They are in

On Wednesday we went in for the transfer in the morning. My acupuncturist arrived 45 mins before the transfer was scheduled and I did a 30 minute acupuncture treatment. Then we went in and saw the 15 embryos and talked with the embryologist about how they were looking. There was one embryo that was grade A and was starting to compact, one grade AB and a grade B that we put in. The rest were a mix of B's and C's but they were either unevenly grouped cells or fragmentation. The embryologist doesn't think that any will freeze but we should find out for sure tomorrow. So after picking our embryos and taking pictures of them I got ready for the transfer. It went smoothly and besides the nurse trying to get my uterus in focus in-between me laughing. I layed around for the obligatory 20 minutes until I could get up and finally empty my bladder. Having a full bladder is uncomfortable anyways but add on sore ovaries it makes it worse. Then I got to go back and lay down for another 30 minute acupuncture session. I fell asleep during the second session and jolted awake part way thru, I hate when that happens! Anyways, I was on bed-rest for two days and my wonderful friends came and visited so I wasn't bored and brought me mounds of food and treats. Today is day three and I can ease back into daily life and get back to some light exercise later in the week. I feel good, just a little hyper sensitive about every twinge that goes on with my body. Always looking for "signs" that those embryo's are doing something good, eventhough I do know that you can't feel anything. We get to test in 12 days so I am going out of town with my mom for a week and relaxing and eating some good food to take my mind off of the wait.

Pre-term Labor and Other Updates

Early Saturday morning I woke up around 1:45 with intense back pain. I got up and went to the bathroom hoping it was just that. After I went to the bathroom I had a contraction, which isn't abnormal for me since my BH usually happen after I go pee. Unfortunately this contraction was harder than my BH ones and after it passed I had another 5 minutes later. After lying there through another contraction I woke up Mr. BB and told him something was wrong. We placed a call to the midwife on call and headed out the door.

The midwife on call called us back when we were about to get on the highway and suggested drinking water and lying down to see if they stop. Since we were already on our way, Mr. BB stopped and got me more water since I finished up what we had brought. We waited in the gas station parking lot for a few minutes and I was still contracting every 5 minutes. We knew we needed to get to the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital and I was immediately whisked upstairs to L & D and put on the monitors. Sure enough, my contractions were showing up every 4-5 minutes. The doctor on call came in to check my cervix and it was 1/2 centimeter dilated and 50% effaced. I was SO scared I started crying and shaking uncontrollably. This hospital is the sister of the one we are delivering at and does not have a NICU, because of that I needed to be transferred to another hospital. So I got a lovely ambulance ride to the next hospital.

I was admitted immediately and the doctors came in to let me know their plan. We needed to stop my labor so I had to be given a suppository first and then a round of pills every six hours for 2 days. I also had to receive 2 steroid shots in my butt (ouch) 24 hours apart to help mature the baby's lungs incase he/she did come early.

Luckily the drugs slowed and eventually stopped my contractions and Baby BB stayed put. I had to be at the hospital for 36ish hours total for everything. Now I am on bed rest.

I went to my midwife/OB practice and had a Fetal Fibronectin and my cervix was checked again. My cervix was a teeny bit dilated but was hard and not effaced, woo hoo! The fFN came back negative which means that my chances of delivering Baby BB in the next to weeks are very low. The doctor who saw me scheduled me for an ultrasound to measure my cervical length and I had that appointment today.

The place where I get my ultrasounds is really great. The techs always tell me what they are doing/measuring and if it is normal/abnormal. Baby BB looked amazing and is totally chubby! The tech said he/she measured in the 90% for head and weight (this freaked me out my daughter was born 6 lbs 11 oz). Baby was measuring about 3 lbs 6 oz already! My BBF took me to the appointment since I am not supposed to be driving and came in the for scan with me. We both think we may have seen a boy part while the tech was scrolling through...but we will wait to see for sure when Baby BB arrives.

The good news is my cervix is measuring where it should and is closed. The okay news is that my amniotic fluid levels are on the low end of normal. The doctor at the ultrasound place wants to see me for another ultrasound next week to make sure the levels have remained the same and not decreased. I go back next Thursday for another look at my sweet pea and my fluid levels.

I am on bed rest until my doctor/midwife notifies me otherwise. I am going to call again tomorrow to see if they received my ultrasound results and if I can get off bed rest. I hope I can because bed rest sucks, really bad. Obviously if thats what I have to do to keep Baby BB in there longer then I will but oh is it boring!

