2nd Trimester is the best!

I’m 23 weeks and 4 days today. I’ve been feeling movement inside my tummy since week 20.  And at some point, I can even feel the movement from the outside when I put my hands on my belly. It’s becoming so real that there’s a human being growing inside me. I thank God everyday for this miracle. There won’t be any ultrasounds until around week 36 so that is a bummer. My next appointment will be on the 20^th to discuss the result of the Glucose Challenge Test which will be on the 13^th. So far 2^nd trimester is the easiest. I experience lower back pain once in a while. Luckily pre-natal yoga helps.

We’ve already sold most of our laying hens to prepare for the baby’s arrival end of March. Only 14 hens left to sell. All 15 roosters have been processed.

I can’t wait for the New Year to begin my 3^rd trimester.

Almost halfway!

It’s been a while since I blogged on my pregnancy.  I had the anatomical scan yesterday and here’s a couple pics.  It’s a detailed ultrasound where they check for various measurements.  I was 19 weeks and 3 days when the ultrasound was taken.  At first, the sonographer told me I will have to come back to do another ultrasound on the same day I see the doctor because she couldn’t get the picture of the kidney due to the baby’s position.  Luckily towards the end when she called my husband to see the baby’s ultrasound on the screen, the baby turned sideways as if mooning us. LOL.  She quickly captured that photo and told me she got the picture of the kidney so I don’t need to come back.  She also mentioned the baby is very active and moving a lot.

I don’t know the results yet because the sonographer is not allowed to disclose results.  I have to wait for my OB appointment in a couple of weeks to discuss the results.  I can’t wait.  Hope everything’s fine. I thank God everyday for this miracle IVF baby that grows inside me.

Welcoming the 2nd Trimester!

Today, I’m 2 days shy of 14 weeks in the pregnancy land. We had an appointment with OB and praise God, the results of the Harmony test (also called NIPT) and other bloodwork are normal. That was my greatest fear due to our advanced age where the chance for chromosomal abnormalities increases. You would not believe how stressed out I’ve been in the past few weeks anticipating all these tests. And I think I've been pampered while I was still under the care of the fertility clinic before where I had weekly ultrasound until week 10. After I graduated from that place, the regular OB only does it once every 4 weeks.

I do feel stupid worrying for nothing. I can start relaxing now that I’m finishing the first trimester. But as my husband said, I’ll probably find something else to worry about.

My blood pressure remains stable (120 over 70) despite the fact I’ve been having anxiety attacks.

And my OB also checked the heartbeat via fetal doppler and we heard it! He said it was fast enough and not to worry. I bought my own fetal doppler and been trying to listen to the heartbeat since week 12 and it was very difficult to hear anything. That just added anxiety. He said not to use it again because it’s not as sensitive as the ones they use in the clinic.

We also found out the gender but I’ll keep it a secret for now okay? I’ll reveal it at week 20.

As far as pregnancy symptoms, nausea comes and goes especially in the afternoon. And headaches and moodiness still hangs around.

I’m really over the moon with the results today and I know this is indeed a miracle! I’m so looking forward the second trimester. I've heard it is the easiest trimester.

My next OB appointment is in 4 weeks.

Just one day shy of week 12

Just a little background, last Sep 1, I went to the ER when I couldn’t empty my bladder in the middle of the night. It was very painful and I had the urge to pee but nothing came. I was put in a catheter while at the ER but was removed before I left as I didn’t really want to bring it home. I thought I was doing fine a few days later but I was wrong. On Sep 6, I went to the same ER with the same issues. I came home again without a catheter. I phoned my OB last week about the issue but he has no availability to see me that week. I’ve been told to go to Mt. Sinai if it happens again so I did on Sep 9. At that time the OB on duty insisted I wear a catheter as it is more dangerous to have urine retention. 

Today, I had my Prenatal Screening blood tests and  Nuchal Translucency ultrasound in the morning and finally saw my OB to check my catheter. He decided to remove it. Thank God! I feel like human again. I had the catheter for 5 days and I was not a happy camper. Having a foreign object down there that pokes you if you walk or sit a certain way was horrible.

My OB also discussed the result of the NT test and it is normal. The sonographer was having a tough time finding the right position to capture the baby. I was still on catheter in the morning when the ultrasound was being done and she had to do transvaginal scan because she cannot see the baby on my belly. She had the probe inside me for what seemed like half an hour.  It was getting uncomfortable down there as she was adjusting the “wand” in different angles while tapping my belly in an attempt to get the baby switch to the right position.  She had asked me to cough hard and drink fruit juice.  It took so long but finally the baby cooperated and she got the right scan.

