And all through the house, this girl was ready to go to bed at 4:30 because she’s so over this waiting game. Oh my gooood.
Over it. Over it. Over it. It’s anyone’s game at this stage. I think. I’m not as confident as I was before because I’ve had some time to mull over a negative result. Since I’ve been there before I kind of know what to expect so I’m just reliving those feelings and getting myself ready. I simply can’t wrap my mind around being pregnant. It’s strange. I keep thinking about hearing a positive beta. Or writing the words in text or my next post but my brain goes blank. I’d rather not think about it. Thinking about a negative beta just makes more sense. I guess because I’ve been there I think I’m just scared. Scared of the unknown I guess.
It’s going to be a long day but as soon as it’s time to clock out, I think I’m going to have a pretty awesome weekend regardless of the outcome. I’m quite proud of how plans turned out. The clinic opens at 6:30 and I’m going to be there bright and early. I’ll have them leave a voicemail and I’ll wait for N to come home to listen. He just walked in so it’ll probably be around this time tomorrow. Then we have dinner plans with friends. We haven’t seen them in a while so I’m really looking forward to it. Of course it’s a Groupon dinner so that’s even better.
Saturday we’re going to see Bill Burr. I can’t tell you how excited I am about this. I’m crawling out of my skin. I’m going to go ahead and say I’m more excited for Bill than I am for the Beta call. Bill won’t disappoint. Since it’s over an hour’s drive to go see him we decided to stay over so that’s another score!! And we’re going to eat out again. Seriously, any weekend where I get to eat out more than once is a great weekend in my book.
I realise that if it’s a positive beta they’ll want to do another draw on Sunday and we won’t be home then. I’ll just ask them to move it Monday. It might upset grumpy nurse but I’m okay with a Monday draw.
And that’s all I have for you today. Thank you everyone for keeping me sane during this TWW. Thanks for coming along for the ride. We’ve done all we can. This round was a lot smoother and a lot calmer and for that I’m grateful at least.
Cheers to our little hatchling! Good luck little baby. Mama’s proud of you either way.
So no one cared that I didn’t drink on Saturday :). To be fair I only knew 2 out of the 5 of us there so why would anyone question why I wasn’t drinking? I spent most of the night sipping on water and staring longingly at a beautiful block of blue cheese. It was actually a fun night considering that the host and I were the only 2 non-moms (we both have 3 cats each, that’s why I love her). I really enjoyed listening to them tell funny stories about their kids. Kids are great. I should try to have some… Oh wait.
Sunday passed without any excitement. I was a bit naughty and painted 2 doors outside. I figured what could be more ventilated than outside right? Of course if we get a negative I’ll of course blame the painting but at least I’ll have some pretty painted doors to look at and wipe my tears on.
Yesterday I had a cleaning at the dentist. I told gave her the list of medication I’m on. She asked why the aspirin and I explained about the IVF and she just smiled the smile of one who didn’t know what to say. She then mentioned x-rays and I asked if it was okay to get x-rays if there’s a possibility thaaat, you know, IVF. She got the hint but I physically couldn’t say the word pregnant. Strange. Anyway, the cleaning hurt more than I was used to and so much blood. Possibly because of the aspirin, but I survived. I usually enjoy going to the dentist but she hurt me. The good news is that the dentist signed off on my braces and faxed over the papers to the Orthodontist. All I need now is a down payment and I can go ahead and make my appointment to get my braces! I can’t wait!!!
Today we’re 7dp6dt. Still no symptoms but I’m feeling more positive than negative. I was actually telling my friends today that I need to prepare myself for the possibility that this could be negative. It’s going to suck to start from scratch but we have 5 more rounds. A negative beta is going to break me a little more but it won’t be the end. I’ve also decided to tell my boss that we’re doing IVF if it comes back negative. It feels like the right thing to do.
THREE MORE SLEEPS!! I’m in bed already. Hubs is playing online video games with some friends and I have a hot date with Hugh the Hand… No! It’s a character in the book I’m reading… Really, it is!
