And then there were TWO of them

As a parent, you are tasked with doing everything for your second child that you did for your first child. Not that it is a bad thing, it's just how it is. So, you may be better off doing NOTHING for your first child picture or memory-wise if you don't want to do it again the next go-round. And as I write this, I must tell you that I am hopeful that this IS our next go-round.

So, here I am, attempting to keep a 'secret' journal to be posted only when we reach the 12 week mark. Please let us reach the 12 week mark without any problem.

12.17.10 : Over the last few months, I've been prepping to do the IVF transfer that we did today. Shots, estrogen, the whole bit. It was a lot easier this time since I knew what to expect. And, Connor didn't allow me to have any pity or attention focused on me AT ALL so the process went by quickly. I definitely wasn't able to milk it for all that I did last time.

We went in today and transferred one embryo. We'd rather be safe than sorry. And they did the PGD testing on the embryos to weed out any possible embryos with genetic problems.

I told Dennis that I'm not going to think about this pregnancy at all and that I'm just going to be laid back and patient until we do the first blood test on December 27th. But, HELLO, that requires patience and I always come up short in that department. So, it's been on my mind in a huge way and I just re-read the blog post that I did while I was keeping the secret about being pregnant with Connor. That didn't help with the patience factor. And I just googled, 'early signs that IVF was successful', 'day of IVF transfer signs of success' which confirms to any nay-sayers out there that I do have zero patience. Unfortunately, I have come to the realization that I have to do one - and only one - thing: wait. Pray, and wait.

12.27.10 : I went in for my blood work this morning and Lynn, the nurse, called me right about noon. Not that I was watching the clock or anything. Connor and I were on our way home from his check-up at the doctors office when Lynn said the magic words: Your blood test results look great. Apparently, anything above a 50 (not even sure what measurement that we're talking about here) is a very positive sign about the pregnancy. And my number was 99.7. Go Krista, it's your birthday, have a party...

After I got the news, I called Dennis. And then I started to cry. A happy, overwhelmed, excited, and nervous cry. Bring on the hormones.

I haven't posted anything even though I wanted to write something EVERY DAY because I was afraid to do so. Every time that I write about the pregnancy, I get excited. And I need to hold my horses in that department for a while.

Things are good now, so I'll go ahead and share the picture of the little booger from the lab with you. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

12.30.10 : Cramping, a little bit of spotting and I am nervous. I'm nervous if I do have pregnancy symptoms and then I'm nervous if I don't. Screwed either way.

1.5.11 : We had another blood test this morning. I was SO nervous because I had a nightmare the night before that we had a miscarriage. So, I stalked out the nurse until she gave me the results. Everything is a "go" and we get to go in for our first OB check up next week. We might even get to hear his (or her) heartbeat. Wow. I'm grinning ear to ear right now.

1.10.11 : Today was a long day. I woke up at 6am and went to the bathroom. There was enough blood to make me very scared. I crawled back into bed, looked out at the window at the snow, prayed, and grabbed my iPhone. I googled '5 weeks pregnant, IVF, bleeding'. The results that I found were 50/50 so my nervousness wasn't relieved. I sent an email to the nurse asking her if I could please come in for an appointment today. I didn't care if the whole city was shut down.

Fast forward several hours, and I received a phone call from the clinic. The nurse that called talked me off of the ledge. She said that since I didn't have a ton of bleeding that I was probably OK. Plus, I confessed to her that I went to the gym yesterday. She said that could have contributed to the bleeding but my role for the next 24-48 hours was to put my feet up and not do a single thing. Hello...has she met Connor?

1. 17. 11 : We are so thrilled because we were able to see - and hear - the heartbeat last Thursday. Snow and ice still covered the roads but Dennis and I managed to make it in to our appointment. Both of us had smiles across our face as we squeezed each others hand when Amy, the ultrasound tech, said that the little one looks perfect and has a healthy heartbeat.

Progesterone shots continue every night until about week 8. At that point, I **get** to switch to vaginal progesterone. I don't mind the shots but Dennis (the shot administrator) strongly prefers the other option. He can't wait to leave the shots behind us (no pun intended).

I couldn't keep my mouth closed much longer and neither could Dennis. Our parents are now very excited to be grandparents for the second time. We still aren't telling anyone else. Shhhh.........

2.13.11 : And I've told a few more people. Mostly randoms. Y'know how you lose control of your bladder when you are pregnant? Well, I think that the same thing happened to my mouth. It just comes out, unexpectedly. A lady that I don't even know very well at work asked me when we are going to have #2. And, well, before she knew it, she knew that we are expecting again.

My nausea has been fading a little bit the past few days so I am hopeful that is a good sign and that it simply means that we are moving closer to the 12 week mark. My cravings have been all over the place so I hope that calms down but I doubt that it will. Lucky Dennis.

I had some spotting again last night and so I am especially excited for our visit with Dr. Grogan (our OB) this week. I'll be 11 weeks on Monday (tomorrow) but the spotting makes me nervous. Yes, I know that we've heard the heartbeat two times already but still...

2.17.11 : We saw the baby and his/her heartbeat again today! Dennis, Connor and I all went in for my 11+ week check up. That wasn't the original plan, but it just happened to work out that way. Connor was home with a fever and an ear infection and Dennis was really excited to see the heartbeat, so, well...it was quite the family affair.

Dr. Grogan pointed the little baby on the screen and looked at Connor. "Connor, see that little baby? That will be your favorite person to torment in about 9 months..."

2.28.11 : So I guess it's official that we are telling people because Dennis mentioned it to a few people at his gym. And I wasn't so slick at keeping a secret when I was drinking Shirley Temple's at dinner on Saturday night. Don't get me wrong - Shirley Temple's are great, but I usually prefer a more adult libation. There will be time for that, I keep telling myself...

We went in for the nucal-translucency test today and were able to see the baby again! Everything looked good from the ultrasound but we are still waiting on the blood results to confirm everything is going as great as it looks to be. I LOVE the ultrasound tech because she told me that the baby's due date is September 1st. We're moving up a few days with each physician visit! I imagine we'll stick with the September 4th due date but I'm always up for considering an earlier debut of this little beauty.

We sort-of did and sort-of didn't want to find out the sex today. We were wishy-washy and Dennis swears that the "test" the blood draw lady did (a very unscientific test involving a bracelet being dangled over my wrist) indicated that we're having a boy. But I swear the ultrasound tech was hinting that it looks like a girl. So we're still at square one not for sure if this is going to be a little brother or little sister for Connor. Either way, we're extremely happy and excited to meet this little person!