can know that until next Wednesday. I’m so desperately hoping baby EL measures where it needs to be for 6 weeks and change, and that maybe we’ll even get to see the heartbeat.

I wanted it before; I’ve wanted to be a mom forever. But I want it so much more now that we’ve worked so hard to get here. There’s a deeper attachment to this little one already. I know I’ll be okay even if things don’t go the way we hope…I still trust that God is good and faithful…but it’s going to be so much deeper of a loss since this one feels more real and more sure somehow.

In the meantime, all I can do is try to stay as calm as possible (which work is making difficult…I need to talk to my manager this week and explain my situation so she understands why I’m pushing back on taking certain assignments), eat as healthy as possible, and stay hydrated.

And be grateful for each day that I am still pregnant. We’re at 12 days of knowing. Already 5 days more than last time. So every day is a gift, every week is a new milestone and I’m trying to rest in that.

appointed time · Infertility · iui

Hopeful, grateful, happy….scared

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(Potentially sensitive content to follow)

I caved yesterday and took a home test at 12 dpiui. I was so convinced that AF was coming (I think I had subconsciously started telling myself it hadn’t worked so I wouldn’t be as disappointed?) and I was just feeling really crummy about it so I decided that I’d go ahead and test and get the disappointment over with.

I dipped my stick, and went out to the living room to wait. I told myself over and over not to be too upset, that it was going to be negative.

There were two lines. Distinct, not as dark at the control, but definitely there. I stood there in some degree of disbelief and happiness and shock…did it actually work?

I had already dumped the urine but I managed to get a little more out and tested again with my cheap internet tests. The line was faint, but still present.

It had been over 13 days since the trigger; I couldn’t find anything that said it stayed in one’s system longer than about 10 days, and I imagine even if it was still present it would only produce a super faint line.

So I made my husband a little Valentine’s card from “Baby” and took it to him on his lunch. He lit up; told me he just ‘knew’ that this was it…and has already started talking to my belly. Sweetest thing ever; I don’t think that will ever get old.

I tested again this morning; the first response test was the tiniest shade darker. I’m going in for blood work today, so we’ll see what the actual numbers are…

But I think that I just might (finally) be pregnant.

I am so scared that it won’t last. I know I can only take it one day at a time…and I imagine the fear won’t go away…hopefully my levels will rise and everything will go smoothly and maybe the fear will lessen a little every day and week and month.

Hopeful…grateful…happy.

how to · journal entry · trying to conceive · ttc

On pregnancy announcements

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Last month my sister-in-law found out she was pregnant. This week my sister told me she’s pregnant. As with any pregnancy announcement while you’re still trying, each one was a mix of emotions. Joy for them, excitement for the new lives (and future nieces or nephews), but also jealousy and that aching sadness that it still isn’t you. However, I noticed a few differences that has made one so much harder to process.

My sister-in-law and I were on the TTC journey together. They got married two months before we did, they conceived their first month of not preventing (which was a few months after our miscarriage), then they had an early miscarriage and had been trying unsuccessfully ever since. She and I were often in our FW and TWW together, and we shared every OPK and BBT shift and negative HPT.

She texted me within moments of taking that first test (with a barely noticeable line), which is understandable, given our history…but since that moment it is has been all her pregnancy and how she’s feeling. There was not (and still has not been) a single acknowledgement that this might be a little hard for me; especially since I’ve been trying longer. I don’t want to steal the joy out of it for her, and having walked through a miscarriage and month after month of failure as well I am happy that she finally has this. But I lost my TTC buddy and I now get to watch every moment of her pregnancy while still struggling to conceive.

My sister, on the other hand, called me up and spent a good 15-20 minutes letting me talk about how I was doing (she’s known about this struggle for some time) and letting me share my frustrations and emotions. She then chatted for a bit, and as the conversation was coming to a close she broke the news. She immediately followed it with, “I have a strong support network and plenty of people who can provide me what I need emotionally, I don’t need to you to fake that you are only happy for me, I know you are happy and I also know that you don’t want to be unhappy but I’m sure that you are hurting; this has got to be hard for you.” She absolutely and generously gave me the space and freedom to be that person who has to be told gently, because she understood and valued the complexity of emotions I was feeling.

I absolutely hate that I can’t fully rejoice with these dear people in something so beautiful and wonderful. I hate my selfishness that keeps me focused on what I don’t have. It’s something I’m trying to process.

But right now, that’s there. And being given the grace to have those emotions without judgment-and thereby having those emotions (and the TTC struggle) acknowledged-is making the transition to only being happy for them a lot easier.

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  • TTC: trying to conceive
  • FW: fertile window
  • TWW: two week wait
  • OPK: ovulation predictor kit
  • BBT: basal body temperature
  • HPT: home pregnancy test