post procedure

This morning I had blood work to check on my beta level.  As I was going through the miscarriage, in one day, my blood work in the morning showed an HCG of 11K.  When I went to the hospital because of the crazy bleeding, it was down to 8K, a significant drop in less than 12 hours!  Now, it is time to see that level drop to a "negative" pregnancy test.  Today, the level was at 159.

When Kim called to let me know, she was quick to say that while the overall level has dropped considerably, the last couple hundred take a lot longer to get down.  No problem on our end.  I think everyone is still processing the difficulty of the last several weeks.  I have a new blood work appointment scheduled for the 24th, in hopes that we get a negative result at that time.  In the meantime, should I start a period, I will let Kim know and she will get me in sooner to have labs drawn.  Who knows what my crazy body will do!

I will say that I feel a little bit of guilt to write this, but I am feeling so good.  I am back to my normal self, walking each morning and truly feeling great.  I haven't had to wear a pad in the past two days which is indicative that my body should be pretty much done passing all of the conception material.  The cytogenetics testing will take about 6 weeks to return any results so we will know more as time allows.

As far as next steps go, Kim will direct me on what to do and when, of course as Bethany/Phillip and I are ready.  It is looking like we will transfer again around Thanksgiving.  The beauty of having frozen embryos is that we do not have to sync up a timeline for a fresh transfer with an egg donor.  This means that once we are far enough down the medicine timeline, we can schedule our own date.  Because there are two embryos frozen, if for some reason one is not viable after the thaw, they will have the oportunity to thaw the other.  Keep in mind that the first time around when Bethany was trying to carry, 10 embryos were frozen and only two survived the thaw.  Everyone is very quick to say that those circumstances are an anomaly in the IVF world, but I am hoping that we will be able to transfer one.  If not, I am not sure of the next steps - whether we need to do another donor cycle or if since I am on meds we might be able to get a frozen donor egg.  I suppose time will tell.  I would hate to have to be on the expensive meds for several weeks only to realize that neither embryo is viable the day of the transfer and then have to start all over again with the donor process.

As we face the next few weeks, I get the negative test, and then start my period, more blood work will be taken.  From there, we will begin the same timeline of active birth control pills and Lupron shots, leading to oral Estrace and progesterone injections and vaginal inserts.  My lining will be checked to ensure it is thick enough and then we should be able to transfer in about 7 days.

Here's to keeping everything positive yet realistic.  We WILL get this baby, in God's time.