17 weeks and 4 days!

Our Facebook announcement!

In Target's dressing room trying on maternity shorts.

Baby Bump 15 Weeks!!

Baby Bump 13 weeks!

12 weeks and 4 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Everything looks perfect in the scan! The baby was moving around so much we couldn't get a great picture. Dan took a video of the heart beating and I will upload it later. This is now getting so real to me. I now feel relaxed and know that everything will be ok. Sniff sniff...as I wipe away my tears of happiness!

10 weeks and 5 days

Start of a baby bump!

Saw the Baby today!

Today we went in for another ultrasound and the Doctor said we are measuring perfect! When he turned the monitor around Dan and I both could see the baby moving his/her arms and legs. It was so cute. We immediately broke down in tears of joy.  I am so so so happy! This is now getting real for me. The doctor told me today that my chances now of miscarriage are only 5% so I have little to worry about. Now it's time for me to enjoy this pregnancy! The Doctor also said not to eat processed foods, no sushi, only one cup of a caffeine a week, and lots of fruits and veggies. He told me I shouldn't gain anymore than 20 pounds and I should start exercising. I have gained 4 pounds since last weigh in..opps! I have to be honest the last 3 months I haven't done a thing. Hopefully my energy level will increase and I will start walking. The past two days I have finally felt normal for I have been very very sick. For the past month I  have felt extremely tired, dizzy, and nauseous. Now that I am feeling better It's time to get moving so I will be in good shape for when the baby comes! Our next ultrasound is 3 weeks away and already can't wait.

Why do they call it morning sickness??

They should call it ALL DAY LONG sickness. Oh wow I have been so tired. Yesterday I slept 10 hours though the night and then took a 3 hour nap! The "morning sickness" is here as well. I wake up in the middle of the night to go the bathroom and feel terrible. I have learned to keep some cereal in a bag by my bed and have a handful before getting up which has helped a little. I am trying to eat every couple hours which really helps. If I get in any way hungry I feel nauseous right away. I am glad this only lasts the first trimester. I am almost to week 8 and have to go to week 12.. I can do this.. I can do this! I have waited so long for this I am going to be positive and try to enjoy this miserable feeling.

 My next ultrasound is April 5th I can't wait!!

Saw The Heartbeat Today!

I am over the moon with excitment! We went in for our first ultrasound and was very nervous for the last time I was in that room (with the same ultrasound tech she gave me bad news). Well not today! As soon as she turned the tv monitor on we could see the sac on the screen and a little flickering light which was the heartbeat. I can't believe it. Dan and I both had tears in our eyes. This is a day we will never forget. I go back on April 5th for another check up.
As for symptoms I am very tired. I took a 4 hour nap yesterday and slept almost 10 hours last night. I got up this morning around 7am got something to eat because I was starving and then went back to sleep for another hour! When I got up the second time I didn't feel so hot and started to clean the toliet to get ready just in case. Well nothing happend but my toliets are clean and ready for me. LOL

Getting EXCITED!!

My levels rose from 144 from last Wednesday to 2,364 on Monday!!! I am still in shock. I can't believe that this may work out for me. I do feel different really tired all the time, and constant dull cramping which they say means my uterus is streching and making room for the baby. Oh this is so exciting! Monday is a big day for at 3:00 we have an appointment to see if there is a sac on the ultrasound. My nurse said we may see a heart beat but if not we will go back in a week to check again. I really hope to see the sac (in the right place) and a heart beat. That would be the most amazing experience. I will keep you updated. EEEKKKK!!

Levels Rising!

I received the call today from the nurse that my beta level went from 77 up to 144! Things are going in the right direction. I  will be going back Monday to check my levels again. Please pray for me.

Cautiously Optimisitc but not looking great...

Saturday I had my blood work done and it showed I was pregnant! My levels came back at 53. My nurse said they look for anything above 50. I went in again on Monday for my levels are supposed to double and I just got the news that my levels only went up to 77. (I was hoping for a number in the hundreds). So here I am going through the same drill as last pregnancy living on the edge of the unknown. I will continue to get blood work done every other day until we know what is going on. I am hoping for the best but really .. expecting the worse.

