I suppose it's time for an update.

I started the PIO injections about two and a half weeks ago, and having them done in the actual correct location has made a big difference! The first day I barely felt the needle go in, but I had a huge knot in my hip the rest of the day. After that Jacob started massaging the injection site afterwards and that has helped tremendously. Some days are more painful (and bloody) than others, but overall I think this has been a more positive experience than last time. The worst part is usually feeling the oil enter my muscle, rather than the needle going in.

We had our embryo transfer on August 2nd. We had a neighbor watch Marie, and worrying about traffic, we arrived at the clinic super early -- I think 45 minutes before our appointment. And then they didn't call us back for another 20 or 30 minutes after it was supposed to start, so it was a lot of waiting time.

We found out that both embryos survived the thaw, and we decided to transfer both, since the odds of an embryo surviving a second freeze and thaw was much lower. This time around, I didn't take any Valium beforehand, and I only had to wait for maybe five minutes after the procedure to get up and leave. (Last time I had to wait 30 minutes and they wheeled me out in a wheelchair.) This time around was much more preferable!

I also was not put on bed rest this time around, so I pretty much resumed activity as normal -- I still made dinner that evening, and I played with and took care of Marie. I did opt to go to my classroom the following day instead of babysitting Kayla and Cooper (Jacob went in my place), but that was mostly because I was feeling angsty about getting everything finished before school starts.

I tried to stay busy to keep my mind off the potential pregnancy, but it's still hard not to read into symptoms -- or lack thereof. I remembered that with my last transfer, I woke up in the middle of the night twice with really bad cramps, which I assumed was implantation cramping. This time, I didn't really have much of any symptoms at all, which made me nervous that maybe the embryos didn't take. I've had some dull cramps off and on, but nothing super noteworthy, and I've possibly been more tired than usual, but that could also be due to staying up late to watch the Olympics. :) I also had two weeping sessions this past week -- once after finding out we were hit with a $750 bill for the sonohysterogram I had in June (which was later reduced by about $200 since our insurance didn't cover it at all -- lame insurance), and once after spending 3 hours at a car place to get an oil change, tire rotation, and a car wash. (In my defense, I was supposed to meet my team at Walmart at a certain time to buy school supplies; the guy told me it'd be an hour and a half, tops; and after the car was finished it took an extra 30 or 40 minutes JUST to get the keys back from the car wash station. And I was stressing about being late!) I had some pretty bad heartburn last Saturday night, which is something I had a lot with my pregnancy with Marie, though I don't think that started until my second or third trimester.

But as for the first four or five days after the transfer, I didn't feel any different from before. All this to say, I needed some spark of hope that the embryos took before my blood test yesterday, so last Monday -- six days after the transfer, which is the equivalent to 11 days past ovulation -- I took a pregnancy test. And then I took additional ones on Wednesday and Friday. All of them came back positive, and the lines grew progressively darker with each test.

So I wasn't super surprised when the nurse called me yesterday (and yes, I was irreverent and took a phone call during Sacrament meeting, but I went out to the foyer before picking up) to say that I'm pregnant! What was a surprise, however, was the hCG level she gave me. She said that they're looking for a level around 100 at this point in pregnancy. My level was 1,812. Eighteen times the amount they're looking for! For reference, my hCG level at this point with Marie was around 700 or so. And that pregnancy started with twins, though we (obviously) lost one of the babies early on.

I know it's impossible to determine the number of babies based on a single hCG test, but this still makes me think that we may have multiples. I'm not sure how I feel about this yet -- it still feels unreal. I don't really feel pregnant at all (I know, I know, it's early.) I go in for a second blood test tomorrow to make sure my levels are rising, and I'm supposed to schedule a viability ultrasound the last week of August/first week of September to check how the embryos are doing. I'll be back to work by then, so I'm hoping to get an appointment on a Friday afternoon, even though that means waiting longer to find out. But since we learned that Baby B stopped growing shortly after our first viability ultrasound last time, I'd almost rather wait until 7 weeks to have an ultrasound. Almost like, if we have twins but one stops growing early on, it would be easier to find out after the fact rather than hoping that they both pull through. If that makes sense.

I'm also supposed to schedule my first OB appointment, but I haven't picked a provider yet! I still haven't decided whether to go with an OB or a midwife -- if we have multiples, that'll make my choice for me, as the midwife group associated with the hospital I'll be delivering at doesn't provide services for multiples. But I also don't really want to schedule with an OB before I know how many there are. (Not that I have anything against OBs -- I just like the idea of a midwife being with me during the whole labor process, as I felt quite alone and unsure of everything that was going on with Marie's labor and delivery.)

Anyway, this has gone on long enough.

Baby(ies) coming around April 19th, 2017!