2nd Beta Results are in:

I went from 104 on Monday to 286 today!!!! I'll have a third beta, but not for another week. It's gonna be a long seven days! ;)

*Please no comments on Facebook as we have only told a select few of our family members. Thank-You!

What you've been waiting for......

The nurse said, “Hi, how are you?” I replied with, “I’m good! Well, I think I’m good, How am I?!?! I could hear her smiling as she said the words I’d been waiting to hear for eight long years, “You are really good! Congratulations Jennifer, you’re pregnant!” I LOST it! I cried, I laughed and told her that she made my world!!! I was so relieved and shocked even though I sorta felt like I was even before I tested Sunday night. I asked what my beta numbers were. And she said, “For your first beta they are great! Your number is 104!!!!!! She was so happy for us and congratulated me again as I thanked her profusely!! She than told me to come back in Wednesday 9/28for my repeat beta. Lots of prayers needed and please keep your fingers crossed for numbers doubling!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I’m Pregnant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dr K called me that evening to personally congratulate us himself!!! Have I mentioned how much I love my RE?!?! He told me how happy he was for me, and to give his best to J!! Then he went over the next few weeks of appointments, including, my 2nd beta scheduled for 9/28{Today!!}!!! So as you are reading this, I’m getting my blood drawn and praying to God my numbers are sky-rocketing. ....Will let you know as soon as I get the results back! Please keep your fingers crossed for us!! ;)

just a couple more posts....

Our beta appt was set for Monday morning, but on Sunday night J asks again if I’d test. So I did. Well not right away, I had just pee’d so I amazingly didn’t need to at the moment! I drank a full glass of water and waited. I didn’t want to go in there and have a small trickle when I was trying to test. When it was time to go to the rr again, I POAS. I would not allow myself to see the result window. I laid it on the bathroom floor and went and sat on my bed and waited 3-4 mins. Before I even picked up the test I saw one line and thought, “AWE SUCK!!!!!” My eyes had been bothering me a lot(I had already taken my contacts out earlier in the day), I’m convinced I’m allergic to these new contacts. They were itching like crazy so I started rubbing my eyes like crazy! It was almost midnight I think, and I was super sleepy! When I got done rubbing my eyes I looked again annnnndddddd there were two lines!!!! The positive line was just lighter than the control line so I didn’t even notice it at first. I went sprinting into the living room to tell hubs!!! He kept saying, “Let’s wait till the tomorrow and it’s confirmed.” And was not nearly as excited as I was, nor what I thought he would be. I mean it was HIS idea for me to POAS?!?! I was crying and couldn’t stop smiling and wouldn’t leave him alone until I guess it finally set in with him and he hugged me and said congratulations!!
Of course, I hardly slept at all that night! I felt like a kid trying to go to sleep so I could wake up for Christmas morning!!! I also was extremely nervous waiting for my beta appt the next day. We didn’t want to be too ecstatic until we knew for sure what the blood results showed. Because you know how those HPT’s can play tricks on your heart and mind!

The 2WW is finally over with and I am headed to my beta appt……should have the results this afternoon! I am beyond excited!!!!! ......Mimi took me back to draw my blood and she was quick and painless. I was there all of maybe eight minutes and she said they would call around 4:30 or so. I went to the bank and then I went to Wal-M.art because I was out of HPT’s and needed to buy more. Plus, I had a $2 off coupon and couldn’t let it go to waste. I also couldn’t wait for the beta results and had to pee again like a race horse so I went from the cashier straight to the bathroom and POAS right there in a bathroom stall at Wal-M.art!!!! ;) I placed the test back in the pkg. sleeve and laid it flat in the bottom of my purse. Washed my hands and walked to the truck. Figured it had been about three mins and looked at my result. ……..It was a BFP again! I was extremely happy!! I called J and told him and he seemed happy but still not letting himself get overly excited. ….I had to meet SIL in ten mins for a lunch date that we planned a few weeks ago. So I hid all my evidence, since I was picking her up and headed to her work. It was so so hard not blurting it out, but I did good. ...We wanted to wait till it was official before we told anyone. Well, when I got home J was about to leave for work and he asked, “why we couldn’t just tell our parents and siblings then?” I told him we should probably wait until it’s 150% confirmed. He didn’t want to wait and convinced me that it would be ok to send them all a photo text of the +hpt. We knew we wanted to tell our mothers first and we both wanted to be together when we shared our news, so he came up with the whole photo text plan himself and that’s what we did!! At about 1:45 yesterday 9/26 we sent a text{in unison} from his phone to his mom and siblings and from my phone to my mom and siblings.
Of course we had texts and calls coming in so much we couldn’t keep up with them all!! We asked that they not tell anyone, but their spouses and absolutely, positively NO posting on Faceb.ook!! So that goes for you too! ;) I know that I know you ladies wouldn’t post anything on there, but I just have to say it for my own sanity! =/ Hubs’ left for work and I tried to stay calm and not watch the clock. I watched tv, played on my phone, tried to take a nap, but was far too anxious for that. SIL{one I had had lunch with} called and I was talking to her when all of a sudden my RE’s office was calling, a little early too! {It wasn’t even 4pm yet}. So I told her I would call her back and answered the call that would make or break me!

