Taking a risk :)

I am taking a little bit of a risk here today, but I have made the choice when I started this blog to be true and honest with our treatments and tests. With that being said, we received a positive blood test yesterday afternoon.

Most people wouldn't even dare come public with this news so early (4 weeks) but, like I said before, I made this choice to go public with our journey and why stop now. I wish I could say we are jumping for joy and planning our future, but we know all too well that doing too much right now may not be the best thing. Our plan is to take it day by day and live in the moment.

I knew something was up this last week, because possessed by demons may not even come close to how my husband would describe me. I was snappy, exhausted, crying on a whim, heartburn like crazy and just plain crazy mean. The doctor called to let us know the good news and I right away asked for my Beta number. This number to me is very important because the higher the number on 14 dpo (days post ovulation) could give me an idea if we may be carrying multiples again. The nurse told us it was a 222 and my heart just dropped. This was slightly higher than the boys beta number last time. By slightly I mean a difference of 14. This does not mean I am having multiples. Depending on when implantation occured during the 2weeks after the IUI it could  be higher or lower. So for instance if implantation started earlier it would be higher if implantation was later it would be a lower. Does that make sense?? Ok, good :) For those who are curious: http://www.betabase.info/

Our next step is to go back on Monday and have more blood drawn to see if this Beta number is rising. Beta numbers should double every few days. If I go back on Monday and the number is the same, lower or slightly higher there may be an issue. You want this number to be significantly higher. Once the number has doubled we will then plan our first ultrasound which would be 2 weeks later. At that time we will hope to see a heartbeat :).  We have also decided to not get too excited until we see a heartbeat. Until than I am only slightly pregnant :).

I called my new high risk doctor and after receiving confirmation that we are indeed slightly :) pregnant I will go in today to learn how to do the Lovenox injections. This will be a shot in the stomach every day up until I believe 35 weeks. If you have read my blog prior the Lovenox injections are because I tested positive for Thrombophilia/MTHFR genetic mutation. I am definitely more relaxed to know that early intervention and strong monitoring is key in our situation. If all goes well we are looking at a Valentines Day baby :).

If we are lucky I will not have to write about our infertility journey and dealing with loss anymore, but the months ahead and how we are doing. Thank you all again for your dedication to us and your constant prayers. We greatly appreciate everything and will welcome continued thoughts and prayers!

Shannon and Mike