Well, I’m still waiting for the results of the other blood screening tests. And I think I’m feeling a little bit relaxed now that the ultrasound result is normal today.

Unexpected visit to the ER

On Sep 1, I went to bed at 10 pm and made a mistake of drinking about 2 glasses of water as I was thirsty. At around 2 am, I woke up with the urgent need to pee but nothing came out. I tried squatting in the tub and different positions and nothing. The pain became excruciating when I walk so I went to the emergency and they put a catheter to drain the urine. Boy that was a big relief! The OB at the hospital didn't think it's related to pregnancy as I'm only 10 weeks and the urine tested normal so no infection. She doesn't really know why it happened so I'm being referred to a urologist. But I've googled and noticed that it's common for women with tilted uterus which I have.  I'm hoping this is just a one time event and I think I will avoid drinking water 2 hours before going to bed.  So far my peeing seems to be back to normal, still more frequent but at least a steady stream first thing in the morning. So maybe I've just held it too long.

Week 10 Ultrasound

Today, we officially graduated from our fertility doctor and I had my last ultrasound at week 10.  I'll definitely going to miss the place.  The nurses are caring and my doctor is thorough, charming and sometimes emails me directly to let me know things are all taken care of.  Some of the nurses and sonographers already know me by name as I arrive to check-in.  I will miss their pampering.

As usual the couple of days leading to the ultrasound day is always nerve-wracking.  I always worry whether my baby is still growing normally.  I also worry when the feeling of queasiness disappears.  But the ultrasound turned out normal.

Baby has a heartbeat of 174 bpm and pregnancy size is 9 weeks 6 days.  Here’s how he/she looks now. Looks more human!  Hallelujah!

Week 10, heartbeat of 174 bpm

Last August 22, I completely stopped my PIO (progesterone-in-oil) injections.  What a big relief as I was having muscle pains on my bum all the way to the back of my lower leg.  I’m glad my fertility doctor ordered to stop it after seeing my bloodwork that weekend.  I’m still on Prometrium suppositories and Estradot patches.  But I have a feeling I will be stopping them soon.  I have to wait for the doctor’s order on Tuesday as Monday is a holiday.

Overall, I really don’t have dramatic pregnancy symptoms like vomiting.  I get headaches and nausea from time to time but I’ve been having that symptoms from the very beginning of this IVF journey due to the high dosage of hormones medications I take.  I guess I’ve been feeling the symptoms of pregnancy for so long that I don’t even notice it when I started becoming pregnant.

I finally got referred to an OB/GYN in Mt. Sinai Hospital.  I requested from my family doctor that I wanted to have an OB/GYN from that hospital and that’s where I intend to give birth.  I heard great things from the nurse at my fertility clinic who gave birth there.

So I had my first visit with the OB/GYN today.  What a long wait time! We arrived 5 minutes before my appointment and filled out a bunch of paperwork, then we waited for an hour and a half before being seen by the doctor and nurse.  When we finally got to talk to the doctor, he was very concise and explained the need to take various blood tests.  One of them is NIPT (non-invasive prenatal test to assess the risk of Trisomy 21 (Down syndrome), 18 (Edwards syndrome), 13 (Patau syndrome).  It is due to my advanced maternal age.  This test is also called Harmony prenatal test.  This phase is probably the most stressful so far. (Okay, I keep saying that each time I hit a milestone.)  Glad this is covered by OHIP.  I pray daily that this baby will be chromosomally normal.

Well, there’s still weeks 11 to 13 to go through before I finish the first trimester and after that I probably will be able to relax more.  And this is very nerve-wracking because this embryo is not genetically tested.  It’s of the lower grade (4AB) but the one that has progressed this far compared to the other perfectly graded (5AB) and PGS normal one that ended in miscarriage in 5 weeks 5 days.

Week 8 Ultrasound

Today (Aug 18, 2017) I'm exactly 8 weeks pregnant. Pregnancy by size is 7 weeks and 6 days so 2 days smaller but the nurse told me not to worry. Baby embryo has a heart rate of 160 bmp. However they found some fibroids this week that weren't there last week. But I've been told not to worry about it. Hopefully it will just disappear.

My life revolves around 7-day period these days. I have ultrasound every week until week 10 at my fertility clinic. And I look forward to Fridays not because of the weekend but because that's when the sono scans are scheduled. Each week is a new milestone. Every night I pray God will not take away our little bean in my uterus.

Our busy little bean at week 8.

And look how much little bean has grown from week 7 below.

And here's how it was last week at week 7.

