Heartbeat!!!

Our first ultrasound went GREAT this morning!  I was a ball of nerves.  I've been that way pretty much since we got the BFP.

There was ONE (it wasn't twins!) beautiful little baby with a beating heart!  It was the most wonderful sight to see and hear.  Love love love!!

We were early for the appointment and so we were scanned early, which was wonderful!  It was such a relief to know the baby was where is was suppose to be (I had had nightmares about the baby being in a tube) and that the heart was beating away!  I have a little bit of a bleed, which they will watch, but it should be fine.

We met with Dr. G after the scan.  It was so great to have him say, "What a blessing! This is a 'Praise The Lord' moment!"  He must have said, "Praise the Lord" about 10 times while we were meeting with him!  I've never had a doctor say that.  He said that he loved how 'my case' came together.  I had a bucket of health problems when I first walked into his office over 2 years ago.  A lot of those are now fixed... and now there is the blessing of a baby.  Wonderful!  I agree with Dr. G... Praise the Lord!!!

I go back next week for a second scan... then I'm off to my regular OB.  Beth is going to go with me so she can see Dr. G.  He was her Endo surgeon first... before her three kids!  I would have never found Dr. G without Beth!

This is all so crazy, I still CANNOT BELIEVE IT!!

Here is Baby H.  What a cutie!  Thanks for those continued prayers!

Yep... PRAISE THE LORD!

Not-So-Quick Quick Takes

1.  We had a few birthdays this month.  First, Daisy turned ONE!!!  Can you believe it?  We had a little party with hats and a little cake.  Spoiled much??  Yes, but she (and we!) loved it!

Happy Birthday Girl.

I think she liked her cake!

Such good sports.  :)

2.  Next up was Doug's birthday.  I do not have the best record in celebrating his birthday.

Birthday #1:  The first year we were together, I had to work a pro-life dinner on his birthday.  He spent his birthday listing to a ex-abortionist speaker talk in vivid detail about the evils of abortion procedures.  Not exactly a "Happy Birthday!" moment.  It was bad!  He left that dinner saying that was the most depressing night of his life.  Way to go Jenny!

Birthday number #2:  I was dead set on making him a cake.  See below.  It was a disaster.  Plus, the Colts lost the Super Bowl that day.

It's true... I did try.  Eeek.

Birthday #3:  I don't even remember it, so it must have been bad too!

Birthday #4:  This year, I was determined to at least make it a little better.  I think it went ok.  We had a little party with some work friends.  I didn't make a cake.  I bought cuppies and some fun St.ar Wars themed party decorations.  Yep, finally a good wife!  I also got him a special gift.  Best birthday together so far!

Yummy and not made by me!  Perfect combo!

Wild About Daddy.  Best birthday gift I ever bought!

3. I'm not so sure about Lent this year.  I usually look so forward to it and this year... I am pumped for it... but not like I should be.  My soul is ready for it... needs it... but I'm having trouble getting 'into' it.  

So, for Lent, I am:

*Giving up being negative about a few crazy liberal friends of mine that drive me up the wall.  I've decided to spend time praying for them instead of wanting to scream at them every time I see one of their FB posts.  I've 'unsubscribed' from their FB posts so I can focus on the positive, instead of the negative.  If I take all the liberal, political stuff out of it... deep down they are GREAT friends.  They need prayers and I need to be a better friend.  This might not seem like a lot... but man praying for those that drive me crazy is hard!!  One of them is someone who was so insensitive to my IF... so there are a lot of wounds there.  I will do my best.  

*We are also doing the 40 Days, 40 Bags Challenge.  This house is FULL and it is driving me NUTS!!!!

Goodbye crap... we don't want you in our house!!

* I'm also limiting my time online.  Why??  Because all my favorite people are giving up FB and pin.interst.  So... the Internet is a little boring these day!  

4. I recently joined a Catholic book club and I LOVE IT!!!!!  I *knew* this blogger and she invited me. It has been great!  The ladies are wonderful and the discussions are fantastic!  Love it!!  

5.  Speaking of the above blogger... She and I will be going on a Catholic Road Trip next month!  Whooo hoo!  We are going to the Behold Conference in Peoria, IL.  Is anyone else going????

