Double or nothing...no whammies, no whammies!

What exactly are we hoping will double, you ask? Well, as much as I would like if it had something to do with money (wouldn't that be nice?!), it doesn't.  =)

 It actually is a special little number that is seen with every blood test we are doing since we have done the transfer, numbers referring to the hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin, also known as hCG.  This number is what tells if a woman is pregnant. It is what a home pregnancy, POAS test picks up on to show the exciting word "pregnant"! It is hard to say what number women should have, but there are some charts that say at what number and above constitutes pregnancy.  And then, what the doctor wants to see from every blood test forward is for the hCG level to be at least doubling. Now, most women would probably never be aware of this hormone or what their levels are, and that's understandable.  But women who happen to be going through infertility treatments such as IVF tend to not only know this number, they tend to pray heavily about this number! Trust me...I now am myself.  =)

So, geez get to the point already, right?! LOL! On Tuesday, July 5th I had my first blood test after my transfer.  At that point they added one more medication to my regimen, for a total of 5 meds and I was told to come back in 2 days. Wow, I feel like a druggie throughout my day, popping a bunch of pills, wearing patches, and shooting drugs into my a$$!  Then I had a second blood test on Thursday, July 7th. I was able to talk with the nurse that afternoon and she told me my levels at that point.  I mean, I had been sitting here reading all these blogs and websites (I know, I know, I shouldn't be. It will drive me crazy, but some seem to be pretty informative) and all these women seem to know these numbers, and I was feeling left out.  It isn't information the nurses just offer up when they call.  They are just suppose to tell me about my meds.  So, I asked and here is what the nurse said...my hCG level on Tuesday was a 9, then a 24 on Thursday. That's good.  There is that doubling and essentially it confirmed that our little embryo that was transferred implanted. Success #1!!!

Then I went in for the BIG test on Saturday, July 9th. They were looking for the same numbers in this blood test (estrogen, progesterone, and of course hCG) and the doctor would either tell us we were pregnant or not.  We went in at 7:15am and would have to wait for a call a couple of hours later. Dr. S. called us at 10:55 and said, "Congratulations. You are pregnant!" What?! Really?! It worked?

It did work! My hCG level was a 51 (hello doubling!). We are super excited BUT we do realize that we are still in the very early stages of this pregnancy. We still have many blood tests and ultrasounds ahead of us in the coming weeks and I will still remain on the various medications to help my body prepare to carry this baby.  There was a big debate and a bit of internal conflict of whether I should actually post the words "we're pregnant" on here, but I feel like I haven't held back yet, so why now? I mean, I have been an open book about this whole process and just can't imagine shutting up at this point. We are elated with this wonderful news, but we are taking it one day at a time, and one blood test at a time.  We have our next blood test tomorrow morning, so come on skyrocketing numbers!!!

At this point, we are approximately 4 weeks along and should have an ultrasound in about 8 days just for Dr. S. to take a closer look at things. I am nervous.  I want to shout it from the roof tops but realize the sensitivity of the situation (I know, you are thinking, Really? Because you just shouted it from your blog...close enough to a roof top don't you think?).  LOL! I am feeling good.  I can smell everything 100x more than everyone around me, I swear, and nap at least once or twice a day. Guess those are some typical symptoms. =) I'm just grateful to be on summer break right now and to have a relaxed atmosphere to allow me to go through this time with really no stress! So...there it is.  Success! Now the real journey begins!