5 Weeks Pregnant: So sleepy!

I'm super excited to start making weekly updates on the pregnancy! Even though I won't have a real baby bump for quite some time, I think it's still fun to document the changes my body will endure. I promise my bump pictures won't always be in selfies in front of a dirty mirror haha 

Symptoms:

I am SO tired.  I have to nap at least once a day and sometimes I need a couple quick cat naps in between.  I feel like a walking zombie.  This is pretty typical of my early pregnancies, though.

I am pretty bloated and just overall puffy.  I can tell I'm retaining a lot of water, which could be because of the medication, but I'm usually really bloated until 9-10 weeks anyways.  

My face is breaking out like crazy.  It's quite annoying.  I don't start to "glow" until well into the second trimester.  Until then, I look like a teenage boy. 

Cravings:

None yet.

Work Outs:

I've been able to make it to the gym 4-5 times a week still.  I have several girls that I go to yoga with a couple times a week, which helps me stay accountable.  It's getting harder to force myself into the gym each day because of my exhaustion but every time, without fail, I feel so much better and have a boost of energy afterwards.  

Pants:

I'm already not fitting comfortably into my jeans and even had to bust out the ole hairband trick yesterday.  I found myself getting discouraged but had to quickly remind myself that it's just the bloating from the medication and early pregnancy.  Hopefully I can go a lot longer without having to pull my maternity pants out of the closet! 

A Little Scare:

I had a little incident of bleeding over the weekend.  After I went to the restroom and inserted my suppository, I had some pink discharge followed by some cramping.  I wasn't too concerned about it because, apparently, it's very common for bleeding to occur in IVF pregnancies, for whatever reason.  I didn't have any additional bleeding and the cramping was minor and only lasted a little while so I think it was some sort of fluke.  I may have irritated my cervix when inserting the suppository or something.  I made sure to take it easy the rest of that day, though.  

Overall:

Other than being sick with a hellish cold the past week, I'm feeling really good.  The exhaustion is getting a little rough and I know it's only going to get worse in the next couple weeks but I'm feeling positive and happy.  When I have energy, I often forget that I'm pregnant because I feel so good.  I'm super relieved that the shots are MUCH more manageable and way less painful. 

Upcoming Appointments:

We have the long awaited ultrasound next Monday, 3/2.  Everyone is very anxious and excited!  We'll finally get to see how many babies are cooking in there and hopefully see the heartbeats.  I'll be 6 weeks, 5 days pregnant at the point so we should be able to.  

___________________________________

Medication:

Days on Prenatal Vitamins: 102
Baby aspirin: 57

Delestrogen Injections: 11

PIO Injections: 27

Doxycycline: 32 (first round finished 1/7, second round finished 2/2)

Medrol: 7 (finished 2/2)

Active Birth Control Pills: 46 (finished 1/2)

Lupron injections: 29 (finished 1/29)

Procedures:

Acupuncture Sessions: 10
Vials of Blood Drawn: 18
Embryo Transfer: 1
Vaginal Exams: 2
SIS: 1
Mock Transfer: 1
Internal Ultrasound: 2

Weight:
4 weeks- 164.2 

5 weeks- 165.4

Weeks 7&8 of Medication

I've fallen a little behind on the updates so I'm going to catch up real quick.

Weeks 7& 8: Relief! 

As I mentioned previously, I had my second BETA, which looked good, so I was able to decrease my PIO dosage from 2ml/day to 1ml/day.  What. A. Difference.  My bum is so happy!  It's actually able to heal up a bit before having to inject it again, besides the days I have to do two injections.  I've also been a lot better about moving around for 20-30 minutes after injecting which I think has really helped to disperse the medication and prevent knots. I'm so happy to have some relief because I was starting to dread the rest of the process if it was going to be that intense the whole time.

I went in for a third BETA on Monday. 2/16 (14dp5dt) to make sure things were still progressing properly and my BETA was up to 598. Perfect! We were hoping for something in the 500's and that's what we got.

 Just a little recap on my BETAs: 9dp5dt- 102.6, 11dp5dt- 195.5, 14dp5dt- 598.

After the third BETA, we scheduled our first ultrasound for March 2nd!  This is to confirm pregnancy and see how many little beans are growing in there.  We all can't wait!  M & S will be able to skype in for the ultrasound so that will be a special experience.  I wish they could actually be there but skyping is better than nothing!

I started Progesterone Suppositories twice a day on the 12th, which started out not too bad but has become pretty gross.  When I first received my medications, I was only given a week supply of the suppositories so I had a new shipment of medication sent to me (I was running low on other medications as well) and the new shipment came with a different type of suppository.

