Run In

We were not going to tell our neighbors until 3rd month, just as prescribed by the Careful Parent Magazine. Except, of course, our other neighbors, who had Mike over for a cigar and while Mike continued to grill them on baby stuff, they started suspecting something... until of course Mike, as the proud father to be, blubbered all out. But he sworn them to secrecy and so far so good, no one else knew. 

Until Saturday, when we, on our regular trip to babies'r'us, ran into another (very pregnant) couple living across the street from us. And not only were we caught "inflagranti" over the baby cribs, Mike proceeded to tell them where the item they were trying to locate was to be found and that we in fact do go to BRU on a somewhat regular basis. So they know too. The question now is to give up and tell all or hope and pray they won't run into Rick, our neighborhood gossip column?

Saw Heart Beat

We have a heart beat!  We went in today and we've seen the most beautiful dot of a baby ever. Yes, the white dot is the baby :) Sure, it does not look much like a baby yet (look at the ticker for more detail). But we are still very happy. So, so far so good. More to come - momma to be is tired today!

Not Fair

You might or might not know that female pregnancy produces some pretty vivid dreams. In real life in translates into me dreaming about caves and things there that are trying to kill me. So I was pretty happy today to have a dream about a hot guy that was working at an Italian restaurant. I spent 3/4 of the dream admiring how hot he is, eventually get to the point where he is about to kiss me... and I wake up. So not fair. I deserved that kiss after those hours I spent running away from creepy killer things. 

On the real life note we are pretty excited about the ultrasound tomorrow. I am seeing my hematologist today so that they can run a few tests on me make sure that my blood thinning goes the way it is supposed to (and I don't end up like my online friend Teri, who started hemorrhaging out of her nose while seeing her high risk OB). My nausea has not been kind either, after taking a break it came back with vengeance, but no full-fledged morning sickness yet. I'll keep you updated :)

The Funniest Thing

As I already said, our baby's heart was supposed to start beating on Friday. Well, funnily enough, the ticker on your right (or possibly the other right) has a heart beat too! Unless, of course, you are reading this much later and the ticker on your right also has fingers and toes and all kind of other crap that it sure does not have right now, on November 18. Tomorrow the little handsies and legsies are supposed to start growing, so let's see what the virtual beanie looks like then. Though I am pretty sure that the slighly creepy alien look will stay with us for another 2 months, just about.

Are we down to 5%?

On Friday we have passed an important development step. And when I say we, I mean the bean did. Either it had or had not developed a heart beat. If it had developed a heart beat, our chances on future miscarriage have fallen down to 5%. If it has not... well, in that case our chances on miscarriage are up to 100%. It's a bit depressing to know that something like that has taken a place and not to be able to check on it. For the sake of math, 10% of the pregnancies will not develop a heart beat, so one out of 10 pregnancies ends before this point. Depressing, isn't it.

Don't take it the wrong way, though. I am not sitting around trying to figure out the heart beat. Mainly I had a miserable night and I am half asleep as it is, so no depressing thoughts on my part. It's really hard to be depressed if you can barely lift up your head. On a lighter note, on Wednesday we should start forming arms and legs :) I'm off to pretend I am reading while I am taking a nap....

Last Beta Update

So the nurse called the beta in at 1387, doubing time 43 hours, which is just on time, excellent number and we are off of additional bloodwork. Next stop is an ultrasound, probably on 11/21, hoping really bad to see the heart beat!

Back to waiting

So after a day off I got to see the vampire again. At least it was a girl that I already know and that always does an excellent job, so I felt a bit better than with the lady two days ago. At the same time, I get nauseous when I get nervous these days, so it was quite fun. Oh, and I am officially off of the gatorade that helped me to stay OHSS free because now it makes me seriously sick. So sick that in fact I have taken to ride around with a plastic bag by my side just in case. Not that I am complaining.

To shorten the wait, I have emailed my brother and announced that he should become an uncle in the summer, but that I am not promissing anything yet at this point. After Mike told everyone and their mother, I feel like I deserve to do some announcing too. Hopefully it does not turn out I should have waiting for the test results.

Break Day

So I got the results yesterday - 640, which means we are doubling in 49.5 hours. Anything below 72 is considered good, though being an overachiever, I'd like to see something closer to 35... ah, well. Of course now I worry that the baby is slowing down and all that crap. Good thing I have another beta tomorrow. If they tell me they are done after that one (which they will, unless it comes back crappy), I am probably going to chew off my fingernails before they get me to the ultrasound, which, gasp, is going to be at some point between weeks 6 and 7. Oh, the joys of (hopefully) impending motherhood.

Waiting

So I am waiting for my second beta number to come in. For trying to conceive beginners and other blissfully ignorant, a beta is a blood test that measures the pregnancy hormone in female body and based on the numbers a viability of the pregnancy is established or an ectopic pregnancy can be diagnosed. Generally, anything over 5 is considered pregnant. However, the most important part is the doubling - the number should double in about 48 hours for it to indicate a healthy baby.

My first beta was last Wednesday and came back at 85 (e.g. definitely pregnant). My second beta was today (Tuesday, 11/11) and for everything to be fine it needs to be somewhere in the 700 range. The problem is that it is only 10 am and they usually don't call the results in until at least 2 pm but sometimes as late as 5pm, so I am having a looooong day today. Not really having any pregnancy symptoms now that I discovered ginger cookies I am getting pretty nervous.

The good news of the day is that I am switching from progesterone shots to progesterone inserts (well, you don't want to know more about that). Mainly, my behind is incredibly sore and my legg muscless are burning and tingling and generally not liking more sesame oil. So yay for the switch!

Oh and btw

We are keeping this a semi-secret! Let's try to keep it from the 3 people who do not know yet! The official list of people who know and you might now is:

Work - Well, almost everyone, really, I did ask for some discretion, but it is still spreading like a wild fire. 

Private life - Hanka, Vasik, Darca, Vendy, Anka and Steffi. Mike's family, very few neighbors, and that should be it. 

We did it

So, adoption turned out to be a no go for us. We don't have 6 grand sitting in the bank account waiting to be used as a downpayment on a baby. So we tried IVF. And it worked. It didn't look like it at first because my estrogen was not growing and no estrogen = crappy eggs, but about 50 injections later we had the first (and awesome, if I may say so) batch of eggs. They took out 17, 12 were mature, 9 fertilized and 6 made it to snow babies. And of course there is the one that is sitting inside of me and apparently growing, though it looks a bit like an alien at the moment (see pic on the right, lol).

The downside is that my behind can't take any more shots. It's so sore I am having issues walking today and I still have over 5 weeks to go. And the morning sickness is starting. So far the ginger cookies have been keeping it at bay but seems today that one cookie in the morning is no longer cutting it. I think I will have to increase the dosage. Yeah, I know I've been wanting to be sick for the last 3 years, but it would have been way nicer to be like my mom wondering what the heck is morning sickness. Sadly, I am not one of those lucky ... ladies.