4 posts in one day! Aren't you lucky?!?

The first week into the 2WW is almost over! It is now Friday night{9/16} as I type this and I know what you’re thinking… “Your IUI was only 4 days ago, how is the first week almost over?” Well, let me explain it to you like I explained to J…. The weekend is upon us in T-minus 1 hour and everyone knows weekends fly by, especially when you have a lot going on, which we do! ….Tomorrow morning we have to help my dad remove the remaining items from my Mamaw’s house {I sold it in less than three months! Add that to my resume, sukkahs’’! ;)} Then tomorrow afternoon we, and by we, I mean, mom, dad, SIL, BIL, J and myself are having lunch with my sister who is coming in town for all of twenty-four hours for the sole purpose of us meeting “her new someone.” There’s way more to the story than I’m going to go into, but I will say this: sis likes the darker-skinned boys and our dad is a traditional, Baptist, preacher. Did I mention traditional? I think you get the point and so I will leave that subject alone before I offend anyone. So not my intention at all, just wanted you to understand that Saturday may be an awkward-kinda day! Then, on Sunday, J and I are going to go to mom & dads’ church and surprise them with our presence, being that it is their 8th anniversary at that church. Afterwards, I am sure we will all go to lunch and visit with sister a little bit before J and I take her to the airport Sunday night. And now the weekend is over and I’m officially down to one week in the 2WW!! ;)

The second week of the 2WW wait went a little like this.
The day after the IUI I was feeling all sorts of things in my lower abdomen. Nothing painful, but definitely something, this continued for three days. Friday 9/16 I started feeling a little bloated and had sore boobs, but didn’t think much of it as those are normal for me before I start AND they are also side effects from the estrogen & progesterone. On Saturday 9/17 I tested. I knew it was way too early but J wanted me to test, so I did. The faintest second line ever was there, but I was convinced the Ovidrel was still in my system. Sunday 9/18 I was peeing like a race horse every 15-20 minutes. I stopped counting when I reached twenty pee’s and the day wasn’t even over!! Obviously, this got my hopes up a lot, but I was trying to stay calm. After all, I had been drinking a boat load of water every day. I think the drugs were making me extra thirsty. The bloating and excessive peeing lasted a few days, off and on…. And on Tuesday 9/20, I tested again and got my answer. I was right about the Ovidrel still being in my system because it was a BFN. Oddly enough, I was still hopeful, kept telling myself {and J} that the HPT only detects 20mili-something/something-whatev’ and maybe I was at 18 or something! ...Telling myself anything to keep the hope alive!! ;) I was still having symptoms here and there but nothing too out of the ordinary. My body kept telling me A.) I was about to start and it was going to be a doozy (sp) of a C this month or 2.) they were all side effects from the drugs. Friday and Saturday {9/23 &24) I had some unheard of pain on the tops of my upper thighs. I don’t even know how to explain it! When I got out of bed both of those mornings I almost fell and I had to take tiny steps until they “woke up”. But it did not feel like it does when it’s asleep, but more like really, really sore muscles. It only happened those 2 days and only for maybe five minutes each day. It was the weirdest thing! :/

More story-telling.....