The first kind I got was a pretty large, uncased pill that I inserted with a little plastic device, similar to a tampon.  These ones weren't super gross like I heard they would be.  I had a little bit of leaking for 1-2 hours after inserting but that was about it.  Not bad at all.  Well, the new suppositories are capsules that I insert with my finger and they are GROSS.  I won't get into specific details but I'll just leave you with one word; cottage cheese. >.< Needless to say, I may ask if I can get the other kind back the next time I go in haha

My medication will pretty much stay the same until we start weaning in about 6 weeks.  Here's what it's at right now:

Daily:

• 1ml PIO injection
• Prenatal Vitamins
• Baby Aspirin
• Vaginal Suppositories 2x a day

Monday & Friday:

• 0.3 ml Delestrogen injections

At the ultrasound on 3/2 I'll get more blood work done to check my Estrogen and Progesterone levels. Depending on those results, my medication may be tweaked a bit.  

Things have been going pretty great lately.  I think this will be the last update on medication as I will be doing weekly pregnancy posts.  I'll just include the medication in those posts.  

I'm so excited that everything is going so smoothly and I can't wait for the ultrasound!

<3

___________________________________

Medication:

Days on Prenatal Vitamins: 102
Baby aspirin: 57

Delestrogen Injections: 11

PIO Injections: 27

Doxycycline: 32 (first round finished 1/7, second round finished 2/2)

Medrol: 7 (finished 2/2)

Active Birth Control Pills: 46 (finished 1/2)

Lupron injections: 29 (finished 1/29)

Procedures:

Acupuncture Sessions: 10
Vials of Blood Drawn: 18
Embryo Transfer: 1
Vaginal Exams: 2
SIS: 1
Mock Transfer: 1
Internal Ultrasound: 2

Weight:

Start of medication: 162.6

1 week of Meds: 163.4

2 weeks of Meds: 159.2

3 weeks of Meds: 161.6

4 weeks of Meds: 163.6 

5 weeks of Meds: 161.4
6 weeks of Meds: 163.4 

7 weeks of Meds: 164.6 (4 weeks, 4 days pregnant)

8 weeks of Meds: 165.4 (5 weeks, 4 days pregnant)

Total weight gain from start of medication to pregnancy: 0.8 lbs.

         

There's something growing in there...

I've been given the "go-ahead" from M & S to announce that WE ARE PREGNANT! HOOORRAYYYYY! Here's how everything went down :) 

As I talked about in my previous post, I took a test (3 actually) on Saturday morning, 4.75 days after the transfer, while we all skyped. I was taking the tests when the call was made (Mark answered) and I brought them out with me when I was done, without looking. We all chatted for 5-10 minutes and then I just HAD to look at them. I was happy to announce that all three tests were POSITIVE! Very faint, but positive. :) That was a really special moment to see M & S find out the news. Of course we all understood that it was very early and the test could be negative. Also, that even if it was positive, things could still happen. The guys couldn't see the double lines on the test through our skype session because the lines were so faint (or the camera quality bad) so I took pictures to send to them. 

Quite the squinter, eh? Super light, but definitely there. 

Being the POAS-aholic (pee-on-a-stick-aholic) that I am, I continued taking tests to see the second line darken. This indicates an increase in HCG (pregnancy hormone) which indicates a healthy pregnancy. Here are more of the tests I took.

The Mumba Jumba written on the tests stands for "# days past 5 day transfer". A "5 day transfer" means that the eggs were able to develope for 5 days before being transferred. 

It was fun to send them a new pregnancy test photo in the mornings! 

Last Wednesday, 2/11, I went in for my first blood pregnancy test, called a BETA test, at 9dp5dt. It detects the amount of HCG in my bloodstream and puts a numerical value to it. The clinic wants to see anything above 50 and mine was a 102.6! Pretty good number if you ask me! 

I went in again on Friday, 2/13, for a second beta to make sure my HCG levels are rising correctly. In a healthy pregnancy, HCG levels should double every 48-72 hours at this point in the pregnancy. My second beta, at 11dp5dt, was right on track at 195.5. So far so good! 

Man, to finally have reassurance that this process worked/is working and to be able to tell M & S that everything us going perfectly so far is just... Ahhhhh indescribable. I can't believe I'm doing this. I'm actually on track to help another couple have a family. This all is just so amazing. God really is good. 

I go in tomorrow morning for a 3rd and final beta and then we will schedule an ultrasound to see how many little ones decided to stick around. I'm so excited to find out! 

