The journey to #2

To say that we go through a ton to have a family is an understatement. Jay and I have desired to have children from the very beginning of our marriage. We were blessed after 4 heart wrenching years to have our adorable and perfect son Colin. After his first birthday we had a discussion of whatever happens happens when thinking about expanding our family. Needless to say, his 2nd birthday came very quickly with no results. In July I made an appointment with my fertility doctor, Dr. Vaughn. He was a miracle worker the first go round so I had a ton of faith that he would work the same miracle again for us. He wanted me to go for some initial testing to make sure everything looked as good as it could to begin the process of transferring the remaining frozen embryos that we had in storage. All of this is very very surreal to me, it's just amazing that we had 3 frozen embryos sitting in a tank in downtown Austin for the past 3 years. It was just like every other monthly bill that we made to be sure they stayed safe and cold!

So after the first xray of my uterus, the results showed that I had some old scar tissue, probably from my pregnancy with Colin. So much to my fear, the word surgery came into the conversation. Luckily this wasn't going to be the most invasive procedure. It was called a hysteroscopy and was just a scope into the uterus to clean out the scar tissue. Oddly enough, this procedure was scheduled almost 3 years to the date of the last surgery. Everything went as planned and we were on our way. Unfortunately, another bump in the road, scar tissue still showed up on the ultrasound so another xray was scheduled to be sure it wouldn't affect the cycle. I felt like it was just more and more time added until we would be able to transfer the embryos.

Finally......it was all clear! I started taking estrogen for suppression. After a few ultrasounds to check things out, we were scheduled to transfer the embryos. I needed to make the trip to pick up the embryos from their temporary storage place and bring them to the clinic where they would be thawed out and prepared for transfer. I felt obligated to be sure they arrived as safely as possible so of course with any of your children, you strap them in. I did try to put the box in Colin's carseat but the box was too tall to fit in it so it would have to just be safe in the regular seatbelt.We scheduled the transfer for November 30th.

Everything on that date went perfect, the first 2 embryos they thawed looked great so they left the remaining one alone. Within 15 minutes, they were transferred and sitting snug. If we were lucky, 1 would attach but it would be a 9 day wait.

December 9th couldn't come quick enough, I couldn't sleep so of course was up at the crack of dawn sitting outside the lab's office. I'm not entirely happy with my nurse so that day was a bit ruined by her. I called the office before lunch and the nurse said it could be some time between 3 and 5 before the results were in.....I call bullshit, I've had plenty of results by 10am. Finally, at 2 pm, the nurse called. My hcg levels were 38. She said they would like to see it at least 50 but this was still good. I was shocked, very very shocked, the first hcg levels with my first pregnancy was 166. This felt like it was so low but the nurse assured me that the levels are a lot lower with frozen cycles. I was still very nervous and quite cautious. I repeated the bloodwork on Friday, December 11th and the number did go up to 98 which was a good increase so I went ahead and told my parents and Jay's parents. The excitement was felt from everyone, I just wish I could have shared in it because I was still very cautious. After another week of repeat hcg's and all the levels continued to increase. Now we just wait until the ultrasound at 7 weeks.

I feel like an expert in this aspect, I know what to look for in an ultrasound. As soon as the picture of my uterus came up, I instantly searched for that little flicker on the screen.....YES, there it was! The heart rate came in at 145 and very strong, the baby was measuring a few days behind but Dr. Vaughn assured me that again for a frozen embryo cycle, this was very normal.

That brings us to today.....11 weeks along and growing by leaps and bounds. My stomach has expanded at a rapid rate and I'm in maternity clothes full time now, there's no way I can squeeze into a regular pair of pants.