Ultrasound at 7 Weeks

Exactly 7 weeks pregnant today and had our second OB ultrasound at the clinic.  The heart rate is 124.  And the size is just perfect.  I thank God for each day I wake up knowing there’s a busy little bean growing inside me 😊

 

 

We have a heartbeat at 6 weeks!

I had my first OB ultrasound on Friday (Aug 4^th) at 6 weeks.  The technician was very nice to let my husband go in the ultrasound room.  Usually it is not allowed during the monitoring hours.  But it was later in the day and the place was not busy anymore.

Good news - we saw a heartbeat of 94.  Ideally they want to see a heartbeat of around 100 at this stage but the baby embryo is about 2 days late in size.  So it will need another 2 more days to have the normal heart rate.  I don’t have any pictures because our clinic does not allow pictures taken inside the ultrasound lab.

The gestational sac and yolk sac is visible.  At first, the technician couldn’t see the sac properly through my belly because of my tilted uterus (the same issue why it was difficult for my doctor to transfer the embryo in the first place).  The technician had me empty my bladder completely.  Then she saw something but she couldn’t see the yolk sac at first.  So she had to do the transvaginal ultrasound (which I’m so used to these days so no big deal), and that’s when she was able to see what she wanted to see.

I was also told there's a cyst but not to worry about it.  I didn't bother to ask what it is exactly. If it's still there next week, then I will ask further details.

Thank God for this milestone.  I know it is still very early and anything can happen.  I pray every day that God will not take away baby Scobie.  This is farther along than what we had compared to the first embryo transfer that miscarried just before 6 weeks.

So starting today weekly ultrasound and bloodwork is required until week 11-12 to monitor the pregnancy.  I'm also continuing with daily booty shots (progesterone-in-oil injections) up until around 12 weeks. 

Next week, the target heartbeat should be around 120.  I’m still a bit nervous of course and each day I wake up the first thing I check is to make sure I’m not bleeding and what a blessing it is!

2-Week Wait Ends Today!

Today, we were heading to have my first pregnancy bloodwork done and had an unexpected drive from home to the clinic.  Let me digress for a bit.  At 5:30 am we spotted an accident about a kilometer away from our home on a curving and uphill road.  A car had hit a cow and the front hood was all bent upwards and the carcass of the cow layed about a quarter of the way onto the road.  The accident looked like it had just recently happened as police were not on the scene yet.  We didn’t stop as we were heading to the clinic and wanted to beat the traffic and be in Toronto by 7 am.  And there was already another vehicle that stopped to help and put his blinkers on so it will alert oncoming vehicles on the road.  And about 100 feet later, we saw a horse cross the road and went on to the side road just off Country Road 45.  We figured someone forgot to close their gate, or maybe the fence was broken so the livestock escaped.  I hope that was just the casualty.

So, we arrived at the clinic at about 7 am (unusual we didn’t hit the usual heavy traffic).  It wasn’t busy today so I had the blood drawn right away but somehow my blood was filling up the syringe very slowly so it stung for a few more seconds. Surprisingly at 9:30 am my doctor personally emailed and congratulated me that it’s positive and although this is still early, it’s a good first step.  I appreciate him taking the time to let me know considering how busy he usually is.  I like to be thankful to God for each milestone thus far.  My HCG hormone level is at 91.6.  I feel it's a bit low but anything above 25 is an early positive pregnancy result.  Although I’m more relaxed this time, there are days when I fret especially when I wasn’t seeing a line on pregnancy tests on 4dp5dt (means 4 days past 5-day old frozen embryo transfer). The earliest I saw was 2 days ago (7dp5dt).  Apparently the earliest HCG level the home pregnancy test strip can pick up is 25.  Today is 9dp4dt which in normal pregnancy is the end of the 2WW (two-week wait). 

Line is darker today!

 

I’ve been instructed to increase my Prometrium suppositories to 3x daily 200 mg a day.  PIO (progesterone-in-oil) injections have been increased to 1 ml and now will be done daily (before it was 0.5 ml every other day).  Yikes, but my butt cheek is ready.  I know the drill.  Estradot patches remains the same – 4 patches every other day.

On Monday, I go back for another bloodwork and I’m praying my HCG hormone level will double every 48 hours.  I know it’s no longer in my hands but God’s hands and this journey has been crazy to say the least.

I’ve been taking it easy lately.  Though I’m not bed resting as it drives me nuts lying down doing nothing.  I’ve done a ton of laundry during my 2-week wait but I think I will put on hold my plan of SUP’ing this weekend with my dog Louie… 😊  Priorities first…