Sticks

From top to bottom is the proof that this little one is sticking around for a while.  I started testing on 2dpt5dt but of course didn't get a positive til later.  The top is 4dpt and then so on until 18dpt and the line is finally darker then the control line.  It makes me so happy for the California's!!  We have our first ultrasound in a couple weeks and they can't wait to see their little pea or two!  Come on, let the time pass by quickly!

5 weeks along

 My little one took these and she did her best job being my photographer!

Weight Gain: 1 lb weigh gain.  I didn't gain anything from 

Cravings: Orange Chicken, Chocolate, Cranberry Chicken

Aversions: Hamburger Meat, Bananas, Yogurt

Symptoms: Weight Gain, Hunger Pains, Headaches, Nausea all day and every day, Heat flashes, Sore behind from shots, and Bloated, Sore Boobies, Tired, Emotional

What I miss: Maybe not having the constant sick and yuck feeling.  Every once in a while that feeling goes away and it is a breath of fresh air but then it comes back.

your baby's the size of an appleseed!

Your embryo is now measurable -- though at week five, it's a wee .13 inches -- and she's gearing up for much more growth. In fact, in the next week, she'll almost double in size. Grow baby grow!

your baby at 5 weeks

• The embryo doesn't look like much more than a tadpole right now, but at five weeks, she's already starting to form major organs (heart, stomach, liver, kidney) and systems (digestive, circulatory, nervous)

Man I feel like a huge complainer after that.  I really am grateful to be apart of this amazing process and hopefully my Intended Parents are just reassured that their little pea is sticking around.

This is all new to me because with my pregnancy with my daughter I can name on ONE hand the amounts of time I felt like hell.  I knew there would be morning sickness but not the day after transfer and not every single day.  This is going to get used to so please bare with me if I am complaining.  It definitely is not that I am not so excited to be doing this or proud of what is going on but I am just not used to it.  I know the extra progesterone I am shooting in my body probably is duplicating the symptoms ten fold.  This just didn't happen til a little later in my first trimester!

I am tired just from having a toddler and I didn't think it would get much worse.  Boy, was I wrong!  I can be in bed at 8:30 pm which does happen and sleep til 7 am the next morning.  I am good for a couple hours and then I'm dragging again.  My IM gave me these Folic Acid, Vitamin B6 and B12 tablet and I thought for sure that pill would boost my energy.  I will just say I'm still waiting for that boost of energy!  Maybe in the 2nd trimester! ha

Official Beta

Tuesday I have my levels checked per the fertility doctors orders this go around.  I was surprised at how much higher they were then what I thought they'd be.  We figured if it doubled like it should that they would about 80-90 on Tuesday and then double like normal.  They have this myth that if you are carrying twins that it will triple.  I have always felt like I would carry twins but when the "unofficial" beta came back and it only doubled I started to think there was just one pea in my pod!

Tuesday my level was a 143 and so I got a little shock by that.  Was NOT expecting that number.  Not getting my hopes though.  Then Thursday I had my second official beta check and it was at 426.  It had basically tripled.

Either this pea is really strong or there are two peas in my pod!!  We are having an ultrasound on September 7th or 8th and will know more then!

4 weeks...36 to go

I'm going to document this entire process like I did with my little one and it has proved to be different already.

So we transferred August 10 with a 5 day embryo and so I was officially 4 weeks along on August 19!  I have been having nausea and morning sickness, more like all day sickness since the 11th.  At first I thought I was crazy for thinking I could be feeling sick this soon in the game but it is possible people.  It has been interesting because I definitely don't remember getting nausea or sick til I was almost 6-8 weeks along with my baby.

I have been pretty tired!  I mean to the point I'm in bed by the time the little one goes to bed at 8:30pm.  I definitely remember that happening much later.

I have had some aversions to fruit, or maybe it is just the after taste of the fruit.  Whatever it is it didn't settle well and made me pretty miserable!

I am still taking progesterone and estrogen shots and my behind is pretty sore.  I have knots and bruises so badly and I cry and cringe every time I have to stick myself.

I have been asked by a very few people how I have been feeling emotionally about all of this since it isn't my baby.  I have to say that because I have always known it is going to be their biological baby and that it has none of my biology it has been so different.  It is more of a feeling of I am excited for my best friend to have a baby.  When I got pregnant with my baby girl I was excited for me and for the planning and everything that went with it.  This time I know it is for someone else and I am so excited for them.  It was like okay I have a positive pee stick and was excited for them to find out the news.  I will be excited for each part of the pregnancy but in a different way.  It will be excitement for my best friend kind of way!

Unofficial Beta

Since I work for a blood lab I had always decided that I would get my blood drawn just for our own amusement.  I am glad that I did.  It gave us all a little peace of mind too!  The day I got a positive pregnancy stick I got my first beta done to check my HCG levels.  They generally have you do it every two days to make sure that the number is doubling like it needs to be.  If it isn't then it can mean all sorts of things.

On Thursday my first beta came back and it was a 13.  That means that the hormone level at 13 can be detected on a First Response pregnancy test and on a cheap dollar store one.

On Saturday I got my results back and they were 27.40 which means they at least doubled!  We were excited that things were looking good so far.  We are aware that anything can happen since it is so early at this point in the pregnancy.

Holy freaking YEAH!!!

Last night I took it easy and had a great night with my bugs a boo!  We went to the movie and enjoyed the movie theatre all to our self and got Smart Cookie!  So fun!!

Thursday morning I really wasn't going to POAS but I just thought why not.  I honestly thought it was going to be negative again.  I dipped it and set it on the top of the toilet and then continued to get ready for the day.  When I looked a few minutes later I was SHOCKED!!  I started screaming and jumping up and down!  It was a positive!!!  I was freaking out with excitement, it worked!!  It actually freaking worked and I was carrying for this amazing couple!

I am an hour ahead of my IPs and so I called them and probably startled my IM a bit.  Our conversation went something like this....

Mrs. California: Is everything okay?

Me: Yes, I am your 4th child calling to say good morning!!

Mrs. California: What??

Me: You are going to be a mommy again!

Seriously I wish I could have been in person when I told her but I could tell from her voice how excited she was and probably shocked that there last hope had worked!!  I called before her hubby left for work so they got to find out together that they were having another baby!  I talked to their youngest Ms. Diva and she is pretty excited to be a big sister, I don't know if she knows exactly what that entails yet. :)

Since I work at a lab I went ahead and had my blood drawn to just check to see if my numbers would double or not.  Those results for later!

Here is to having a little pea in my pod now!!

 Home test!!

 We drew my blood and took the serum from the draw and put it on to see if I'd get a positive from my blood already and sure enough it was a light line with in a minute!!

POAS.....

Once I left California I made it a goal to wait until at least 5 days post transfer to start testing to see if I would get a positive.  I just couldn't wait that long though and although I knew they would be negative so early I started testing Monday morning.  I thought why not and I knew it would be negative, but it is the excitement of waiting for a positive.

I thought it is too soon so I won't get my hopes up if it is negative until day 6.  Monday I got a negative and I was okay.  I felt like it's fine there is still plenty of time.  Tuesday a negative and I was still feeling confident that it would be positive.  I tested Wednesday and I swear there was a light, light, light line but there just wasn't.  I was a little disappointed about it.  I just wanted it to be positive so badly and want this to work for my couple so badly.  I want them to be able to add to their family.

I told everyone that I was going to wait until Friday or Saturday to test because I couldn't handle another negative.  So we wait.....