6.  I've been feeling pretty good lately.  The second time my progesterone was tested, it was a little lower... but still great at 26!  My doc put my on some oral progesterone as a precaution and that's been fine.  I have had a few pregnancy symptoms.  Today is really the first day that I felt nauseous all day.  I didn't get sick... just felt yuck.  I was so thankful for feeling sick!  I've never been so happy to want to puke ever!!  I've had bits of nausea at night for the past week... but today seemed different.  I'm tired, but I always am.  I also have some interesting things happening with my Boobular area.  Lets just say it's not that cold out... and they are at full attention all the time.  Apparently, that is normal.  I'm taking that as a good sign!  Hehehehe! 

7.  Doug and I are anxiously awaiting my first ultrasound on Monday.  I am praying my heart out that all is well with Baby H and that we will see a beating heart!  I know I haven't posted much since my initial HCG numbers and such... but it is so very overwhelming that I can't even write anything coherent about it.  I start thinking about it and I just cry.  It's so surreal and crazy and such a miracle -- hard to put that into words!

And... Hi Prayer Buddy!  Thank you for all your prayers!!  If you are new here... WELCOME!!

I married up

Last year Doug gave me Daisy for Valentine's Day - one of the best gifts ever!

This year Doug wrote me a beautiful love letter.  Full of lots of mush and romance.  I read it and it made me cry.  What a sweetie.  Gotta love him.  

So, what do I do to show him my love?  A Valentine's day card?  A love letter?  Nope.  But I did write him a little poem - with improper grammar and all.  

Yep.  I married up.  : o)

HCG Update!

Drum roll.... HCG for today was 302!!! It's has tripled since Monday!! Whoot!!! Whoot!!!

Progesterone was 45!

Good news all around. Keep growing baby! I am overjoyed!!

My first ultrasound is not for a few weeks since Dr. G is out of the office. But all is well!

This is a major lesson in trust!! I like to have some control and I have zero control right now. I just keep praying and saying, "Jesus, I trust in You!" I have my moments of panic, but, overall, I feel more peace since (trying!) to turn it all over to Him. Every time I get up from my desk at work, I say a Hail Mary. If I start thinking of the baby, I say a prayer. Constant prayer is what is keeping me sane! I don't know where I would be without it.

Thank you all for all of your support, prayers and congratulatory comments!!! A simple "Thank You"
seems totally inadequate. You all mean the world to me and I cannot thank you enough. You are all in my prayers!!

HCG NUMBERS!!!

Just got the call from Dr. G's office! My first HCG draw was 102!!!!! It is right where it is suppose to be!! They are still waiting on the progesterone and will call me when they get the results if low at all. Next blood draw is Wednesday morning!

OH MY GOODNESS I'M REALLY PREGNANT!!!

I am floating on air and am so excited for this little life!! Grow baby, grow!!

Side story: I did my experience my first almost stalker-like behavior today. Dr. G's office does not officially open until 9am. But they are 'open' doing ultrasounds for monitored cycles and such from 7-9am.

Well, there was no way I was driving to work, waiting until 9am to call, waiting for a call back, driving back to their office to pick up the order, get the blood draw and then drive back to work!! No way! Nope! I showed up right after 7am. They didn't even act like I was crazy! Just gave my orders and said they would call ASAP!! Whoot!!

And you know why I love that office so much??? I didn't even have to tell the nurse or receptionist my name! I know I've been there a lot lately, but I didn't expect that! Or maybe I was on a potential stalker list so they were expecting me. Hehe.

Big Fat Positive!!!!

This morning was my testing date per my doctor.  If I hadn't started a new cycle by today, I was to test and then call him Monday morning.  It has been 16 days since my HCG shot and I'm P+15, CD 29.  I've NEVER had a CD 29.

I hadn't started or spotted or had any cramps yesterday... 

I dreamt about testing and tossed and turned all night...

I woke up this morning at 5AM, POAS in the dark and then hopped back into bed with Doug...

When we turned on the lights we saw this...

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!  WHOOO HOOOO!!  WHOOOT!!!  AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

Doug said he knew it all along!  I just started crying and screaming!  Praise the Lord!!  Praise the Lord!!

We went to mass and adoration.  We both cried such happy and thankful tears.  

I still cannot believe it.  I am in total shock.  I feel like I am in a crazy dream and it is not really happening.

