Muffin View #2

Well I had another u/s today, and everything is still terrific.
I say I'm 7w2d, but Terri has me at 7w1d. Today, the little muffin measured 7w1d with a heartrate of 148 bpm!! He looked a lot bigger and again we saw that heart beating away right away.
I didn't cry last week, but when I heard that heartbeat today, I just couldn't help it.
Everyone was really excited again.
So I go back next Friday, Sept. 7th...11years to do the day that Patrick and I first met, and WHEN all is well, then I graduate back to Dr. Swaim, my normal ob/gyn. That's going to be a rough day in so many ways...but I'm ready.

OK, here's the u/s pic finally!

The Danes

And now to round out the bunch...the Great Danes. We got them as puppies from a Great Dane rescue group 6 years ago. Their mom was a full-blooded Great Dane and had been turned into the Humane Society...she was so skinny they didn't know she was pregnant. She went into labor that very day and had 9 puppies...4 lived...2 live at our house ; )

So here are some pics of Tristan and Skylar
Enjoying the foot of snow in South Texas


Just relaxing


Look how big my bone is...Tristan likes to howl occasionally



So that means that my next post will be my u/s update for tomorrow....I'm feeling miraculously calm...not sure what that means, but we'll see!!!

The rest of the cats...or The Girls

Continuing yesterday's theme of the furry family moment...
The cats used to be collectively called "the girls" until Noah came into the mix. Here are my favorite chickadees...

Kyla...known lovingly as "Mama". She was my first kitty in college. She came from a girl who lived across the street and rescued kitties from a horse farm. I picked her because she walked right up to me and said "meow!". She'll be 10 years old next month!!!



And then there's Spencer. She was adopted from the Humane Society in college on half-price kitty day (about a year after Kyla because she was driving us crazy and needed a partner!!). Spencer is actually a girl, although when we adopted her, her tag said boy...which is how she came to be named Spencer. We had already filled out all her records at the vet when the vet made the discovery she was a girl so the name stuck!! She just turned 9 this spring.
Spencer hanging out with Tristan...



And then there's Morgan. We actually went to the Houston SPCA to donate food because we had seen a horrible animal seizure story on the news. Well Patrick started playing with this cat through the plexiglass, before we knew it, we were walking out of there with adoption papers! We got her on our one month wedding anniversary. : ) She turned 8 in June. She's a gorgeous cat and don't think she doesn't know it!



So there are the girls...tomorrow...the dogs!

PS All is still well!! Just 48 hours to go until my next u/s!!

Why we rescue

So first, everything is going great. I'm nauseous, grouchy (Patrick will attest to that), and exhausted so all is well. My next u/s is this Friday, and I'm feeling very optimistic about it!

Today, I thought I'd post some pictures of my furry kids. Some of you remember when I posted those pictures of little kitty Noah when we first found him. He was a 5w old kitten found in a horrible rainstorm, dirty, cold, malnourished, dehydrated, and covered in fleas that were going to kill him they were so bad. These pictures were from 24 hours later.



Like the JCPenney photo dept. head tilt?

Here are some pics adjusting to life in our household a few weeks later. He had to be quarantined in the guest bathroom for a month, but he integrated well into the herd.
Taking a nap...

Hanging out with dogs...

Using me as a body pillow...literally...


And now my baby Noah as he is today...
Like all of the family...he enjoys HDTV...

Hey, at least he used his paw to cover up his naughty bits...

Uhoh, he's looking for trouble...


So you can see that this poor little thrown away kitten has become this wonderful part of our family now. He was our little "accident" ; )

Now I feel guilty for spending so much time on him, so I may have to post pictures of the rest of the kids tomorrow...gives me something to do while I wait for Friday to get here!!

My Favorite Muffin

OK, so later there will be an actual picture of the u/s, but for now you just have to use your imagination. : )

We have one little muffin in there. Terri said everything looked absolutely "perfect". She saw the heartbeat within seconds, so I luckily got to spend the rest of the u/s very calm. I did some deep breathing before actually, and my blood pressure wasn't too horrible (for my pre-u/s bp that is), it was only like 150/70 or so.

