5w4d - first scan

Yesterday we had our first ultrasound scan. Meet my little over-achiever! At 5w4d we saw a gestational sac (8,7 mm although the printed report later said 18 mm?!?), a yolk sack, and then a fetal pole of somewhere between 1.7 and 1.9 mm with a tiny flicker of a heart beat! Still too early to measure the heart rate, but it was there and oh, it felt soooo good to see it on the screen!

We went for a some coffee/tea with cake afterwards to celebrate.

My next appointments are as a 'regular pregnant woman': checkup with the OB on June 20th, next ultrasound on July 13.

The rest of the day was very stressful because of work and at the end of the day I felt like a complete professional failure (but that's something for a separate post, or not). And then when hubby came home he got mad because I had told his sister (whom he doesn't want to speak to anymore because of something that happened last summer) about the pregnancy. Ugh.

Third beta and some ramblings

Yesterday I went to the lab for my third and final beta: 1626! So still with a steady doubling time around 41 hours. All is good.

This also means I've graduated from my RE - we're on our own for our first scan, even though the RE would like to be kept updated (I still don't understand why they don't do the first scan at their clinic and then hand you over to your regular OBGYN, but oh, well, that's French logic for you).

With the first pregnancy this took me by surprise, but of course now I was prepared, so I booked the scan as soon as the results of my second beta were in. I go to separate OBs for the checkups and the scans (my OBGYN, who's actually a GP, but does mainly OBGYN and pediatrics, doesn't have u/s equipment). Both are always overbooked. So while I was thinking about a scan in the week of June 6 (we're away the week before), the 'u/s OB' proposed this Friday, which surprised me, because it's really early (5w4d), but she assured me it would be a good time to check the development and said that we might even be able to see a heartbeat. So I took the appointment, figuring that if we wouldn't see a heartbeat yet, I could try to get a second scan two weeks later. (My first regular OB appointment is not until June 20).

Of course, because I have nothing better to do, I consulted Dr Google on this as well, resulting in very vivid and strange dreams (one time even a nightmare involving my toddler, I will spare you the details, but I was quite shaken when I woke up) on the subject for the past couple of days/nights.

I POAS a total of three times (the day of my first beta, right between beta #1 and beta #2 and right between beta #2 and beta #3) and every time I look at those different gradations in intensity of the second line it puts a smile on my face.

Some minor symptoms are appearing as well. I love taking an afternoon nap, but at night I am often full of energy, feeling really happy, and I have difficulty falling asleep. My breasts don't hurt, but they seem to have become a bit firmer (after being a bit 'sloppy' as a result of eight months of breastfeeding), which is not a bad thing. I'm becoming more moody, which isn't helped at all by my toddler's "terrible two" tantrums. And generally I prefer sweat pants and comfy shirts to anything else (but I'll wear them only around the house, this is France after all!), much to hubby's dismay.

Second beta

Just got the results from my second beta test this morning: 337! This means a doubling time of 41.19 hours. I will have a third and final beta on Tuesday and then a first u/s next week Friday (5w4d).

The results are in...

My first beta, at 12dp2dt is 67!!!

Woohoo - first beta with IVF#1 was 55, so I find 67 to be a great number (I read somewhere that FETs give lower betas? Well not in my case)! Second beta will be on Friday. Keep your fingers crossed for great doubling numbers...

OMG!

I had to pee after having my blood drawn, there was a HPT in my bag, so I thought "what the heck", and used it. And OMG, a second line appeared!

I sat on the metro with a stupid grin on my face.

Now just, please, don't let this be a residue from the booster shot I had last week... I googled it and apparently it takes 24 hours to get 1000 IU of a HCG booster shot out of your system. I had a 1500 IU shot last Tuesday, so that should be gone by now, right..?!?!

Lab results will be in at 2 pm.

At the lab

Should have gone in earlier. Waiting room is packed...

I kept to my own promise not to POAS. Maybe I'll do it just after I get my blood drawn, but HPTs have pretty much always meant disaster for me, so I'm not sure... too afraid to see only one line. No AF yet, but usually that would be 15dpo, so not until tomorrow.

HCG booster shot

First of all, thank you for all your words of encouragement on my previous post, it means a lot to me!

Yesterday morning I had to get my blood drawn for an estradiol level check. This time I went to the clinic's lab and I was so glad I did - blood drawn around 7:30 am, results in by noon, much better turnaround time than the lab around the corner from where I live.

The deal with the estradiol level check is that if it's under 500 pg/ml, you have to get a 1500 IU HCG boosters shot. With IVF#1 it was 1980, with IVF#2 it was >1000, but this time the level was 324 pg/ml. Of course this first freaked me out completely, but then I realized that with the two fresh cycles, my estradiol level at trigger time was near 3000 because of all the stimming. This time there had been a little stimming, but not nearly as much as with a fresh cycle, and my estradiol level the day before triggering was at 304 pg/ml, so I guess it would only be logical that my current level wouldn't be so high either.

So I called a nurse to make an appointment for the shot - she would come by around 6 pm, enough time for me to let my son have his afternoon nap and get the meds at the pharmacy afterward. We came home from our little walk to the pharmacy (with tricycle, uphill, so a normal 10 minute walk now took us almost an hour - the way back went a lot faster, although there were the usual distractions of phone booths, parking meters, garage doors that would or wouldn't open, etc.) just before the nurse arrived about 20 minutes before schedule.

She gave me the shot, but when I looked at the box I was confused - she had used two ampules, but there were still 10 left in the box. Why? In case you screw up? There was only one syringe provided and the two ampules she used (powder and solvent) were sufficient for the 1500 IU, but still, those things make me nervous. I just don't get pharmaceutical companies.

Other than that I have nothing to report, no new symptoms, nothing.