Dr Appointment Updates
Gosh, where do I start? Since we did IVF/FET for this pregnancy, I had a freaking bajillion appointments, so instead of writing them all down, I'm going to try to simply sum up the more important ones.
March 28th, 2008 - Egg Retrieval. 15 eggs were retrieved, 9 were mature. All 9 eggs were fertilized using ICSI. They were all immediately frozen due to lining that sucked and transfer was cancelled. I named them The Mod Squad.
May 1st, 2008 - I am in the midst of a FET cycle and my lining isn't cooperating. Doc wants to cancel transfer again and try for a new cycle. I told them NO and that I needed to complete a cycle because I think my lining is as goos as it gets. I told the RE to thaw out my embryos and to move forward.
May 3rd, 2008 - The embryos were taken out of the freezer. Out of 9 embryos, 7 survived the thaw, which is fantastic. Now we wait another few days for them to grow.
May 5th, 2008 - Embryo Transfer day. I came in for my 3 day transfer and sat with the RE to talk about the embryos. I had the following:
1 - 8 cell Grade A
1 - 7 cell Grade A
1 - 6 cell Grade B
1 - 5 cell Grade B
2 - Grade C
1 - Grade D
The Grade C/Ds aren't advanced enough for transfer or to refreeze. My RE wants me to transfer all 4. I wanted to transfer 2 at the most. But the RE said "no way" and said to at least do the first 3 due to my age/lining/etc, but he's really rather put in the 4th one rather than just throw it away. He said it was too far behind to freeze again and it probably won't make it, but he'd rather let my body decide it's fate instead of him. I told Tom to make the decision because I was now in "mother mode" and wanted all 4 because I felt protective over them. He agreed. All 4 it was. We got a photo of the four and I named them "The Fab Four". John, Paul, George and Ringo were tranferred.
May 16th, 2008 (4w0d) - I had been receiving negatives up until test day when I got a weird "pregnant" test. It was too late and I simply was shocked. I went into beta and the draw was done. Later in the day, the result was only 15. VERY low. The nurse told me to be cautious in what to expect.
May 19th, 2008 (4w3d) - Beta #2 was 43. It doubled in the right amount of time, but very low still.
May 23nd, 2008 (5w0d) - Beta #3 was 213. They called me in for ultrasound to see what was going on. They couldn't find anything and told me this pregnancy was most likely ectopic and to watch for signs.
May 27th, 2008 (5w4d) - Beta #4 was 1,073! They called me at 10am and had me come immediately in for another ultrasound. They found a sac, but only yolk sac in it. I'm still left unsure about the entire thing. Things are just so late.
June 6th, 2008 (7w0d) - Ultrasound appointment. This was the biggie - will there be a heartbeat? Holy crap. Sure enough, there it was, beating at 120bpm. Today is the first day I could actually say I was pregnant with a viable pregnancy.
June 11th, 2008 (7w5d) - First OB appointment. Dr got called out on a delivery, saw NP. Had another u/s and saw the baby which now looks like a gummy bear. Histories taken and got lab work for all my lovely testing (HIV, STDs, etc). Due to me being AMA (advanced maternal age) I have an appointment with Maternal Fetal Medicine in my 12th week for genetic testing and extra ultrasounds. Weight: 156.6 fully clothed and in the afternoon, but still - pretty heavy for me. A full 11.6 lbs heavier than where I normally am. Crap. Stupid fertility treatments has made me fat. No worries. I'll be skinny again as soon as I have this baby.
June 13th, 2008 (8w) - My ~last~ RE appointment. Took another peek at the baby and saw the gummy bear again. This time, the HR was 169bpm, so I think I'm having another girl.
July 8th, 2008 (11w4d) - Dr got called out on a delivery again, so I saw the NP. No problem, as the early appointments are boring. Listened to HB on doppler. It was 150-160. Weight: 157.6. 4 week gain: 1 lb. Total Gain: 1 lb.
July 15th, 2008 (12w4d) - Maternal Fetal Medicine appointment. We got to see the baby again, but this time, it looked like a baby instead of a gummy bear. What growth happened in just a week. Arms and legs now. Nuchal Fold measured in at 1.6, which is perfectly normal. We opted for the triple screen.
July 18th, 2008 (13w0d) - Blood results called in. My levels were not what we expected. PAPP-A was .57 MoM (Multiples of Median. Which means "average" is 1) and Free B-hCG was 2.07 MoM. This puts me at a 1 in 56 chance of the baby having Down Syndrome. Jeez, another scare with another baby! The chance of trisomy 18 was 1 in 8100. We are opting for CVS so we know what we are dealing with. We really shouldn't be gonig past 13w, but since I implanted late, baby is a few days "behind" so the Doc approved it.
July 22, 2008 (13w4d) - CVS performed. Quite easy and painless. Although did have some spotting/cramping in week to follow. Also, it was found I have a Velamentous Cord Insertion (VCI) but it's not the scary type called vasa previa. The thing we will be worried about is restricted fetal growth in 3rd trimester that happens 5% of the time for people with this problem. They'll start growth scans at 28weeks. Also, at time of delivery, bleeding when placenta is being delivered is a risk. But that's to me, not baby.
July 24, 2008 (13w6d) - CVS results returned. All is well genetically. Whew!! Also, we found out the baby is a BOY!!!! We are thrilled.