So right now I'm 4 weeks, 5 days pregnant! I am so excited for M & S! And their families, too! They are all so deserving of this. I'm going to do my best to keep whatever is growing in there safe. We all know that it is still very early in the pregnancy and anything can happen but I'm feeling very hopeful. I think sighs of relief will be had after the ultrasound, assuming everything goes well. :) 

I want to thank everyone who has been so supportive of this adventure. Although there are people who have expressed negative feelings about this, for the most part all of you have been so sweet and so encouraging. I especially couldn't do this without my lovely husband, Mark. He is taking on a lot by allowing me to pursue my dream of being a surrogate. I don't know how to thank him enough. <3 

Four weeks pregnant! (Nothing to show but bloat and flub ;)) 

<3

Week 6 of Medication: The Dreaded Wait

Last Week: I'm late getting this out but this past week has been very emotional, to say the least.  The medication has been getting to me and the unknown of the transfer has been rough.

As you know, I had my embryo transfer last Monday followed by two days of bed rest.  Everything went really well with that, as my previous post explains, but once I was off bed rest I started to really stress about everything.  I so desperately wanted it to work.  We planned to take a pregnancy test on Saturday as we Skyped with the guys so we could all find out at the same time, which I was so excited about.  Saturday morning would be almost 5 days past the transfer and women usually get their earliest positive home pregnancy test results around 5-7 days past transfer- so we would be testing a little early.  The time between Wednesday and Saturday was close to mental torture.  I began stressing about everything; running every scenario through my head.

Did I do everything correctly?  Am I placing the injection in the right place?  Is it actually getting down into the muscle?  What was that twinge?  Oh god, I'm crampy... Wait, that's a good thing.  But what if it's not?  What if it doesn't work?  Are the guys going to blame me?  Will they hate me?  How will I feel?  Was that a flutter?  Why am I peeing so often?  I'm bloated... Is that because of the meds or could that be a pregnancy sign? Mark, come over here and feel this area to make sure it's good for the injection.  What will I say if the pregnancy test is negative during our skype?  Is Saturday too early to test?  Oh god, maybe we shouldn't do it Saturday.  Maybe we should wait.  If it's negative on Saturday, will it be positive on Sunday?  How will everyone look at me if this doesn't work?  I've been so open about this process, should I have been more reserved?  Will I be supported or seen as a failure?  Well, this girl who transferred the same day as me already has a faint positive test, should I test before Saturday? FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PLEASE WORK!

My mind. wouldn't. stop. Mark had to pull me down from my stress cloud several times during that period.  I just wanted to know.  I just wanted my body to work and these babies to stick.  For everyone involved.  I've been through the "two week wait" before with my own children but this was way more stressful.  I had people counting on me.  All I could do was take care of myself the best I could and pray.  Lots of prayer.  I prayed that whatever the outcome, it would be God's will.  I prayed that He would lead me down the path he wants me to follow.  That He wouldn't allow anything to happen that he didn't approve of.  I prayed for M & S, that they would have peace during this wait and that they would accept the outcome, whatever it may be.  I prayed for peace.

I'll discuss the outcome of the Saturday test and tests after in another post.  I just had my blood test (called a BETA test) with ORM done two hours ago and we are waiting for the official results.  I don't know when M & S will be comfortable with me posting the outcome on the blog but I want to give them time to process everything and tell their family and friends before I say anything on here. If any of my friends/family would like to know what's going on, you can reach me privately, otherwise, I'll update when I can.

Besides the mental turmoil, the injections have also been getting a little rough.  I had a couple day period where I couldn't figure out which side to inject because both were so sore.  I will admit, these injections aren't that fun.  It's not the shot itself that is difficult, it's the soreness/lumps after.  If I am indeed pregnant, I will be able to reduce my dose of PIO from 2ml/day to 1ml/day after my second blood test on Friday, which should help tremendously.  Every time I start to complain about the injections, I have to remind myself that this is SO MINOR in comparison to what we are trying to do here.  Giving a deserving couple a baby/ies is totally worth all the pain.

Right now I feel pretty good.  With the home tests we've done, I have a pretty good idea if it worked or not.  Of course, there could always be a surprise with the blood test but I'm pretty certain I know.  It's nice to know.  I feel relieved.  Now I know what to do to prepare myself for the future and keep myself as healthy as possible.

Next Week: Or this week, rather, since we're already half way through it lol.

If today's BETA test come back positive, I will start Micronized Progesterone Suppositories twice a day.  These are vaginal suppositories that is just another way of putting progesterone in my body, decreasing my chance of miscarriage.  I've heard horror stories about these little boogers so stay tuned to hear how gross they may or may not be Haha.

