HCG Test Day & Our First Ultrasound!!

Sunday is Day 9p5dt and our first HCG test!!! Day 9 – By this time, the levels of the hormone hCG, are high enough in the blood stream to be detected. You may take a home pregnancy test today. If the test is negative, it could still be a false negative. Wait for another two days and take the test again. The blood test for beta HCG is much more relaible and is usually done about 10 -12 days after blastocyst transfer.

Since I will just be getting a blood draw and not the results I went ahead and went to the clinic by myself, while Johnny stayed home with Mr. Bentley. I got there around 7:40 AM. They got me in and out in about 30 minutes and then we went and did our grocery shopping before the store got crazy. It seemed like time was taking a lot longer than usual. Probably because we are waiting for phone call!!!

Like any other Sunday, it was full of cleaning, and playing with Bentley. Phone finally rang about 11:00 am to let us know that my HCG levels came back at 130.8 which meant that I was in fact Pregnant!!! They want to see the number above 50. When I got my first HCG test done last transfer  my level was at 195. So this time around it is lower but still well above the 50 mark. I had taken 4 tests prior to this day because of how skeptical I was. Three of them showed positive. The nurse went over all of my medications to continue taking, told me that I needed to go back to the clinic for another blood draw two days later to make sure that my HCG level was doubling.

WE DID IT AGAIN!!! WAHOO!

So from the time I got the phone call on my first HCG, I was already 4 weeks. It is still new to me and all I can think about is how the heck I will handle a teenager, a two year old, and a newborn. I think that thought runs through my mind every day. We are still very excited and cannot wait to watch this miracle grow.

12/17/17

I got a congratulations phone call from our Doctor on Monday and then I went back into the clinic on Tuesday for my 2nd HCG test. The nurse called me in the later morning and told me that my levels were at 358. She told me that I needed to continue on all of my same medications and to schedule my first ultrasound for a few weeks later. I will need to call and get another order of medication since I will be on them until I am 10-12 weeks pregnant.

This go around the exhaustion and nausea have been so much worse. I always feel like I cannot get enough sleep. We literally go to bed by 9:00pm at the latest every night even on the weekends. I also get super nauseous, but mainly when I go too long without eating. Thankfully the nausea has slowed down by week 7. We had our first Ultrasound at 6 weeks and 5 days. Everything looked great! Baby measured at 6 weeks and 1 day and the heart rate was 127 bpm. We will have our first appointment at the OB in a few weeks and hopefully get to start weening the meds and get the official "Graduation" from CCRM.

We had our first appointment at the OBGYN on January 19th. I had an ultrasound and everything showed baby was doing well measuring a few days ahead so that is exciting. Baby's heart measured at 180 bpm. We finished the appointment with discussing the timeline for future appointments. 

Everything else has started to be smooth sailing so I hope that this continues. 

Bed Rest and the wait for our HCG Test

I was on bed rest for the remainder of Friday after the transfer and then all of Saturday. Laying around doing nothing is not my forte' at all. I have so much I could be doing and my back was killing me from laying down too much. As I laid in bed the day of the transfer I noticed a little light cramping here and there but nothing major. I decided to give you all an explanation of what happens inside the body after a transfer. Because our embryo started hatching before it was implanted the timeline of everything may be a little off but it gives you an idea.

Best rest way harder this time than last time. Bentley would whine and cry for Mommy and I could not pick him up. My discharge instructions say that I can not lift more than 10 pounds for 2 weeks. Well the doctor and I both know that was not going to be possible especially having a 22 pound toddler. I did my best to take it easy for that first day and a half while Johnny was in charge of keeping Bentley occupied.Day 1 – After the embryos are transferred, the cells keep dividing. The blastocyst begins to emerge from its shell and this process is called hatching.

