YEAAHHHHH!!!!

We have a heartbeat!!!!  The Dr. saw it immediately!  N and I were about to come unglued!  And then he showed it to us, it was plain as day to see!  What a wonderful Thanksgiving this will be!  He only saw one, and is pretty confident that there is only one, but we go back for another ultrasound the week after Thanksgiving for another look at the heartbeat and for confirmation on the number!  I can't tell you how much we appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers and well-wishes! 

The baby is .337 cm - amazing!!!  Thanks, again!

Phrase of the Day

A long time ago I mentioned that N was a nurse for handicap children...we are pretty partial to one  - she is 3 years old and blind, because of a tumor on her brain.  She also doesn't speak on her own, but repeats things that she has heard her mother say.  So, we have her "phrase of the day".  It's a bright spot in my day.

Today's Phrase is "Thank you, Jesus".....just made me feel better!  :)

Pins and Needles and Needles and Needles and Needles

N spoke to the nurse and they would like for us to keep the Friday appointment...they feel that they will be able to give us some sort of answer by that point.  I have called my personal OB/GYN nurse, who has been my nurse for the past 15 years - and she has told me that if we do not feel that we have any results from Friday's appointment, then we will go to their office and they will conduct another ultrasound. 

Needless to say, N and I feel good about everything.  But the "not knowing" is still excruciating.  just pushing positive thoughts to the forefront of my mind. 

The good news is that I can barely feel the shots any more - funny how a scare like we have had puts everything in perspective! 

So, we'll head up there on Friday and hope and pray for the best...thanks to all of you who are praying along with us...

Roller Coaster

Well, it's been a pretty rough 24 hours...I started bleeding last night, so you can imagine the thoughts that were running through my mind.  Fortunately, I was at home with my husband.  I called the Dr's office and the nurse immediately called me back.  She told me to put another patch on and to increase the progesterone shot from 1.5 to 2...and that the Doc would call me in the morning with further instruction. 

Calling my sister was the very hardest call that I ever had to make...but she was wonderful, as usual, and her main concern was me!  Then J called me to make sure that I was OK again.  The hardest part of this process is how bad I feel for N & J because I know that they must feel helpless...and then how bad they feel for K and I...it is a vicious cycle and we only get through it because of how much we all love and respect each other. 

This morning the nurse asked how soon could we get to Jacksonville?  Needless to say, we were ready and on the road in 15 minutes.  N & J met us there...

The ultrasound with the doctor was a bit confusing, but I believe this is the bottom line:
There is something there, he thinks that it is the gestational sac, but not for sure.  My uterus is tilted, so it is very hard to see.  He was unable to see the Yolk Sac, but told us that is was really early and again, my tilted uterus didn't help. He said that he couldn't say whether I had miscarried or not, that it was just too early to tell.  He did say that 20-25% of their IVF patients had bleeding during the first trimester and still carried to term.  So, that was comforting.   Our appointment to see the heartbeat was suppose to be this coming Friday, but at this point I believe we are going to try and postpone it until next Tuesday. We are hoping that we will be able to see more at that point.  His closing remarks were, "Well, it will either get much better or much better."  And to think, that I have wasted my God-given talent of sarcasm for all these years - why didn't I become a fertility doctor??!!!

After N got home she looked online, and confirmed that bleeding in IVF patients is not uncommon at all.  So, she also feels much better.

So, we are going to stay positive and just keep looking up and pushing forward.  We have so many family and friends praying and pulling for us.  There are too many positives to even think about feeling negative.  They say that tears cleanse the soul, so I think N & I are starting the week squeaky clean.  

Thank you all for allowing us to share our amazing story...  

Pregnancy signs

Well, I have insomnia - so I'm definitely pregnant!  And I am soo tired, but just can't sleep!  Not a whole lot to share, we are just on the countdown for the November 19th  ultrasound.  Isn't it crazy how we just go from one date to the next.  There's always something to look forward to!  I let N do all the worrying, she's really great at it and does enough for the both of us.  I just live in my own little fairy land where All is Good! 

Again, thanks to all of you who text and email us well wishes, it means so much to us! 

We'll keep you posted...

Still POSITIVE

Second pregnancy test showed a HCG level of 766!!!  We're cooking now!!  Still a great number.  The next step is the ultrasound on November 19th.  The Dr actually likes to do his own ultrasounds, so we'll be seeing him again. 

N & I are still pumped, as I'm sure that you can imagine.  It still truly amazes me that we have made it this far.  So very thankful!

Still pumping those shots every night.  N treated me to a deep tissue massage on Thursday to try to loosen up the knots...MiMi was great and did a fantastic job...but unfortunately, they were back again by Friday...so we're going to try ice and then moist heat.  Still, a very small price to pay for this miracle!

We'll keep you posted!

IT'S POSITIVE!!!!

We are PREGNANT!!!!  To say that we are over the moon would be an understatement!  The appointment was at 10:30 am, but the nurse said that it would be afternoon before they called us.  N and I offered to drive the blood vial to wherever, but they declined!  So, while we were each on our way home - they called N with the good news!!!  Then of course, her phone died and it took her 10 minutes to turn off and re-boot. 

My HCG level is 313, which the nurse said was fairly high....for once, this is a good thing!  As she said, "there's at least one in there!!!"  So, next is another blood test this Friday and then an ultrasound two weeks from Friday to see the heartbeat(s). 

This is truly one of the most amazing and beautiful things I have ever witnessed....a precious miracle to my sister and brother-in-law.  Incredible happiness for our entire family...thank you all for your thoughts, prayers and well wishes.  I have a plaque in my kitchen that says, "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."  To say that N and I were "breathless" today would be an accurate description. 

We'll keep you posted...

Anxious, anxious, anxious

Tomorrow is the day!!!!  Our appointment is at 10:30 am for the blood test.  They will call N later on in the day with the results.  Which really stinks, because we are both so worked up about this appointment and all we get to do is walk in and walk back out with no more than we came in with...

Hopefully, they will call her back early!  This past week and a half has been very long to get through...but we both feel good about tomorrow....I was a little reserved on Sunday, and then my neighbor said it all - "Where's your faith, little lady?"   Pretty good advice, I thought.  So, here we go - full of faith that it will all work out. 

Off for my shot!  Don't ever expect a video blog of this - I know some do that, but there's no way that I want to broadcast my pale behind all over the free world.  We'll pass on that one....just use your imagination!  :)

We'll keep you guys posted!!!  Thanks for checking in.