If today's BETA is positive and Friday's BETA looks good, I'll decrease my PIO down to 1ml/day, which would be AMAZING.  Right now I feel like my bum doesn't have a chance to heal up in time for the next shot so hopefully decreasing the amount will help with everything healing in time.

Of course I'm still taking my prenatals and aspirin every day.

I've been making sure to go to the gym regularly, not only to keep my body healthy, but to keep my mind healthy as well.  I feel so much better when I'm exercising.  I'm going to keep tabs on my workouts for the week as we continue the process.  If I'm pregnant, especially if it's twins, I want to continue working out as much as my body can handle because everyone will benefit.

I've been doing a lot of research on healthy pregnancies and have found some really great, interesting stuff on the direct influence a woman's health has on the baby she's carrying.  If you are a woman who is or will ever be pregnant (or if you are just interested in sciency stuff), I highly suggest researching Epigenetics.  Origins by Annie Murphy Paul is a GREAT place to start.  Research is finding more and more evidence that links our lifetime health to the environment we are exposed to in the womb.  Things like heart disease, obesity, temperament, allergies, diabetes, anxiety, stress capacity, and so much more can be linked to the health of the mother, both physical and mental, during pregnancy.  If there is any time in your life that you are going to be healthy, please let be when you are trying to conceive and throughout your pregnancy. Anyways.. I could go on about this stuff forever.  That's just the doula in me.  If anyone has any questions or would like more resources on Epigenetics or maintaining a healthy pregnancy, please let me know and I'd be happy to help point you in the right direction.

Finger crossed for a good result on today's BETA.

<3

___________________________________

Medication:

Days on Prenatal Vitamins: 90
Baby aspirin: 45

Delestrogen Injections: 8

PIO Injections: 16

Doxycycline: 32 (first round finished 1/7, second round finished 2/2)

Medrol: 7 (finished 2/2)

Active Birth Control Pills: 46 (finished 1/2)

Lupron injections: 29 (finished 1/29)

Procedures:

Acupuncture Sessions: 10
Vials of Blood Drawn: 16
Embryo Transfer: 1
Vaginal Exams: 2
SIS: 1
Mock Transfer: 1
Internal Ultrasound: 2

Weight:

Start of medication: 162.6

1 week of Meds: 163.4

2 weeks of Meds: 159.2

3 weeks of Meds: 161.6

4 weeks of Meds: 163.6 

5 weeks of Meds: 161.4
6 weeks of meds: 163.4 

Transfer and Bed Rest

I had my transfer on Monday and everything went great!

The whole process was pretty quick and simple.  I arrived around 12:40, with my lucky green toe nails, green socks, and Eiffel tower bracelet M & S got me for Christmas.  I wanted these babies to have a part of their daddies there for the transfer so I made sure to wear it. I was quickly taken back to a room where I changed into a gown.  The Embryologist came in to confirm my name/date of birth/IP names to make sure everything was lined up then gave me a Valium.  My acupuncturist arrived shortly after and did a 15 minutes session on me.  As I was laying there, the Valium started kicking in and I got a bad case of the giggles.  Mark had to keep wiping my tears off my face because I was laughing so hard.

After the acupuncture, they gave Mark a suit and cap to wear and then wheeled me down the hall to the Transfer Room where they confirmed my identity again.  Unfortunately we weren't able to take any pictures in the room but they did put a picture of both embryos up on the TV and emailed a picture of the embryos to M&S.  I wasn't really looking forward to the procedure because the mock transfer they did a few months back was pretty uncomfortable.  Well, I don't know if it was the Valium or what, but it really didn't hurt at all.  The most uncomfortable part was that darn speculum.  They took a while with an external ultrasound to find the perfect spot in my uterus to transfer the embies before actually transferring them.  It was strange to see the Embryologist walk into the room with a long catheter that contained the little nuggets.  It's nuts how these tiny little bundles of cells could turn into full blown humans. The whole time I was laying there thinking how I could possibly be getting pregnant with twins right now.  So crazy!

After the transfer, they wheeled me back to my room and I had another session of acupuncture.  They had me lay for another half hour or so and then wheeled me down to the car.  Off we went with two babies in my tummy!

It's tradition, at least in the surro community I'm in, to eat McDonald's french fries after a transfer so I made sure we stopped and got some on our way home.  Mark dropped me off at home, where we found a box of beautiful flowers waiting on the doorstep from M&S.  That made me feel so happy and spoiled by my wonderful IFs. Mark made sure I was all set up in bed with my water, books, and french fries and then headed off to get our boys.

