Who Likes Surprises?

Well, I sure do. But this one really threw me for a loop. Anyone want to guess what it is? Well, first I must say that my hubby is going to *kill* me for spilling the beans, so if you see him you must pretend as though you know NOTHING (at least until his birthday). Got that? Now then...for the surprise. Here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure:





So, what do you think? Are you surprised? I sure was. My first thought was "is this even possible? No...no it's not. So then why on earth are there two lines?" I went to the doctor that very day to have my hCG drawn, because I needed someone to confirm that I wasn't losing my mind. At 12DPO (4/27), my hCG was 50 mIU/ml and my progesterone was 22 ng/ml. Not bad for 12DPO, and it confirmed that I really am pregnant (and due 1/6/11). But that's when the fun started... Because two days later, at 14DPO, my hCG had now risen to 178 mIU/ml (and my progesterone was up to 23.2 ng/ml). That's a doubling time of 26.20 hrs (normal doubling time is approx 48 horus). That was really shocking, to say the least.

4 days later, I had my hCG levels tested again, and they were now up to 1565 mIU/ml, even though I was only expecting 800. This is when I really started to worry. I mean really, my numbers were doubling even faster than when I was pregnant with the twins. This latest level doubled in only 30.61 hrs. Then, 3 days after that (now 21 DPO) my levels had soared to 6156 mIU/ml--doubling in 36.44 hrs. Still way under the 48 hour mark, and by now I only expected doubling in 48-72 hours! Well, my SINGLE little bean was just an overachiever. Here's the ultrasound from 6w 4d:

The baby was only measuring .38cm (6w 0d), but his/her heartbeat was 132bpm! I didn't cry when I had my first ultrasound with the twins...even when I saw those heartbeats for the first time. But with this one, I guess the whole "miracleness" of it got to me, and I burst into tears.

I still don't really believe it, but I guess the symptoms speak for themselves. Since I found out, I've been:

• completely exhausted
• peeing all the time
• dizzy
• nauseated
• headachy
• smelling everything
• drooling like mad (excess saliva)
• averse to some foods
• thirsty
• having weird dreams
• moody

Now I don't feel all of these symptoms all the time, except for the exhaustion. I was not *nearly* this tired with the twins, and I don't remember feeling dizzy with them either. I'm not too nauseated, and I feel like I'm hungry a lot, but I haven't gained any weight. Well, I think that's enough for you guys to go with for now...but just know that I'm still terrified that something could happen (even though I haven't had any cramps or bleeding, and we saw that beautiful heartbeat at 6 1/2 weeks). So keep praying for a sticky baby, and I'll keep you updated!

What a Week!

This week was the most obnoxious week on record. I started the week with an inkling that I might have gotten pregnant (let me tell you now, I'm not, so don't get your hopes up). I had all sorts of symptoms...metallic taste in my mouth, nausea, exhaustion, clumsiness, the works. I started using OPKs because I like them better than HPTs. I only had two left of my ancient internet cheapies, so I used those up. Each one looked darker than I would expect for my luteal phase, so I bought some at CVS to keep testing. The CVS brand turned positive. WHAT?? I would've sworn in a court of law that I had ovulated over a week prior, so they had to mean pregnant, right? Wrong. I had no signs of pending ovulation at this point, and all of my HPTs were clearly negative. So I checked my cervix. I know that it's usually high when I'm pregnant, and I also wanted to see if I had any fertile mucous. Instead what I found was a polyp. There was something there that I had never felt before, and I was terrified. So I called the OB/Gyn in the morning (this was yesterday), and she saw me only a few hours later. I know the nurse, who I had spoken with on the phone, thought I was just being a hypochondriac, but I knew what I had felt. And I was right...there was a polyp. The OB asked me if I wanted it removed, and I was like "umm of course..." And now they have to test it to make sure it's nothing weird and "just a polyp". The strange thing is that she found it in a bizarre place. Most polyps originate from the cervical opening, mine was nowhere near the opening... Anyhoo, she also took the full panel of blood tests to help me figure out what on earth was going wrong with my cycle. Here's what they found:

TSH: 1.54 uIU/ml
FSH: 2.5 mIU/ml
LH: 3.3 mIU/ml
Prolactin: 12.2 ng/ml
Progesterone: 12.14 ng/ml
Hemoglobin: 13.2 gm/dl
Hematocrit: 38.8%
hCG: 1.1 mIU/ml

This means, TSH is normal, FSH is normal, LH means I SHOULD NOT HAVE GOTTEN A + ON MY STUPID OPKS!!! Prolactin is normal (yay), progesterone means I ovulated most likely when I thought I did (ahhh so I was right!), hemoglobin & hematocrit are normal, although the hematocrit is juuuust barely on the lower side of normal (which means I'm still not anemic). hCG confirms that I am not pregnant at all...so my OPK REALLY SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSITIVE. I am really furious at CVS at getting my hopes up for no reason and you can be sure I'm sticking to internet cheapies from here on out. I called CVS and they want me to send them the rest of the OPKs for testing, and of course they're going to reimburse me for the purchase. Now everyone just needs to pray that they don't find anything weird from the polyp they removed...