I will go in for blood work tomorrow to confirm the results.  I am so excited and nervous and overjoyed and petrified all at the same time.  

I'm scared it is a fluke and I just have leftover HCG in my system... scared about my tubes... worried about my thyroid.  Ack!  That blood test cannot come fast enough.  I'm thinking of camping out at Dr. G's office. I'm sure he has had infertiles do that before, right??

I am just praying and rejoicing!!!  After all, no amount of worry will change anything.  It is all in God's hands!!  Please pray along with me!!  I/We need them!!

St. Gerard, pray for us!

St. Rita, pray for us!

St. Anne, pray for us!

St. Gianna, pray for us!

St. Joseph, pray for us!

Our Lady of Joy, pray for us!

St. Elizabeth, pray for us!

Blessed Pier Georgio Frassati, pray for us!

St. Theodore, pray for us!

St. Robert Ballarmine, pray for us!

St. Anthony, pray for us!

All Holy Men and Women, pray for us!

Grow Baby H, Grow!!

"THE LORD HAS DONE GREAT THINGS FOR US, AND WE ARE FILLED WITH JOY!!"  

 ~ Psalm 126:3

P.S.  We are keeping this away from face.book and the 'real world' for a little bit.  Thanks!

Doing better...

THANK YOU all so much for your wonderful comments on my last posts.  I sincerely appreciate them.  When I am feeling down, I re-read them and I feel like a weight has been lifted off of me.  I can feel the prayers and they mean the world to me.

I am holding onto some hope.  My FCP emailed me yesterday, again stating that I very well could have ovulated.  I'm going with that for now!  I'd like to think my chart had a zillion white baby stickers because I'm just not an experienced charter and I need to practice.  Maybe I was mistaking 'lubricative for smooth'??!!  That would make the chart look totally different.  Maybe.  Can't expect to have a perfect chart the first month, right???

She also gave me some resources for the GI Diet to help with PCOS.  Anyone have any good tips on resources for that??  I want to get on the PCOS diet bandwagon asap.  I'll do anything that will help.

To answer some questions raised in the comments:

* I was on Femara this month, CD's 3 -7.  I had my follicle scan on Day 12.  The three follicles were mature, so I was given a HCG trigger shot.  Less than 48 hours later, my temperature went up (I chart it on my fertility friend iPhone app - haven't broken that habit yet) and stayed up and I had some fertile mucus.  Hence, I assumed that I was part of the 95% of women that the trigger shot works at inducing ovulation.  I know I'm special, but I'm really not hoping to be part of the other 5%.  But if I am... I will deal with that later.

*Mucus was ok right after the trigger and into the next week.  I think I just expected more.  I was taking B-6, Fertile CM, Mucinex and trying to chug water like it was going out of style.  I'm now wondering if because I was paying SO MUCH attention to my mucus that maybe I had the same as previous months, it just seemed less.  My FCP did a mucus score on me and it was in the 'normal' range.  That's good at least.

*I need to remember Krissy's comment.... "Just remember that God is not limited by cervical mucus, poor sperm counts, infertile diagnoses, etc."  I keep saying that over and over to myself.  Isn't that the best?? It give me incredible amounts of hope!!!

*I will be able to do all the hormone testing, ultrasound series, blood work, etc. once meeting with the Napro doctor.  But we need a few more months of charting before I will have my initial appointment.  Probably mid to late March.  I heard this doctor speak at an infertility conference I attended last year.  I really liked him there, so if we haven't conceived in a few months, I'm hoping he will be great as a doctor in person as well.  We will see.  Dr. G has done some of this testing, but we didn't do a lot of blood work this month.

*I might ask Dr. G to do some of the extra blood work and such this month.  But I'm thinking the real work will begin once we head Napro in March.

*I am current not on Metformin.  I was when we first started this journey over two years ago.  For months.  I had to stop taking it when I had my weight loss surgery.  I need to call my bariatric surgeon to see if I can get back on it asap.

So there it stands for now.  I'm 12 days past my *possible* peak day.  This is as far as I usually get, so I'm expecting to start any day now.  No cramps yet, which is unusual for me.  I'm 14 days past that trigger shot... so I'm getting there.  I should start any day now.  Come on AF or don't come at all!  I'd prefer the not coming at all - but only if there is a baby involved.  :)

Thanks again for all the support ladies.  You are all the best!!