Ultrasound Results!

My ultrasound was yesterday, at 7wks 3days. I had my ultrasound late since we were out of town. CCRM says you can have your u/s as soon as 6.5wks. All looked good on the ultrasound. Baby is measuring on track at 7wks 3days. Heart rate was 170 bpm. :) Next u/s is the NT scan around 12wks and a general OB check up in 4 more weeks.

CCRM wants another u/s in 2wks from the first to monitor the growth but my OB doesn't think it's necessary. I'm ok not having another u/s… CCS and seeing all looks good at 7wks3days… I feel content. But we will see if CCRM will allow me to skip it. 5 years ago they did not ask for a second u/s, just one. I ended up having a second around 8wks because I had a gush of bright red bleeding.

I will talk to CCRM tomorrow (they still didn't have my results from my OB) hopefully they will have my u/s results!!

Doesn't feel real….

This pregnancy doesn't feel real yet. Overall, I feel pretty normal and wonder if things are progressing in there? In the past, I've had lots of reassurance with continued hcg tests. This time just the two betas from CCRM and that's it. My estrogen was on the low side again this past Monday.. so I added another estrace orally. That worries me a bit. Progesterone levels have been fine. No bleeding. I did have some brown spotting initially, but nothing. No cramping either. I had more cramping that first week. It's pretty quiet here so it's easy to wonder if nothing is happening in there. Was supposed to have the first u/s Sep 4… but will have to drag out the wait since we will be out of town. Ughh.

Looking good

2nd hcg level was 150! Looking good! My nurse said I should have the first u/s at 6.5weeks and then another one at 8.5weeks. They will start weaning me from the meds after the second u/s.  I will have my hormone levels checked weekly.  September 4th would be the earliest I could have the first u/s… but we are headed out of town for a family wedding on the 2nd, so I will have to wait until Sep 8 at the soonest since we don't get home until the 7th. Since I am having my u/s late I would have the second one 2 weeks from the first because she said they want to see the growth over 2 weeks. She instructed me to call if any bright red bleeding. I've definitely had bright red bleeding with both normal successful pregnancies…. so I now know not to freak out!!! Its often ok!! But definitely important to check in with CCRM and OB.

I don't really feel pregnant at all at this point…. so anyone reading who gets pregnant and worries about symptoms…. don't be alarmed if you don't feel pregnant at all!!!!

It's positive!

So far so good!! First hcg result is 70 on Sunday 9 days after transfer. Had some difficulty getting the result to CCRM and didn't get the result until late afternoon Monday!! Geesh! Not CCRM's fault but the local lab and it being Sunday I guess. Today I go in to see if the hCG has risen appropriately.  CCRM is also checking my TSH today. On Beta day, they checked my progesterone and E2, still awaiting those results as well.

Schoolcraft's current progesterone regimen is endometrin 3x/day and PIO once a day every other day.
I keep begging them to change me over to just PIO. I really do not like the suppositories…. so messy. And gosh… they are expensive! Insurance does not cover!! Coupons thru the pharmacy help…. but combined with the cost of vivelle patches… It's just $$$$! Plus I just prefer the PIO anyway!! I did PIO with my previous successful pregnancy at CCRM and it was fine!! I'm going to keep bugging them about it!!! Sounds like they might give in if all looks good today.

Transfer 8-7-15

We flew to Colorado Wednesday afternoon to visit our very good friends in Fort Collins. The grandparents watched the kids at home. On Thursday evening we drove down to Lone Tree (about an hr 15 min south of Fort Collins). We stayed at the Element by Westin Hotels this time. We liked it! They had a CCRM rate, so if anyone is making plans make sure to get the CCRM rate which also allows you to cancel with no penalties up to a day before. The Element rooms have a kitchen and a couch…. modern decor and different (in a good way!) then your average hotel in this price range. They also provide free breakfast each  morning which we took advantage of one day.
Speaking of breakfast places….anyone visiting Lone Tree needs to try Snooze restaurant. They have the yummiest food ever!!! Our friends took us there in Fort Collins…. soooo good!! We wanted to go again in Lone Tree but didn't get the chance to! I guess the wait can get very long on the weekends and they don't take reservations.

So transfer was on Friday at 11:15am. The embryo thawed 100% and Dr Schoolcraft and John the embryologist seemed positive about our little embryo.  Transfer went really smooth and quick!  My E2 was low at 203 (want 300) so I added estrace orally. We spent some more time with our friends Sat evening and Sunday and flew home late Sunday night. Took it easy post transfer so it was a nice relaxing visit!

