Work and sleep and puke

Well, not all the time anyway. Just once in a while. The nausea is getting old, though. I can't wait for the first trimester to be over with.

Had an ultrasound on October 21st to check on the baby's size and heart rate. The doctor said the Little Bean is right smack-dab where it ought to be as far as growth goes, and it has a good, solid, healthy heart rate of 129 beats per minute (as of that day. It increases as it grows, of course.) It was so cool to watch it wiggle with each beat. Unfortunately my I.F. wasn't able to make it to that appointment, but the IVF doctor has released me into the care of a regular obstetrician with the expectation that this will be a normal, healthy, singleton pregnancy.

So our first OB appointment is going to be November 9th. It's so much fun getting two completely separate people's schedules to coincide enough so we can both make it to the appointment. And the hubs is going to come, too. I wonder if the OB staff will think the two men are gay, since I made it clear that I'm a surrogate? :P Probably not, as hubs is very affectionate (have I mentioned that I LOVE that?) The OB is going to try to squeeze us in for another ultrasound that day, which will be nice for my I.F. since he wasn't able to make it to the seven-week one.

PREGNANT!!!

As of 3:00 Wednesday afternoon, I have confirmation of pregnancy! My hCG (pregnancy hormone) levels were at 89. This is a good number. I was asked to go back in for a second blood test three days later (Saturday). I was looking for hCG levels around 180+. They were at FIVE HUNDRED SIXTY THREE! A rise this dramatic in my hormone levels could mean either a ridiculously healthy baby or... *drum roll please*... Multiples. (No, I do not get to keep surplus babies.) My IF is still nervous and doesn't think he'll settle down about all this until after week 12. Admittedly, the first trimester is the most tentative, but I have faith in my bits. :)

Transfer Complete.

Saturday 9/18/10 the hubs and I drove down to the Fertility Clinic for the embryo transfer. Everyone says it went very well. Personally, I think they could have been a LOT more gentle with the speculum (aka. COLD MEAN DUCK LIPS!) but if it results in a healthy baby, I can live with a little roughness in the girl bits.

Of course, now we play the waiting game, at which I am terrible. Every symptom, real or imagined, means something to me, and I will not be settled until 9/29/10 when I go up to the Big Hospital to have my blood drawn for pregnancy testing.

KEEP FINGERS CROSSED AND SEND ME LOTS OF STICKY VIBES AND BABY DUST!!!

Fun with Endometrium

Right. So as of last Wednesday my lining was at 5.2mm. They asked me to come back for yet ANOTHER ultrasound on Monday 9/13/10. At that appointment they measured my lining at 7.36mm. FINALLY! So not only was I at adequacy on Monday, I also got to spend the day with my stepmother, which was pleasant and fun and, as it always seems to be with the Foley Clan: HILARIOUS!

Therefore, the transfer is scheduled for Saturday 9/18/10. This is good! I just hope lots of people are willing to help my Mom and Pop get their trucks from Cali unpacked, because I will not only be out of town, but will probably have to take it easy for a few days, and that will make me a whole lot of useless lump.

More good news: We're all moved in to the new place! I have a little more to tuck away downstairs, and then have to put the bedroom in proper order, but for the most part, Mum and Pop should have no trouble getting their stuff in. WHEE!

Even more good news: My co-captain for the Relay for Life NordicStyle, the munchkin and I attended the first NordicStyle Committee meeting last night. I'm so psyched for this! We should have everyone's roles sorted out within a couple of weeks, and our next meeting is next month! -hop, bounce- Not only that, but the munchkin and my widdle sister are hoping to start their own team! -GWEE!-

Um... Lessee... My sister-in-law got her tickets to see Wicked in December, and I'm hoping to get ours pretty soon too, so we can all go to Broadway together when we visit for the holidays. HUZZAH!

Err... I think that's all I've got for now. Pretty good stuff this time around! Keep fingers crossed for Saturday!!!