As for standard updates, I feel crappy lately. I am very sore in the top of my belly and ribs and my back. I feel baby move a lot and he/she has started having hiccoughs that I can feel, so cute! I am not sure how much I weigh or what I am measuring but I'll find out for my 30 week appointment on Tuesday.

My shower is officially less than a month away and I am SO excited.

Here is to hoping Baby BB stays in until at least 36 weeks (my goal from the doctors)!

Best,

ER scheduled

After only 6 days of stimming, my body is ready for the ER. During my two monitoring appointments, I have about 4-5 follicles on either side. Personally, I thought this was a little low and very quick, but as someone in my infertility group told me, I need to trust my doctor, he knows more than me. I guess she is right. I had to take my ovidrel shot last night at 8, which I basically slept through with Mr. Planner bud helping me. I go into the clinic Sunday morning at 7 AM. We are hoping for a three day transfer on Wednesday.

My clinic doesn't believe bed rest is necessary and recommends I be relax the day of transfer. However, I am such a worry wort that I putting myself on modified bed rest for the day of the ET and the day after. If nothing else, it will give me two days off of work and I missing the last class of two different graduate classes.

I will definitely post about my fert report when the information comes in, but now I need to go write a paper that I thought I would have Saturday and Sunday to write.

Embryo's On Board

My mom and I drove all the way to the Dr.'s office all by ourselves!! We were really nervous since this was only the second time to do it and the first without following someone. There is a huge three lane round-a-bout that we have to drive around which in Utah not that difficult in Panama a whole different story. We did it though and got a parking spot near the office and even got there early. We did get a delicious snow cone before heading out so I think the sugar eased the jitters and helped us get there!!



After consulting with Mr. Explorer Bud, my mom, the Dr., God, a few friends, and of course the internet I decided to go with 4 embryo's to implant. It is fun to get dressed into the surgical outfit then get taken to the dark room to view those little embryo's. It is like my own personal science experiment!! The four are all grade one and 8 cell so hopefully at least one of them takes. Then we get to head back to the "Operating Room" to do the Transfer. Of course I just have the little paper gown that opens in the front so pretty much you are spread eagle with the gown wide open. At least I am not embarrassed about my naked self otherwise it would make for a very uncomfortable procedure. I have the Dr., the scientist, my mom and the nurse all getting a good look at those nether regions!! This time I learned that I don't need to drink very much water for my bladder to be full, last time they said to drink 6 to 8 glasses of water so I did and had to let out my bladder several times because I was very uncomfortable! But the procedure itself isn't uncomfortable and is only about 15 minutes long. Then I get to lay on the table and chill out for a while which is nice.

I am supposed to be only sitting or laying on my back, walking no more than a mile per day, no hanging out in the sun, no activities that will make me sweat and don't get stressed. All easily done but it does make the 2WW a really long time since I am not doing much except work and home!

Oh, Bed Rest

Luckily, this isn't me quite yet!

So, update since the last time I was here....

After my appointment monday I got my bloodwork results back right away. Everything checked out except my liver showed some slight abnormalities. Dr said it could be due to taking tylenol for my headaches (which I hadn't had any in about 4 days prior to that bloodwork). He ordered that I get a 12.5mg shot of betamethasone Tuesday and Wednesday. It should help determine whether or not my liver functions were actually abnormal or if due to the tylenol. It also, I learned at the Drs office, is a steroid that will help increase Mister MBs lung growth capacity just incase this turns into something bigger and we go into Pre Term Labor.

So, I got the two shots (whoa did they sting compared to my progesterone shots!) and my blood redrawn today to double check for those elevated levels. Daddy MB wasn't so happy about the steroid, for his own personal reasons he kind of got into an uproar and I know my dad only has my best interests at heart - but I trust my Dr. He's gotten me this far on a pregnancy that we both thought we were going to lose at the beginning.

As far as work/bed rest goes - basically started on Monday when they wrote me out of work. I went in Tuesday for a half day to learn that they couldn't accommodate my half-day schedule that the Dr was requesting and I had to start my maternity leave today. FMLA is 12 weeks, I have 14 weeks to go. At first it was a little stressful but we got it all worked out and Hubby MB and I are confident this is the right thing to do. Even if our entire family is worried sick about our finances (I've got GREAT benefits and get 100% salary for the first 8 weeks and 67% salary for the last 4 weeks), it's clear to me and the doctor this is working.

