First ultrasound

11/27/13

Yesterday was a scary day for me. I noticed spotting early in the day and freaked out! I contacted the nurse who told me that I shouldn't worry unless it's bright red. I still worried. And worried. And worried. But The Lord is my helper and He let me rest after I read several passages about anxiety. 

But here's the good stuff... Ultrasound revealed a healthy little peanut! Just one! We both were sort of excited about the possibility of twins but we also know that God knows best and will only give us what we can handle.

Tomorrow is thanksgiving and we are going to reveal the news to the family! We can't wait!

2nd hcg test

11/16/13

We tested again on Wednesday and my hcg more than doubled so I'm definitely preggers! Our first ultrasound is on 11/26. I'm having a hard time deciding how long to wait to tell everyone. It's kind of killing me!

The results are in...

11/11/13

I had my first hcg test today at 9 & nurse Terry called me at 11:45 with the results! We are pregnant! Hcg level is in the 100s... I honestly didn't hear her correctly, I was too excited. :) I go back Wednesday for a second test then a couple weeks later we will have an ultrasound & learn how many babies I'm carrying. Below are some fun pics from transfer day. The first one is a shot of our babies after they took them from the vial. The next one is the vial in which they lived for the last couple of years, and the third is a close up... Look very closely and the end of the metal at the very thin loop- that is exactly where our babies hung out! Crazy!

Transfer day!

11/1/13

Here we go again! Acupuncture at 9, transfer at 10:15, and then another acupuncture session at 11! Praying not to be anxious. A friend made a great post on Facebook the other day about how God wants us to be Holy more than he wants us to be happy and once we realize that, we can feel God's presence through every struggle. Good good point that I definitely needed to hear.

Justin is working today and that's a huge bummer since I always imagined my husband would be in the room with me anytime I tried to get pregnant. 

Side Note: This whole keeping this a secret thing is getting harder and harder! First, Justin can't make it, then Justin's parents get called into work and can't watch Marshall today. Jeff's family is coming down with something otherwise Vanessa would watch him. Dad is now going to watch Marshall- I have full faith that Dad knows what he's doing but I'm sure Marshall will do everything in his power to wear him out! Holly is able to pick up Marshall this afternoon to relieve Dad a bit. I sure hope the big reveal is worth it! :)

1st progesterone shot, 1st breakdown

10/26/13

Wow... Up until this point I was totally convinced we (I) could handle this process like pros! I mean, we are established parents now, we've been through the intense process of IVF, and an FET cycle is nothing compared to having to grow and fertilize eggs. 

WRONG. Something about preparing for this first injection just broke something inside of me. The stress of trying to remember what the nurse said and knowing that everything has to be perfect finally took a toll. 

God, I need you. Even when I think I know what I'm doing. Especially when I think I know what I'm doing - when my pride is in control and my guard is down - thank you for reminding me to look to You for strength. Thank you even though those reminders can come in the form of stress, pain or anxiety. Help me to recognize my need for you sooner.

Whew. With that being said, the first injection is out of the way and that means countdown to transfer is officially on! And yes, this process is way different than IVF, but it doesn't make it any less taxing. Still thankful for my patient, kind and loving husband to share this with.

2nd u/s

10/26/13

My lining is "lovely, ya big show off", said the nurse. :)

And when I got my labs back my estrogen and progesterone are exactly where they are supposed to be. Today, Justin will give me my first progesterone shot and I will begin methylprednisolone and baby aspirin... Fun times!

Work-Life Balance?

10/24/13

So my transfer is tentatively scheduled for 10/31 and my progesterone injections in the upper right quadrant of my buttocks are scheduled to begin tomorrow (Justin is my administrator 😜). I was just notified today that I will be in a training from 8:30-5 M-Th of next week (10/28-10/31). Justin also has to work at the museum until 10pm tomorrow night (kinda hard to give me a shot from Wilson). 

All of the above = scheduling conflicts with getting knocked up. Building our family is priority; however, we are both at pretty crucial moments in our careers. UGH. I don't think this internal guilt-battle ever ends for parents, working or not. So, I called the fertility nurse who let me know that we can shift the transfer to 11/1 which would mean we also have to shift the progesterone shots to begin Saturday instead of tomorrow. This solves my training problem as well as Justin's 10pm workday problem, but creates a problem for the transfer day because Justin cannot be there due to having all-day programs to facilitate. Technically he doesn't have to be there for the transfer but I always envisioned that my husband would be in the room with me whenever I got pregnant (lol). Ya can't win 'em all I guess.

Lining check

10/19/13

Yesterday I had a lining check and a blood draw for estrogen. Everything looks good so far! Meanwhile, we celebrated Marshall's 1st birthday today! Exciting emotional stuff! 

Box-O-Drugs #2!

The rest of my drugs finally arrived today!

Day 1 of Meds

Today I began taking my estrogen pills... 1 pill, 3 times a day forever... Or until they tell me to stop. Pretty pumped up about it & I'm positive life is not slowing down so this is all going to happen before I know it. Much like the entire first year of Marshall's life! 

Getting ready...

10/10/13

Long time no write! Been busy with a crazy growing-way-too-fast baby! Marshall is almost 1 now and is saying words like mama, dada, ball, dog, bye-bye, among many words spoken in his native tongue. He is also a warp-speed crawler who has ventured a few steps here and there. Watch out world! 

Well... Since Marshall is so amazing, he has tricked us into wanting another baby! So here we go again! Well, we don't have to go down the exact same path as last time because we have some frozen kidsicles waiting for us. We

Had our nurse class last week on 10/3 and I took my last birth control pill on Tuesday! I am going to continue to write blogs but I will not publish them until we have shared the news with our family. We thought it would be do to treat this like a "normal" pregnancy and wait a while to surprise everyone with the news. So, if you are reading this then it's at least December and I have at least one bun in my oven!