Gratitude

I was soooooo nervous before the scan, I just cried. But you don't want to hear about that, you want to hear about Joopy right?

Well Joopy is a good and well behaved embryo, with a beautiful heartbeat which we were lucky enough to hear on the doppler! Wow!
Thank you G-d!!!!!!!!
I have a video of the whole thing but it's 10 minutes long. Will try get DH to shorten it.

The stats are:
Measuring 6w3d (1 day behind?!) at a CRL (crown rump length) measurement of 0.62cm.
Heart rate 126 bpm
Yolk sac
Corpus luteum

Of course, I was freaking out concerned about the fact Joopy is measuring a day behind and also, I thought the heart rate is too low, so I immediately emailed my FS with the details. He responded right away with this message:

"That is very good news. The scan is perfect! Please don't worry."

I feel a million times better already - isn't he a sweetheart?!

On the tube on the way to the scan, I was listening to my music, and all of a sudden I look down and Madonna's song "Heartbeat" came on, which I took as a good sign.

I don't think I have spoken about it on the blog before, but for 5 days before my beta blood test, I saw a rainbow every day. You know when something reflects off glass etc and you get those little lights? They were everywhere - on my hand, on my phone, on the wall....so, yeh, I believe in signs. 

Without further ado, some pics of the scans (sorry again about the quality - why is it so hard to photograph these things?!)

Heart rate 126 bpm

Yolk sac and fetal pole marked

(don't you think the sac looks like a smile?)

Crown Rump length

0.62cm





Thanks for sticking around Joopy. Mommy and daddy love you very, very much.

~Sabine~

P.S. Trying not to think about the fact that all my symptoms have practically disappeared today?!?!

Morning sickness....

Hooooooo boy!

I am sick and happy and sick.
Maybe it's just because I'm nervous for tomorrow's scan?
Or maybe it's because Joopy* is trying to reassure me not to worry so much? Such a good baby already.

All my barely there symptoms have magnified today. The nausea, the tiredness, the sore nipples, the heartburn.
I have no reason to believe anything is wrong, right? I mean, if there was something wrong and the baby wasn't growing right, I would know, wouldn't I? Bleeding or cramping or complete lack of symptoms?
I am really trying to let my head rule and not my heart on this one. It's damn tough.

~Sabine~

* After I had my 5w scan, I sent the photo to DH who was already back in London. He said it looked like a picture of Jupiter. I laughed so much and the name has stuck, Joopy for short :)

My IVF/ICSI protocol

I realise this is very boring and I am a list making nerd, but I wanted to post it so I will always have it, and who knows, maybe it will help someone one day.
If you don't feel like looking at the whole thing (I don't blame you!!), here's a quick summary:

SHORT ANTAGONIST IVF: (No down reg)
Day 3 - 13:   Stim: G.onal F injections (11 days)
Day 8 - 13:   Prevent premature ovulation: C.etrotide injections (6 days)
Day 13:   Trigger: O.vidrel injection
Day 15:   14 eggs retrieved
Day 16:   9 fertilised with ICSI  (Start E.stropause - Estrogen and C.rinone 8% -Progesterone)
Day 20:   5 blasts - 2 transferred @ 5 days, 3 frozen
Day 20-23: Self imposed bed rest
Day 29:   BFP: 9dp5dt -Beta: 158
Day 31:   Beta 2: 11dp5dt: 308
Day 36:   5 week scan. 1 gestational sac measuring perfectly

Phew, sounds so simple and painless when you put it like that!

I had a terrible night's sleep last night. Firstly I'm anxious about the scan on Friday, and secondly, what the heck is up with my n.ipples (sorry TMI) - they bloody hurt!!! Every time I turned over they woke me. Just my n.ipples, not the rest - I am a freak!! Sleeping with a soft sports bra tonight - they seem better when they're covered.

~Sabine~

6w1d, time is standing still!

The day before yesterday, after I pulled out the p.rogesterone applicator, I noticed a tiny, almost microscopic spec of red blood.

Despite the fact I had already peed, it was night time, and I'd been drinking a lot (recipe for disaster), I did what any infertile would do. I peed on a stick. And not just any stick. The C.learblue torture stick, which as you know from a few posts ago, should have read 3+. But it didn't, it read 2-3. That combined with the lack of symptoms has not made for a happy and carefree week.

My recipe for disaster turned out to be just what the doctor ordered.

Thank you g-d. I swear I say that every time I go to the bathroom and it's all clear.

I have also had these tiny, tiny (in my imagination?) waves of nausea. Kind of like a car-sick feeling? Not sure if it's legitimate but I'm taking it as a good sign.

I'm trying to keep calm till my scan on Friday at 6w4d. I need to see that heartbeat. Seeing is believing.

Why do they call this the first trimester? Surely it should have a scarier name than that to do it any justice at all. And it's an eternity long.

In other news, I went for lunch with my friend, the real life friend who was struggling to conceive. She's pregnant! And the weirdest part? Our estimated due dates are 1 day apart! 1 day! How crazy is that?

Also, my SIL had her 10 week scan today and her baby is doing perfectly too! I've been saying it a lot this year, but this is the year of miracles. So many miracles. All I can do is wish and hope and pray for miracles for all of you too.

~Sabine~

P.S. Are these things symptoms? Bear in mind they are very very mild, sometimes I think I'm making them up! Tiny waves of "car sickness", sharp pains in the most random places in my breasts and sometimes the uterus/ovaries too, tiredness, indigestion - burping and heartburn (terrible!).

P.P.S. I also made a spreadsheet (Yes, I'm a list geek) of my IVF and the protocol I was on day by day which I will post up this week. When I was starting off my IVF I really wanted to see other people's protocols but couldn't find very many.