2nd Doctors Visit...waiting on progesterone

Well we saw the local OB last week and things went well.

I gained 1lb - which is better than nothing

Baby looks good

I am still not able to keep a prenatal vitamin down - doctor said its nothing to worry about

I wont go back again for 4 weeks. I need to keep eating. Things are improving.

Its been two weeks w/o progesterone injections. I had a blood draw today that will ship up to Omaha. Pending the results I either still have good levels for progesterone - or it will have slipped and we'll start injections again. I should hear from PPVI by Thursday morning. I'll post my numbers when they call.

If you have it as bad as I do

Morning sickness has been a 24/7 thing for me. George was going to pop up to the airport and ask for any extra flight sickness bags since I am prone to get sick at any time. Well, thanks to this fabulous lady, I can get sick in style. AND they are less expensive than the ones you buy at Wal.greens.

We got them in the mail yesterday and I took one to church tonight, bc I would just be horrified if I got sick out on the sidewalk. They fold up and fit in your pants pocket. They are way fancy and better looking than the grocery bag I carried around for the past two months. http://www.morningchicnessbags.com/

Just thought I would share

Progesterone Update #2

So every two weeks I have blood taken to check my progesterone levels. Draw # 3 8/17/09 showed levels at 53 zone 4. So as of now I am off the injections. It looks like my body is producing enough on its own. However, we will draw again in two weeks to monitor the progress.

Its kinda unusual to not be taking a shot every Monday and Thursday... but PPVI assured me that this is what will happen if the body starts producing.

I see my local OB on Thursday. I will be 12 weeks and 5 days. I'll let you know how it goes.

Progesterone Update

So while I was at my local OB last week I was kinda nervous that he might not like the idea of me working with a doctor 12 hours away. When I got to the point of talking surgery updates, T3 and progesterone he was open. Yea! I fax him anything PPVI runs. All is good.

I have been on progesterone injections since July 6th. Just wanted to update you on how things are going:

7/20/09 First blood draw I was low - 23.3 ng/mL zone 2 - nurse says Dr. Hilgers wants me to stay on 200mg injections 2xweek.

5/7/09 Second blood draw I was better at 43 ng/mL zone 4 - nurse called to say I could reduce the amount of injection to 1o0mg 2xweek.

I'll keep you posted on how I do. Its every two weeks that I have my blood taken. I have read some ladies talk about how painful the injections are. I dont think they hurt, maybe thats bc I was an ornery kid and got spankings :) - but to share some tips. George warms up the vial of meds by rolling it around between his hands. While he does that I ice my backside down. I almost dont feel the cotton ball swipe he uses to clean the area. Then after he gets the needle in I count off in 10 sec increments - it keeps me focused on something and him knowledgeable on how long it's taking. He goes nice and slow, very slow. Afterwards he rubs the area and we talk about the day. It doesn't hurt. But like I said, it could have been those spankings from those days I drove my mother nuts.

Other updates. The thing I did this cycle that was the most different, a couple girls have asked, was take the Fertile CM as DIRECTED. Previously, I was taking 3 pills all at once, two at a time, skipping even one a day. Directions say three times a day and plenty of water. My CM was way better this cycle.

I also started eating gluten free. While it only was a month, I was feeling a lot better. I dont attribute this change to as much as the Fertile CM. But it was something different.

Current status: I am soooooo sick. I am not even working anymore. Actually just PT from home (my boss is awesome and the rest of the staff understands). Some days I throw-up 4 times a day... others are better and worse. I have tried everything besides prescription drugs. It pretty much came on 100% on July 6th. So I've had a month to manage. I have lost 11lbs as of last Wednesday. Doc wasn't too concerned. However, he did say he wants to see me in three weeks instead of 4. Just to check on the weight. I'll start posting bell pictures soon.

The baby looks great. Last week we saw the heartbeat, arms, legs and facial bones. It was so surreal. Doc said everything was healthy.

Thank you for everyones well wishes. Our Catholic faith is so beautiful. It was because of my friend Mandy (who taught me Creighton in Fort Worth) that George and I brought this teaching into our marriage, that alerted me to signs that I was sick, that kept me focused on the bigger picture. This is Gods plan. If I wouldn't have known Creighton... none of this story would happen... if it wasn't for Dr. Hilgers I would still be back in my first OB's office frustrated.

Thanks for all your support. PS the only reason I waited so long to say something on this blog is bc people in town would have found out before I could tell my boss. Since I was so sick at work and he was on vacation, I wanted to make sure I could get to him at the right time. Now that work knows, I'll make sure to keep updates flowing....

Good News - We're Pregnant

Well its been a long road in the making.

I knew back in August 2005 that something was wrong. We held off on TTC until August 07... and couple months into it, since we were charting and the pain continued, we knew the TTC was going nowhere. My body was sick. So the journey began with PPVI and Dr. Hilgers.

10 months after surgery and following monthly orders from Dr. Hilgers we conceived.

For the first time ever I made it to 16dpo and knew something was different. Since I was taking HCG shots we headed over for a blood draw on day 17, sure enough my levels were high. Since I have a history of low progesterone, I have been taking natural progesterone for 4 years now, we immediately started injections as fast as Kubats could send them to us here in Amarillo. My levels are still borderline, so I will continue to stay on them. My DH gives them to me on Monday and Thursday nights. I thought they were going to really hurt, but they dont. Actually the HCG was worse.

Today I am 10 weeks and 1 day. We just had our first local OB appointment. Why do they wait so long to see you? We had an u/s and confirmed everything looks great. I am very nauseous and nothing that is safe to take is helping. Its OK, I have gotten use to getting sick a couple times a day and have a great boss that is letting me work from home.

I'll use the blog to keep you updated on how things are going. In the meantime, for those who know my husband and me very well you know we have more bicycles in the garage than people in the house. We'll we already added another one. Enjoy the picture. :)