I’ve mentioned before how superstitious I am. It’s not something I’m proud of but if I could stop I would. I also try to look for signs in everything. I was trying for this cycle to not let that happen and I’ll certainly feel sheepish if this doesn’t work, despite my best non-fact-based efforts.
First, if it wasn’t frowned upon to do so, I would be wearing the same clothes I wore to the transfer for the whole tww. Underwear included. Thankfully I’m not able to do that. I have, however, not removed my wedding ring. I usually take it off as soon as I walk in the house and sometimes I won’t wear it for days, much to N’s chagrin. But I feel like it’s bringing me luck right now. My valentine’s day earrings too, I have 10 holes in my ears from previous piercings but don’t wear earrings really. I feel like the earrings are good luck too, just like my ladybird/bug earrings from last transfer. The last thing I’m having trouble removing is my hospital bracelet from the clinic. That’s a weird one.
Back in the day when we went to events or places that required wrist bands, my cousin and I would see who could keep their wrist bands on the longest. Since she doesn’t read this, I’m going to go ahead and say that I always won but it would be weeks long battles. I am a pro at keeping wrist bands on and safe from too much water damage. I think it’s because of that that I feel like wrist bands are good luck or at least hold some sort of meaning. Every procedure I’ve had at this clinic, I’ve kept the wrist bands on until I got the results. You’d be amazed at how well they hold up in water, even if the writing washes off. I’ve also held on to most of the wrist bands. I’ll have to make an IVF memory book when this is all over.
The words on the band are all but completely gone and I’ll have to keep wearing long sleeves so as not to invite questions but every time I pull my sleeves up I see it peeping out and I immediately think of our embryo hopefully snuggling up nicely and it makes me smile.
Obviously wearing a wrist band from your transfer has no bearing on wether you’ll end up pregnant or not. Obviously. But that’s the nature of a superstition, right? I know I sound like a crazy person right now, but I’m comforted by the band. And I need as much comfort as I can get for these next 8 days.
Yesterday was a good day. I had the day off so spent most of the morning Skyping with my parents. We spoke for at least 2 hours. They’re so cute. The told me that they fasted the entire day on transfer day and lit candles. They were electric so that they wouldn’t have to worry about burning the house down.
At one point I moved from the bed to the couch and they yelled at me to not move and to lay down with my feet elevated. I was given a lecture on what’s going on in my body right now and how self-care is important. They also told me about the importance of thinking of a happy place. A place I can go to in my mind to find calm.
It was really lovely talking to them. I was sad to end it but Mum had to go to church and Dad had some tv watching to do I think.
I am trying to do a social media break. I find that I’m a little too addicted to grabbing my phone every few minutes and I really should have just stayed off. I actually need to delete these apps for the next 2 weeks I think. Just to try and focus on other things. I really wanted to finish my book but I only read about 2 chapters yesterday. Pathetic. Anyway, I did stumble on a very surprising FB pregnancy announcement in my IVF group. A surprise natural pregnancy after ivf baby. Those are fun, huh. A little jealousy mixed in with overwhelming happiness?
After that I started feeling antsy and ended up Googling what should be happening at each stage after transfer (see below). I wasn’t feeling any twinges or anything. I feel pulling on my left side if I sit/lie still for too long but that’s it. Nothing else. Today, I noticed a very teeny tiny little bit of brown discharge and a tiny bit of heartburn but nothing else. Of course it’s too early and I’m trying my best to not symptom spot but it’s probably going to be an exercise in futility.
When I couldn’t stand laying down any longer I decided to meal prep for the rest of the week. I definitely found my calm doing that. So much so that I’ve decided to cook as often as I can for the next 8 days until beta to keep my mind occupied. I did the menu at work (I know I spoke about Yumprint before but if you want to meal plan like a boss, this is the site to use). Trying to keep it warm and comforting. It’s only a few meals. Enough for leftovers and lunch. I’m not big on breakfast during the week and N usually just has a yogurt with fruit. I do big breakfasts on Saturdays and Sundays.
