JANUARY 2009 BABIES

[stephanienj]

Hi ladies! I'm so happy to have found this board! According to the preganancy calculator I would be due on January 1st, and would be 5 weeks pregnant. I am so totally confused about that and was hoping someone could make sense of it for me. My retrieval was April 11th, and I had a 5 day transfer. How could I be 5 weeks pregnant if it's only May 2nd? That makes no sense. I got to the doctor on Monday for my first ultrasound, so I'm sure they will give me a due date when I go, but i've been trying to figure this out.

[Mom2BeAt33]

Hi to all,

This is my first post on any board, but I've been reading them for months now. I've felt like a bit of a voyeur but the reasurance, information and sense of community has really helped me not feel so alone and afraid.

anyway... thank you.

For Stephanienj,

My retreival was April 10th and I had two blasts transfered back on the 15th. According to all the calculators and my nurse I'm due 1/1/09, making me 5 weeks pregnant.

The Problem: All of the Pregnancy Calanders and even the little "cheat disk/donut/dodad" the nurses use, calculate your first week as starting with the "1st day of your last menstrual cycle". If you were like me, you were probably on BC or Lupron for a while and didn't actually menstruate 14 days before your retrieval, but that is the day they are counting from. It would have been March 27th or 28th for both of us.

I have, what they are calling my "6th week" ultrasound on May 7th. My betas and progesterons are really high so they will be, as the nurse put it "counting heads".

I hope this helps

ps: The weeks are counted Saturday to Saturday so our week 2 started on the 5th of April and, week 6 will begin tomorrow May 3rd.

[stephanienj]

Thanks Mom2BeAt33! So Let me see if I am getting this...We are actually more pregnant than actualy days/weeks since the retrieval? So I am 5 weeks pregnant right now, even though I haven't actaully been pregnant for 5 weeks...hummm. That's crazy. How high were your HCG levels, Mom2BeAt33?

[Mom2BeAt33]

Stephanienj,

The numbers:

13 days post 5 day transfer: beta hCG 1967.5 prog 262
15 days post 5 day transfer: beta hCG 3761 prog 311

I was taking 1cc PIO shot every day from the Transfer on untill they got the Prog results. They told me to stop the PIO immediately, they said that the progesterone levels should be between 50 - 60; so I had well over 5 x the necessary amount. By the way progesterone relaxes smooth muscle tissue in your body including the gastrointestinal tract, which is the fancy way of saying that when you have too much everything from "one end to the other" comes to a screeching halt- very uncomfortable and a little embarrassing.

My nurse said that she has seen singletons with numbers this high, but not many. and that if it were just the hCG she wouldn't have said anything but the fact that my Prog kept rising despite stopping the shots, she wanted me to be prepared for seeing 2 on ultrasound. She also warned me not to get to attached to the idea of twins as there is a 10% to 30% chance one will fade before 12weeks.

So that's my long story... thanks for listening

LC

[nicaliw]

Cool, I forgot to check in on this thread for a few days and its great to see a few more January mommies-to-be!

Momtobat33....welcome. WOW, your numbers are really high!!!!!! You HAVE to be having twins. How exciting!

im4clowns.....Hi and congratulations! How did the 2nd beta go? forgive my ignorance but what does the abbreviation TS mean?

Hey Becca! Whats new? How are you feeling?

Hi, JesJes.....congrats! My first baby was due Jan 6th 2001, he was actually born December 24th 2000! Maybe you'll have a Chrismas baby too.

Stephanienj...welsom and congrats! A new years day due date! Very cool. Hmmm, if you deliver one day early you can claim the baby(ies) on your taxes for this year....LOL.

Well, not much new on me, I'm 4 weeks and 6 days. That sounds so lame....ha ha. I'm a little nervous this time around because I spotted at 5 weeks and miscarried and 5 week 3 days last time. I feel different this time, though, and my numbers are better. Fingers crossed. I go back to work tomorrow, too, which I'm definitely ready for, the time goes so slowly sitting around at home every day. Do you all work or stay at home?? Are any of you concerned about the stress of work having an impact on your pregnancy? My friend at work is having twins and us twenty-something weeks and just cut down to 2 12 hour days a week instead of 3. My job can be quite physical and fast pace. I'm a labor and delivey nurse, so I'm often holding up heavy legs (numb from epidural) and taking apart the bed ready for delivery or rushing someone back to the OR for an emergency c-section. Its going to be tough to try to take it easy and avoid these things.

Part of me really wants twins but another part of me thinks I'll end up off work so early if I'm carrying twins. Carrying my son put me off work at 26 weeks with early labor.....yuk. Bed rest is no fun.

OK, so I rambled way too much......its nice to meet all you lovely ladies! Can't wait to share this journey wth you all.