Information on HCG Bloodwork:
The hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (better known as hCG) is produced during pregnancy. It is made by cells that form the placenta, which nourishes the egg after it has been fertilized and becomes attached to the uterine wall. Levels can first be detected by a blood test about 11 days after conception and about 12 - 14 days after conception by a urine test. In general the hCG levels will double every 72 hours. The level will reach its peak in the first 8 - 11 weeks of pregnancy and then will decline and level off for the remainder of the pregnancy.

Key things to remember about hCG levels:

• In a bout 85% of normal pregnancies, the hCG level will double every 48 - 72 hours. As you get further along in pregnancy and the hCG level gets higher, the time it takes to double can increase to about every 96 hours.
• Caution must be used in making too much of hCG numbers. A normal pregnancy may have low hCG levels and result in a perfectly healthy baby. The results from an ultrasound after 5 - 6 weeks gestation are much more accurate than using hCG numbers.

BIG FAT POSITIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been waiting almost 4 years to say this.... sniffle sniffle.. I'M PREGNANT!!!!!! WE ARE SO HAPPY! I know we have a long way to go and it's early but It's one step in the right direction! Thank you all so much for your suppport. I will be getting a blood test done on Monday to check my levels.

2 Frozen Embryos for the future!!

The good news just keeps coming. Today I found out that we have two embryos that made it to day 6 and are frozen! What this means is if this cycle does not work we don't have to go through all the shots, Dr.s appointments, etc. We can just have one appointment and they will inseminate me with the last two. If I don't need them and get pregnant they will keep them frozen  and we can use them in a couple years when and if we decide to have another child.

Today is 4 days past my 5 day embryo transfer. Today my little baby or babies should almost  be done implanting to my uterine lining.  (To be honest not unless my body is playing tricks on me with the meds I am on but I for sure felt cramping all day yesterday. My back hurt I was cramping so much. As we speak right now I feel little twinges on and off.) I am getting excited!

Picture of Embryo Transfer Day!

You really can't see much but I wanted Dan to take a picture anyway just in case. It was just a beautiful exciting day!

Picture of Embryo Retrieval Day

This was the day of my embryo retrieval I was pretty nervous.

3 Embryo's Transferred Today!

My Three Blasts.. Aren't they pretty?

The timeline

This is what happens in a 5dt: (5 day transfer) Days past transfer Embryo Development One The blastocyst begins to hatch out of its shell Two The blastocyst continues to hatch out of its shell and begins to attach itself to the uterus Three The blastocyst attaches deeper into the uterine lining, beginning implantation Four Implantation continues Five Implantation is complete, cells that will eventually become the placenta and fetus have begun to develop Six Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) starts to enter the blood stream Seven Fetal development continues and hCG continues to be secreted Eight Fetal development continues and hCG continues to be secreted Nine Levels of hCG are now high enough to detect a pregnancy

10 Fertilized EGGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just got the most amazing news yet. Out of the 16 eggs they retrieved 3 of them were inmature, 3 of them are slow growing, and 10 of them fertilized!! This is the BEST news ever! This means instead of doing a 3 day transfer we will be doing a 5 day transfer. A 5 day transfer has better results for the Dr. can be picky on which two embryos to inseminate. I just read that the success rate of a day 3 transfer is 37.1% and a 5 day transfer is 69.4%.I am also hoping that we will have some embryos left over to freeze at the clinic. They will freeze our eggs for future use which is great.  I can't believe this is happening-pinch me now! LOL

Retrieval Day!!!!!!