We're measuring about on track (1 day off, but the yolk sac was kind of in the way, it's so hard because they're so small right now), and the heart rate is a wonderful 122bpm. I love seeing that little flicker and then hearing that thumping...everything is going just right.

Terri was very excited, and I had barely gotten my skirt back on when there was a knock and here comes Dr. Mac in to give me a big old hug and shake Patrick's hand and say "good job"...hahaha! Everyone was in there just chit-chatting saying how excited they are. Terri couldn't stop going on about how great everything looked. They all really think that this is finally the one...and you know what...so do I.

I have however been told to start adding Colace to my daily pills...no one likes a constipated "problem child" pregnant woman apparently. Blech!

Oh, and in other news...I feel like crap. For the first time, I have REAL morning sickness. I have yet to throw up, and I don't think I will. It takes A LOT to make me throw up...like I haven't thrown up since I was in the hospital for my ectopic surgery and had too much morphine.
Anyway, I feel queasy pretty much all day, especially in the evenings when I don't feel like moving from the couch. I feel better when I eat, only to feel worse again 15 minutes later...and I'm loving every second of it.
Here's my favorite conversation.
Patrick: How are you feeling?
Me: I feel terrible.
Patrick: Good.
Me: I know!

Anyway, I'll attempt to scan the picture sometime this weekend, but you can also look forward to another report after my next u/s next Friday, August 31st!!!

I guess now I should let this really sink in...this is really happening...and statistics say that this should really be the one...please let it be...

Finally, the u/s pic!

Do you know the muffin chick?

OK, finally, I will tell the muffin story!!

Now my good friend Kerri has always been a part of my "fertility team"...she's right up there with my various assortment of dr.s and nurses, and really just below Patrick in the hierarchy. Well Kerri felt that we just weren't doing everything that we could to make sure I got pregnant.

So it was a mere few days before my IUI that a package arrived in the mail. Kerri said she had sent something, and I had actually forgotten until Patrick mentioned there was a package for me at home. So I open it, not having a clue what it is, and instantly the wonderful aroma of cinammon fills the kitchen. It's muffins....what? muffins? She sent me muffins in the middle of summer?

So the muffins come with a letter. The letter goes on to describe that these are special "good karma" muffins. Kerri made them for her REs office before she got pregnant, and then again for her OBs office and then went into labor 3 days later. These muffins had a pretty good track record so far.

So my job was to eat the muffins. Patrick, being the team player that he is, decided that he'd better eat a muffin or two as well. But then, I read further, I had to MAKE my OWN muffins and take them to Dr. Mac's. OK, whatever Kerri says, I'll do!

Continuing in his team player role, Patrick even went to the store and bought everything I needed for the muffins. I made the muffins on Monday night, and we took them the Dr. Mac's on Tuesday afternoon when I was inseminated (I still love to use that word)! I actually told them the story, and they thought it was just awesome!

And the rest is history...the muffins have worked yet again! And so when it came time to find a name for this little one (previous ones were named "pumpkin" because they were due on Halloween and "chicken" because Patrick decided it looked like a chicken embryo)....muffin was the perfect choice.

So finally you have it...the muffin story...
Here are the muffins I took to Dr. Mac's last month.

Muffin Beta #4

We're looking good!

At 26dpo, we have an hcg of 9,442 and a steady progesterone of 52.1. Everything looks terrific, my doubling time is hanging in there at 51 hours (it's supposed to be slowing down and is still holding strong), and the muffin's first u/s will be this Friday.

What a LONG week this will be.

Oh, and I promise to make Patrick download the muffin pic before he goes to tennis so I can tell the muffin story tonight. : )

One day at a time....

Muffin Beta #3

Hcg was 2590....I continue to be wonderfully "normal" and very slightly above "average".

I feel better....I think....can I just sleep through the next few weeks please?

Off to brave the flood waters and try to get home!

The Secret

No I'm not talking about that stupid book that Oprah is all about (although I'm sure MANY people would like to sit me down and give me the "power of positive thinking" talk at the moment, but we'll talk about that later).