So I’ll leave it there for today. Here’s our menu. Most of the recipes are off pinterest. I’m not sure if it’s cool to post a recipe that isn’t yours but I’ll attach links to the sources if anyone is interested.
Blastocysts are graded on the basis of expansion/size, ICM (inner cell mass) and Trophectoderm (TE) and recorded by a string of FOUR letters. First two letters refer to the expansion/size of the blastocyst and the following two letters denote the quality of ICM and TE respectively.
Expansion:
Early Blastocyst (<50% cavity)=EB
Expanded Blastocyst (>50% cavity)=XB
Hatching Blastocyst=HB
ICM:
Based on the cohesiveness and the size, the ICM is (subjectively) graded as A (GOOD), B (FAIR) or C (POOR).
TE:
Depending on the number and microscopic morphology of cells in the trophectoderm layer, it is graded as A (GOOD), B (FAIR) or C (POOR).
As you can imagine I’ve been googling EBBB success rates and scrutinizing the picture they gave us. I’m just not sure. And another thing that’s worrying me is that when they thawed it it didn’t grow further. It didn’t degrade which is fantastic but it didn’t progress either.
On the other hand I have a few symptoms, I think. I have a constant cramp in my lower abdomen. I don’t know if this is good or bad. It’s not painful just constant. It feels like ovulation cramp just all the time but it goes away when I walk around. And every now and then I feel a tiny stab in my lower abdomen too. This is the only thing giving me hope as I’ve read about this happening.
Now I’m dealing with guilt for not having faith, despair because I don’t think this is it, hope because I’m crampy. I heard the tww was a rollercoaster but my goodness.
1 day down… 9 days to go. fml.
CHAPTER TWO:
I woke up in complete despair. I’m very fragile and husband mentioned that the clinic took $145 out of our account without notifying us. This was not what I wanted to hear. I woke up with no more cramps so that was already messing with me.
I had a nightmare last night. I don’t remember much but it involved my niece and nephew getting up out of bed and running to the door screaming. I don’t know why or what from but I could sense the fear and it stayed with me after I woke up. I had to pee and that felt a little reassuring because I don’t generally have to pee in the middle of the night and I didn’t have anything to drink too late last night.
But the drive to work was a nightmare. I was annoyed with this money story and just not feeling very positive about anything. It was very overwhelming and I almost cried.
I remember feeling like this when they told us we only had 2 embryos to test. It was a dark time. But I crawled my way out of it and was in a very good place. I was at peace with either outcome and I need to get there. I have to try and enjoy where I am right now.
I’m actually IM’ing a friend from back home about my dark mood and he’s helping a little. I’m feeling way better than I did this morning. To help matters the $145 wasn’t the clinic it was actually the double acupuncture appointment on Tuesday :). So I’m definitely better in that regard.
Although the constant cramp is gone and I’m a lot less bloated today, I’m still feeling very small tiny blips in my lower abdomen and I’ve had subtle heartburn since I had some chicken salad a few hours ago. The first time I’m enjoying heartburn.
In my head I’m singing the song Phoebe sang to the fetuses the day she got implanted with 5 embryos in that one episode of Friends! I love how she got implanted and got a positive test that very same day!! Ah if only.
CHAPTER THREE:
I am 4dp5dt.
The crazy fog has lifted. I think the universe was looking out for me. On Wednesday, in the midst of my funk, 3 bloggers made posts that spoke to me directly and really helped me to get a grip. A big thank you to girl4182 for this post, chels819 for this post, JENNIE for this post (and Caroline for the quote) and of course my husband for reminding me to remain positive. Each of you said something I absolutely needed to hear so really really thank you.
My next thank you is obviously to Shonda Rhimes (lol). Without giving too much away, Amelia has to a surgery but before she goes in she does a superhero pose… The theory is that if you stand in a superhero pose for about 2 minutes while breathing deeply and standing tall with your chest out, you will feel more confident and positive and your mood elevates… I googled it. It’s a real thing. So, yes, I dragged my ass off to the bathroom because I didn’t want to look like a fool in front of my colleagues and I stood in superhero pose for 2 minutes.
