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

"Dear Progesterone,

I've only just met you and I already don't like you.  

Sincerely, 

A Very Sore Bum" 

My first few days of PIO (progesterone in oil) injections haven't gone as smoothly as I had anticipated. My first shot on Tuesday ended with me laying in my kitchen floor for ten minutes feeling woozy and faint. I've come to the conclusion that I psyched myself out by watching all the medicine sloooooowly enter my body. I was pretty surprised by my reaction since it's administered the same as Delestrogen and I haven't had issues with those. Since then, I have looked away while actually pushing the medication in and that seem to do the trick. The next day I had a huge lump and my butt was SO sore. It kind of terrified me about the next two months of injections. 

The good news, though, is that I've been able to find out what works for me and how to prevent those nasty knots. 

Why is Progesterone worse than Delestrogen? 

This picture shows the different doses I'm administering intramuscularly- which is a huge factor in the pain the day after. The left, smallest dose, is 0.3ml and that's the dose I've been using for Delestrogen. The middle is 1.0 ml which I used for the first two days of PIO. The right is 2.0 ml, which is the dose I'm currently on for PIO. I'll admit that I was scared spitless to up my dosage from 1ml to 2 because of how painful it was to go from 0.3ml to 1. 

Luckily I was able to figure out methods to prevent the pain. The mistake I made for the first injection was not massaging long enough. MASSAGE. MASSAGE. MASSAGE. That is what I have found works best along with lots of heat. 

My Advice/Methods:

1) Heat the medication once you have drawn it up into the syringe. You can do this by placing it in a heat pad/rice pack or just by placing the syringe (with the cap on) into your bra to heat with your body temp. I use a rice pack.

2) Massage vigorously after the injection. I massage with my heated rice pack for a couple minutes then put a tennis ball between my injection site and the wall and just squat up and down to help spread out the medication. I do that for at least 7-10 minutes. 

3) Heat! After using the ball, I apply heat for a good 15 or so minutes while gently massaging on and off with my hand. 

4) Get up and move around! Walking around or doing some light exercises helps get your blood going and uses your muscles- both of which help to spread the medication and prevent lumps. 

5) More heat. I sleep with an electric heat pad tucked into my sweats at night. My pad shuts off automatically after 10ish minutes so if I wake up in the night and feel sore, I just turn it back on and head back to sleep. 

These things are what have worked for me to prevent lumps. Now, this doesn't make it painless, I'm still pretty sore (feels like I've been punched really hard in my bum), but it does get rid of the nasty lumps that make it even more painful. 

I'm still doing all the shots by myself so if anyone wants some tips on that, let me know. 

ONLY 48 MORE HOURS UNTIL TRANSFER! 

___________________________________

Medication:

Days on Prenatal Vitamins: 79
Baby aspirin: 34

Delestrogen Injections: 5

PIO Injections: 4

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

Doxycycline: 20 (first round finished 1/7)

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 

Week 4 of Medication: Let the Countdown Begin!

Last Week: I've now been on medication (besides birth control) for 4 weeks and, guess what! Only SEVEN DAYS until the transfer! I would say that this week was more uncomfortable than the previous weeks but still nothing major. 

The Delestrogen injections have raised my estrogen levels higher than they would be normally and that's caused some pretty intense bloating. The picture below shows how bloated I've been! I look 5 months pregnant! And I not even pregnant at all! Haha I've also had a very hard time with digesting dairy so I've had to cut it out of my diet temporarily. If I eat even a little dairy, I get even more bloated, gassy, and stomach cramps. I'm not really upset about that, though, because I've had to cut dairy before when breastfeeding my youngest and I liked the way my body felt. I felt "cleaner" and not nearly as bloated just in general so I'm taking this as a blessing in disguise. I probably should avoid dairy all the time but I just love cheese and soft serve ice cream way too much. I mean, who doesn't?! The cramping, back pain, and headache have all gone away this week. 

