Pregnancy is easy!

No. No it's not. Well some times it can be but lately a lot of the surrogates around me are having problems. Some are having 'threatend miscarriages'. Some have there beta Numbers dropping instead of increasing, which means the pregnancy will not be continuing. I'm so sad for these ladies and the stress and worry they are going through. Honestly it makes me worried for my own pregnancy. Will I be able to keep these babies safe? Or baby - I don't even know if they both suck. I have a 3 year old and one year old that I am busy with all day everyday. And with IVF you have a higher chance of having a subchorionic hematoma otherwise known as SCH. This is a pocket of blood that sits between the uterus and the sac baby is in. I just worry about potentially having one of those and interfering with the pregnancy. I had three of those with Penny that weren't too big. I just had to be on pelvic rest until they were gone they ended up reabsorbing into my body around 13 weeks . But I worried that whole time. I'm just not sure how things will go this time but praying and crossing my fingers that everything will be easy and smooth. On Saturday (7/26) I took a clearblue easy test that tells you how many weeks it thinks you are pregnant. It said I was 1-2 weeks. The one this morning (7/31) kept flashing 3 +, 3 +, 3 + and then finally ended up on 2-3 weeks. So to me that shows that my betta IS increasing and my pregnancy is continuing to move forward without any problem . So that has put my mind at ease. I have my first beta blood test on Monday and will hear the results of what my numbers are then. I am then assuming that about two weeks later I will get an ultrasound that will actually check and see how many babies there are. I will ask if they see any SCH is at that time. Time to go drink some water and relax!

Just can't get enough

With all the test I have it is hard to NOT take one!  I love seeing the line get darker and darker!! So Yesterday I took another test in the afternoon and with in 1 min I saw this

That line showed up quickly!!!

Then at 5 mins I had this:

And 10 mins later

Look at those lines!!!  Woooo Hoooo!!!!  It worked!!!    Now if you are wondering why I have tweezers, my ring, or hair clips in the picture, it is to help the camera focus so the picture is clear.

So after that last test being so amazing, I took a Clear Blue Easy Digital test that will either say "Not Pregnant" or "Pregnant" and list how many weeks back you ovulated.

Completely official to me now!!! My IM wants to wait until I have my beta test (blood test determining pregnancy) to find out if the transfer was successful.  That won't be until August 4th, so another week for her to wait!  I am sure she will be over the moon!!!  I can't wait to meet her and her family on August 9th when they come out here to visit. It is kind of weird to be carrying someone's baby or two and have never met them.  I had really hoped to have a closer relationship, but maybe that will change over the pregnancy. 

Anyhow here is my last picture of ALL my test!

Obsessed!!

How many test will it take?

Everyday since my transfer I have been POAS. I wanted to see the line showing I was pregnant as soon as possible! I knew that the first two days after the transfer I would not see anything. That would just be too soon to detect on a home pregnancy test. I believe it takes 24-48 hours for the hormone hcg to start secreting in to the blood and urine.

How it works:
When get pregnant naturally you typically will ovulate mid-cycle. This can be any where from 12-16 days after the beginning of your period.  Most doctor's assume that this happens on cycle day (CD) 14, but every women is different. Some ovulate sooner, CD 10, others later, CD 21. Once you ovulate, your egg has about 24 hours to get fertilized. A small window. In IVF, Ovulation day is equal to the day of egg retrieval.  Once the egg is released it will usually fertilize by your ovary and then starts growing as it travels down the fallopian tube. This can take anywhere from 5 to 7 days before it reaches the uterus. In IVF, they fertilize the egg and watch it grow over the next 3 -5 days.  Sometimes during this process IVF eggs will stop growing.  This is why on egg retrieval day they try to get as many eggs as possible. I know we had 11 eggs that were growing on 3 days after fertilized. On day 5 only 6 of the eggs had continued to grow. When the embryo reaches the uterus it needs to implant into your lining that has been building up. This is why I give myself all the injections, get my lining nice and thick! Once snuggled in the embryo will start secreting hcg which is a hormone that tells the body "Hey we are pregnant! Time to get to work and help baby grow!" Again the hcg is what is detected in a pregnancy test. So if the embryo implants on day 7 after ovulation, and take 2-3 days to produce hcg, you can start taking a home pregnancy test about 9 to 10 Days Past Ovulation (DPO) to find out if you are pregnant or not. However, you may or may not see a very faint line on a pregnancy test at this point. Sometimes it takes up to 12-14 DPO for the positive to show. If you do see a faint line at 10 days past ovulation, and take a test again at 12 days past ovulation, the test line will be darker. So you will see a nice progression of that line getting darker indicating that the HCG is increasing and you are successful pregnant!
So for me 2 Days after a 6 day Transfer = 8 DPO. On 3 DP 6 DT (9DPO) I thought I saw a faint line. 

I sent this picture to others who agreed they thought they saw something too but weren't sure.
 

I took another test the next day and saw this

 

Bam! BFP! Big Fat Positive!

 

 If it's hard to see here is a tweaked picture of it. Meaning I played with effects on the photo to make that second line appear.

 

 I will keep taking test to watch the line get darker!

 

Here are all the test I have taken so far.

 

I'm obsessed! Ha!

Testing 1 2 3

I went to Walmart Wednesday night to pick up a bunch of pregnancy test. I do become obsessed with peeing on pregnancy test, aka POAS (pee on a stick) and decided I wanted to be able to test twice a day. Once in the morning and once in the afternoon. So I got 14 test! I should definitely get a BFP with one of these over the next few days!

Room Service!