Did it help? A little. But only because I ended up chuckling at myself. I felt a little silly but I did feel better after.
My final thank you goes out to Earth Wind and Fire. Because how can you be in despair when listening to Earth Wind and Fire?
Yesterday at 3dpt I still didn’t have any symptoms but I was okay. I was thinking about where I was. 3dpt was further than I’d ever been in this journey and that in itself is amazing! I never thought I’d be here. One day at a time.
And now I’m here! 4dpt! I have a constant cramp on my left side since I woke up and while it’s not there anymore, my boobs felt heavy and my nipples were tingly. I keep jiggling my boobs to test but it’s definitely gone. I hope I’m not the only one out there jiggling her boobs during the tww :). The cramp is there though. There’s a part of me that’s worried about it being ectopic but I really can’t worry about that now. One stressor at a time please.
Anyway, This time last week I was saying this time next I’ll possibly be 3dpt and now I can say this time next week I’ll possibly be… argh, I can’t even write it. Damn you superstitions!
Hope everyone is doing well. Here’s some Earth Wind and Fire. Play this while doing the superhero pose if you’re feeling down. 🙂
CHAPTER FOUR:
The two week wait sucks
CHAPTER FIVE:
I almost tested this morning but I think the universe was looking out for me because I couldn’t find the bag of wondfo’s I bought just for this reason! Picture me with a full bladder running and dancing around the house this morning looking for them. It was pretty funny. I’m still not sure if I should test or not. N gave the thumbs up but I don’t think I’m mentally prepared for a BFN.
I still have no idea if this has worked or not. My symptoms are barely worth mentioning. It’s like my body is teasing me with symptoms. And I’m only quasi-moody. Yesterday I had a nagging cramp on my right side for solid 6 hours. I had to practically scootch all the way down in my seat to get comfortable then on the drive home my left butt cheek went numb. And then today, nothing. WTH!
In the meantime I’ve just been rubbing my belly and talking to my kid and kissing the picture of the embryo everyday.
8 days down… 2 more to go.
CHAPTER 6
9dp5dt and I was pregnant for a day.
I shouldn’t have tested. I’ll never do that again. Yesterday I found a test in my back pack from last year. I forgot I had it. The expiration date was 2016 so I thought it would be okay. That was my first mistake. On my way home I bought 2 dollar tree tests. That was my second mistake. When I walked in I just told N we’re doing this. I squeezed out a 7:30pm pee on the old test and immediately got a faint positive. I had never seen a positive in my life. We didn’t talk about it much. Just enjoyed the rest of the evening in silent elation. I couldn’t stop looking at the stick. I kept checking it every half hour just to make sure I wasn’t seeing things but there it was. We watched Tosh.O and the Empire finale (how good is this show, man! My new favourite) and half of Family Guy. Then I attempted to go to sleep. I obviously tossed and turned for hours. I was over the moon but still scared. I didn’t want to get too excited but I couldn’t wait for this morning’s test. Just to put me at ease.
I did not expect the glaring negative that appeared this morning. Not even a hint a line. Nothing. So much nothing. I’ve never hated an inanimate object so much. Confusion. Anger. Despair. Why did I test? What’s going on? a chemical pregnancy? A false positive on the other test? I’ll never know. I know false negatives are few an far between so I’ve given up hope. I still have a pain on my lower left side but it’s not as bad as the pain in my heart right now.
N tried to reassure me but I’m a little inconsolable right now. Also, we kind of knew this was a long shot and that we should try to take this round as a trial round but how can I not be a little distraught?
Infertility sucks my friends. But onward and upward. At least I can drink again.
Hi Baby!
Bye Baby…
CHAPTER SIX:
Well, there it is… The dreaded voicemail… Waiting until I get home so N can listen to it. I can’t bear it.
Tales of a 30 Year Old Nothing 