Our Miracle!

Hello Friends,

First, I want to thank you all for the outpouring of love we have felt from you all over the last few months. It has been a challenging journey, but the blessings have far exceeded the trials.

All our dreams have come true. WE'RE PREGNANT! Needless to say, we're over the moon. We've known about 2 weeks, but it wasn't until today that I had my first ultrasound and we were able to see the baby's heartbeat. :) Here is our sweet little peanut...

I can't describe to you the amazing feeling of having our prayers answered. 5 years of hoping and fasting and praying has finally brought us a successful pregnancy. We know there is a long way to go, and we're still rather guarded as we know things can always change, but our hearts are just so full of gratitude.

Here is a little run down of what the past few weeks have been like. The week after the embryo transfer I spent tons of time in bed and I was really enjoying not feeling deathly ill like I did when I was sick with IVF. The second week after IVF was pretty rough, though. The wait was killing us, especially me. I ended up taking a pregnancy test when I was 8 days past my transfer date, or 13 days past ovulation. It was so weird because the whole night before I kept having these dreams about taking a test and it being positive. I woke up around 4 a.m. and finally took it, and sure enough, it was positive. We were cautiously excited. My hcg blood test wasn't scheduled until the next Monday, so I knew we'd have to wait it out a few days.

The day after I took the pregnancy test, the cramping in my ovaries came back with a vengeance and I got too sick to finish one of the classes I was teaching. I called my doctor and admitted to taking the pregnancy test (they get mad if you test too early) and they had me go in to take a blood test. My first hcg level came back at a 168, way above average. We were so excited that we decided to tell our families.

Telling my parents was so fun. We waited for them to get home from this banquet fundraiser, and we hung out at their house, our cover story being that I needed help on a sewing project. I told my parents, "we got some bad news today. I went in for blood testing early, and the doctors don't think IVF worked..." I paused for a second while my mom came over to hug me..." they KNOW it worked!" My family was so confused/ excited, and my little sister Amy was freaking out. It was so fun!

Two days later we did more blood work and my numbers came back at a 397, also way above average. My fertility specialist pretty much told me congratulations and to send him pictures, which I thought was a good sign! A few days after that I started getting morning sickness. I'm honestly not that bad. I feel nauseous most of the time, except for right after I eat something, but I know a lot of women have it so much worse than I. I'm still trying to figure out what will help me fight it off the most. It's all so worth it, but not particularly fun. So far I'm putting this ginger extract into Sprite and drinking it and trying to eat little meals all the time. I also just ordered these essential oils (Peppermint, Ginger, Lemon, and Lavender) that should help. Any other suggestions?

Having our ultrasound today was so reassuring. It was a little disorienting for me, just because I've had a hunch that we would get pregnant with twins from IVF, but I felt a great sense of peace and even relief when the ultrasound technician told us we're expecting one. Seeing that little heart beat flicker was truly amazing. Life is such a miracle and it's such a miracle to me to have life growing inside of me. Every morning I wake up and can't believe this is real. My due date is November 10. All our dreams have come true!