A timeline of events:

August 20th: We had our first ultrasound since the positive pregnancy test, and were thrilled to discover that we were expecting twins! This is something that Jacob really wanted, and I was keen on the idea as well, because hey! -- two for the price of one! Since our reproductive power is limited by our medical issues and funds, I also really liked the idea of our babies having built-in siblings, since who knows whether I'll get pregnant again or how easy it would be to adopt in the future. Baby A was growing right on schedule, measuring 6 weeks 4 days, and had a beautiful heartbeat that we were able to hear. However, the RE was concerned about Baby B, who was measuring three days behind and had a slower heartbeat. Nonetheless, we were hopeful that I'd be able to carry both babies to term.

August 22nd: The second day back to work for teachers, my coworker found out I was expecting when I very nearly threw up in front of her. She had come in my room to help me get ready for Back to School Night in the morning, and I was feeling all sorts of queasy. I was sweating, trying to force myself not to vomit, and she noticed that I wasn't looking well. She knew that we attempted IVF over the summer, so she asked if something took, I confirmed that it did, and then I excused myself to the girl's bathroom to empty my stomach. Fortunately, I felt much better afterward, and I haven't felt sick since switching to taking my prenatal vitamin right before bed.

August 26th: The first day of school with students! There was much rejoicing in the land when I met my class and discovered them to be so much better than my class last year. The first few "honeymoon" days were great, but even at the end of the first week of school, I think I actually may enjoy teaching this year. Which is a relief, because after last year I wasn't sure I wanted to come back.

August 29th: I was super tired this day, and ended up going to bed around 8:30. Right before going to bed, however, I noticed some brown spotting, which was concerning.

August 30th: I continued to spot throughout the day, so on my lunch break I called the RE's office to schedule a second viability ultrasound. To my relief, I was able to get an appointment that day. I had to leave work a little early, but my principal gave me permission because it was an early out day and just because he's nice like that. Unfortunately, at the ultrasound we learned that Baby B had stopped growing shortly after the first ultrasound and no longer had a heartbeat. I cried a little in the office, and then when I got home and told Jacob the news I cried some more. I do feel fortunate that Baby A is still right on track and healthy, but it's sad to have lost a baby and have to  readjust expectations for the future. Today, I'm feeling better about the situation, and I'm trying to focus on the positives of only having one baby -- fewer risks of complications during pregnancy, greater likelihood of being able to avoid a C-section, greater likelihood of carrying the pregnancy to full term, etc. And I am glad that we ended up transferring two embryos, as miscarrying a single baby would have been even more devastating.

So, here I am. Eight weeks and one day. Physically, feeling perfectly fine other than getting tired much earlier and being more thirsty than usual. I do feel very blessed that I haven't really been sick -- I hope it stays that way! My sister said she started getting sick around eight weeks, though, so I guess we'll see what happens.

How far along? 5 weeks 1 day.
Size of baby: According to the Internets, the size of an appleseed. Which kind of blows my mind.
Sleep: Well, lately I've been going to bed around 10 and waking up around 3 to use the bathroom. And then once I wake up I can't turn my brain off, because I keep thinking about the start of the school year. Last night Jacob woke up around the same time and we both couldn't fall back asleep so we ended up talking for quite some time. I've also had two dreams that I miscarried, which has been less than pleasant.
Unglamorous body changes: This doesn't really qualify as a "change," as they've been present for several weeks, but I have red dots all over my upper bum from the progesterone injection sites. Lovely.
Best moment this week: Getting the phone call that I'm pregnant! When the nurse call my heart started racing, and it was such a relief to hear her say "congratulations, you're pregnant!" She also told me that my hCG levels were higher than average and it's very possible that we could have twins. Immediately after the phone call I went to Walmart and bought a onesie that says "S is for super like Daddy!" I showed it to Jacob once he woke up to announce the good news. Later that day, he played "Having My Baby" three times on Youtube.
Food cravings/aversions: I'm just hungry. All. The. Time. I don't know if I'd necessarily label these as cravings, but earlier in the week I read a book where a character sliced potatoes thinly and then fried them with salt and I suddenly really wanted Pringles. I had to settle for Doritos instead. I also ended up making steak fries and guacamole (well, really just mashed up avocado with some garlic salt) after reading about those things online.
Symptoms: I've had some mild cramping off and on. And my bladder seems to have shrunk to half its usual size. I used to be able to use the loo before work around 6 a.m. and then not go again until I came home after 4 p.m. I had a bladder of steel! I'm a little worried what will happen when school starts again and I have limited breaks.

So, the transfer has come and gone. Obviously. We decided to transfer the two healthiest embryos, and we were given a picture of them in a nice black paper frame. This picture is currently in our living room, so hopefully we don’t get any unexpected nosy visitors, but I do like looking at it from time to time. I joked with Jacob that the one on the top looked like me. The doctor gave me some Valium before the transfer to make me relaxed. When they brought out the embryos, I was surprised that they were floating in an orangeish pink liquid – not the color I was expecting. They put the bottle under magnification and projected it on a screen so we could watch the process. We saw our two little embryos floating there, and then they were sucked up by the catheter and transferred back to my body!

Shortly after that, I started to get very sleepy. I was told I needed to stay in the room laying down for 30 minutes, and I’m pretty sure I fell asleep during that time. Luckily, Jacob was entertained with the iPad while I was unconscious.

I was escorted to the car in a wheelchair again, and once we got home I settled in for my two days of “bed” rest. Really, I was laying on the couch the whole time except for when I was sleeping. It ended up not being so bad. I had my computer, the TV, and books to keep myself occupied. I was allowed to get up to use the bathroom and take a shower, but that was pretty much it. Jacob was a peach and took care of my meals. We did get Olive Garden to go the day of the transfer, and it ended up being enough food for two meals. Bonus!

The day of the transfer I took a pregnancy test, just to see if the hCG trigger was out of my system yet or not. Two lines showed up (though one was very very faint), so it was a false positive – no way my body would be producing hCG yet! A few days later, I tested again. This time, it was negative.

Now, for the last three or four days, I’ve been getting some pretty bad cramps. Tuesday I woke up in the middle of the night twice because of the cramps, so Wednesday we bought some Tylenol while we were grocery shopping because that’s all I’m allowed to take, as far as medication goes. Last night I did end up taking some Tylenol because I woke up with cramps again.

Well, this morning I couldn’t bear the wait any more, and I took another pregnancy test. (The doctor is making me wait until August 5^th! Seventeen days after the egg retrieval! That’s so far away!) And . . . two lines showed up! The test line was still pretty faint, but I didn’t need to squint or hold it up to the light to see it, so I’m counting it as positive. I’d thought about waiting to tell Jacob and announcing it in some clever way, but that was not happening. I showed it to him and he said, “Is that a good sign?” He was concerned because the second line was light. But we’re cautiously optimistic that we’ll be expecting a baby (or two!) around April 11! We probably won’t announce anything for a while, but I did cave and tell Heather when I met up with her today.

Technically we took this photo before the embryos were even inside me, but I'm still counting it.