Infertility Update: We are Pregnant!

 

 

For this child have I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him: I Samuel 1:27

 

For those of you following our infertility journey, you know that by now Matt and I should have known if our treatment plan for July worked, or if we needed to move onto our treatment plan for August.

 

I am very excited to share with you all…

 

…that our July fertility treatments WORKED!!!!

 

YES, we are PREGNANT!!!!

 

 

          The above picture was taken last week.  We have known about this exciting news for a few days, but decided not to share the news until we went through two rounds of beta testing to confirm that the baby is developing as it should be and that the pregnancy is viable….meaning that at this point, there are no signs of an upcoming miscarriage.   If I didn’t have this blog as my platform to open up about our journey with infertility, I’m certain that we would not be sharing our joyous news this early in the pregnancy.  I guarantee, we would wait until the first trimester was over to go public with this news.  However, since so many people do know where we are at on our journey, it would be really hard to keep such news a secret for long;)

          In some ways, I think going through the valley of infertility has robbed us of the normal pregnancy experience that most people get to enjoy.  For most people, a pregnancy may go something like this: you take an HPT and find out you're pregnant, celebrate with those you love, schedule your first OB ultrasound for around 8wks (fully expecting to hear the baby’s heartbeat and share a very happy moment with your significant other), plan fun ways to publicly announce your pregnancy (maybe with a fun photo shoot thanks to all of the wonderful Pinterest ideas), and then go on your merry way for the remainder of the pregnancy enjoying (or maybe not-so-enjoying) all of the things that come along with being pregnant.   

 

          For us, it is a little different.  We are trying to take one thing at a time.  We have what we are calling our pregnancy hurdles. We've already had two hurdles, and we're not even quite five weeks pregnant yet.  We had to get through two rounds of blood work this week, and the next hurdle is our first ultrasound.  As many who struggle with infertility know, getting pregnant is one thing (one really BIG thing for us, because we have not been able to achieve it until now), but staying pregnant is another.  The same factors that contributed to our infertility also put us at a high risk for an early miscarriage.  The doctors are keeping a close eye on me.  So far so good, but it’s still really early in our pregnancy.

     When I took my HPT (home pregnancy test), it was the first and only HPT I took this cycle.  I took the test at 13DPO (days past ovulation) fully expecting a negative result.  I mean, of course I always hope for a positive, but the reality is that I’ve probably taken over a hundred HPTs since we’ve been trying to get pregnant, so I am groomed to expect a negative.  Plus it was still early….before an expected period…and I didn’t ovulate until CD16.  Imagine my surprise when I immediately saw two pink lines and realized we were very PREGNANT!  I was elated to say the least.  From our bathroom, I screamed to Matt, who was still in bed, that WE WERE PREGNANT!!!!  He jumped out of bed, even more surprised by the news than me, and we hugged each other and cried for what seemed like a very long time. I mean, we cried!!!!  We rejoiced and gave thanks for what we knew was a miracle!  I was screaming and crying with such emotion that words could not even come out of my mouth!  Matt too was crying with joy, and he rarely cries.  

          That exciting moment could only last a short time before my reality set in.  I knew that whenever we did get pregnant, I was at a high risk for a miscarriage.  I called my RE first thing that morning, and they wanted me to come in for beta testing immediately.  I was a little apprehensive about the results of my blood work.  For most women, a postive HPT would be enough to keep them excited, but I only had a few hours to enjoy the HPT before worrying about the bloodwork.  I knew they were not only looking at my HCG levels but also my progesterone levels.  Progesterone is vital to achieving and maintaining a pregnancy.  I do not make enough progesterone on my own, so I am prescribed progesterone post ovulation and will have to take it until 10 weeks of pregnancy.  Three hours after I had my blood drawn, the nurse called with my results.  Fortunately, the progesterone levels looked good!  The HCG results were also good in my first round of betas!  I mean.... VERY good!!!  HCG is the hormone that a woman’s body makes during pregnancy, and an HPT is positive when HCG levels are as low as 5.  I was only 4 weeks pregnant and my HCG levels were 362.  Implantation occurs anywhere from 7-12DPO, and then HCG is usually detected 48 hours after implantation.  Doctors are looking for HCG to double every 48 hours.  The fact that I was only at 13DPO when I tested and my numbers were at 362, meant that I was probably MORE than doubling my HCG levels every 48 hours prior to our first beta tests.  That was very exciting to say the least! 

 

          Even with that high number of HCG, we still had some concern.  We had to go back after 48 hours to see if my numbers had doubled.  The doctors needed to make sure my numbers were doubling, and the only way to do that is to have more blood work done and compare the two results.  This was probably the most nerve-racking part for me so far. Even though my first beta results were high, it didn’t mean anything if they didn’t double in my next beta results.  If my numbers didn't double, it indicated that my body was rejecting the pregnancy, potentially leading to an early miscarriage.  I’ll admit that doubt began to creep into my mind, as I anxiously waited three hours for the test results.  I certainly wondered if this was all too good to be true.  To be honest, I will probably still have a lot of those moments throughout this pregnancy, considering how hard it was for us to even get to this point. When the phone call came with the second tests results, taken 72 hours after the first, they came back at 1,783.  YAY!!! They more than doubled.  The doctors seemed happy enough with those results to not order any more betas for me, and we do not have to go back to the RE until August 21, for our very first OB ultrasound! I have had numerous fertility ultrasounds, so it is very exciting to know the doctors will be looking for a baby instead of just looking for something wrong with, what I have come to call, my broken ovaries and uterus.

          We are excited about our first OB ultrasound, but also a little nervous.  Again, when you’re told you are at a high risk for a miscarriage, it kind of makes you on edge.  The ultrasound will put us around 6wks 5dys.  We are praying that we hear a healthy baby’s heartbeat during our first ultrasound and are given the green light to leave the care of our RE and move onto the care of an OB.  I think when I finally hear the baby’s heart beat I will be able to relax a little and this whole thing will seem more real for me.  Even if the ultrasound turns out fine, I think the first trimester is still going to be the scariest part of this pregnancy for me, simply because the first trimester is when the risk for a miscarriage is at its highest.

 

          So that’s where we are on our journey.  A pregnancy has been achieved, and we are currently at 4wks 3 days!  It is still VERY early, so please keep us in your prayers.  We are thankful for the positive HPT and the good results from my blood work.  We also know we still have a very long road ahead of us, and these next few weeks are critical.  Thank you to all who prayed for me and encouraged me through this journey.  Infertility is probably the hardest thing that I have ever had to go through, and at times I thought that I would never be able to write a blog post announcing a pregnancy. There was no greater feeling of defeat for me than when I was told that we may never be able to get pregnant, even with fertility treatments.  Infertility has groomed me to expect disappointment, but today I do not write about our disappointment… I write about our excitement and joy.  To my friends who, like me, know infertility all too well, never give up hope.  God is the God of miracles.  My journey is only proof of that.

 

 

 

To read more about our journey through infertility, click the following links:
 

Looking back on 2012 and Looking forward to 2013

 

IUI Scheduled For February

 

Explaining an IUI

 

Why go Public with Something so Private

 

The Beginning of a Long Process

 

The Raw Emotions of It All

IUI Results

Beginning Treatments Again