Yassy's K9 Central

Yassy’s note; Pregnancy week 1week -12 weeks

In the previous entry titled “Yassy’s note: Natural IVF cycle and finally…“,I wrote that since we did not give up on building a family of our own, we tried two more round of IVF cycle;Natural IVF cycle with frozen embryo.

Once with 2 embryo in September,2013,which ended up not getting a good news, and the other time with one last standing embryo (Liam) in November 2013,which turned out to be our little Liam to be.

I wrote about this before, but I do not know what to say about the last IVF cycle with Liam to be. The last remaining embryo ,which is “Liam” to be, beat the odd!  Our doctor was amazed for the result knowing it was the last embryo, and that it would have been our last try with IVF. Liam could be called as “miracle baby” for that.

My husband sometimes say that he still cannot believe that we got our own son who gives us smiles everyday.

This strong baby “Liam” is now 6 months old. Time passes by so fast!

Liam was such a great Christmas gift for both of us.

How to count your pregnancy week..

One thing that I found interesting for the pregnancy weeks is how to count your pregnancy week.

With naturally conceived pregnancy, the day one in the pregnancy is the first day of the last period is the pregnancy day 1.

According to parenting website, to calculate the due date manually for the naturally conceived babies, you can add seven days to the first day of your last period, then subtracting three months, then adding a year. wil give you the due date for the baby.

With IVF conceived pregnancy, especially if you were to use the frozen embryos, then, using the embryo transfer day to calculate the due date will give you the most accurate due date for the baby.

When I was a pregnant, I used the IVF due date calculator at the IVF connection website here. The IVF connection website got not only having the calculator but also plenty of information regarding IVF  and IVF conceived pregnancy etc..

Medication after positive pregnancy result and beyond..

With IVF conceived pregnancy, fertility doctor has told me to keep taking the prenatal vitamins,baby aspirin, progesterone and estradiol until 12th week of pregnancy. Those medications were to support/maintain the pregnancy.

With over the counter medications,  we got the list of medication pregnant ladies can take. You should talk to your doctor/OBGYN first but here is the list that I got. If you do plan to breastfeeding the baby, keeping the list of drugs you can take during the pregnancy time is great because medicine you could take during the breastfeeding would probably the same or similar.

I do breastfeed Liam and, when I got cold, I made a call to our OBGYN and made sure the”Tylenol cold” listed under the safe to take drug during the pregnancy time is still good one to take.

Once before I thought of asking about the medicine what to take when cold, I was not thinking clearly and took “Day Quil”. It is fine to take during the breastfeeding time, but it did reduce the milk supply as I read on it somewhere on the internet later on. Therefore, I do not take Day Quil anymore and stick with Tylenol products.

** For aches; discomfort,headache,fever; Tylenol (regular/extra strength),Tylenol sinus, Tylenol PM

** For cold; sudafed, Tylenol Flu, Tylenol Cold, Claritin-D

** For cough; Robitussin, Dimetapp, Halls/Sucrets Cough Drops,Mucinex

** For Heartburn; Indigestion; Tums, Maalox,Mylanta,Rolaids,Zantac, Pepcid, Gaviscon, Tagarnet, Prilosec OTC

** For Sinus congestion; Saline Nasal Spray, Sudafed, Tylenol Sinus, Claritin D

** For Allergy; Tylenol Allergy, Benadryl, Benadryl Allergy, Claritin

** For Difficulty sleeping; Benadryl, Tylenol PM

** For Constipation; Colace, Milk of Magnesia (tablets/liquid), Beneful, Metamucil, Fibercon, Cirucel, Konsyl, Senokat

** For Diarrhea; Immodium

** For Hemorrhoids; Preparation H, Anusol (Ointment/ suppositories), Nupercaine,Tucks Pads

** For nausea; Emetrol

Nutrition after positive pregnancy result and beyond..

On the very last day we visited our fertility doctor, he set us off with a small information packet regarding the pregnancy along with information sheet on Liam (vital record of embryo).

According to the paper that I got, it says that main goal for maintaining the healthy pregnancy is to not to loose the weight. Also, it encouraged patients to eat additional 300kcal per day over the normal consumption.

What encouraged not to eat was deli meat and hotdogs that are not heated well to avoid listeriosis.It was also advised patients not to eat undercooked meat,fish,poultry.

I was told that it will be ok to eat medium rare steak or sushi or drink coffee as long as I am not eating a lot of by OBGYN, but I stopped eating steak and stopped drinking coffee, and I made sure that all the meat that I ate was well cooked one.

I love cheese. I was told to make sure that any dairy I will consume is pasteurized one, and avoid soft cheese such as brie,feta etc..

Eating variety of healthy fresh food, and try to eat balanced meal each day are also the goal throughout the pregnancy weeks.

I remember I ate lots of yogurt,lots of fresh fruits, lots of liquid (to keep me hydrated), some good omega 3 fatty acids rich fish like salmon along with variety of vegetables.The fertility clinic advise patients that it is ok for them to eat about 6-12 oz of small fish like salmon in a week.

Fertility clinic also got a information sheet that advised patients who have tough nausea time to…

** eat small frequent meal

** avoid hot/spicy food

** Well hydrated by consuming 6-8 cups of water each day

** Try to avoid strong odors

** Try going for walk and getting some fresh air 

Some people goes through tough nausea experience ,but mine was rather mild. I did get nausea and sometime,I did not feel like eating (although I made myself to eat for Liam), but I did not skip the meal.

What helped me for the nausea was to drink something or eating fresh fruits or ice cream or yogurt.

Although the fertility clinic encourage patients to avoid spicy food for nausea, spicy food was something that I craved a lot of. I did not care for the smell of dish washer soap and,I avoided that.

