Some updates, but mostly brazen shilling for votes

Hi ladies! There will be an update momentarily, but first..

If you have any spare time, would you please visit the MLB Honorary Bat Girl contest and cast a few votes for my dear friend Tasha?! In the spirit of breast cancer awareness, this is a contest to pick one person touched by cancer for each Major League Baseball team. Tasha is an actual breast cancer survivor, a triathlete, a self-made businesswoman, blogger extraordinaire, and godmother to Waffle Girl. Repeat voting is highly encouraged! (You can vote 24 times, then re-start your browser and do it again.. and again.) Anyone on bedrest looking for something constructive to do?! Voting stops at noon Eastern Time on Tuesday April 13th and my friend goes by the handle "Tasha-H".

Click here to help a sister out!

In other news..

We got the results for 1st trimester screening last week and they are good! Down's risk is 1-in-900 and the others are like 1-in-2000 or something. Suffice it to say, there will be no CVS. I'm now counting the weeks until our 2nd trimester ultrasound and the big reveal of fetal genitalia! Hee hee. I'm feeling really good these days (13 weeks PG) - less fatigue and the nausea is almost gone. Yay!

The garden is really coming along. Our cherry tree and tulips are starting to bloom, so perhaps I'll put up some photos later this week. Gotta go fertilize the shrubs. Toodles!

my six month plan

If everything goes as it should, we will have Baby #2 in about 6 months. So what is my vision for the next 26-odd weeks, other than gestating a perfect sibling for Waffle Girl? Well, I have a little confession to make..

I'm actually a part-time PhD student.. (Gasp!).. in addition to my many important responsibilities as a fancy government scientist lady. Before you get too impressed, just be aware that I've been able to pursue my degree during work hours. The subject matter is directly related to my job and my dissertation research is actually written into my list of duties. I've been working at it off-and-on since 2003: done with coursework, done with preliminary exams, done with ~75% of my research. So I just need to hunker down and finish it, which could certainly be accomplished in the next few months, before there is a new baby in the mix.

And I'd be a total dope if I didn't put in the effort to finally finish my degree, right? Someday I would have to tell my kids, "Yeah, I could have gotten a PhD, I was almost done, but I got pregnant again and just figured I'd blow it off." Oh, they'd be so embarrassed. I can feel the 12-week old fetus inside of me right now, glaring at me, "Don't be a putz, Mama!"

Last week I had a meeting with my dissertation committee and I let them know of my impending biological deadline. They would have figured it out eventually, but I told them now so they know that I'm really serious about finishing. And so I know that I'm really serious about it.

So what am I doing, writing in my dopey blog instead of working on my dissertation? Ya, good question. Well, I still need my cyber-networking to help deal with infertile lady issues. And I still plan to do the other things that I need to keep me sane and happy - working in the garden (while Waffle Girl keeps busy in the sand box), going to the gym (once in a while), reading, watching some junk on TV while I let my brain rest.

In baby news: we went in last week for combined 1st trimester screening. The NT scan looked great and the baby has a visible nasal bone, but we're still waiting for the u/s results to be combined with blood markers. More on this in a few days, I guess.

The weather has been great, so I squeezed in some gardening over the past week. I cut down all my perennials and am on the lookout for fresh growth - so exciting! There are no confirmed winter casualties. However I am concerned about the two clematis vines that have not sprouted yet. Please keep them in your thoughts.

everything is still awesome here

As previously noted, the idea of a pregnancy blog doesn't really thrill me. But I just couldn't stay away! I'm still reading and commenting on my infertile lady friends' blogs and it seems a little jerky not to offer something in return.

So here's the pregnancy update: I went to see Dr. Snaggletooth last week (@10 wks) for a final u/s and, thankfully, my official graduation to an OB. I was very nervous to go alone, but poor Mr. Foxy was held up at the dentist's office. He was getting a root canal while the ultrasound techie and I were going "oooh! ahh!" over the embryo's little arms and legs. My poor honey.

This week I got to meet my new OB - let's call him Dr. Single-Thin-and-Neat, or Dr.STN. My friend Tasha saw his handsome photo on the hospital website and asked whether I could set her up. Well Tasha, as you might gather from my description, I don't believe he is playing for our team - not that there's anything wrong with that! I even asked whether he was married and he mentioned a non-gender-specific person that he's been with for 6 years. So.. moving on..

Dr. STN is very nice and agreeable - he was suitably impressed with our IVF efforts and the story of Waffle Girl's treacherous gestational experience, what with the dangerous placenta/cord situation and the necessary c-section at 37 weeks. He asked whether I was interested in trying a VBAC delivery (vaginal birth after c-section) and was totally cool when I said "No way!". There was also a quick ultrasound involved, so I got to see Lil' Scrappy with perfect 11 week measurements. *sigh*

I'm going back next week for the 1st trimester screening. Then we'll have 3 weeks without a doctor's appointment. Hmm.. so what will I blog about once the medical stuff cools down? Maybe I'll thrill my bloggy friends with tales of spring gardening.. or the adventures of a sexy government scientist lady. Who knows!?

P.S. the pink flower pictured above is a dictamnus (gas plant) that I grew from seed. The highlight of last year's garden was this 4-year old plant blooming for the first time. Yes, we infertile ladies are a patient lot.

look out, i'm quoting tolstoy today

Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
- Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina, Chapter 1, first line

Does the same apply to pregnancies? High-risk pregnancies (as unhappy families) can have all kinds of drama and complications - it's the stuff of soap operas. Trust me, I've been there. I had a complete placenta previa with Waffle Girl. Not only did the previa *not* resolve, but there was bleeding, weeks of bedrest, and then an early c-section finally revealed a dangerous velamentous insertion. If you don't know these medical terms, consider yourself lucky and don't bother Goog.ling - it could give you nightmares.

