So Far So Good...

Sorry for the delay! We've been very busy adjusting to our move (from Mount Joy to Lancaster) and trying to get settled. But, as of now things are still going strong with the pregnancy. I had another blood test on Ryan's birthday (3/9) and the HCG levels had skyrocketed to over 3,000 so the doctor's office was very pleased with that. They were going to keep checking them until they were over 1,000 so we surpassed that after just 2 blood tests. When they informed me of those numbers, they said it was time to schedule my prenatal appointment. That just seemed to surreal to me, but very exciting! So that appointment was yesterday (3/20). The nurse practitioner did an exam and reviewed diet and exercise restrictions. She said I should keep taking my progesterone and estrogen until 4/15. I also scheduled our first ultrasound which will be on 3/27!! We are VERY excited for that because they think we should be able to hear the heartbeat. We'll also find out if we are expecting 1 or 2!! Lots of exciting stuff ahead. We'll be sure to post a picture of the ultrasound. We've been through many an ultrasound during the diagnostic and monitoring phases, but it will be so nice to actually see something in the uterus this time!

As of now, I am 6 weeks and 3 days along. My due date is 11/11 (pretty cool, huh?). I've been feeling good, but hungry constantly (not too far from normal). And a little more fatigued, but not too bad. I haven't fallen asleep on any patients (yet).

We'll be back with an update after the ultrasound next week!

Cautiously Celebrating

After a day to digest the news, we have come back down to Earth. Although we are EXTREMELY happy and excited, we have decided to adopt the concept of "cautious celebration" until my HCG levels are where they need to be and we are completely confident that it is a viable pregnancy. We will not be making our pregnancy common knowledge (to those with whom we have not shared this journey) until we get to that point. Thank you for all the well wishes we've been receiving. A few more blood tests will hopefully increase our confidence and make this feel more real...

Baby...Baby...Pirate? Aw... Wait, pirates are wild! We're pregnant!!!

In one of my favorite scenes from The Simpson's, the character Apu's wife - Manjula - is taking a pregnancy test, and the results are delivered slot machine style - one symbol at a time. First, an image of a baby appears, next a second baby, finally, a picture of a pirate appears and they groan, before reading the directions and finding out that pirates are wild. So yes, three of a kind - they are indeed pregnant. I've always thought it would be neat to find out you were pregnant with a slot machine style pregnancy test - but I guess I'll take this way too...

Just when we thought there was no help left, together with the love and support of all our friends and families - we are now at the top of this ever so steep uphill climb. We found out today the results of Jen's blood work - and well, I guess you can figure out it was excellent news. We'll hold off on our big, mega, huge blowout celebration for 9 months (Nov 10th?), but we can finally let out a long - LONG - overdue sigh of relief. Finally, FINALLY, we can let tears of joy flow from our eyes instead of those stinging tears of pain, sorrow and frustration... There is still more bloodwork to be done, and ultrasounds to go through, but for now, we wanted you all - our biggest supporters - to know where our journey has led us. From the depths of our hearts, a giant THANK YOU for being there for us!