Transfer Day & Lucky 7s

Wow! Where to begin?! It has been such an exciting past few weeks. I have decided to post all of the pictures we have taken and go from there while writing this post.  I will talk about all of my symptoms I have been having and the next steps for us! 

Harmony Point Acupuncture

This is the place where I have been going to acupuncture.  They were recommended by our fertility doctors and specialize in acupuncture at the time of embryo transfer.  They follow a special set of acupuncture points that were proven successful in a research study of thousands of women who did IVF transfers.  I had to be there at 9am on the day of the transfer. 

So relaxing :)

Sneaky Justin taking this picture of me...

After acupuncture, we went home to relax.  I had to empty my bladder at 10:15am and drink 16oz of water.  We received a call around 10:45am that one of our embryos thawed well but the other had several dead cells.  The embryologist did not think it would produce a pregnancy.  We decided to discard that embryo and risk thawing our last "good" rated embryo.  Thank goodness they gave me this news when it was time to take my 10mg of Valium!  I was a nervous wreck hearing that.  We still have 4 "fair" rated embryos frozen.

Another beautiful day for an embryo transfer!

We arrived at the clinic around 11:45am.  Dr. Williams was scheduled to arrive at 12:15pm to start the procedure.

My home for the last 2 years...

Melinda, my nurse and friend, was able to be there for the transfer again.  She always calms my nerves.  I got dressed and waited for the news from the embryologist. 

Keeping my fingers crossed!

We didn't get to speak with the embryologists before the transfer as they were busy preparing our last minute embryos.  Dr. Williams came out and gave us the good news that we had two embryos to transfer!  The top one was the last minute thaw and just needed a little bit more time to fully expand. He reassured me that it would expand once placed in me.  This made me feel so much better.  I was nervous we would be stuck with one to transfer again!

Our 2 embryos. 

The transfer went great.  Justin was able to videotape the whole procedure and there wasn't any complications.  There was a resident doctor manipulating the ultrasound probe on my abdomen while Dr. Williams inserted the catheter and babies!  He may have been a little rougher than Dr. Christman, but he got the job done and for that I am thankful! haha 

The babies are in!
They are the bright white line in the middle top of the ultrasound

Proud parents!

You can see our two babies clearer in this picture

I went to the restroom right away and left the clinic within 10 minutes of the procedure.  I was so excited to have several days off of work to just rest and be in tune with what my body was doing!

Tucker already sensed I had babies in me and started his protector duties 

What happens to the embryos each day after transfer

Day of transfer: I felt barely any period like cramps and had a headache at night.  I started to eat pineapple for 5 days as I heard an old-wives tale that it helps with implantation.  I'll try anything at this point!

Day 1 Post-transfer: I woke up to the smallest spot of blood but I figured it was probably from the trauma of the embryo insertion, as it had to be too early for implantation.  I had more period-like cramps and had to double my insulin due to the steroids. I have enjoyed doing daily devotionals with this book. It has really helped me during my waiting period!  

A little God, A little Tucker, and a little baby twinges!

Day 2 Post-transfer: More cramps came, my boobs started to hurt a little on the sides and I was constipated from my meds.  Last day of steroids!

This is my happy to be off steroids face!

Day 3 Post-transfer: Negative urine test, hardly any cramps, bigger boobs.

Day 4 Post-transfer: Dreamed that I was gushing breastmilk like waterfalls.  I insisted that I wasn't pregnant due to barely any symptoms showing up so I bought myself an Apple Watch as a consolation prize and went to acupuncture.  I started crying on the way there, getting so frustrated of another probable failed cycle when I heard the DJ on the JoyFM Christian radio station say "Just want to remind you of this verse" and proceeded to recite the same verse I had been focusing on from my devotional book and posted on Facebook the night before the transfer.  

"So do not fear, for I am with you; Do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." - Isaiah 41:10

I felt like it was a sign and immediately became at peace. Then cramps and headache came that night, blue veins showed up on my boobs, and my urine test dried with a super faint line that I didn't see until the next day. 

Day 5 Post-transfer: Slightly nauseous in AM, more lightheaded, headache, found out positive urine test (woke Justin up again at 5am to show him haha), cramps noted on both left and right. 

Day 5- Took two tests today (am & pm) and it's a faint line!
It even looks like day 4 dried with one too

Tucker is still keeping the babies warm

Day 6 Post-transfer: Blurry vision started like last time, bad cramps on the right, super constipated, headache, mildly nauseous in am and needing to eat, tired, lightheaded. 