My appointment on Thursday went really well! They did an ultrasound (machine pictured below) of my uterus to check the thickness of my uterine lining. You want it to be thick and fluffy, which is ideal for the embryos to implant.  The clinic wants to see the lining at least 7 mm thick and mine was...... *drum roll please* 13.93 mm!! Yay! Almost double the thickness they want! It seems my uterus is good and ready to house some babies :) This probably explains the full feeling I was feeling last week. They also did some blood tests to check my Estrogen and Progesterone levels, which were both on track to move forward with the transfer. 

I had my usual acupuncture appointments and those went well. I saw a different acupuncturist on Friday because mine was out of the office and I really liked her. Her method felt a lot different than what I'm used to, though. Instead of a constant zing/vibration through the needles, it was a tapping feeling. I'm not sure what she did different but it was definitely noticeable. 

Next Week: My medications are switching up a lot next week and I have more blood tests on Wednesday. 

I'll continue the prenatals, aspirin, and Monday/Friday Delestrogen injections. 

My last Lupron injection is tomorrow! This is a bitter-sweet milestone. It means we are SO CLOSE to the transfer but it also means that I get to start daily progesterone injections! 

On Tuesday night I will start daily Progesterone injections which are... You guessed it... Intramuscular injections.  So that's 9 butt injections a week! So far I've had really good experiences with the Delestrogen intramuscular injections but I've heard the Progesterone (aka PIO) is more painful simply because of the quantity of medication that's being administered. Right now my Delestrogen dose is 0.3 ml and the Progesterone will get all the way up to 2 ml!  This increases the chances of lumps and soreness the days after. Plus, it's every day so my bum won't have much of a chance to heal before getting stabbed again. 

I have devised a plan, though. To avoid lumps and soreness, I plan to:

• use my rice pack to warm the medication before injecting

• massage and apply heat after injections

• SQUATS! 

It makes sense in my head that walking around or doing squats after heating and massaging will help to disperse the medication even more. Plus squats are good for preparing your body for labor and building a booty ;) This theory might backfire horribly and I might hate myself after trying it but I think it's worth a shot! (No pun intended)

I will also start another round of Doxycycline (antibiotic) and a low-dose steroid, Medrol, on Wednesday. Both of these are taken orally and both will just continue until the transfer day. The Doxycycline is to make sure there aren't any infections going on and Medrol is used to suppress the autoimmune from interfering with embryo implantation. 

Long Story Short:

Monday- prenatal vitamins, baby aspirin, Delestrogen IM injection, last Lupron injection

Tuesday- prenatal vitamins, baby aspirin, Progesterone IM injection

Wednesday- prenatal vitamins, baby aspirin, Progesterone IM injection, Doxycycline 2x, Medrol 

Thursday- prenatal vitamins, baby aspirin, Progesterone IM injection, Doxycycline 2x, Medrol 

Friday- prenatal vitamins, baby aspirin, Progesterone IM injection, Delestrogen IM injection, Doxycycline 2x, Medrol 

Saturday- prenatal vitamins, baby aspirin, Progesterone IM injection, Doxycycline 2x, Medrol 

Sunday- prenatal vitamins, baby aspirin, Progesterone IM injection, Doxycycline 2x, Medrol 

Total- 36 pills and 9 injections (1 tummy, 8 butt). 

Wednesday I go in for more blood tests to make sure the first Progesterone injection is doing it's job. 

I am beyond excited to make it to the transfer. I am planning to have a nice relaxing weekend next weekend and continue preparing my body for pregnancy during the week. I want to have a calm, peaceful state of mind when the transfer happens so the babies are welcomed into the most ideal, stress free house and hopefully decide to take out a nine month lease ;) I'm going to try to keep myself busy so I'm not just sitting around watching the seconds tick by. Ahhhh only SEVEN MORE DAYS! 

<3 

___________________________________

Medication:

Days on Prenatal Vitamins: 73
Baby aspirin: 28

Lupron injections: 28

Delestrogen Injections: 3

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

Doxycycline: 20 (first round finished 1/7)

Procedures:

Acupuncture Sessions: 7
Vials of Blood Drawn: 14
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 

I was actually bummed to see that weight this morning, even though I was actually expecting worse. I am so bloated and retaining so much water that I knew my weight would be heavier this week. The thing that frustrates me is that I've been really good about my eating and getting into the gym so the athletic side of me isn't comprehending the gain. But I KNOW that it makes sense and will likely go away as my hormones even out. 