Sunday's Fun Day Charlie Brown...

So I spent this morning in the ER--not to worry, everything's ok. I had a headache yesterday that was different than my usual headaches, so I wanted to get it checked out. The dr in the ER wasn't at all worried about my head and wanted to check in on the little bean, so took my blood and left. A while later a different doctor comes in with an ultrasound machine and informs me that we're going to take a peek inside. Who am I to argue? I was actually quite excited. While he's figuring out the ultrasound machine, my other dr comes in and informs me that my hCG level was up to 46,000...yep, that's right 46,000. Which is MUCH higher than I was expecting (I thought maybe 25,000 or something). But no, my hCG is overachieving this time. On the plus side, I have a nice, high hCG and barely any symptoms, so I hope it stays that way. :-) Anyhoo, they stick the probe thing where it's supposed to go and take a look. One doctor looks at me and says "well, you are pregnant". I was like, "Umm I coulda told you THAT!" lol Anyhoo, we're taking a look around in there and I could definitely see two different sacs, but waited for the doc to tell me what he was actually looking at. So he points to one of them and says "This is a yolk sac and looks great for where you are. We can't see a fetus yet, but that's totally normal for where you are. And this over here looks like it could be another one...it's pretty close, but it does look like a second one." And on the discharge papers it actually says they found twins via ultrasound. So, there you have it. Two yolk sacs, two babies. We'll find out more at my 7 week ultrasound at my RE's office where we'll look for heartbeats, but for now we are looking at 2!! And of course, check out my crazy high hCG levels on the chart below...

Final Beta!

So, I had my final beta drawn today. The hCG came back at 6653 mIU/ml and my progesterone came back at 49.5 ng/ml. The doc told me to lower my progesterone to once a day (WOOO) and we scheudled my first ultrasound for 9/2, when I'll be exactly 7 weeks! Levels are still way above average, and here's the chart:

Not Much

Not much going on today--sorry I haven't posted since Friday. My mom was in this weekend, so I was pretty busy. We went to the Science Museum, on a duck tour, to dinner and then to the movies (WALL-E).

Today I made an appointment for my first *real* doctor's appointment (last Friday didn't really count). It will be on 9/9, when I'm exactly 8 weeks. Now I just have to wait until Wednesday when they do my (hopefully) last hCG blood test. At that point (5w 1d) the level should be about 5600 (yes, Nancy, I know...it has to be twins). ;-)

I will post on Wednesday to let everyone know how it went!

Doctor's Appointment and 3rd Beta

So, my doctors appointment wasn't particularly exciting--she said my spotting and cramping are nothing to worry about. I had to sit there for 4 hours waiting, which sucked, and I was terrified that something was wrong because the urine test I took was pretty light. Turns out everything is fine, beta is up to 994 mIU/ml and progesterone is up to 35 ng/ml! Here's my new chart (eep)!

Second Beta

So, I got my second beta done today! My hCG came back at 429 mIU/ml (which is more than double) and my progesterone went up to 27.5 ng/ml (which makes me VERY happy). And, as you can see by the chart, my levels are even above the high side for single pregnancies, so we may be looking at twins....eek!

The chart won't do any levels before 14dpo, so it looks a little off.

First Beta is In!

So, I got my first beta done today and the level was 175 mIU/ml (which is AMAZING for 13DPR/10DPT). I'll have a repeat on Wednesday just to make sure it doubles. My progesterone came back as 16 ng/ml, which is not *excellent*, but my doc doesn't think I need to up my dosage. I'm taking the suppositories, so the progesterone is getting absorbed right into the uterus and doesn't make it into my blood as well as it would if I were taking the shots--but the uterus is where we want it to be, so that's ok.

It's Over

My doctor called with my hCG results. The level only went up to 197 mIU/ml, which means that they either just haven't gone up very far or they're on their way down. Either way, this pregnancy is over and we're on to our next cycle. :-(

hCG level...

So, I had a second hCG level today and it only came back at 164 mIU/ml. It hasn't quite doubled in 2 days, but my doctor says I shouldn't worry yet. We're going to leave it for a few days and I'll go back on Monday to see what my levels have done... I'm SOOOOO nervous!

BFP!!!

Well, we finally got a BFP today! This morning I took a HPT and it was +! Then I went in for my scheduled blood test, and my hCG level came back at 95 mIU/ml. WOOO!!