[Mom2BeAt33]

nicaliw,

I Know Really - really high, I've been searching message boards for 3 days now looking for anybody with numbers like mine but no luck so far.

What kind of symptoms, if any, are you having?

They think I had a mild/moderate case of OHSS and then with the high Prog - I don't know which symptoms are related to what issue.

? Am I feeling OHSS - High Prog levels - or Pregnant ?

[w8ingformiracles]

Hi everyone,

Another successful IVF story here. My beta was 874 so I thought that was high, I don't think so anymore.

We are going in on the 7th, I am crossing my fingers for 2 but will be very excited with one healthy baby.

[nicaliw]

momtobe.....as far as symptoms go I'd have to say the biggest thing is just being very emotional. I cry at anything with any slight amount of sentiment on TV or in real life. And my boobs are sore and I pee a lot. Not much more than that has changed yet. I wouldn't mind a bit of morning sickness to give me some more reassurance.......just a little bit though.

w8ting.......you number is high too.....you could be having more than one. Geez, I actually ploted mine out on a site on the internet and it came back with a high chance of multiples and mine were lower than any of yours.

oooo, momtobe, maybe your split and you're having triplets or quads???????

[Mom2BeAt33]

nicaliw....What is this "plotting" site you mentioned? Do you remember the address?

I've been emotional - not just crying though - I jump from crying to laughing to pissed to frustration without blinking. I think my DH is getting whiplash.

I'm up a cup size already (and they hurt) but I think that's the Prog.

No morning sickness - which is weird considering "those numbers", I'm like you, I'd like the reassurance but am sure I'm going to regret wishing for it.

I've been reading a lot of "multiples" message boards - and women who started with less than half my numbers have ended up with Triplets. That's probably why everyone keeps reiterating that you can't tell anything by just the hCG levels - got to wait for that US.

w8ing... My first US is on the 7th as well. (around 10 am so hopefully I'll be able to update everyone before noon )

[nicaliw]

Mom2be.....try this one, this is the one I have flagged....
http://babymed.com/tools/pregnancy/hcg/
There's another site called betabase but its not working any more, not sure if the problem is temporary.

I'm envious you 2 get your scans a whole week before me. Mine is May 14th. I'll be 6 and a half weeks, how many weeks will you 2 be for your scans??

[stephanienj]

LOL...all this waiting! First for the transfer, then for the yes/no call and now for the ultrasound. I go on Monday the 5th! Can't wait.

[stephanienj]

nicaliw- You mentioned stress/working. I have been working through clomid, and the first IVF attempt. My last day was the day before I started my 2nd try at IVF. I was so stressed out at my job that I thought maybe it was a factor. I'm in sales, and it was tought to do my job right, etc so I asked me doctor and he said that it actaully has nothing to do with your odds of getting pregnant thru IVF since you are monitored so closely and given hormones that normally would be affected by stress. He said he'd be more concerned afterwards, if I was to get pregnant, because stress can increase odds of MC. Anyway, I gave my notice anyway, and it worked this time, with lower quality, smaller eggs, so go figure.

[nicaliw]

Well, I went back to work and worked Saturday and Sunday. Sunday was quite stressful so hopefully I'm not doomed now because I had to go to work.

[w8ingformiracles]

Hi All,

Nicali: Hopefully working won’t affect you. My job is not stressful, but getting up every morning and coming here is. I think we will be ok in that regard. I am crossing my fingers for it anyhow.

Mom2be: Mine are huge too. I am wearing a sports bra right now. So much more comfy than mine that don’t fit. I am looking forward to seeing what our doctor’s say on Wednesday. The days could not be any longer I swear.

Stephanie: The waiting is just a killer. It is hard not to stress out about it.

As for me, just checking in and saying hello. Pretty uneventful weekend. No M/S yet, but tired. Soooo tired. I need to get some stuff done around the house. Working isn't that fun right now. By the time I get home I do not want to do anything.

I am really crossing my fingers for 2 because I can't really afford IVF again. I am sure that is selfish, but I just can't help it. I can't wait for Wednesday. I should be able to update by noon here too. So Wednesday will be a big day

Edit: I dunno what I did but I had a mess at the top of my post. Fixed it.

[nicaliw]

Well, maybe going back to my job was a bit ambitious. Yesterday I spotted (brown) and cramped. The spotting was barely anything but the timing and the symptoms match my previous m/c so I'm pretty scared. I went into work last night just to have one of the OB docs do an ultrasound.....we saw one gestational sac, measuring perfect for dates, a yolk sac and a feta pole but no heartbeat yet. It makes me nervous but apparently its too soon to see heartbeat, I guess its not impossible but not likely. So, I will sit tight a wait.......

How is everyone else feeling??