Week 3 of Medication

Last week: Today closed up my 3rd week of medications to prepare my body for the embryo transfer. Everything is still going great with only minor noticeable side effects. 

I started the delestrogen injections (as you probably know) and the only things I'm really noticing from them is an increase in vaginal discharge and a crampy/full feeling in my uterus. My second shot that I did at work went just as smooth as the first but I still hesitated and shook the whole time lol 

The Lupron is causing some ovary pain (same feeling as a cyst) and the lower back pain I was having has almost completely gone away, which makes me think it was, indeed, from suppressed estrogen levels. My Lupron headache is nearly gone as well. 

I had two more electro-acupuncture appointments this week but she did them a little differently. Since my back was giving me such issues, she had me lay on my back and placed the needles on my stomach and top/insides of my calves. I think I preferred this way, especially since that means she can put that lovely eye compress on me :) At one of my appointments I had a "phantom shock" that was really weird! When she turned the electricity on for my right leg, I felt three shock sites but there were only two needles! I have no idea what caused that but it was weird. 

Next Week: There isn't much change in medication this week but I do have an appointment at ORM on Thursday. 

This week I'll continue taking the daily prenatals, baby aspirin, 5 units of Lupron, and Delestrogen on Moday (.25 ml) and Friday (tbd). I'll also continue the twice weekly acupuncture. 

Thursday morning I go into ORM for an ultrasound to check the thickness of my uterine lining. We want it to be nice and fluffy! I'll also get some bloodwork done that will determine the dosage for the rest of my Delestrogen injections. I'm a little nervous about this appointment because I just hope my body is responding correctly to the hormones. From the symptoms I'm having, I feel like it is but you just never know until you get in there. 

There's only TWO WEEKS until the transfer day! Ahhh time is flying. I'm continuing to be amazed and graced with the love of M & S. Every time we are able to talk they are genuinely concerned for me while I go through this hormonal treatment. We breifly talked about when they will be coming to the states next and it seems that they will definitely be able to make it over here while I'm pregnant. That will be a really special experience for me because I want them to get the entire experience! I want them to feel the baby/ies kicking, to see the big belly, to go to an appointment, and deal with my moodiness ;) I know I say this all the time but I just absolutely adore them. 

___________________________________

Medication:

Days on Prenatal Vitamins: 66
Baby aspirin: 21

Lupron injections: 21

Delestrogen Injections: 2

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

Doxycycline: 20 (first round finished 1/7)

Procedures:

Acupuncture Sessions: 5
Vials of Blood Drawn: 13
Vaginal Exams: 2
SIS: 1
Mock Transfer: 1
Internal Ultrasound: 1

Weight:

Start of medication: 162.6

1 week of Meds: 163.4

2 weeks of Meds: 159.2

3 weeks of Meds: 161.6*

*I've recently cut sugar out of my diet but had a large sugary drink yesterday, plus I'm super bloated, so I'm hoping this is just some water weight that will come back off. 

Successful First Butt Injection! (video)

I did it! Even though I was super nervous, shaking, and got the nervous sweats afterwards it was not bad at all! I was so anxious about this shot that I nearly forgot to do my Lurpon injection haha This was last night and I'm happy to say that I don't have any soreness or lumps today but, I know this is the lowest dose I will inject intramuscularly so I don't expect the rest to be this easy. 

What is Delestrogen and why do I need to take it?

Delestrogen, also known as Estradiol, is one of the types of Estrogen that our bodies naturally make.  Estradiol plays a role in SO many important aspects of the female body, from bone health to egg health to reproductive capabilities.  There are so many things that Estradiol affects but for my purpose, we are focusing on it's impact on the lining of the uterus.  Right now, we are trying to bulk or "fluff" up the lining of my uterus to be more receptive to the eggs when we transfer them.  Estradiol is the key to a fluffy uterus and is primarily secreted from the ovaries during reproductive years but, since I'm taking Lupron and it's job is to shut down my ovaries, I will be giving myself twice weekly doses of Estradiol via my bum.  These will continue for about three months, until the pregnancy is good and settled into my uterus and I begin making sufficient hormones on my own.  

