FIRST BLOOD DRAW RESULTS

Well friends we are officially moving in the right direction! I had my 1st blood draw today to check my HCG level (what tells your if you are pregnant) and I am officially pregnant! Time to breathe a sigh of relief. :) I think I'll only breathe a half sigh though LOL because what really matters is the 2nd blood draw to make sure your numbers are doubling every 48-72 hours. They would love doubling at 48 hours but if it is little low it isn't that big of a concern. My HCG level was 217 which is good. I was hoping for anything over 100 so I was pleasantly surprised with that number. Also this crazy lady right here asked them to check my progesterone again just to make sure I was still producing plenty on my own and the sweet nurse obliged. The nurse who called me later said it was over 60 which was the highest she has seen in years so that is awesome! That means my body is producing its own progesterone, bc the vaginal crinone doesn't show up in blood tests. God bless this natural cycle. So things are looking good. Here is how the past 10 days went down.

So last post I told you about the weekend of my transfer and just laying low and hanging with Dave on Sunday. So the first few days weren't too bad mentally, bc obviously it is way to early to even think about it so I didn't too much. I had more than usual cramping and most of it was on my right side. I thought about the possibility of an ectopic bc it was so far to the right, but then I remembered with Delainey I had the exact same thing and they called it a corpus luteum cyst. Basically just a little cyst where the egg is released which is good bc it is what provides all the progesterone. So I am sticking with it being a cyst and not an ectopic pregnancy for now! I also was very careful about not drinking or eating anything cold, I kept socks on most of the time to keep my feet warm, relaxed and laid around a lot, no lifting of heavy things (ie: Blakely haha), and I also did my pomegranate juice the day before the transfer and the day of. I did acupuncture also the day before the transfer, right after the transfer, and the Wednesday after too. Who knows what of all that helped to make this embryo stick but it worked so lets just rejoice in that!

So on Wednesday I took a pregnancy test, knowing it 100% would not show up pregnant this soon. I did it though because I wanted to make sure the trigger shot I took the Monday before my transfer was out of my system. It is the HCG hormone so it could give you false positives. It had a very very faint line which was good. That meant it was almost out of my system. That way when I took a pregnancy test over the weekend if it was darker, that meant I was actually pregnant.

The cramping continued, I worried it was more like period cramping coming on, but the one thing that was different was my face, chest, and back started breaking out horribly. Almost like a dry rosacea with bumps in it. I had this with Delainey as well so as much as I don't like looking like this, I was excited to see the change! Something was happening. So finally Sunday morning I decided to wake early and take a pregnancy test! It said yes and it just so happened to be Dave's birthday so it was a great present for us!

I took one again yesterday just to make sure things weren't changing and then waited just for the blood test today. Blakely and I swung by on our way to the beach, gave blood and on our way we went. The nurse called at 2 on the dot which I thoroughly appreciate so they don't make you wait all day long to hear. Also my boobs have started to get sore so thats another hopeful sign! :)

So that is where we stand. I am cautiously optimistic! Praying all continues to go well and we have a baby the first week of January. Thank you for all your prayers and please keep them coming as the first trimester is a rocky road for me! I will be back to let you all know how the 2nd blood draw goes! XOXO