Thanksgiving

After ninety-three shots, I am starting to believe that this pregnancy thing might just stick. This cycle went so much more smoothly than the last one; not just because it actually worked, but for several other reasons. I am so thankful for the following changes in circumstances:

1. We didn't have any major home repairs crop up during this IVF cycle.
2. I wasn't taking graduate classes.
3. My new boss is very easy going, so taking personal days and getting a substitute didn't stress me out.
4. Someone--or many someones--in every aspect of my life (work, church, family, friends) knew about our cycle. Having people asking after you makes dealing with an exciting and stressful situation more pleasant. 
5. As much as I bitched about Lovenox, it is relieving to know that the male Dr. B crossed every t and dotted every i in order to make this cycle perfect. Factor V probably didn't cause my early miscarriage or failed IVF cycle, but it definitely won't be the complication in this pregnancy.
6. Wisehubby bravely put his balls on the line in order to get an improvement in his sperm quality that is barely quantifiable. There is no way of knowing how important this factor was, but we got much better quality embryos this cycle.
7. Dr. B reduced my stimulation drugs down. I felt much less uncomfortable throughout the process, and we got fewer and healthier eggs.
8. Wisehubby was even sweeter this time than last, which I didn't think was possible.
9. Dr. B helped us with the costs of the lab, which is especially good considering the cost of the Crinone and Lovenox prescriptions is outrageous! Crinone costs $263 and Lovenox costs $200. The pharmacist at Walmart keeps asking if I really want my prescriptions. Uh, yeah!
10. We got a frostie! Having a frozen blastocyst takes a lot of pressure off of the transferred ones. We probably couldn't afford another fresh cycle for a few years, so it is great to know we've got a back up hanging out in a lab down the road.
11. So many of my infertile friendships are also in a good place right now. IWF, Dear Friend, and MyLazyOvaries (Twitter friend) all have had BFPs, and that is such a wonderful thing. 

Relaxing a touch

I'm relaxing a touch now that we've gotten through both blood tests, and my HCG levels are rising appropriately. I cannot wait to see the Wisebaby(ies) via ultrasound on December 5, but I guess I will have to.

BFP! BFP! BFP! BFP! BFP!

So, I swore to Wisesister when she went with me to CVS to buy pregnancy tests that I wouldn't be that crazy lady who tortured herself by taking a million pregnancy tests. It turns out that I lied.

Sunday was six days past transfer, and by 5 PM I couldn't stop myself from peeing on a stick. Luckily, I was rewarded with a nice pink line. It's faint in the picture, but I swear it is there. It is about half as dark as the control line. I repeated my tests in the afternoon on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The only day that was really crazy to do was Wednesday, since I had already gotten the call from my RE that we were BFP according to the blood test. My HCG was 112, so that's good according to the nurse--I have zero frame of reference on this one.

Tuesday did freak me out because the line faded visibly from Monday, but I'm ninety percent sure it was because I chugged some water in order to try to pee again in a short period of time. I was done in by my over-hydration.

Since the only experiences that I've ever had with conceiving have ended with a BFN or a chemical pregnancy, I'm feeling decidedly anxious. However, always a believer in positive thinking, I am just chanting to myself BFP! BFP! BFP! all day long as I anxiously await the results from my beta HCG tomorrow to see if things are indeed rising the way they should.

Join me now: BFP! BFP! BFP! BFP! BFP!

Days Past Transfer

5-Day Transfer

Days Past Transfer (DPT)	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

We're wrapping up day one past transfer, and I've become obsessed with the above chart that I procured from the NYU Fertility Center website. Today I tried to lay around as much as possible while our Wisembies are hopefully hatching.

With a lot of time on my hands to lay around staring at their picture, I decided to name the Wisembies Ace and Base. Ace is the AA embryo and Base just seemed like the right partner to Ace. Hopefully they see the welcome sign down in my uterus and stick around.

Today my mom, dad, sister, niece, and nephew came over at lunch time, so I turned off the TV and spent all afternoon talking with my favorite people. My niece took my husband to play at the playground, and I got to cuddle my infant nephew, who was able to be there because my sister is still on maternity leave.

It felt right having the family together with Ace and Base trying their hardest to join our family. Only time will tell though.

After the transfer

Here's a picture of my Wisembies taken in the embrology lab and then given to me to take home. It's backwards because of PhotoBooth, but you get the gist. The blastocyst you see at the bottom is a perfect AA and the one at the top is solid AB. Last time, we didn't have such good ratings going into our transfer, so that is very hopeful.

I'm back at home with my feet up feeling like maybe I'm pregnant already. :-) I'll know for sure in a week and two days.

Excitement

IVF is a crazy roller coaster ride of emotions, and this morning we are definitely in the excitement phase of the process. In the moments just before our day five transfer, we can't help but to be filled with  unbridled enthusiasm  for the possibilities. Today, we're getting pregnant. Today, we'll hear that all eight of our excellent embryos are grade A blasts, and that we'll have six for freezing. Today, our journey of infertility is finally going to turn into our journey of parenthood.

I know that all of this could be crap, and we could end up in the same place we were at, just light another $10,000, give or take--thanks again for the discounts Dr. B! But in my heart of hearts, I know that I must believe that today holds something more for us--something greater.

"For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." - Matthew 11:28-29

Eight

I'm ecstatic about how we have eight excellent quality embryos growing on day three. Eight is an auspicious number, and I have such a good feeling about all of this. It is beginning to feel like all of Wisehubby's pain last winter is coming into fruition. Either that, or I was right when I flipped through my organized curriculum binder and told Wisehubby, "We can finally get pregnant now that I've figured out how to stay organized at work."