___________________________________

Medication:

Days on Prenatal Vitamins: 61Baby aspirin: 16

Lupron injections: 16

Delestrogen IM Injection: 1

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

Doxycycline: 20 (finished 1/7)

Procedures:

Acupuncture Sessions: 4
Vials of Blood Drawn: 13
Vaginal Exams: 2
SIS: 1
Mock Transfer: 1
Internal Ultrasound: 1

Weight:

Start of medication: 162.6

1st week of Meds: 163.4

2nd week of Meds: 159.2

Week 2 of Medication

Last Week: Today was day 14 of meds and while things are still going smoothly, I am having some side effects from the Lupron. I'm having some pretty noticeable lower back pain that I believe is due to my suppressed estrogen levels. I remember after Gunner was born, I had similar back issues so I'm thinking its a hormonal thing. If it is, things should get better shortly as I decrease the lupron. I've also started getting the infamous "lupron headache" that so many women get. It's not horrible, but noticeable almost all day. 

I had two sessions of electro-acupuncture last week. It's quite weird! My acupuncturist puts four needles in the small of my back and two in each shin. She hooks corresponding wires to each needle and turns the electricity on, one pair at a time. She'll turn up the voltage until I tell her to stop. She leaves me alone for 15 minutes, checks to see if she can turn them up, then leaves me alone for another 15 minutes. The needles on my back aren't as "painful" as the one in my legs- but none of them are really painful. It probably would be if I had her crank it all the way up but we don't need to test that. :) 

I was trying to describe the sensation to Mark and the best I could come up with is someone taking the needle and wiggling it back and forth REALLY REALLY fast with the ocassional bug bite lol This is the type of acupuncture that I'll continue twice a week until the transfer. I still really enjoy the acupuncture and especially my acupuncturist. She's really awesome and helps me out with other aches and pains not related to the surrogacy. 

I stopped taking the antibiotic which I'm pretty happy about because the constipation was quite uncomfortable. 

I had my Estradiol blood test on Thursday to see if the Lupron is doing its job and suppressing my estrogen levels. I believe they are looking for levels to be under 70 and mine was 20.55 so it's definitely working! That means I got the "go-ahead" to start delestrogen and decrease my Lupron starting tomorrow. 

Next week: The only oral medication I'll be taking next week are the prenatal vitamins and baby aspirin. 

Buuuuuut I do get to start the Delestrogen injections, which use the big scary needles and are injected into my bum muscle! Eeek! I start those tomorrow evening and will continue every Monday and Friday until about 11 weeks of pregnancy. 

The Delestrogen (also known as Estradiol) will be drawn up with the pink, 18 gauge needle then I will switch it out for the smaller, blue, 25 gauge needle (thank god!) to do the injection. Monday's injection will be 0.10 ml and Friday's will be 0.20 ml. 

Here's a comparison of the three different needles with the Lupron needles on the right. Look how big the pink 18 gauge needle is! I'm sooo glad I don't have to use those to inject. 

I'm going to post a video of my first injection tomorrow night so be sure to check back! I'll be giving myself my first injection since I will have to do it myself at work on Friday so I want at least some practice. Ahh wish me luck! 

I'll continue my acupuncture this week and I'll continue my nightly Lupron injections but will jump from 10 units down to 5 units. 

I'm getting more and more excited about the transfer; it's only 3 weeks away! Time is flying by! I feel such a bond with M & S, I just hope this all works because I really don't want to let them down. Everything about them is wonderful and they truly deserve these babies!  

___________________________________

Medication:

Days on Prenatal Vitamins: 59
Baby aspirin: 14

Lupron injections: 14

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

Doxycycline: 20 (finished 1/7)

Procedures:

Acupuncture Sessions: 3
Vials of Blood Drawn: 13
Vaginal Exams: 2
SIS: 1
Mock Transfer: 1
Internal Ultrasound: 1

Weight:

Start of medication: 162.6

1st week of Meds: 163.4

2nd week of Meds: 159.2