On Sunday April 29, 2018 we transferred our frozen embaby who survived the ice age! I began taking pregnancy tests right away and found out 4 days later, on May 3, 2018, that we were pregnant!
Of course, we were very happy that this FET worked and we were pregnant again. But anyone who has experienced infertility and multiple miscarriages understands that a pregnancy after loss can be filled with very complicated emotions. We were overjoyed it worked, but at the same time, we were anxiety-ridden for fear of losing yet another pregnancy. We wanted to be hopeful, but also wanted to be prepared for the worst (which is all we had known prior to this). And then we felt guilty and angry, for not being able to enjoy the beginning of this pregnancy like we wanted to. All this to say - its complicated.
Unlike our prior two pregnancies, we kept this one an ultimate secret between ourselves and our doctor at the Ottawa Fertility Centre (OFC). We were not ready to utter the words "we're pregnant" until we felt more confident and excited.
On May 13th and 15th I had blood work to monitor my hcg (the pregnancy hormone) and progesterone (I was on progesterone suppositories for the first 10 weeks to help this pregnancy thrive). Our hcg was high and was more than doubling. This had also been the case for our prior pregnancies, so was not as reassuring as one would think.
 |
| bruises from the blood work |
On May 22, 2018 we had our first ultrasound. We were 6 weeks pregnant and everything was measuring right on schedule. The heart beat was seen but was still too small to measure the rate. We had asked for this early ultrasound, but because all of our prior pregnancies had been lost after 7 weeks, we were still very worried.
Finally our 7 week ultrasound happened on May 29, 2018! Everything was measuring perfectly and there was a strong heart beat of 124 bpm. We had never seen a 7 week ultrasound like this. I cried out of relief and happiness! We were still cautiously optimistic, but started thinking that this could work out!
There was also one interesting piece of news we found out at this ultrasound - this pregnancy had been an identical twin pregnancy. Of the one embryo we transferred, it had split into two - there was one gestational sac that had two yolk sacs. Unfortunately, one of those was not growing properly. We were worried that it would impact the healthy living pregnancy, but the doctor tried to reassure us that typically the second baby would just be consumed by the living one, with no negative impact. We were hoping this would be our case. We were surprised and sad for the other life that could have been, but worried and hopeful for the other that was still living.
We had another ultrasound at 8 and 9 weeks at OFC, until we finally "graduated"! This was one of the BEST feelings! We had never made it this far before! Our fertility doctor released us to our OBGYN who would continue to see us through the remainder of this pregnancy. It felt so good to say "see yah" to OFC, and take a break from a place where we had many difficult moments, but also a place where science had given us so much!
We met with our OB at 9 weeks, who made me cry she had such amazing bedside manner! She completely understood everything we had been through, and offered me weekly ultrasounds to help ease any anxiety I was having. I took her up on her offer, and we had ultrasounds at 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16 and 19 weeks.
 |
| 7 week ultrasound |
 |
| 8 week ultrasound |
 |
| 9 week ultrasound |
 |
| 10 week ultrasound |
 |
| 11 week ultrasound |
 |
| 12 week ultrasound |
 |
| 16 week ultrasound |
 |
| 19 week ultrasound |
Every ultrasound was more and more reassuring and finally after our 11 week ultrasound, we decided to tell our families! We told our families by putting a "big brother" bandana on Tobi.
Our 12 week ultrasound was particularly reassuring, where we were screened for genetic and chromosomal issues. Very fortunately, everything came back normal. At this point, we started to share the news with the most special people in our lives.
Our 19 week ultrasound was also extremely reassuring. This is the morphology ultrasound that took an hour to complete. All of the organs were measured and checked and everything was absolutely perfect. This is when we could have found out the gender, but we wanted to wait. We looked away and have asked all the ultrasound techs and doctors to keep it a surprise from us! We can't wait to find out what we're having when he or she is born!
Overall we had a total of 10 ultrasounds in the first 19 weeks of pregnancy. I continued having ultrasounds for extra reassurance, until I started feeling the most AMAZING feeling ever - feeling our baby move!!!
We are now 22 weeks pregnant, due January 15, 2019, and OVERJOYED! It is still very surreal, but with every kick and punch from this active babe, we're reminded that we're FINALLY HAVING A BABY!!!!!
 |
| Our 12 week ultrasound photo, within a heart, shaped from all the medication and injections I took to make this FET happen <3 |
No comments:
Post a Comment