I don't feel symptoms except the symptoms caused probably from the meds- progesterone and estrogen.
But I don't think I ever had any significant symptoms at this point with any transfers negative or positive. Overall… don't feel pregnant!! I remember feeling this way when I have gotten pregnant. It's so strange!! I think I will do an at home pregnancy test Sunday morning. I rather just know myself before I get the call. I am not good with surprises!!!

Transfer August 7!!

I was supposed to have my transfer on July 27. But my cycle was totally off last month and my period came 10days late. I had a feeling and confirmed this with the progesterone check to start the lupron. I was getting the fertile mucus that you get during ovulation so I had them check my LH and E2 along with the progesterone. Progesterone was very low, LH was surging and E2 was high. So I was surging and was not able to start the lupron. I was quite frustrated since my cycles are usually very on time but so glad I  had them check the other hormone levels and confirmed I was surging…. at least I could then get an idea of when my period would probably come rather then just knowing my progesterone was low. Ever since my period came… things have been on schedule. Started the lupron when my progesterone went up about a week after the surge…. period started pretty much on time after calculating from my surge. But it was a bit frustrating with all of the planning. Planning an FET is not easy but once you have children too it's a lot more complicated. We don't have family that live in town near us so it really complicated things. Thankfully it's all worked out now… I just prayed everything stays on track. Which so far… it is!! (Knock on wood)!!

My first E2 check was good about a week ago. Today I had the lining check and e2 and progesterone levels checked. I went to a local clinic to get the lining checked and it's 11mm triple stripe. Still waiting on the hormone levels and the go ahead from CCRM. But I feel pretty confident since the ultrasound looked good. One of the grandma's is flying in today to help while we are gone!! My husband and I are flying out Wednesday!! Some of our best friends live in CO so we are staying some extra time to visit.
Can't believe we are doing this again 5 years later!! So amazing and crazy!!!

FET update

We have a tentative transfer date set for July 27. It could vary based on my cycle… but within a day or so of this date most likely. I am on a FET protocol without BCP. I will start lupron day 21 of this cycle if lab work looks good (progesterone >5?).  I will start the estrogen patches day 1 of my next cycle. Hopefully everything stays on track cause there's a lot of planning involved…. flights, babysitters, work, etc!! Keeping my fingers crossed.

We celebrated our twins (via CCRM)  4th birthday yesterday. It's amazing to think about our one embryo left over that he/she was concieved the same day as our twins who are here with us now growing and loving life!! It will be pretty amazing if this works out too…. almost 5 years later!! We are excited to meet him/her if it's meant to be. 

In case anyone reads this who is doing the early process of CCRM… a heads up with the shipping kits!

We had to do the communicables for my husband via shipping kit. (I still don't understand why we need to do these communicables for frozen embryos?). But we just follow their rules. Anyway… be careful and read the instructions carefully! I followed everything so carefully…. I was so happy to get that kit shipped off.  I sent it out on a Thursday and it was supposed arrive Friday via overnight shipping. Unfortunately there was some weather delay and they didn't get the package until sunday!!

I was talking to them every single day.. Friday, Sat and Sunday about my package. We were all tracking it…. the CCRM lab and me. Everyone was very helpful. The lab was really kind about watching out for my package and doing there best to retrieve it. When they got the package on Sunday… the sample was at room temp :(. Thankfully communicables is the ONLY test that they will ok if it is no longer frozen. They did call me back to verify that I did indeed freeze the container (sarsedt) and freeze the sample separately and then put the sample inside the frozen sarsedt. They it will stay frozen at least 48 hrs if done correctly. So since I did freeze it correctly it was ok. So be really careful to follow the instructions in case your package has a delay. If you have a choice of when to send out. I would pick a day earlier in the week so if it is delayed a business day is probably better than a weekend. Also really good to call and check in on your package. The lab was very helpful and watched out for my package and tracked it themselves via fedex too. If I didn't call and assumed it would arrive it may have not been retrieved. Since it was delivered on a Sunday (and not many people were there) it was delivered across the street and they had to go find it there! I was so happy to hear they could use the sample. I was really dreading paying for that kit again and doing the whole process over!! The entire time I was thinking about someone's day 3 bloodwork…. and what a bummer that would be to have to redo that!!! I would definitely call the lab if you have any questions about the kit.

They were very helpful when I called just to double check I was doing it right!!! 

Something new that Schoolcraft does is-  changes in progesterone. When I did my FET 5 years ago he just ordered the suppositories. I hated those so I switched to PIO. Now he requires both!! Ughh. I really don't want to do both. I questioned the nurses about this but he feels he finds better results with both.

The suppositories are also very expensive and messy too! I argued that I had success with just PIO….  but oh well. I guess I'll follow their instructions.