Current Medication List

A few people have asked what my current protocol is so I thought I would post it here.  Everything listed is to assist in maintaining the pregnancy. Levothyroxine is to regulate my thyroid.  Lovenox is a blood thinner to prevent miscarriage.  The addition of extra supplements to my prenatal is because I am a vegetarian and those vitamins I tend to run low on.

Medications:
levothyroxine 50mcg - 1 a day
estradiol 2 mg - 3 a day
oral progesterone 100mg - 3 a day
progesterone suppositories 400mg - 2 a day
lovenox - 1 a day

Supplements:
Thorne basic prenatal - 3 a day
algae omega 715mg omega 3 - 3 a day
baby aspirin - 1 a day
vitamin D 5,000 iu - 2 a day
vitamin C 500mg - 1 a day
iron 15mc - 2 a day
l-5-mthf 1,000mg - 1 a day
CoQ10 200mg - 1 a day

The good news is I received the go ahead to start weaning myself off of some the meds that I'm on because the placenta has been formed and my doctor has determined that some are no longer necessary. This is amazing news. I am so excited to say goodbye to progesterone and lovenox :)  Because I have been on these for so long, I can't just quit overnight, it would be too much of a shock to the babies, so I am doing a slow weaning process.  Here is my weaning schedule:

• Switch lovenox to every other day for 1 more week
• Switch oral progesterone to 2 a day this week, then 1 a day next week
• Switch estradiol to  2 a day this week, then 1 a day next week
• Continue progesterone suppositories 400 mg 2 a day for this  week, then 200 mg 2 a day next week,  then 200 at night only the following next week
• Continue baby aspirin for 3 weeks then discontinue

The more hurdles and obstacles we pass and overcome, the more real this pregnancy gets.  I'm still on bedrest for precautionary purposes but it's pretty exciting to make it this far and know that my body is starting to take care of the babies and I no longer need these medications.  We are still on weekly ultrasound appointments so I will have another update on Thursday.

Thanks for Reading,

HEATHER

9 Week Update

According to my pregnancy app Nurture, the babies are the size of green olives.  The main development between last week and this week is that they started to grow arms and legs.  Finally the babies are starting to look more human and less blobbish.

Baby A is on the left with the head on the left, Baby B is on the right
and was moving too much for a good photo today
so that's why it is all blurry

Today we went in for another ultrasound scan and measurements.  Bath babies measured perfect!  They both measured 9 weeks and 1 day which is right on schedule.  They both also had heart beats over 170 which is also wonderful news.  The most exciting part is that we could really see the babies moving today.  Baby A is now referred to as my little dancer.  We don't know the gender yet, but for some reason I want to refer to her as a girl.  Anyways, you could see her head shaking and her arms moving up and down.  The first time the doctor said she was wiggling, the truth is I couldn't see it.  But then later on he went back and she was moving a ton.  It was so amazing to see.  And now for Baby B, otherwise known as my yogi.  This one was head down with feet up in the air doing a headstand.  The doctor again said this one was moving but I never was able to see it.  They are starting to take on a more human form, but there is still a lot of blob action going on.

As for me, I'm doing OK.  I am on day 6 of no bleeding.  That is a huge sigh of relief.  The cramping is still there though.  Cramping is normal, except that mine only comes on when I stand up and it comes on really strong.  Because of this, he isn't comfortable letting me off bed rest, so he ordered bed rest for two more weeks and then told us to discuss it with our high risk pregnancy doctor and see what she says.  So two more weeks of bed rest for me.  But really, all that matters is that the babies are doing good.

Seeing movement on the screen is amazing.  Then not only can you see the heartbeat, but you can hear it too.  It is truly amazing and we both feel so very blessed to make it here.

Thanks for Reading,
HEATHER

8 Week Update

The week 8 doctor's appointment is not as critical as the previous ones have been.  At this appointment we just checked the heart rates again and took measurements to make sure the babies were still growing.