I love bed rest! Maybe because I only have to do it for 3 days. Maybe because I'm not injured. But I haven't had to deal with screaming children, or cleaning, or cooking. Food has been brought to me IN BED! I didn't even get that for mother's day. Or after babies were born...  I can't think of a time where food was brought to me in bed since I was a little girl and sick. I have even been able to take naps! I feel the most rested, relaxed and happy right now. I don't think I have been this content since 2010! Ha!
So I am sad that it is ending but was grateful for the time I had to myself. On that note I'm hungry and need breakfast!

Snuggle time!

We did it! What an awesome experience this has been. We got there and went in the back to get ready. I took a valum to help relax my uterus before the transfer. Then got dressed in my cap and gown. Bryan got to put on scrubs too and he looked mighty fine! The owner from the agency came to be with me too and her support meant the world to me. We all talked and laughed and had a good time.
I told Bryan yesterday that I had a dream that I was told I was pregnant with a girl which I thought was interesting because I was dreaming about some one else's baby. I have been right about my own pregnancies, but some one else and before even being pregnant... Odd
So the Dr. Came in and told us that out of the 6 embies 2 passed the PGD testing! Hooray! This means they are very healthy and I have a very small chance of a miscarriage and high chance of a great pregnancy. He then let us know that due to the PGD testing they can tell the gender of the embies (which is amazing) and they are both girls! My dream was right! So we went in to the operating room, which was nice and cold and laid down on the operating table. The nurse put a nice warm blanket over me and the showed us the picture of the embies. One was completely hatched and the other was just starting to hatch. We took a picture before the procedure then got started. It was very quick. They insert a catheter in the cervix
Then in the catheter are the embryos. They then release them in to the uterus way up.  After that they tilt the bed so that I'm at a slight angel with my head down and I lay there for 30 mins.
After that we headed home and I am so tired from the valum I passed out on the drive. It's been a good relaxing day and I am excited to start POAS! AKA Peeing On A Stick.

Transfer Day!

Today is the day! I slept well and feel positive and excited about this transfer. We had 11 embies on Friday and as of yesterday 6 have continued to grow well and have undergone PGD testing. We will know when we get there how many actually pass the test. The good news is after the testing there is a higher chance of a successful pregnancy! I have butterflies in my stomach.
So my understanding is the procedure is going to take 10 mins, then I have to lay at an angle with my head lower than my abdomen for 30 mins. Then it's back home for bed rest till Wednesday.

Sending out prayers and good vibes for a positive visit. <3

Gold Star **

Right now is 2am and I am rocking my Lil one and realized I haven't written all the details of the past few weeks. Which have been wonderful! So here is a time line of events:

7/7- I have been taking Lupron daily and Delestrogen on Mondays and Thursdays. At this point I have only had 2 shots of the Delestrogen. I had a monitoring appointment to check my uterine lining and make sure it is getting thick. Typically after you ovulate your body starts to make a lining in your uterus for the egg, which has become a fertilized embryo, a nice cozy place to snuggle in and grow. A good number to see at this point is an 8. Anything more than that is great! If for some reason your number is a little less, well you still have time for it to change and get better, hopefully with out needing extra medication. When she checked my lining it was at a 12!!!!! The doctor tools me I get a Gold star for how well my body is responding to the meds. This made me so happy and relieved that my body was responding so well to the medication and I felt this was the beginning to great news all around.

 

 

 

7/14 - I had another lining check to see how my lining was doing and to make sure my blood work looked good.  If all is well then I would begin my daily injections of Progesterone.  The main Dr. was the one to actually check me and see how I was progressing.  He said he was extremely pleased with how well I am doing.  My lining was now at a 15 and was a triple line. When you have a triple line it means your uterus is nice and 'fluffy' and ready for an embryo.  It will look like a feather in pattern. This is great news for the embies to be.  They will have a wonderful cozy place to snuggle in and grow!

 

I was then told that the egg retrieval would be the following day from the donor and then fertilized.  From there we would know on Friday how many eggs were growing well and would go on to have the PGD testing done.  This is to make sure that there are no genetic issues.  This testing will be done on Sunday.  This is a hard test to pass and after speaking with the other surrogates, usually only 1 out of 10 pass this testing.  However the success rate of a good pregnancy increases when this testing is done.  I won't know this news until Monday morning when we get to the doctors office.

 

7/18 - I had to give blood and make sure that my Progesterone levels were looking good. 

 

7/19 - I got an email from my IM saying that they have 11 embryos growing well and will be tested the next day!!  I am very excited that we have such a great number.  This increases our odds of one passing the PGD testing.  Now if they have two that look good, then two will be implanted, but I am just crossing my fingers for one good one!

 

7/20 - Today the testing will be done and tomorrow is transfer day along with 3 days of bed rest. I am getting really excited about Monday.  Today is going to be a good easy day. I need to relax and enjoy the day and the family.

 

Shots, shots, shots

*This was actually written on July 4th.*
Well I had my first self intramuscular injection last night and boy was I nervous. Right now I'm starting with Delestrogen and only do this injection on Mondays and Thursdays.  I watched a video of how to do it 5 times before I did it just to make sure I would not mess up! I was so nervous. I made sure to ice the area first so I wouldn't feel the needle go in. Warmed the medication that was in the syringe to help the oil (the medication is oil based) go in easier. Put on the new smaller needle (some surrogates have not changed there needle to the smaller one and I can't imagine how much that hurt!) and located the area the nurses marked for me.
Then injected myself!  I did it! And it wasn't bad at all! Now I'm ready for when I have to do daily Progesterone injections. Oh boy!