The rest of that Monday and all of Tuesday I was on bed rest.  I could only get up to pee, brush my teeth, and move from the bed to the couch.  I quite enjoyed the time I got to spend in bed reading books.  You forget how much of a luxury it is to just sit and read until you have kids and that luxury becomes a rarity.  The boys didn't understand why mommy had to stay in bed so they came and hung out with me frequently, which I didn't mind. :) Mark was great through the whole bed rest period.  He made me food, brought me water and tea, and took care of the boys the whole time. I couldn't have done it without him

Monday and Tuesday I had some cramping/soreness going on in my uterus.  The doctor said the embryos should implant within 24 hours of the transfer so I'm hoping that's what I felt.  Other than that, I haven't had very many symptoms.  It's hard not to over exaggerate every little twitch or feeling I have in my body and question whether it's a pregnancy symptom or not.  I will admit that I'm getting kind of anxious about this not working.  I've been very positive this whole time but the "what ifs" are creeping into my head.  I don't like it.  I'm trying my best to keep my mind off everything and just take care of myself the best I can.  Today, almost 3 days past the transfer, I'm feeling some more cramping and nipple tenderness. But again, I'm really trying not to read into every little thing.

My blood pregnancy test (called a BETA test) is scheduled for next Wednesday but I should know before then if it worked because a home pregnancy test will show positive/negative before then.  Overall I'm just very excited about this whole thing.  Of course I desperately want this to work (and I want both babies to stick) but I know that sometimes it doesn't work out that way.  M & S have been so supportive about every little thing and have reassured me that if it didn't work this time, we would just try again.  I'm very blessed to have them in my life.  They have such a great outlook on life and are genuinely caring people.  They have made this surrogacy a priority in their life which means the world to me.  I have no doubt in my mind that they are going to give these babies 110% of themselves.  <3

My little piece of the guys

 Lucky Green Toes :)

 Before Going Into the Office

 Waiting in the Room

 Acupuncture!

:)

 All done!

 I may or may not have eaten every last one of these "Good Luck French Fries"

 Flowers from M&S

Embie #1

Embie #2- Aren't they cute!?

Week 5 of Medication: Transfer Tomorrow!

Last week: Five weeks of daily injections and tomorrow is finally the day! This week has been a doozy but I couldn't be more excited for tomorrow. 

If you didn't read my previous post about progesterone, let's just say that we didn't get alone very well. My first PIO shot left me nearly uncontious and with a painful, lumpy, sore butt cheek. Luckily things are going much smoother in regards to the injections but I am feeling a strong emotional side effect. 

I. Am. So. Emotional. I don't think I was even this emotional in either of my pregnancies! I can cry at commercials, scream from the tiniest annoyance, or be over the moon happy for the simplest gesture. My poor, poor family lol. 

My bum is still quite sore but I think I'm just adjusting to the pain. There's really not much else I can do. The bloating has died down a lot but my body doesn't seem to like gluten products, either. So that's both dairy and gluten I've had to eliminate/cut back; Except for today when I went to a super bowl party and indulged in all the unhealthy game-day treats. :D Speaking of food, my appetite has seemed to have really increased in the last couple days and I just want to eat all the time. 

My labs on Wednesday went great. Estradiol was at 1187 (which is great) and Peigesterone was just beginning to rise at 14.07. 

Next Week: Obviously this next week is exciting! Nothing too exciting as far as Meds go, in fact, Meds are exactly the same this week as they were last week except I'll be stopping the Medrol and Doxycycline tomorrow, but our transfer is tomorrow!!! 

I'll arrive at ORM tomorrow at 12:45 and I believe the transfer will be about an hour after I arrive. My acupunturist will meet me there and do a session before and after the transfer. They'll have me lay in bed for an hour after the transfer then send me home where I'll be on bed rest until I wake up on Wednesday. By 2pm tomorrow I should have two little cherubs hopefully taking stake in my fluffy uterus! 

Think sticky thoughts for all of us tomorrow! Ahhhh! :D :D :D 

___________________________________

Medication:

Days on Prenatal Vitamins: 80
Baby aspirin: 35

Delestrogen Injections: 5

PIO Injections: 6

Doxycycline: 30 (first round finished 1/7)

Medrol: 6

Active Birth Control Pills: 46 (finished 1/2)

Lupron injections: 29 (finished 1/29)

Procedures:

Acupuncture Sessions: 9
Vials of Blood Drawn: 15
Vaginal Exams: 2
SIS: 1
Mock Transfer: 1
Internal Ultrasound: 2

Weight:

Start of medication: 162.6

1 week of Meds: 163.4

2 weeks of Meds: 159.2

3 weeks of Meds: 161.6

4 weeks of Meds: 163.6 

5 weeks of Meds: 161.4