Baby A

Baby A measured 7 weeks and 6 days.  There is no reason to be concerned, when they are this small, the margin of error on the ultrasound machine is 4 days.  The baby was super active.  You could actually see it moving on the monitor.  The heart rate was 185. I asked if it was normal to go from 150 to 180.  His response was, just like if we go to the gym, our heart rate goes up.  Your baby is moving a lot so it's normal to have a higher heart rate.  He said anything between 120 and 220 is considered in normal range.  He said it was great news to have the baby moving but that it made it tough to get good photos.

Baby B was also a mover and a shaker and having a good time.  Its heart rate was also above 180 although I wasn't able to see it move on the monitor.  I was able to clearly see the head and the yolk sac which was pretty exciting.  This was the first time it looked more identifiable to me and less blob like.  Baby B also measured 7 weeks and 6 days, right on schedule.   You can still see how irregular the gestational sac is.  He again said that he was concerned about it. The good news though is that both gestational sacs are starting to be about the same size.  Up until now, Baby B was twice as big and that was also cause for concern.  So again we get good news and bad news at each appointment.  At this point though, we are so excited and feel so blessed that the babies keep growing and have strong hearts, that the most important thing and about the only thing we can test at this point.

Baby B

As for me, I'm still on bed rest and still having bleeding issues even though it has diminished a lot.  I still have some serious cramping that again the doctor says he is concerned about, so bed rest continues.  Right now I'm on day 58 of bed rest.  Its getting old but trying to keep everything in perspective and not complain too much.  

Thanks for Reading,

HEATHER

Welcome To My New Blog

Welcome to my new blog and a new chapter in our journey.  As I write this post, I am officially 6 weeks pregnant (it's crazy to even type that!), which is way too soon to be official and there are many hurdles and many things that can go wrong, but in the interest of full disclosure, something we felt we wanted to share.  There is a reason that people traditionally don't tell anyone until 12 weeks because so much can go wrong between now and then, but this journey has been far from traditional.  And if God forbid, something does go wrong, we are going to need all the support we can get.

As the name of my blog suggests, I will always be a part of the infertility community, just getting a positive test results doesn't mean that we have overcome the emotional toll that infertility places on us.  We are still dealing with infertility even though I am pregnant, which sounds like such a conflicting statements.  Because this pregnancy was created through ART, we have different challenges, both mental and physical, than a spontaneous and traditional pregnancy.  I will explore those issues as we progress.

Parker is glued to my side.  I wonder if she knows...

Right now I am on bed rest, I've had complications and my doctor is concerned, so living on the couch it is.  I've had a lot of bleeding, coupled with severe cramping.  On my last ultrasound he found a blood clot in my uterus.  So couch life it is.

Huge shout out to my family!  They have been awesome and take turns coming over.  I am so thankful to be home in San Diego and to have their help.  I'm rotating through my Mom, Dad, Brother and Grandmother. And of course Ryan is here too and Parker.  Every time I take a few steps, the pain gets much worse so having them around has been great.

Our last ultrasounds was too early to take measurements of anything so all we have really been able to see is the gestational sac and the yolk sac.  We go back in a week and at 7 weeks things should be big enough to get accurate measurements and be able to tell how viable this pregnancy really is.  I asked my doctor when I can get excited and feel like this is actually something real and his answer was at 9 weeks, so we have 3 very long weeks to go.

At this point, we both go back and forth from happy to scared to death.  I am trying to stay positive but have been sucked into dark thoughts and have had several bad days. Every time I go to the doctor, we get some good news and some bad news.  Plus being so involved in the infertility community, I have heard so many awful stories.  For the last 5 years, every time I have felt a glimmer of hope, it has been a hard awful crash back down. Mentally just trying to protect myself and not get too excited just yet.  I will say though that making it to this point has been a giant relief on one very significant level.  Up until now, I had no idea if my body would ever make it to implantation.  Now at least we know that I can which is amazing in and of itself.

Thanks for Reading,
HEATHER