I'd just like to take a moment to give a shout-out to the little birdie that told Patrick that I have a blog. ; ) Seriously, I've been trying to think of how to tell him I have a blog without him thinking I was a total nerd...which we all know I am anyway. Then before I knew it, I'd been at it so long that I was worried he'd be mad that I didn't tell him...a vicious circle I tell you.

Anyway, my little birdie (can a turkey be considered a little birdie?) took care of that for me, we had a good laugh, and now I'm actually relieved!!!

Now I can tell him why I actually need that picture of my muffins from the camera so that I can finally tell the muffin story!!!

Oh....and I cheated and I'm having the lab downstairs run another beta because I started to panic and freak out and I needed peace of mind... : ) Update this afternoon!

Because I'm mental...

Remember when I said I was "normal"...well I found another site that I remember from last time and plugged in my numbers. I could NOT be MORE normal. Seriously, I should stop freaking out now right? I'm the red line...the line I'm following is the "high" line, and the green line below it is "average"....

Muffin Beta #2

OK latest results at 19dpo
hcg = 958
Progesterone = 55

Doubling time of about 41 hours.

OK, so it's time to slap me around. I'm freaking out because the numbers aren't nearly as high as my overachiever last pregnancy...who doubled between 24-30hours. I try to keep reminding myself that all of those ladies with the low betas are now delivering their perfect babies while I have nothing to show for it.

Patrick just gave me the speech, no complaining about being "normal". Betabase says the median number is seven hundred something...and I know we all know normal doubling times are 48-72 hours.

It's just so easy to let that doubt creep in, you know?
One more beta in a week, then hopefully an u/s next Thursday at 6w1d.
One day at a time...

Muffin Beta #1

I really have to tell this muffin story soon so you're not all in the dark.

But for a quick update on my favorite muffin, beta results are in.
At 12dpo, we have an hcg of 57 and a progesterone of 53.8. They're very pleased, and I go back in a week for more bloodwork.

As for the injections, my insurance is covering the Lovenox ($2500 worth of meds)...yay! This means 1 shot in the stomach per day instead of 2, plus I'm pretty sure they come prefilled so no more measuring, oh and low molecular weight heparin has lessened calcium depletion side effects!

On my way to pick it up now, and I'll do my first injection tonight!!!!

Lord help me...

Here we go. I cheated and took a test this morning...2 to be exact.
It looks like I'm pregnant.
I took a normal 2-line test to which Patrick proclaimed half-asleep at 5:30am "I don't even have to squint to see that one". Sad that after this long, HE's even an expert at starting at pregnancy tests.
Then I tried a digital, and in less than a minute, there came that beautiful word "pregnant".

I have to admit, I'm much calmer than I expected. I had a wonderful restful sleep last night, and the alarm actually woke me up. I panicked during the 3-minute wait period (which I spent kneeling in front of the toilet praying with a stop watch set at 3 min), but as soon as I saw the lines, I peeked out of the bathroom to yell at Patrick "I'm pregnant"...sadly, I've said it many times, but this time just feels different.

I called to Dr. Mac's right at 9am, and Terri must have called me back at 9:10. They wanted me to come in for my bloodwork this morning, so I did. We'll have results this afternoon. I don't expect them to be very high since it's so early (12dpo)...maybe around 50? Guess I should check betabase to prepare myself.

Anyway, we're also working on the heparin issue. I will be back on heparin injections this pregnancy (I truly believe that's the only reason I made it so far last time). We're just checking to see if Lovenox (low molecular weight heparin) might be a better option. It's 1 shot/day instead of the 2/day with normal heparin, plus it has lesser calcium depletion side effects for me. But Lovenox is way pricey, so they're going to check with my insurance and see what they cover. Either is totally fine, but we've got time to figure that out today. When my beta results are back, they'll probably call and tell me which prescription to pick up. I'll probably be giving my first heparin injection tonight...tomorrow at the latest.

So that's it...I'm on the roller coaster....and I can't help but believe that this is really it.

...must have been the muffins!