But how interesting is a run-of-the-mill healthy pregnancy? Sure, it's a wonderful, joyous thing - one that many of us dream about and work toward for years and years. But is it really blog-worthy? Do you get on-line every few days and say, "Yep, everything is still awesome here!"?

Well, I'm nearing the point where I'll have to make a decision about this. We had our second ultrasound today at 8 weeks and, yep, everything is still awesome here! The measurements were spot-on (16mm) and heartbeat was great (166 bpm). Dr. Snaggletooth wants to see our lil' Mutt one last time in 2 weeks, then we'll be done with him, maybe forever. Oh, this boring-ness is sooo delightful!

ultra-cool ultrasound

So we had our first post-FET ultrasound yesterday. I would have posted a quick synopsis last night, but the annoying Mr. Foxy was hogging the laptop, looking up tiles and whatnot for his big bathroom rehab project. This is what IF husbands do while IF wives are busy blogging, posting on support boards, and getting opinions from Dr. Goog.le.

Our exam was one day short of 6 weeks, so we expected to see a fetal pole and (maybe or maybe not) a heartbeat. I was relieved and surprised to see that, even though the embryo was a mere 2 mm long, the technician was able to point out to us a faint little heart flicker. The whole thing was too tiny to zero in and actually measure the heart-rate, but the techie was upbeat and went so far as to label "BABY" on the u/s printout. Our ill-fated pregnancy in October never got beyond the "SAC" label. Ugh.

Dr. Snaggletooth wants us to come back in 2 weeks for another u/s. I expected him to have us back in one week, so I guess 2 weeks is a sign that he's pretty confident in Lil' Scrappy's growing potential. He said that if things look good at 8 weeks then he can comfortably pass us on to a regular OB. All-in-all this is very encouraging. I'm not yet 100% convinced that this is for real, but I definitely feel more "pregnant" than "in limbo".

I took the opportunity to inquire about our other frosties and to mildly critique my clinic's freezing protocols. (You may recall that our highest quality AA and AB blasts were frozen in pairs and the lower-grade BB that we transferred was the only one frozen as a single.) The doctor confirmed that our 4 remaining blasts are frozen in pairs and so there's no easy way to do a single transfer again in the future. If Lil' Scrappy doesn't pull through, or if we want another child in the future, we'll have to thaw 2 embryos and either transfer both or do one and discard the other. (It's not really advisable to freeze-thaw embies repeatedly.) I refrained from complaining about the single BB we received (instead of the AA or AB), because *knock wood* this one is going great guns so far.

Dr. Snaggletooth didn't really have a good explanation except that 2 embies is their standard procedure, most patients transfer 2-3, I'm really a "special case", yadda yadda. I didn't lay it on too thick, but I did suggest that they should get their freezing protocols more in line with the trend toward doing more single transfers. (It was their idea, not mine, but I've read up on it since and think it's a very good thing.) I may be a special case for my age group, but I know they have much younger patients with great embies who are increasingly inclined to do single transfers.

In the next few days, our embie should grow from the size of a sesame seed to a lentil bean. Then it goes through a progression of ever-larger beans, followed by a sequence of increasingly large fruit. I really hope we get to do the whole gastronomical sequence.. fingers crossed.

the other 2 week wait

I'm pleased to report that our scrappy little embryo is kicking ass and taking names. The HCG level today (beta#2 @18 dpo) was 1296. Hmm.. it's kindof hard to read that number.. I should use a comma, right? Yep, let's call it 1,296.
The nurse told me to come in for a 3rd beta on Wednesday morning, but I might wait until Thursday in order to avoid driving in a blizzard. Yes, I'm confident enough to delay the next blood test by one day.

What am I NOT so confident about? The first ultrasound on Tuesday 2/16. This is where everything started going to hell during our last cycle in October. I'm trying not to worry too much, though, because our betas are great and so far everything looks like the '07 cycle that gave us Waffle Girl. So I'm in that other 2 week wait. The two weeks between a first positive pee-on-a-stick and possible ultrasound confirmation that we have a viable embryo.

Luckily Mr. Foxy was good for a laugh today. I texted him from work with results of the blood test and next steps. He responded with a single word: Titties! Thank goodness noone heard me laugh, because there's no way I was going to explain THAT one. *swoon*

i've been holding out on you

Yes, I've been doing home pregnancy tests every day this week. Monday was 6 days past a 5-day transfer, which means 11 days past ovulation, or 11dpo as we say in the business. (Never mind the 4 months frozen in a nitrogen tank.. that's just a little embryo nap.)

Well, my dears, between 11dpo to 14dpo we went from a very faint pink line to a line that basically matches up with the control line. (see photo, for posterity, below). I only bought 4 pee sticks, so there was nothing left to pee on this morning - the day of our official blood test @15dpo. I woke up well before the alarm clock and killed a little time on the computer before heading out early. Mr. Foxy called out from bed "Good luck to us!" I was in the phlebotomists' chair 15 minutes before my actual appointment.

I picked up coffee and donuts on the way home. As I walk in, Mr. Foxy asks, "So how did it go? What was the result?" Silly man. I said, "Is this the first time we've done this? You know they won't call until later in the day!" I had showed him the pee sticks all week, so he was obviously a little keyed up. For extra hilarity, he asks me about 30 minutes later, "Did they call yet?!"


** many hours pass **

I finally called at 3:00 and got the good word. We have a big-time BFP: 384! There's no questioning THAT number. I'm super-relieved and DH is pretty giddy, too. I'm trying not to think ahead too much, but it will be a few weeks before we hopefully get some confirmation and then maybe slide into a comfort zone. For now.. *sigh*.. happiness.