Sunday marked 2dp5dt (aka 2 days past 5 day transfer). Johnny gave me my progesterone in oil shot that morning and then it was off to the races. Okay not really the races but we did have a super busy day! I really hope that I did not over due it because I was on my feet all day long and didn't get much rest or relaxation. By the evening time I noticed a little bit of cramping as I was laying in bed. Nothing much just a little here and there still.Day 2 – The second day is crucial because this is the time when the embryo begins to attach itself to the uterine lining. The blastocyst continues to grow.

Day 3dp5dt was back to work. I changed out my patches that morning. As the day went on I had pretty bad cramping all day. I am not sure if it was because I was sitting or what but they finally went away after I was home and was reclining on the couch. Last time around I was very anxious at this stage wondering if it worked or didn't work. I have those same feelings this go around. Day 3 – On this day, the blastocyst invades into the uterine lining and implantation begins. The woman may have light bleeding and spotting on this day

Day 4 Johnny had to give me my progesterone in oil shot that morning. I didn't have any new symptoms really during the day. Day 4 – On the fourth day, the blastocyst continues dig deeper into the uterus Light bleeding and spotting may continue on this day as the embryo invades the endometrial blood vessels to nourish itself through the maternal blood supply. However, the absence of any bleeding, cramping and spotting does not mean that implantation has not occurred so don't let your mind play games with you.

Wednesday is Day 5p5dt, I woke up around 1:00am to Bentley screaming at the top of his lungs, not sure if he had a bad dream or what but at that same time I had some more pretty bad cramping. By the time I woke up for the day they had gone away. Last cycle I had taken at at home pregnancy test this day and it had given me a very very faint positive line. Day 5 – On the fifth day, implantation is considered complete. The embryo is developing vigorously.

Day 6 Johnny gave me another Progesterone injection. No new symptoms to report except I did however develop cold like symptoms. Stuffy head, exhausted, sore throat, and sneezing. I am not sure if I was getting a cold or if it just from the medications. I will say that I have had a lot of doubts this go around. Don't get me wrong I am still praying for a positive outcome but because of all the cramping and weird symptoms that I have had so far compared to last go around, it just gives me some doubt. Every cycle and person is different so it is not really a sure sign if it did or did not work just my opinion so far. Day 6 – The growing embryo triggers the release of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) into the blood stream. This is a hormone that is produced by the syncytiotrophoblast, the specialised cells which will form the placenta later on

Day 7.... It was finally the weekend which meant we were only a few days away from out HCG test ;) Last cycle I had taken 3 at home tests by now! ......... the anticipation is killing me AGAIN!! And with all of the weird symptoms I really have been thinking a lot about it. I changed out my patches first thing in the morning, then had to work for a little while before heading out to do some shopping. As the day went on I became so so so tired and finally called it a night at 8:00 Pm. Day 7 – The fetal development is in full swing and the embryo continues to develop quickly. As the placenta begins to take shape, it continues to release more hCG into the blood stream

Day 8 - Weekends are so crazy busy so really there was no time to notice any symptoms. Just anxiously waiting for the HCG test tomorrow and being completely exhausted!!! Day 8 – More hCG is released into the blood, as fetal development continues and the placenta begins to function.

FET Day # 2

I received the call for the transfer time on Wednesday, cycle day 22, around 5:30 PM. The nurse confirmed what day I started on my Endometrin. Told me that I needed to check in to lab by 11:45 AM on Friday and then the transfer would be at 1:15 PM. I opted not to do the acupuncture this go around since it costs an extra $250.00 dollars. She made sure that I was going to have a ride to and from the clinic and also went over all of the bed rest instructions as well as my medication instructions. She told me that I should receive a call from the IVF lab either the next day or the morning of transfer to confirm that we will only be transferring one embryo.

I got the call from the lab on Thursday around 2:30 PM. They wanted to confirm that I was feeling good and was still planning on coming in for my transfer. They also confirmed that they would be thawing and only transferring in one embryo, and that it was our highest grade embryo. I confirmed that it was a day 5 grade scale 4AB. The embryo that turned into Mr. Bentley boy was a 4BA, The best grading you can get is a 4AA. So we again have a pretty close to perfect embryo. 