Yay! You can check this off my list of things to do during this cycle. 3:00 am. I got up (an hour early the clock was wrong in our bedroom). We ended up leaving at 4:00 to make our 8:00 a.m. appointment. It only took 3 hours but I was nervous because the weather forecast predicted snow and there was no way we could be late. When I got to the office I didn't sit but 5 minutes and they called my name.  I went into the bathroom and put up on a gown, booties, and a cap and then went into the little proceedure room. The nurse after some time finally found my vein and hooked me up to an IV. There I sat for literally 55 minutes by myself..waiting..waiting ...waiting. The clock was right in front of me which didn't help. Then my handsome man came in with his booties and his gown and we both sat there for another 10 minutes. The embryologist popped in and wanted me to state my name, birth date, etc. I was happy about that we don't need any mix ups! LOL. Then my Dr came in and introduced himself along with my friend the anesthesiologist. He hooked me up to the IV and I looked at Dan and said "good night". LOL. I then woke up and asked Dan like 12 times how many eggs they retrieved. I was a little loopy. They retrieved 16 eggs!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am in shock. Most of my friends and the average is 11 eggs. I am beyond estatic.  I am now back at the cabin in New Hampshire resting. I slept ALL day. Now I am sitting in front of the fireplace relaxing. Tomorrow I expect a call from the embryologist regarding the number of eggs that fertilized. I am excited and anxious for this number. I will update you all tomorrow!

I will try to upload some some pictures of the cabin where we are staying. I LOVE this place..

Great News Today!

This morning bright and early we drove from Salem back to Albany for another ultrasound and blood work check up. They nurse counted 8 follicles that she thinks will be retrieved and there are 2 more that may catch up in size. Again they have to be mature enough at the time of retrieval. I am very happy my personal goal was I would like to have at least 8. I just know that not all 8 are going to become fertilized like I stated before about 70% should but who knows. The doctors office would like to see me first thing tomorrow morning so we are now staying at a hotel  in Albany, NY. We will get up early for another appointment and then head to the New Hampshire White Mountains to stay at our friends Scott and Sherry's log cabin for the weekend. Saturday will be my retrieval day so we will have to drive back for that. Off to take a nap I will update you tomorrow!

It only takes ONE!

Yesterday at my doctors appointment the nurse only counted 4 follies on my left and two on my right -a total of 6 follies. She said others still may catch up so I am hopeful of that. I really want at least 8. So, I'm kind of bummed about the appointment but what can I do? There is nothing I can do. It's my body that decides what it's going to do. I have no control over it. All I know is it only takes ONE!

I have another appointment tomorrow morning at 9:30a.m. I am really hoping for a better outcome tomorrow. I am guessing my egg retrieval day will be on Friday but I am hoping Saturday so any small follies can grow and catch up with the others.

My nightly meds

Great News

On Friday we drove back to New York for a check up to see how I am responding to the injections. I had blood work taken and another ultrasound. During the ultrasound the nurse saw about 10 follies growing! Yay!!! The average size was around 8mm.  None are mature yet.  they consider mature eggs to be about 20mm.  But the follies will continue to grow over about 2mm a day.  The average number at retrieval is 11-12 follicles.  This doesn't mean that I will have 10 babies though:)  Not all follicles will have an egg & not every egg will be mature & ready to fertilize.  I was told that about 70% will be mature.  On top of that, not every egg will fertilize.  Not every embryo that fertilizes will continue growing.  So my nurse said everything "looks great". I am to stay on my same dose of shots but to include a second shot on Sunday (happy Superbowl to me). This shot is called ganirelix and it stops my body from wanting to ovulate. We don't want my body to ovulate because we want to retrieve all the eggs at the same time during my operation/retrieval.
My next ultrasound/bloodwork check up is Monday. I will update you then. Go Pats!!!!!!

Day 3 of Stimming. Things are going ok just a little crampy. I am still kind of scared of the needle but it is quick. One side effect of these drugs are my emotions. Holy cow I just cried my eyes out watching this video from my Dr.'s office at CNY Fertility Center. Watch this and make sure to turn your sound on because the song is so fitting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqbpSvz5NXA&feature=share

Pictures of CNY

Check out how gorgeous the waiting room is! This place is amazing!!

Today went GREAT!

Dan and I woke up at 5:00 a.m. (had an early appointment to beat the Boston traffic) and drove to Albany, NY. The drive was very pretty and took about a little less then 3 hours.

