Pregnancy after Infertility

It's been quite awhile since I posted here but I've had a few comments as well as a hike in visitors.  I thought that those visiting here would be interested to hear that even though I continue to have PCOS and its symptoms, that I was able to have a second child on my own.

We tried a couple rounds of IUI at Carolina Conceptions with Dr. Meyer back in 2010 with the last one being in November.  After the last failure, we decided to take a break for the holidays.  I'd been very stressed through the IUI and holidays and had laser eye surgery scheduled for January 2011.  In early March I struggled with shingles and later was just not feeling better.  I got the crazy idea in my head that I might be pregnant so I took a test.  And then hubby had me take another test!  Sure enough, baby girl was on the way!

Sweet Inara was born in December last year and just turned a year old!  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and a Happy New Year!

Week 6

I thought it would be fun (since I no longer have fertility treatments to update everyone on) - to provide some general education on the development of our baby. You can learn as I do. So here are some links to read about WEEK 6 of a pregnancy.

Week 6 from KidsHealth for parents

Pictures & short summary of Week 6 from Pregnancy.org

Tiny little heartbeat

Jack & I were surprised to see our tiny little baby's teeny little heartbeat so early! It was barely a flicker on the screen, but it was clear (once she explained where to look!). Our baby is only about 5mm big right now. In the picture there are two little X marks, those are the measurement marks for the embyro. The surrounding black blob is the gestational sac.

Now that we know there is only one baby, we were given a due date of 5/11 (the day after our 5th wedding anniversary, LOL). I'm 6 weeks and 2 days along today. So this is it, we are officially done with the fertility clinic! We now switch over to a regular OBGYN and everything from here on out will progress like a regular pregnancy! :)

Nothing new...

Today I'm 5wks & 3 days preggo! Nothing new to report really but I didn't want to abandon my blog too long. I've been pretty tired, but otherwise symptoms are minimal thus far. I have been going back & forth between no appetite & starving though.. which has been fun. I probably won't have any updates again until after the ultrasound on Tuesday.

Huge Beta

I called the clinic as soon as they opened this morning and was able to get an appt before 10AM thankfully. I was dying to find out what my beta levels were and get our pregnancy confirmed by the doc! I showed up early but thankfully they never make me wait, even if I'm early. They called me right back and took my blood. She said since this was the first test, they would do both hcg (what I keep referring to as the beta) and progesterone. Progesterone is a necessary hormone during pregnancy, esp in the early stages to maintain the pregnancy (thus why I was prescribed prog. suppositories as part of fertility treatment).

So finally Dr Meyer called me back and confirmed that I am indeed pregnant. Yay!! He said my beta was 1100 (my reaction was 'woah, really?!'). That's a pretty high number which I knew from my internet obsessions. Here's a beta chart that you can look at to get a general idea (look at day 16, today is 16 days past ovulation for me). Notice there are two charts, one shows values for single pregnancies (one baby) and the other is for multiple pregnancies (twins or more). As you will see from the chart, 1100 is high even on the multiples chart.

Dr Meyer said that beta is high enough that it may be TWINS!! (as I was just alluding to) but that it's too early to tell. I don't even have to go back for a second beta as expected since it was so high. He said my progesterone looked good (I didn't ask the exact number). So I'll finish up the progesterone I have (just a few more days) but then do not need to refill it. He also confirmed my expectation that I no longer need Avandia or Glucophage (for my PCOS) while pregnant. So other than prenatal vitamins, I am going to be drug-free for the first time in two years! I setup an appt for two weeks from now (9/18) for our first ultrasound where we'll hopefully learn more.

Now off to tell our families...

When are you going to have kids?

Since the day I got married, random people have asked me when I'm going to have kids. I'm sure most of you have experienced that at some point in your marriage (or maybe even as early as your engagement). If so, you'll probably get a kick out of this Newsweek article, Stop setting alarms on my biological clock. And for those of you that are still not ready, maybe your in-laws, nosy neighbor or slightly too enthusiastic 'new mommy' friend may benefit from reading this article! Though I will say there's a fine line between not being ready and waiting too long but each of us has to make that decision for ourselves.

What's in a name?

Amy. Alex. Apple. There are so many names for parents to shuffle through when they are about to have a child.

Last night, at my sorority alumnae dinner club, the conversation turned to babies as it inevitably does for girls our age that are married, engaged and/or pregnant. Neither of my two pregnant sisters that were at dinner have chosen a baby name yet, or even narrowed it down. I couldn't help but think about how we've already 'named' our first born boy and are pretty close on girls names. I don't know if this is normal for those going through infertility.. but last year, when I was obsessing about my infertility and treatments, I had taken to writing down all the possible baby names (including first & middle combinations) that I would possible want to name a child (or twins or triplets... always keeping in mind the possibility of multiples with fertility drugs). My favorites were discussed now & then with my husband, but most were just for my own entertainment and distraction.

As I was driving home from dinner, it struck me as kinda funny that I'd gone through all that months & months ago. Long before either of these two sisters were pregnant. I've barely even thought of it since then, because in my mind it's almost a done deal. I just need to get pregnant and find out if it's a boy or girl. :)