How, you ask? Well, my BP yesterday was back down to 120/70 - still a tad bit high for me but back to non-dangerous levels. My headaches, dizzy spells, contractions, swelling, and everything else that was creeping up on me last week are nearly gone. And most importantly, that BP is lower. Woot woot!

Stay tuned to what I've been doing since being on modified bed rest (because I'm still allowed those 4 hours a day to do what I want)!

35 Weeks, ANOTHER night in L&D, ANOTHER missed baby shower, and Bedrest

From the title of my post you can tell its been fun huh? So when I was 34 weeks on a Friday I called my doctor because I was having a headache that would.not.go.away. It hurt so very very bad. I tried everything. I decided to take my BP since its been going up and low and behold it was up there in the 140s. I decided then to call my doctor normally when resting it never got up that high. The on call doctor asked me to try to get rid of it with caffeine and Tylenol and if it didn't go away go into the hospital. Don't worry he said, you won't stay over night. YEAH RIGHT.

We got in and my BP was in the upper 150s. I blamed nerves. Once I rested and the nurse went out it went down dramatically. They had be start the 24 hour urine collection and did some blood work. I thought I would be discharged and go home. Not the case. The nurse said they wanted to hold me over night and watch me for 24 hours. That meant I would miss my baby shower.. AGAIN. WTF I wanted to cry but I knew there was no use. By now it was just hilarious. Apparently my daughter is shy and hates attention on her.

I called all my friends and the girls hosting the shower to let them know of the news and like great friends they are they were all understanding and considerate. We decided to have people come up to the hospital and eat cake.. YUM!

Overall it was a WONDERFUL shower. I have some wonderful friends who were very considerate and generous. I got released after the shower and told to follow up with my doctor on Monday and continue with the 24 hour urine collection. Oh and bed rest for the weekend.

I checked up with my doctor and my BP is slowly rising and looks like I'm developing Pre-Eclampsia. I know I'm super close to being full term so I'm trying not to worry about this at all but I did have to stop working and got put on bed rest.

While bedrest sounds wonderful for the first hour it sucks. Let me tell you. I know what I am doing is for the best but the nesting urge is ridiculous and I want to do so much but can't do anything. I can go from bed, couch, bathroom, back to bed, couch. I have one day a week I can go to dinner with Mr. OB or to a movie but he has to drop me off as close as possible to the entrance and limit my walking.

It looks like my BP is doing okay while I'm resting but if I get up and do anything it goes up to the 140s/80s. My doctor is hopeful I can make it to 37 weeks (FULL TERM!!!) and we can induce. We were planning on inducing anyways because little Pepper (or shall I say BIG) is measuring 3 weeks ahead.

So right now I'm just laying here and playing on the internet. In the past week I have watched so much TV and I feel like a bum. I'm not going to lie I'm envious of those women who can still do things at 35 weeks. I hate that I'm stuck here but I know its for the best for ME and PEPPER. And I also know in a couple of weeks I'm going to be WISHING I could lay on the bed and have nothing to do.

I could use many prayers right now that my BP stays low and that Ms. Pepper stays in me until I'm at least 37 weeks. I'm so close I can taste it!

And here is a 34 week photo of my belly. It sucks because now I don't really get dressed now but I told Mr. OB I promise to keep up with the photos. This was a photo I took of the dress I was GOING to wear to my shower. Boo! Instead I wore an awesome nursing nightgown.

24w & 26w Update

Well, I've been laying low - Dr's orders! But here are a few updates on us....

At my 24 week appointment two weeks ago, we got a scare with my Blood Pressure - 130/100 (yikes!). I laid down in the office for 15 minutes and it went down to 120/70 but that was still somewhat high for me and my OB mentioned my BP is rising slowly. My uterus was measuring a week ahead, I was up 1lb since my last apt (at 20w), and now I've got to watch out for continuous headaches, vision problems, swelling (which, had already happened), and more. I was ordered to lay on my left side for two hours a day - which did not include overnight sleep - when would I find the time to do this working full time and remodeling our kitchen?!

Somewhere during week 25 my blood pressure spiked to 152/84 after a day's work and a huge amount of swelling. I called the On-Call dr and he said not to worry unless it got over 160 for the top number.