Cycle day 24 was our Transfer day. The morning's are always hectic! We got up with Bentley, got him ready for the day with Auntie, and sent Nevaeh off to school. I had to do a couple hours of work that morning while Johnny went to the gym. But I made sure there was time to take our picture to remind us of that morning, and then it was off to the clinic.

We checked into the clinic at 11:30 AM for my labs. After that we went upstairs and checked in for our transfer. The nurse came out and let us know that they were running about an hour behind. At that time I already had a half full bladder and knew I wouldn't make it another hour before peeing my pants so I had to use the restroom. Finally about 12:30 the nurse came out again and let me know that I should start drinking water and they would have my room ready by 1:00 PM. We got all settled into our room and waited for the ultrasound tech to come in. She came in and checked my bladder to see if it was half full, and decided that I needed to drink a little more water and that she would be back in about 15 minutes. So I just chugged a full cup of water because I didn't want to push it back any more than it had been.

Our doctor came in and confirmed we were ready to do this again LOL. He got me all prepped and said that everything was looking great. He did a test run and that went very smooth. He told us that our embryo looked awesome and that it had already started hatching, which is a good thing!! Then the embryologist came in, verified my name and date of birth, showed us our Embryo so Johnny could take a picture of it. Then it was time to insert it in. Watching it on the ultrasound monitor was super cool. Only Johnny got to see it last time so I was excited to be able to see it this go around. After he was all done I needed to lay there again for another hour with minimal movement.

Our Day 5 Embryo

After the hour was up I got to go to the restroom and then they wheeled me to the front of the clinic and waited for Johnny to go grab the truck and pick me up. The lab had called with my results and said they looked perfect. My progesterone level was at 27 and they want to see if above 15 and my estradiol was at 924 and they want to see it above 300. I needed to continue on all of my medications as planned. Now onto bed rest......... This should be fun with a toddler. 

Blood Draw Level Checks

As we are going through this process I find myself looking back at all of the old posts I did from my first FET. Its so crazy how different its been so far. Looking back they had me go in for my third lining check and blood draw on cycle day 15.  My lining measured just about 11mm, and my estrogen level at 114. That's when they had me start on an oral form of estrogen daily while wearing 3 patches every other day.


This time around I didn't have my first lining check until cycle day 17. I went into the office that morning and the nurse told me that my lining was measuring 12.2 with a tripple pattern. Which is good. At this time they want it to be between 8-14mm. She told me that I will most likely stay on the same calendar schedule that I have been following but that I'd get a call later that afternoon with my estrogen level and at that point I'll be told what to do next. When I got the call the nurse told me my estrogen levels came back at 629. They like to see it above 300. My progesterone level was less than 1 which was perfect. So as of now I will follow the calendar I have.

Cycle day 18 I took my last Lupron injection. WAHOOOO! I called the pharmacy to make sure that my scripts were ready for pick up of the Medrol and the Doxycycline and they had no record. So I sent an email to my nurse but since it was the weekend I wouldnt hear from anyone until Monday. Little did I know the nurse would call me later that afternoon and she resent my scripts to the pharmacy. Thank goodness!!


So I started those meds on cycle day 19 along with my Endometrin, 4 patches, Vit D, and prenatals.

The next day I got up bright and early so that Johnny could give me my first Progesterone in oil shot that morning. Man oh Man do those hurt so damn bad!!!!!! I will have to do these every other morning.  I will go back in to the clinic on Cycle day 21 for another blood draw to have my progesterone levels checked.

The nurse called me to let me know that everything is looking great and that my progesterone level was at 25, they want to see it above 10. She said that I will just continue on all of the same medications and that I would hear from the office the next day to let me know what time my transfer would be.



Update on the progesterone in oil shots.... well I think Johnny is trying to pay me back for all the times I have had to stick him with a needle when his blood sugar is low. I have a giant bruise on my rear from that first shot. :(