 I LOVE LOVE CNY Infertility Clinic. The place is amazing it's so not your typical Dr.'s appointment. As I walked into the builiding we were greeted by a very relaxed atmosphere with couches, dimmed lighting, and a fireplace. I have to mention also there were no pregnant women all around me which is so nice. My last Dr.'s office there were pregnant woman everywhere and it kind of stung for me. (Just kind of a jealously thing). Anyway, We got there an hour early (we didn't want to be late and didn't know how long it would take from Mass) and they got us right in within 5 minutes! I thought for sure we would have to sit and wait forever. I got my blood taken and had a quick ultrasound which she said everything looked great. She was looking for any cysts and to make sure my lining wasn't too thick and she said it wasn't. After I got dressed she told me to meet her in another room with Dan and go over the meds. She in detail explained how to mix the Menupur & Bravelle together in one vial so Its only one shot. (Thank god). I am to go back for another ultrasound and more bloodwork this Friday, next Monday, next Wednesday and then we will see how things are going. I am patientaly waiting to get my first injection. I am very scared! I will let you know how it goes. We are to do it between 7:00 -8:30.pm. Dan used to be a paramedic so he knows how to inject people but still ahhhhhh scarey. I told him I am going to put some hard rock music on really loud to get pumped right before he stabs me! LOL

FUNNY!

Positive Thoughts For ME

Ok, to make myself feel better I googled successful pregnancies with Low AMH and found a ton of posts from other girls. I copied some and will insert them here. This will be good for me when I am feeling doubtful about my cycle I can read success stories.

"I do have a friend whose AMH was .7, and she conceived through IVF and gave birth to twins in October.  Also, she's 35, so she's AMA as well."
Good luck to you!
"DO NOT WORRY ABOUT THIS!  Last summer I was 28, had an AMH level of 0.3, and was told that IVF was my only option.  Unable to immediately afford IVF, I started seeing a chiropractor, and taking DHEA. (I have LPD too...oh, and did I mention ONLY ONE FALLOPIAN TUBE due to an ectopic!?!?!?)  I was pregnant within a month!  Then I lost the pregnancy, got pregnant the next month, lost it, got pregnant the next month (at which point I tripled my progesterone dosage,) and here I am about to give birth in four weeks.  The point is, I obviously had the capacity to ovulate every month.  Low AMH doesn't mean you have bad QUALITY.  That is measured by the FSH.  Low AMH just means that you might have a reduced reserve or be a poor responder to meds.  You could still ovulate every month on your own.  I had never seen a chiropractor in my life, and I really didn't buy into alternative treatments, but given how quickly I was able to get pregnant I really believe that the treatments assisted my body.
No matter what you choose to do, I just wanted to weigh in and tell you not to worry about this number.  Look into every other potential cause and cure.  Explore your options.  Don't let someone tell you that you only have the IVF option since your AMH is "low."  (Frankly, that really isn't very low to begin with!) Good luck!"

"I have normal everything, except my AMH, which is 0.5. I was successful with IVF #2 on a high dose antagonist protocol.
One doc did a blood test after I had a spontaneous O on cd7 - and told me my AMH came back at 0.6 and that i would have to speed things along if we wanted to have kids...
I went to another doctor who didn't even pay attention to the AMH number - at this point we were scared and wanted to move on to IVF - he stimmed us with a pretty normal dose of meds and got 25 eggs almost all of which fertilized normally - i got pg the first cycle and we have several on ice for the future - he even said that I made good eggs and we had excellent fertilization."


Anyway, a sigh of relief that there are success stories out there. Now maybe I can relax.