Lining

Monday 8/30/10 I went up to the big hospital and had my endometrial lining measured to see how well it was progressing under the effects of the estrogen I'm taking. It measured at 1.4mm. According to the nurse at the clinic, it should have been at about 7mm after 8 days. Needless to say this resulted in my feeling inadequate and otherwise blah. My wonderful hubs, however, decided that this was not to be borne. So he spent about half an hour explaining the "magic" of the female reproductive system. Apparently there is a pixie duck (the result of misspeaking when trying to say "pixie dust" and just going with the mistake) that rules everything having to do with my vagina. It oversees the elves that live in my ovaries and mine my eggs so that they can load microscopic cannons at the entrance to my fallopian tubes and shoot the eggs down them once a month. Except that the liopleurodon (dinosaur - see post from August 12, 2010) has been storming through my ovaries, stomping and killing the ovarian elves faster than they can reproduce; which has made life very hard on the pixie duck.

Anyway, the nurse at the clinic instructed me to start taking my estrogen pills three times a day instead of two, and take them vaginally. This has resulted in my conviction that I am becoming a Smurf from the girl-bits, out. The pixie duck finds this confusing.

As a result of my new found Smurfdom, my endometrial lining grew 3.8mm over the course of three and a half days. As of a little before 3:00pm yesterday, my uterine lining measured at 5.2mm. The nurse and the doctor at the clinic, as well as my I.F. are all very pleased by the progress my Smurfiness has made and figure that I'll be at adequacy by Monday or Tuesday.

I have also been scheduled for yet another ultrasound down at the clinic on Wednesday morning, so that will be a lovely 6+ hour round trip. Ah, well; I figured I'd have to do some traveling for all this anyway. It's supposed to be a full-obstetrical ultrasound, whatever that entails. I'll post details when I get back from it.

Oh, and one more thing: Assuming everything is still going well on Wednesday, we're looking at an embryo transfer date sometime around September 12th. HUZZAH!

Estrogen

Alllrighty then! I started taking Estrace and Vivelle today (estrogen). Hoh boy! Yep. This is gonna be interesting. I have become a needy, clingy, weepy mess. Already. Hope everyone's willing to be ready with lots of hugs and stuff, because I'm gonna need it. Which sucks, because I don't like not being in control of my emotions. At. All. Especially given the fact that a lot of the people around me have it way worse right now.

So to counteract my current mopey-ness, I'm going to write a list of things for which I am happy and thankful.

1.) I have an amazing, wonderful family.
a.) My husband is affectionate and thoughtful and loving and patient and considerate and all around the perfect man for me.
b.) My daughter is intelligent and beautiful and creative and talented and compassionate and I am the luckiest Mom in the world to call her my own.
c.) My mom is the epitome of all that is mother. She is unconditionally loving and supportive and patient and I'm blessed to call her Mommy.
d.) My dad is wonderfully geeky and fun and loving and supportive and generous and I'm so glad he's part of my life.

2.) I have a good job that pays fairly well and a boss with whom I can get along and who helps me out and sticks her neck out for me.

3.) I have a roof over my head and food in my kitchen.

4.) I have friends who love and support me even when I go hormone-crazy.

5.) My I.F. is a kind, considerate man who's going to make a wonderful father and who has continually kept mine and my family's best interests in mind and at heart.

6.) I have a still-relatively-new car that runs well and gets us where we need to go.

7.) I have a bicycle which gets me to and from work and lets me get exercise.

8.) I have clothes to keep me warm and not-naked.

9.) I have computers, TV and phones, which keep me entertained, informed and in touch.

10.) My mom and dad are strange enough to want to share a living quarters with me.

I think that'll do for now. Gotta get back to Mum and dinner.

Dinosaur Shots

This evening I administered my very first injection of leuprolide acetate (mistakenly read by one of my dearest friends as "liopleurodon shots"). I now refer to them, in her honor, as Dinosaur Shots.

Anyway, yeah. First shot. I had myself all worked up that it was gonna suck big time. I've been led to believe that shots are evil and horrible and, well, you get the point. I barely felt a thing. Mind you, I am almost thirty-one, and others in my life have had to give themselves twice daily injections since childhood. That would traumatize the crap out of me where needles are concerned, too. I would not ever try to imply that they have had it easy. Jabbing oneself twice daily from the age of seven or even twelve would not be my choice of morning and evening activities.

Of course, my belly does feel a little strange where I poked myself and it's a little red, but if that's the worst I have to suffer before actual labor, I'd say I'm in pretty good shape.