Day 6- Getting darker!

Day 7 Post-transfer: Blurry vision, bigger boobs, more nauseous in am and needing to eat, craving pickles, headache worse, lightheaded, little twinges on the left, really tired, implantation spotting at night. 

Day 7- I'm definitely pregnant!

Day 8 Post-transfer: No energy for anything. Urine test lines doubling almost every 24hrs instead of 48, sense of smell is super strong.  We told Justin's parents that I was getting positive urine tests that night.  I couldn't hide my symptoms anymore!

Day 8

Day 9 Post-transfer: Hcg 211, cramps, and a headache.  Laura, the phlebotomist was super excited to draw my level and was very positive for me. Then the woman embryologist (I still don't remember her name!) came in and was like how are you?! You're good?! Like meaning a positive good! Haha She said they get just as excited over our numbers as we do. Then Dr. Kramer showed up and was like did you cheat?! What is it?! Lol He said he would make sure the nurses called me right away. Melinda called me and said "it's good!" and I immediately started ugly crying after hearing the number.  I knew it had to be better than last transfer since my urine tests were darker, but I really did think it would still be in the 100s.  Our doctor had told us that anything around 100 would be one embryo, and anything in the 200s probably meant two embryos stuck.  I called Justin at work and he said "Omg, wait, what?! I'm going to have to process this and call you back." lol He was so excited and told everyone at work.  I called my mom right away and she said she felt like we were having twins even before we started our infertility journey!  We had to pray hard for the next hcg blood draw to double and be at least 422.

Day 10 Post-transfer: Tired, cramps both sides, boobs slightly sore, low blood sugars started, headache less

Day 10

Day 11 Post-transfer: Hcg 526, tired, cramps in the middle, headache not so much there.  I started googling, could this be twins?!  I found a "betabase" website where hundreds of thousands of women have posted their beta hcg numbers for others to compare (see below).  

Day 11- Hcg 526!

My tests were on 14dpo and 16dpo. 
So the average hcg shows ~131 & 289 for one baby.  Mine is 211 & 526!

Average hcg for twins is ~233 & 550, so I am not far below!

Another calculator I used which shows my hcg doubled in 36 hrs vs. the normal of 48hrs.  My two hcg numbers are the red dots way off the chart above! It says very high chance of multiples!

I also read online about how high hcg numbers from an embryo could also mean a possible chance of the baby having Down's Syndrome if it was only one.  This scares me to death but I have to keep reminding myself that we had more of a chance of twins than Down's since we put in 2 embryos. 

Melinda scheduled my ultrasound for 7 weeks, 1 day on Thursday, February 9th at 4pm.  They wanted to schedule it around 6.5 weeks but I worked that Monday and I wanted Dr. Christman to do it.  My mom is going to come up for it too!  

We went out for dinner to celebrate at Bonefish restaurant that night.  Guess who we ran into there?!  Dr. Kramer, the embryologist that made our babies! haha I went up to him and told him thank you for giving us a reason to celebrate tonight.  He said how everyone at the clinic was so excited for us and Dr. Christman was over the moon happy.  He said we were such a sweet and deserving couple. Then he said, I don't know if you were wanting this, but you better prepare yourselves for twins based off those numbers! haha That made it really set in hearing from the embryologist that he thought two had stuck.  I still have a slight fear that too much of a good thing (hcg) can be a bad thing. But I am enjoying being pregnant right now and hoping for the best! 

Day 12 Post-transfer: Super dark line, queasy when not eating, craving tacos unbelievably bad! We decided to take our announcement photos and enjoy the chance to post them while we could! We had NO clue that the result would be 777 days, in 2017, with an ultrasound at 7 weeks, and a baby due date of Sept. 27th!

Day 12

Day 14 Post-transfer:  I am trying to focus on blood sugars.  I had a super bad low of 32 yesterday afternoon. These babies are sucking the life out of me!  I'm starting a notebook with what I eat and all of the changes I am making to send to my endocrinologist. They will refer me to my high risk OB after the ultrasound and then they will take over my diabetes management. Why can't I just be a normal pregnant woman and eat as many tacos as I want?!  At least my urine test line is darker than the control line now! Getting a little queasy this afternoon as I type this. 

Day 14

So yeah, that's our story!  We are super excited but yet nervous every day!  This will be the longest 3 week wait ever!  Thanks for following along :)  I am praying for at least one happy, healthy baby!