The next morning hubs asked about taking an hpt, it worked for P.hoeb.e, he said? I, of course had my reservations about this… I just don’t know if I can handle another negative. Or worse, what if I still have the Ovidrel in my system and get a false positive? I told him I would take a test if he wanted me too and he said, he would rather know before the beta appt. I went to the store that day and bought a box of three BUT decided I wouldn’t take one until it had been at least 7-8 days from taking the hcg injection. Goo.gle says, it can take anywhere from five to eleven days to be out of your system, so Saturday {9/17} or Sunday {9/18}, I might take an hpt. Might! Ok, I probably will, but only because J wants me to. I want to too a little bit, but I know as soon as I do, I will become an hpt addict. If it’s positive I won’t believe it for fear it’s still the Ovidrel in my system or because after TTC for 8 years I am finally where I’ve always wanted to be and can’t believe it’s true! And if it’s negative, I’ll be holding out faith that I tested too early and there’s not enough in my system so I must keep trying until I get the result I want. Oy! The drama of HPT’s…….

When we started this C we decided that we were not going to tell a soul about it until hopefully it worked. But then after my SIL’s miscarriage, we decided {if it did work} we wouldn’t tell anyone until after 3 months or Christmas. I’ve always had big dreams/plans of telling our news on Christmas day! So, we agreed. NO one would know what we are up to this C. That’s the plan anyways, there’s no telling how long we’d be able to keep that information in, if it really does work!
It has been so incredibly hard not to talk about this. And in the beginning, I felt really bad about not telling my blog girls what’s going on, especially after you all have been there for me through all my ups & downs these past few years. But, I have to say this whole not telling people has made hubs & I all the more closer and I wouldn’t trade that for the world! I never thought J would be excited as much as I am but he is! It’s different this time around… During IVF, everyone knew, and so everyone chimed in of how “they just knew it would work” and “how so & so’s bff’s uncle’s niece did IVF and how it worked for them and so it had to work for us!” I know they thought that was helpful, them being all positive and all. But in the end, when it didn’t work, that was just all the more people to let down. Plus, it is kind of nice keeping this “in the bedroom” matter between the two of us, for once…. J still doesn’t talk about it as much as I do, {ahem, he is a guy after all}, but when I’ve had all I can take, I tell him he HAS to talk about it with me because no one else knows. And so he does! We are both hopeful and anxiously awaiting our first beta appointment!!!

To be continued….. More to come tomorrow, though I might post again tonight! This story is so long and I know you have a life. I promise I'm getting to it! In the meantime, if you missed anything{cause I hear the blog roll isn't updating fast enough with all my posts} you can catch up on the previous posts starting with this one! There's too many to link back to, so start there and work your way newer. :)

More story-telling.....

Monday rolled around and we headed off to the RE for our morning IUI. And let me tell you, that Ovidrel injection must have certainly done its job, because I was very much aware that I had growing follicles inside of me! I remember telling J that while they didn’t feel like the size of grapefruits like they did during IVF, they did feel bigger than usual….maybe the size of a peach?!?! Everything went accordingly and my Re seemed very positive! He told me to continue taking the Estradiol until the heartbeat {10 wks.}…. “Please dear God let there be a healthy reason for me to continue the estrogen that long!” He told me to lie there for 10 minutes, and then he dimmed the lights, he says, “to set the mood” and left the room. Love his sense of humor!! I immediately told J to add five more minutes to the sperm timer {the dial on it was a sperm, too funny}. I would have lain there for longer but J was ready to go. That’s okay, cause I had no other plans for the rest of the day, but to lay around and let gravity work its magic! I know they say you can resume normal activity, but I didn’t have any plans and figured it couldn’t hurt, right? Right!

To be continued….. Okay, I'll give you some more =)

On Wednesday 9/14, I started taking 200mg of Prometrium {progesterone supplements} at bedtime. And, I was instructed to continue this for 90 days. Again, “Please dear God let there be a healthy reason for me to continue the progesterone that long!” My first Beta appointment is Monday, 9/26 and it cannot come quick enough!! This is definitely one of the longest 2WW’s of my life! The first twenty-four hours after the IUI I was calm and relaxed. Now, every, tiny, twinge I feel I’m thinking, “Could that be implantation I’m feeling?” “God I hope so!” Although, if that is the case, I’m going to have several different eggs attaching to my uterus. Hmm…. I don’t care as long as something is attaching and healthy!