August 5, 2008 (15w4d) - 3rd OB appointment. Again, saw the NP, as my Dr got called out on an ER surgery! Sheesh! But all was well. BP was normal (118/78), and fundus was 15cm which is right on at measuring 15 weeks. Listened to HB on doppler and it was the same, in the 150s. Weight: 158.4. 4 week gain: .8 lb. Total gain: 1.8 lbs.
August 25, 2008 (18w3d) - "Big" u/s appointment at Maternal Fetal Medicine. It was a very long appointment, but everything was right on target. He was showing consistent growth in the 50%tile and all his parts were there.
September 3, 2008 (19w5d) - 4th OB appointment. First time actually seeing Dr Tubbs! BP was normal and fundus was 21mm. Baby's hb was still in 150s. Talked about the cord issue and Dr T really calmed my fears due to the rarity of complications with the baby, but still, we scheduled a growth scan in 4 weeks and weekly BPPs (bio physical profiles) which will monitor the baby's heartrate for at least 30 mins to make sure he's not compressing his cord. Weight: 159.2 4 week gain: .8 lb. Total gain: 2.6 lbs.
October 2, 2008 (23w6d) - 5th OB appointment / Growth Scan / BPP#1. I got the ultrasound first and boy oh boy, was little man going to town in there! Everytime she put the trandsducer on my belly, he would kick it off. So she put it on the other side and he turned around to kick it! So funny. He did well on his NST, getting a 9/10 due to not doing his practice breathing yet. Everything else is great. BPP was funny too since he kept kicking the paddle that was taking in the heartrate. But after 20 minutes, they took me off saying baby is doing well. The appointment itself was quick. BP normal. Fundus 24cm. Weight: 160. 4 week gain: .8 lbs (seriously, what's with the .8 each month??) Total gain: 3.4 lbs.
October 8, 2008 (24w5d) - BPP #2. (u/s #11 !!) - The heart beat monitor went well, no issues. Heart rate stayed in the high 150s. The NST also went well, Karl got 10 out of 10 points this time since he has started his practice breathing! Yay!
October 15, 2008 (25w5d) - BPP #3. (u/s #12) - Good score, 10/10. He's still head down and weighing in at 2lbs, 10 ozs (I think) but definitely in the 40th percentile.
October 22, 2008 (26w5d) - BPP #4. (u/s #13) - Good score, 10/10. He's still head down.
October 29, 2008 (27w5d) - BPP #5. (u/s #14) - Good score, 10/10. He is now BREECH.
October 31, 2008 (28w) - OB appt #6. Normal boring appointment. Got yelled at for not doing my gestational diabetes test, will do next week. BP normal. Fundus 25cm, which is a slowdown. Weight: 163.2. 4 week gain: 3.2 lbs Total gain: 6.6 lbs.
November 5, 2008 (28w5d) - BPP #6. (u/s #15) - Good score, 10/10. He is now diagnonal, heading in right direction.
November 12, 2008 (29w5d) - BPP #7, including growth scan. (u/s #16) - Good score, 10/10. He is now head down! Good boy! Now weighing it at 3lbs, 3ozs, which is 34th percentile.
November 14, 2008 (30w) - OB appt #7. Normal boring appointment. Passed my Gestational Diabetes test. Talked about baby losing growth percentage points. Still in normal range now, but if he gets under 20%, that's when we start to worry. BP on low side, but okay (100/70). Fundus 27cm, stil behind, but growing. Weight: 169. 4 week gain: 5.8 lbs. Total gain: 12.4 lbs.
November 19, 2008 (30w5d) - BPP #8. (u/s #17) - Good score, 10/10. He is no longer head down, but totally transverse. His head is over my left hip. His spine runs along bottom of belly. His butt is over my right hip, knees curled in middle of belly and feet up at the top, under my breastbone. This is very uncomfortable. My fluid level is staying steady at around 15-16.
(future appoinment) - November 26, 2008 (31w5d) - BPP #9. (u/s #18) - Another perfect score, 10/10. He is in yet another new position, this time a cross between breech and transverse. His head is taking up the upper left side of my belly, spine curled along top and side of belly, butt in lower right side, just below my hip. His legs are curled up, but his feet are positioned to kick me straight in the bladder and cervix. The kicks are quite painful right now and it makes me immediately have to pee, yet I also want to cry out in pain. The pressure to my cervix is intense. Fluid level was lower, around 14.8 or so. Tech said this was still okay.
(future appoinment) - December 1, 2008 (32w3d) - OB appt #8. Normal appointment. B/P good. Fundus 28cms, but when baby moves headdown, it'll be bigger. Weight: 172. 2 week gain: 3 lbs. Total gain: 15.4 lbs.
(future appoinment) - December 3, 2008 (32w5d) - BPP #10. (u/s #19). Karl only pulled an 8/10 points! He just would not practice breathe for us. But he was very very very active, so tech said she wasn't even going to wait for the breathing because he was obviously very healthy. He was so active in fact, that we saw him totally turn around on the ultrasound. It was crazy! We were watching is abdomen, waiting to see the breathing, when the u/s went out of focus and I felt all kinds of squirming. When he stopped moving, instead of his abdomen, we were looking at his spine! He turned all the way over, trying to get comfie. He must of not liked his new position, because he did it again! So crazy to see and feel at the same time. His BPP portion went quickly, getting his 2 increased HB rhythms in the first 2 minutes. I have to stay on for a full 20 minutes, but at least this time we didn't have to poke him to stay awake.
(future appoinment) - December 10, 2008 (33w5d) - BPP #11 including growth scan. (u/s #20).
(future appoinment) - December 16, 2008 (34w4d) - OB appt #9.