POAS and Beta Results!

I apologize if many of y'all have been waiting for results. The 2 week wait is very taunting. Luckily, Dr. Kim had told us we could come in early, around day 9 post transfer for our first beta. During that time I have been peeing on sticks like crazy, starting on day 1.75dp5dt and every day after that, looking for the slightest sign of a positive. On day 4 I finally received a pee stick that looked like it might have a slight squinter of a positive second line. I wasn't 100% sure, and didn't want to say anything to Tori until I knew for sure, so I waited till the afternoon, hoping my HCG levels would increase a little throughout the day. A surro friend of mine had sent me some left over digital pregnancy tests so I decided to give one of those a try, not really expecting it to be positive yet since it was so early, but hoping that maybe it would be. I took the stick to the bathroom and did the deed. I decided to pull out my phone while the test was processing and video it, and I am so glad I did because after a few minutes, the words "pregnant 1-2 weeks" popped up on the screen and so I was able to capture my genuine excited response and immediately sent it to Tori, who had been waiting for any kind of news. I sent it to her via text and waited for her response. It took her about 40 minutes to reply, which had me practically dying with anticipation. I began to wonder if she was frozen in shock, or fainted, or if she just hadn't seen it yet, until finally she responded with just a flurry of "OMGs". I continued to take tests every morning of each passing day and watched as each one got darker and darker. Ryan started to get tired of seeing all my pee sticks. I keep them in a baggie in my night stand. Yeah, that's not creepy or obsessive or anything, right? lol. I gave HFI a call to schedule our blood draw for Monday and had to go the rest of the week and weekend with my game face on. I didn't want to give anyone any clues, which was a tad bit hard, but manageable. I have a pretty good game face but was ready for Monday to roll around. When I told Ryan, we were just casually laying in bed watching TV and I said "babe, I'm pregnant". He response was a very dull, "yeah I hope so." I didn't correct him or tell him that I was being serious. Instead I sent him a dubsmash video of me holding the positive pregnancy test and saying "surprise, motha fucka!" When he got it he just laughed and turned over and kissed me, then asked me if I had told Tori yet because he loves being the first one to tell people exciting news. Luckily I had beat him to it this time!

I told y'all I was a POAS-aholic

I continued my week as normal, taking my final exams for school, going to work, taking my meds and getting my shots, etc. As far as pregnancy symptoms go, I haven't felt much of a change just yet. I felt a few twinges around day 2 and 3 after transfer, which I assumed was possibly implantation. I had no spotting or cramping, which were both reassuring signs, but other than that, everything has been pretty quiet. No nausea or tender breasts just yet. I can't remember when it was I started to notice pregnancy symptoms with my last one, but like that say, every pregnancy is different so maybe baby fisher is just being really nice to me?! lol Only time will tell. I have noticed though that my appetite has increased. I went to a dinner at Benihana's and almost completely cleaned my plate, which rarely happens. I usually always have left overs to bring home.It seems like every meal time ends with a clean plate now. Whoops! Maybe it's just a mental thing though. But if I continue to eat this way, then I can bet this will likely be my biggest pregnancy yet. I gained 30 lbs total with Hayden and only 20 lbs with Jaden. I'd like to stick under 30 lbs with this pregnancy too, unless its twins, in which case I may need to try and gain 35 to 40 lbs.

Finally Monday arrived. Hayden was not feeling well so I didn't take him to daycare that day. We had a very rough night with Hayden awake the majority of the night in some serious pain.n wanted to move, so it was a good thi He hardly even wanted to move, so it was a good thing Tori was there to hold him and baby him, because I definitely didn't need to be lifting him. We were in and out of the office in no time. All I had to do was get my blood drawn very quickly, asked about my butt because I seemed to be having an allergic reaction to the PIO meds, which seems to be pretty common, your body can develop antibodies to the meds over time, and then we headed to Chik-fil-a to eat breakfast and wait for the phone call with our results. I could tell Mikie was nervous, and understandably so. He had no idea I had been getting positive pee tests because he didn't want the false hope. Hayden slept the whole time we were at breakfast, and the three of us chit chatted until finally the nurse called and told Tori the news. My beta was 587 and I was definitely pregnant! Hooray! This was very awesome news, even though I knew it would be positive, it was still great to hear those numbers. We scheduled our second beta for Wednesday morning. Betas are expected to double every 48 hours so by Wednesday my numbers should be in the 1,000s. We still didn't want to announce the news to anyone until after second beta results. Again, this is totally understandable and well advised because you're not considered 'in the clear' till after the first trimester is over. It is very hard and emotionally draining to announce positive news and then if something bad happens, to have people constantly asking how things are going and have to deliver the bad news over and over again. Hopefully that will not happen this time around. Even so, there is just no way we could hold the news in for that long lol.

 The adorable pregnancy announcement board

Wednesday was like a deja vu of Monday, except minus Hayden because he was actually feeling much better and at daycare this time. Tori brought me some of her benadryl cream for my toosh too. We went in early in the morning for blood work, went to chick-fil-a to eat breakfast and waited for results. We even sat in the same exact booth, I guess for good luck lol. The call came in and second beta was at 1120. Right on track. Now our next appointment is scheduled for next Wednesday for an ultrasound to do bean count! We may or may not be able to see/hear heartbeats because it is still pretty early, but we should be able to at least see if there are one or two babies in there. If it is a singleton, our due date will be Jan. 23rd and if it is twins then our due date will be sometime in Dec. I am very excited for this next appointment. For Tori and Mikie, this is all new territory because they didn't make it this far with their previous transfers. I am hoping the good news continues on. When we do finally have an ultrasound with heartbeat confirmation, then I should be allowed to resume normal activity. I have missed the gym so so much. I won't start off again working out as hard or as long as I was prior to the transfer, but I do intend to work myself up to a healthy, manageable, and satisfying routine. I am much happier when I get that endorphin release from a good workout. Ryan will also be happy because, as many of y'all may not know, the life of a surro husband can be a bit of a drag at times. There are restrictions on intimate activity usually until heartbeat confirmation, and sometimes even a few weeks prior to transfer, or even longer than heartbeat confirmation. And then of course later down the road there are the postpartum restrictions as well. Although he gets a bit whiny towards the end, he is pretty good at waiting for the green light. Sorry if this is TMI but it is a fact about surro life and I like to try to remain pretty transparent about what goes into being a surrogate or the husband/child of a surrogate because it does affect the whole family. I suppose I should start taking progression shots of my belly as it grows. I am really interested to see if I will carry any differently since a lot of people say boy and girl bellies look different. I am so little, I don't think my body has much of an option of how to carry the baby/babies lol. 

Thanks again every one for your sticky vibes and baby dust, prayers and well wishes. Hopefully Tori and Mikie can close that IVF chapter for good and we can move on to the OB and pregnancy chapter. I know it won't feel like it on some nights, but these next 8 months are going to fly by. I will be roughly 16 wks pregnant at the benefit in August, which will be great to have a belly at that time. Lets all continue to think positively as we move forward! So far all the positive thinking has worked! Grow, baby/babies, Grow!