The night before the IUI we were lying in bed watching “Frie.nds.” It was the one where P.hoeb.e had IVF and afterwards was laying upside down in the chair singing, “Are you in there little fetus? In nine months will you come greet us? I will buy you some Ad.dida.s!” …..I’ve been singing this song ever since my IUI. ;)


To be continued…..

~Remember if this post has got you confused you can check out the earlier posts here, then here!

the story continues.... {I was going to do a post/day, but as usual, I'm too impatient} - Lucky you!

{If this post confuses you, start from the beginning w/this one!}

A little side-note here:

Hubs’ was supposed to fix BIL’s, brother’s truck that same Saturday as the Ovidrel injection but didn’t wind up going over there until that night. I had already told hubs that we couldn’t go anywhere Saturday night cause the med had to be refrigerated until used and since we are not telling anyone about this IUI C there would be no way to conceal it. ...It was 8pm when we left to go to SIL & BIL’s house. I asked hubs what excuse I could use to say I had to “run to the house at exactly 9:55pm, but I’d be right back!”? J said to just bring it with me and smuggle it into their refrigerator. Luckily, they were all outside when we arrived. I removed it from the box{left that in the truck} and “went to the bathroom” as soon as we got there. Opened up the fridge and placed it on the top shelf behind a jar of pickles! …Because I had to take it at exactly 10pm I had set an alarm on my phone to go off at 9:55pm as a reminder……where I then acted as though I had to "go to the bathroom", yet again! I stood in the bathroom and gave myself the injection in my stomach. I was a little nervous at first, I mean it has been three years since IVF and I was so afraid their daughter was going to wake up and walk in there and we would have to explain everything, but no one walked in on me and I was successful with my shot! Felt just like old times, giving myself shots in other people’s bathrooms…… :>

Come back tomorrow for more…..

Now that we are telling....

Remember that medicated IUI we were going to do in June? Well, it got post-poned due to me not calculating the correct cost. :( ….We wound up doing it in September. That’s this month – YAY!! :)

Let me start from the beginning…..
I started my C on 8/27, {a Saturday of course}, called my RE on Monday, 8/29 and had a baseline sono on Tuesday, 8/30. I also started 100 mg of Clomid that Tuesday and continued it through Saturday, 9/3. The worst side-effect from the Clomid was definitely the hot flashes. OH MY! I was so hot one night; I seriously contemplated sleeping naked on the tile floor in our bathroom! Oh what a sight that would have been!! ;) I had two days off of meds and went back for another sono on Tuesday, 9/6. My biggest follicles were 8, 8, &9 and my uterine lining was a little thin, so they started me on 2mg of Estradiol {estrogen}, twice a day. My next sono was on Friday, 9/9. The follicles had grown to 12, 13, & 16….I think? The doc didn’t utter the sizes this time and I was trying to read the chart upside down while she was talking, so, I could have got one of them wrong! Anywho, they gave me my Ovidrel injection and told me take it the next day, Saturday, 9/10 at 10pm and that the IUI would be done Monday, 9/12 at 10am!!

To be continued…..

Remembering 9/11

Taking time out today to remember all those that lost their lives that day. And, also all the people that lost someone they loved.

I will never forget that day. I was at work with both my brothers{one of which has since passed}. We hadn't been at work very long and for some reason had the tv on.... I couldn't believe my eyes! Watching it all on tv was so scary, yet I couldn't, wouldn't turn it off. We sat there for awhile in disbelief. We all left work and went to my parent's house. I don't remember working the rest of that week.....

I remember being scared to drive. Scared to go anywhere. I felt guilty that I survived that awful day, even though I was no where near where all of it had happened. I remember how strange it was to not see an airplane in the sky for what seemed like forever. And then how strange it was to see them again and praying to God that none of them would be used for evil.

I am proud to be an American and I thank God for our freedom! A lot of people may think or ask where was God that day? But in my heart of hearts I know that He was there with all of us that day. Comforting us, like only He can do!