Stress

Time is moving in sllllooooowww motion for me. See the hard thing about this whole trip is I can't plan a thing. My body is in control of all of this. I have to wait for my period to start and be at the doctors office for my first ultrasound within 2 days. I am expecting my period to start Jan 28th so our plan as of today is to fly up on Friday the 27th to Boston. From there we will go to Salem and stay until my first appointment. We will then drive the 3 hours to Albany, NY. and the rest is unknown. Most girls have blood work and ultrasounds on cycle day 3,7,9 and 11 but It totally just depends on how my body reacts to all the meds, etc. *Sigh* I would like to plan time to see my family but am stressed on how to fit this in.
Another stress of mine is holy moly this costs a lot. I have A LOT on the line here. We are taking 2 weeks off, flying up for this, and almost spending $10,000 on this. No one can tell me to not stress. I just need distraction. I may try meditation but I am such a scatter brain I can't imagine trying to sit still and not focus on anything but my breathing-yeah right.
My other stress which gets me emotional is the fact that I will not be exercising at all during this process. It completely freaks me out. Not everyone understands this but running is like meditation to me. I run in the mornings and watch the sun come up. It's my time and I don't think about anything else except for running and it feels great. My fear is I will gain weight which I understand I will when I get pregnant but I just have worked so damn hard at trying to stay somewhat healthy and this will all go out the window quick with no exercise. When I am cleared by my Dr if I do get pregnant I will walk but not until after 12 weeks.
My BIGGEST fear which I shouldn't even go there is that my body does not respond to the medications and the Dr. will tell me that in order to get pregnant I will need a donor egg. I have a girlfriend in my support group that had really low AMH of .13 (mine is .84) and after 2 IVF procedures the Dr. recommended a donor egg. They used her husbands sperm but not her egg someone else's. To me that would be heartbreaking. The good news for her is she used a donor egg and is now pregnant with twins and I am so happy for her. Anyway, I will not go there.

Hmmmm... anything else I can stress about. I can't think of anything else today.  LOL

In A Nutshell

In a nut shell the IVF process is explained below. Each day when I get really into the process I will share more in detail about what is going on.

I went to Target last night and walked by the infant section where they had some Xmas stuff like a little santa  infant outfit.I would love to be able to actually have a baby by next Xmas.   I am so hoping this is it. This last Xmas was very hard for my expected due date was Dec 15 agh I hate that I know that date. I may not figure out my due date next time until I know everything is a go for it is very painful know this date. It weighed me down the whole month of December. To some people it may seem drastic the way I felt but when you have wanted something so bad and it is taken away from you by some "fluke" in nature it's hard. That could have been a baby. That could have been my son or daughter but it happened to get cozy in my fallopian tube and not my uterus. Oh well, time to move on.  Maybe I should go and buy that outfit to bring positive vibes. We have already purchased a pac n' play and an automatic rocker. Dan saw a changing table on the Craig's list last night but I thought we should wait. This is getting so real. I already have all my meds, a heating pad, and movies are  packed.  I may go to the library this afternoon and get some books.



The Processes Involved with IVF are

• prevention of premature release of eggs from the ovaries
• stimulate development of multiple eggs in the ovaries
• removal of the eggs from the ovary
• combining the eggs with sperm
• embryo transfer
• establishing pregnancy

The In Vitro Fertilization Process is as Follows

• The eggs are harvested after medication therapy
• The eggs and sperm are either left together in an incubator for about 18 hours, (conventional IVF) or they are inseminated using via ICSI whereby one sperm is directly injected into the egg. They are then checked for fertilization and further development as embryos.
• The resulting embryos are placed in the uterus. Progesterone is also used to help develop the uterine lining and increase the chances of implantation.

My low AMH Levels

Day two of the new year and one of my resolutions was to not stress about things out of my control. Well I'm breaking it already. *sigh*  My AMH levels are low. My bloodwork was done and my AMH level is .84. According to the guidelines below I am in the low to normal range. Basically what it states below is that the more eggs they retrieve the better chances of success. My hopes are they at least retrieve 8 or more.

 

 

Normal                    over 1.0 ng/ml

Low Normal Range  0.7 - 0.9 ng/ml

Women with higher AMH values will tend to have better response to ovarian stimulation for IVF and have more eggs retrieved. In general, having more eggs with IVF gives a higher success rate.
We do not have a lot of data yet on what to tell couples going through IVF about their AMH results and chances for conception. However, the table below shows ranges for AMH levels and some information about interpretation.
AMH levels probably do not reflect egg quality, but having more eggs at the IVF egg retrieval gives us more to work with - so we are more likely to have at least one high quality embryo available for transfer back to the uterus.

Happy New Year! I am estatic to start this year. I just have a great feeling about 2012. Well as expected 30 minutes after the new year I went to the bathroom and started my period. It's bittersweat for I did have a little hope that maybe the cycle before I do IVF that I would get pregnant natural. Well there's my answer to that it would never be that easy for me. Oh well as my ticker states on my blog we have 4 weeks left until I start IVF!