I had my follow up appointment today, checked BP, did my GTT (glucose test), and had an ultrasound. In two week's I've gained 5lbs - which seemed a bit high to me but the NP said it wasn't abnormal - and some of it might be water retention related to my high BP. My blood pressure first thing was 142/80, so again it's increasing. I told her about all of my non-stop headaches, my dizzy spells, troubles breathing (this wasn't totally abnormal she said, I'm losing room in there!), and my all-day Braxton Hicks contractions that turned into 3-4 real contractions. We discussed at minimum a modified bed rest schedule with work. I am no longer to work a full 9-hour day - if I can work it out with HR, I'll be on a 4-hour/day schedule.

They took my blood to check for Pre-Eclampsia (my urine samples are coming back clear) and if the results are abnormal, then I am to start bed rest fully right away. I sort of knew it was going to go in this direction after my 24week appointment and my continually rising BP. I notice a huge difference in my symptoms and the way my body reacts in days that I work and days that I'm at home resting. (I work on my feet as a makeup artist and am also the Assistant Manager in our store).

Time for some good news! Little MB is measuring in the 55th percentile, so he's right on track and average. He's weighing in at about 2lb 3oz and I even caught him smiling on the ultrasound! AND! He's totally got my nose! I did find out that he's now transverse - his head and feet are under my left rib while his booty is under my right rib. He's totally cramped in there and it's only going to get worse!

I can't wait to meet him - preferably not for another 14 weeks, but I am very excited! Hopefully whether or not my blood work comes back abnormal - the modified or full bed rest will keep me healthy enough so he can bake fully and wait to make his appearance until November!

How About a Fertilization/Transfer All-In-One?

I realize I never blogged about an egg retrieval. There's a reason for it. They hurt like a motherless goat, and i'm really not myself for a few days after. Maybe one day I will... but typically by the time I feel like getting back online after an egg retrieval, i have more news to share...

Enter the fertilization (fert) report.

Or actually this time... don't.

The only phone call I got this time was that fertilization had occurred. I didn't get any details, despite numerous requests. I was really upset. I cried a lot. I pictured a lot of worst case scenarios. But then I thought about last time... when Dr Z called us himself to tell us about the abysmality of our fert report.

But, I guessed that hearing from Nurse F and not Dr Z had to be a good sign. Even though I REALLY wanted to know. I mean, this time we had 13 (!!!!!) eggs. As an example, last time we had 6 shitty eggs. Only 5 were mature and only 3 fertilized. We took those 3 (which turned into less than sub par embryos) to transfer- and we all know what happened next.

But 13.... i could picture it in my head. 10 were going to be mature. 8 were going to fertilize and we might actually get embryos to freeze!!!

I had to wait until my transfer to find out for sure.

And, I was wrong.

And once I found out i was wrong, i realized I would have been upset not knowing those three days, anyway.

Of 13 eggs, only 7 were mature and of those 7 only 4 fertilized. we lost one of those on day 2.

So, 3 embryos. Again.

But the news this time is not as abysmal. This time we have GOOD embryos. REALLY good.

Quick review of Dr Z's grading system; goes on a scale of 1-5 (1 being the best and "no one gets a 1") and at this stage, you want 8 cells in each embryo.

Also a refresher, for comparison, of embryos from IVF #1:

• 6 cell grade 3
• 6 cell grade 4
• 5 cell grade 4

At the transfer, Dr Z sits us down and tells about our embryos. What we find out is, in his lab, what we have is just about as good as it gets for a 3 day transfer.

He tells us about our first 2 embryos first.

photo credit

We have an 8 cell grade 2 (pictured right) and a compacted 8 cell grade 2 (pictured left). Compacted means the embryo is heading for blast, which means our embryo is at LEAST 1/2 -1 day ahead in growth! The other news from Dr Z is like he told us last time: grades 1, 2 and 3 all have the same rate of implantation.

Then he tells us about embryo #3.... it is also 8 cell (holy crap!) but a grade 4, so just lots of fragmentation. He left it up to us to decide what to do with it, but we deferred to his judgment, and transferred it also. I couldn't see disposing of an embryo that was better than anything we transferred last time. Besides, he said with my diagnosis and the failed last cycle, he thinks we can definitely justify transferring 3.

So, 3 embryos transferred. 2 pretty much perfect (pictured) and the one slightly less than perfect (not pictured, b/c it was a last minute decision).

Thanks for all of your well wishes. Please keep them coming.

photo credit

Please be snuggling in for the next 9 months, babies...

Back to bedrest. Welcome to the 2ww.