8 weeks pregnant

Today is the day I go for my scan. I’m 8 weeks (and 1 day) pregnant, so at this scan I’ll get to know the viability of the pregnancy. It will be good to know where we stand and if things are as they should be. It seems to have taken SO long to get to this day, so keen to get there and get it over and done with!

I am still throwing up, so the morning sickness (or all day sickness as it is for me) is not that pleasant still. In the weekend I thought it had settled down a bit, and felt it had eased off a bit, but I was back to throwing up again last night, so it obviously hasn’t just gone away. Bummer!

I keep wondering what if’s… Like what if the scan shows it’s not dated right. With IVF we know the exact date… no question. Quite a few people I know have said they had discrepancies with the dates, when the person doing the scan has said ‘you must be wrong about the dates’ because this is showing a 6 week fetus and yet they were 8 weeks for example, and then they end up miscarrying. So if the size or development isn’t in line with 8 weeks I will pretty much think the worst.

Wondering if we will see a heartbeat? Wondering if we will see one or two (probably not likely but still possible). Wondering if we should stick with our obstetrician or be referred to the public high risk clinic…

So many questions! I did go for my blood test on Friday and the HCG level was between 100,000 and 200,000 so still in the same 75 percentile so that is good. Only a couple of hours to go, and we will be at the clinic, so I guess I just need to hold out for that!

Will update once I am back from the scan…

I told my Mum I’m pregnant

Finally, I told someone I was pregnant – my Mum. It was so nice to be able to tell her. I really struggled the other day lying on the couch feeling sorry for myself, feeling sick and I just thought I need to tell someone so I don’t feel like I am so alone. Roger is great, but he can’t be around every second of the day.

My Mum sounded a bit down on the phone when I spoke to her, so it was nice to drop it into the conversation that I was pregnant and surprise her. I could hear the excitment and smile in her voice once I’d told her. She was really happy and almost in disbelief to hear the news. Her first question was ‘was it natural?’. I guess she would have felt even more comforted if it was natural, but also perhaps because she had absolutely no idea we’d been through IVF.

It was nice to share the news with her, to make her happy, and be able to explain why I been acting strange lately. So it was kind of like ‘the reveal’.

She was really shocked to hear that we had gone through a full IVF round… she had no idea. All that sneaking the drugs out of the fridge when I was staying at their house and tiptoeing into the bathroom and locking the door so I could inject myself without anyone knowing. It worked – she didn’t suspect a thing!

I’m glad I told her! It’s such early days still so I really hope she doesn’t have to share in our disappointment if things don’t go so well. One day at a time…

HCG Level risen to 852

Good news! Just had a call from the clinic to say my HCG levels have risen ‘beautifully’ and well above the average. This morning I had to get up early (despite being Saturday) and trot off to the lab to get my second blood test for the week… only 4 days since the last one.

Always a relief to get good news that things are where they should be, and it sounds promising. I haven’t been as worried waiting for this blood test as I was waiting for the first blood test though. I guess I have had all these pregnancy signs which have made me start to actually feel pregnant so that has offered me the reassurance I didn’t have before.

Anyway, my HCG levels have now risen from 161 on Tuesday to 852 today (Saturday). The nurse told me on the phone it is well above the average they compare it against on their charts. So very pleased about that. I read somewhere it is supposed to double every 2-3 days, but I guess mine has increased quicker than that.

The plan from here on is just to take it as easy as I can, and have another blood test on Friday. I get to wean myself off the progesterone pessaries (which I have been giving myself since I had the embryo transfer two and a half weeks ago). I’ll go from 6 a day down to 3 a day for the next 4-5 days and then stop altogether. So things are progressing… If all goes well I will be going for a scan at around 7 weeks to get a better picture of how things are going… but there are a few weeks to go before we are at that point.

I am most pleased with the fact that my bleeding has finally tapered off and now completely stopped. It does seem to relate to me not doing much – in fact I’ve made a conscious effort to do as little as possible. I plan to just continue to take it easy as it has certainly seemed to have made a difference. Roger has to take on quite a load because of it, but he can cope (I hope :-))

Anyway – about my early pregnancy symptoms I’ve been feeling…
1. Roger’s breath smells like dog (very sensitive sense of smell)
2. Very tired (nana naps during the day, and early nights)
3. Nauseous (mostly during the day, and especially if I am a little hungry)
4. Like I want to eat potatoes (carbs are my friend)
5. Emotional (tears come easily and at times short-tempered)