IVF Part 6: Ultrasounds

Alisha says:

April 13^th, 2015

This past week was a crazy one. Early Monday morning we traveled to Phoenix. Dave had a few work meetings at ASU and we wanted to check out our house that we now owned! We had a fun few days hanging out with family and even had a big family pizza dinner that my parents came down for at the new place. It was fun to show it to everyone and enjoy the backyard. Wednesday morning we got up and went for about a 3 mile walk on one of the mountain bike trails near our house that Dave is really excited about being able to ride regularly. I felt fine but when we got home I noticed some spotting. It picked up a little and never got to bad but I was definitely concerned. I called the clinic and they told me to monitor it, upped my progesterone to 2 shots of 1.5ml a day and told me to take it really easy for three days. Luckily it stopped by the next day but I still took it really easy and we flew home on our originally scheduled flight late Thursday. Everything seemed fine until Sunday afternoon when I had a lot of bleeding that came really fast. I thought for sure I was miscarrying. I already had an appointment set up for the next day so there was nothing to do but wait until the appointment to see what was going on. By the morning it had basically stopped so I was so confused and really didn’t know what to think. We went to our appointment and when Jo came in I told her what was going on and that I was concerned. I was prepared for bad news when she started the ultrasound. After looking around for a minute, she showed us where the baby was and that there was a heartbeat. It was such a relief and we even got to hear the heartbeat even though I was only 6 weeks 4 days. She then said that there was a second gestational sac, so both embryos actually did implant but one didn’t develop much and was empty.  She also said that there was a fairly large subchorionic hemorrhage and there was probably a second one that caused the bleeding the day before. I was put on exercise restriction and told to not do too much for the next week and then I would have another appointment to check on things. The hemorrhage should get smaller and eventually disappear but they also don’t want it to cause any more bleeding. My progesterone dose was increased again to 2ml twice a day.

You can see the heartbeat line across the bottom

April 20^th, 2015

Ultrasound day again to check on our little peanut. It was all good, the heartbeat was at 130 and the subchorionic hemorrhage was still there but looking better. I was still told no running but could start to increase my activity level and I could go on bike rides. Since things were looking good my next appointment was scheduled for two weeks later.

May 4^th, 2015

This was a cool ultrasound because it is actually just starting to look a tiny bit like a baby at 9 ½ weeks.  Julie took a few pictures and we could even see a tiny bit of movement. The subchorionic hemorrhage is slowly resolving itself. I have been feeling really good. I kept waiting for all the pregnancy symptoms you hear about to start but I think I’ve escaped most of them. I haven’t been nauseous and smells don’t really bother me. I haven’t had extreme fatigue but just a little tired sometimes and I’ve been sleeping in a little bit.

May 14, 2015

Today I had my last appointment at Overlake Reproductive Health which was a bit sad. I really have had a great experience with them and have gotten to know a lot of the staff. I even made a baby towel for one of the medical assistances who just had a baby.  I am 11 weeks and my next appointment will be with an OB where they will take over monitoring for the rest of the pregnancy. The only annoying thing is that I have to have only one appointment here in Seattle and then we will be moving and I will have to switch to a doctor in Phoenix. This was the best ultrasound so far because it is really starting to look like a baby, we could see hands and feet and even a little nose. The best part was that it was wiggling around so much. Julie tried to peek at the gender but it is still just too early to tell. Before I left I said goodbye to as many people as I could. They were all so kind and wished me luck; even Dr. Rehman gave me a hug. They really made a hard situation much better. I have still been feeling great, Dave thinks that I have been eating a little more and am maybe starting to show just a tiny bit. I weighted myself this morning and I weighted 108, it will be interesting to watch that number just keep creeping up. After my appointment we went mountain biking at soaring eagle and Duthie Park. We have been doing quite a bit of mountain biking as well as a little running and some walking/hiking. I am just really careful and walk anything that is technical. While I still feel good and am not showing I am very comfortable mountain biking. As I start to show more I will cut back more and more on the mountain biking but I hope to continue to be quite active throughout the pregnancy.

May 21, 2015

Today I am 12 weeks and the most exciting part is that I gave myself my last progesterone injection last night. In total I gave myself at least 115 muscular injections. I got pretty good at it but am really glad to be done and not always have the constant soreness in my upper derriere.

I had my one and only appointment with an OB here in Seattle. I had an ultrasound and then met with the doctor. It was a fine visit but a little weird because I was like “nice to meet you AND I’m moving” but she was nice and I still got some blood tests done that should be done in the first trimester so it was all good.