ivf - day 60 - pregnancy test

Let me start this post by saying I'm so thankful for this news. I feel lots of things: blessed, surprised, relieved, excited, nervous, happy....and I could add another 50 adjectives to this list, I'm sure.

Greg and I knew going into this that it could go either way. Actually we were coming home from church Wednesday night and I looked at Greg and said, "Do you think I'm pregnant?"

He said, "What do you think?"

I said very seriously, "Well it could go either way."

Why yes it could April. Very profound!!!! I'll blame that on pregnancy brain, too.

But seriously, it really could have gone either way. The stats weren't as much in our favor this time. What you might not know is that every IVF clinic has to report their stats to the government and publicly, which usually means on their website. These stats are published by age group, they show pregnancies, births, singles, twins, triplets. They show lots of criteria. And, if you're considering IVF, you definitely need to investigate every clinic you can (within reason).

In our age group, about 55% become pregnant and 53% carry to term. So, basically our chances of getting pregnant were 50/50. Like I said, it could go either way :)

But, when you look at embryo quality, you can further delineate who has a better chance of pregnancy. Our first round of IVF in 2009, we were sitting at about 70% likelihood, but this time, we were closer to 40%.

I was scared, nervous, I couldn't sleep.

I can't even begin to explain the thoughts that went through my head during the 9-day waiting period. Lots of talk about what to do with our frozen embryo in the case this round didn't pan out. On that same car ride, Greg even brought up selling his car and being a "one-car-family." But, that really would only net us about $3000, so that wasn't the best idea. And, he can't blame that on pregnancy brain.

Anyway, there's a point of no return with IVF and pursuing infertility. It's a fine line and one we didn't want to cross, but found ourselves on the verge of making a decision we didn't want to make.

So far, we're pregnant and focused on that. No, we're not out of the woods.

My beta today was 157, which tests for HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin). It needed to be above 50, so we're on our way.

I'll be checked again on Monday and Wednesday to make sure it's multiplying like it should, which would indicate a normal pregnancy. I'll continue the progesterone for several more weeks, provided the pregnancy continues.

Just because I'm pregnant, doesn't mean I'm done talking IVF. I plan to discuss some of the ethics next week (hoping not to stir up too much controversy) and anything else that comes to mind. Please let me know if you have any questions. I'd be happy to devote a post entirely to questions as well. I'm open to anything, which you should know by now. If you don't feel comfortable leaving a question in the comments section, feel free to email me april@studiocalico.com

Thanks so much for all your prayers, well-wishes, support, following my story. It means so much to know there are others out there who are interested in our struggle and were hoping for a wonderful outcome along with us. I can't say enough about the support you've shown.