As for walking, I wanted to keep doing small exercise each day like walking but for me, moving around seemed to trigger the bleeding/spotting so, I remember I was on the bed lots of time, try not to walk around much especially when I was under 12 weeks.

The food that I craved a lot of was strawberry,black olive, plain yogurt with fresh and spicy food. I still like to eat black olive that I did not care for before. Yogurt also became one of those things that ” have to have one in a day”.

I now share the yogurt with our dog “Palette”. When the yogurt container gets emptied out, Palette makes sure to get it super clean. She dives her head into the yogurt cup and when she lifts her head up from the yogurt container, she sometimes got yogurt eyelashes,yogurt head etc.. It is so funny but she really really like yogurt!

Lick,lick,lick…

This is mine….

 What is happening with you and your baby..

 One thing that I had as weekly routine stuff to do during my pregnancy weeks was to read up two websites on what will be happening with me that week and what will be going on with Liam in the belly.

Reading up about how I am changing day to day and getting information about what to do, what not to sort of things as tips and how Liam would be growing in my belly that week gave me plenty of information and I enjoyed reading the article week by week.

One website that I visited often is called “Pregnancy corner “, and the other website is called ” The Bump“. Both very informative and very good ones to read up.

One other thing that I did to following up with my changes and Liam’s changes is to watch the youtube video produced by pregnancy chat. You can find their youtube video channel here. I watched their channel until I give birth to Liam. I found the video was very easy to understand and helpful.

How to read the ultrasound pictures..

According to the eimedical website, various body tissues absorb sound waves while others reflect them. The density of the tissue dictates the speed at which the echoes return.

It says that that FLUID like amniotic fluid is always BLACK and TISSUE is GRAY. The denser the tissue is, the brighter white it will appear in ultrasound.Then, the brightest white being bone.

 In the ultrasound picture, you will always find the date,and time on top.

 In the picture,especially when sonographer was measuring anatomy of the baby,you will see the x mark on it.

You will also see pregnancy week; It usually noted after “GA”; OwOd. W means weeks. D means days.

Sometimes, you will be abbreviation on the picture when sonographer has measured something of your babies.

 For example, width of the baby’s head being BPD; biparietal diameter, FL means length of the long bones;femur length, TTD is the width of the abdomen; transverse trunk diameter. GS means “gestational sac“; the sack where the baby is in. CRL means “Crwn-rump length”; the length of the baby’s head to his/her butt.

 Sometimes, different sonographer measure the baby and baby’s posture/angle they can see is different and measurement can be slightly different each time.

Watching over Liam’s growth through the ultrasound..

 The very first regular OBGYN as a pregnant woman was in December 2014. It was close to the Christmas week.

 Very first regular OBGYN appointment was rather wasting time though. Because we told them we are through the fertility clinic and we will be coming to them but, when  we got there, we had to wait for 2-3 hours in the waiting room and when my name was finally called, I was asked to pee in the cup for the pregnancy test.

 Since we told them we were through the fertility clinic and we will be coming with the ultrasound image of our little Liam (6 weeks and 5 days) , it was not something we were thinking of happening at the OBGYN.It is simply because we have the ultrasound image of our son and why need pee in the cup to check the pregnancy positive/negative test for our visit….?

  Anyway, when we told about it with the little Liam ultrasound image on our hand, the nurse said that by the time our name was called, the sonographer time was up and she went to home, and we got nothing to do there…and have to come back in January 2014 for the actual visit as a pregnant woman.

Here is Liam at 6 weeks 4 days old. This is the ultrasound image picture we brought to our local OBGYN.

According to the pregnancy corner website, at this time of 6 weeks of pregnant,Liam would have been forming eyes and nostrils and it would appear as black dots.Then arms and legs will be like stubs.Also, lungs,pancreas, intestine, and liver are also forming at this stage and size of the baby will be about lentil ; 1/4″.

Technically, in the ultrasound image, he was past 6 weeks, so he must have been growing into the blueberry size;7th week development.

7th week development include mouth,eyes and tongue forming,developing his own blood type. Then,intestine,appendix are fully formed. You may see toes and fingers in the ultrasound picture. The pregnancy corner website says that teeth and tongues are forming inside the mouth as well in the week of 7th weeks too although you cannot see them.

Liam 6 weeks 4 days old..

 It was cold,rainy day and by the next appointment time in January, we would not be seeing Liam in my belly for 2-3 weeks and since we were getting used to see how things were going in my belly weekly basis, it was tough/anxiety time especially when I was spotting here and there and sometimes, I saw red blood in the toilet and it really got us worried if Liam was doing ok.

 Come January 2014, we got to see arms and legs in the ultrasound image and it made us smile. Knowing he was doing all right since the last image scan at the fertility clinic was such a relief.

 This is Liam with arm and leg first appeared in the ultrasound image.The sonographer said that this little one is really wiggly and moving a lot:-)

With 8th week development for the baby from the pregnancy corner, Liam would have been forming gonads. Also, the hardening of the bones begins to occur, and the elbows, wrists, and other bones and joints are taking shape along with facial features such as nose, ears,jawline and mouth and teeth. The website also said that if you look closer, you can almost count all twenty fingers and toes!

Liam 8 weeks 6 days…

 When I visited regular OBGYN, our doctor has suggested us to go see high risk OBGYN one floor down just because I have got bicornate uterus (heart shaped uterus).

 Therefore, after the visit, we started seeing both high risk OBGYN and regular OBGYN. I was busy with OBGYN visit throughout the pregnancy time.I visited weekly basis for some time and as I get close to birth, 2 times a week for high risk OBGYN,1 time a week for regular OBGYN. We were monitored very closely.

 Next Liam’s image that I got to take home was end of January.I had more visit with regular OBGYN but when we go there, we were simply did testing and hearing the heartbeat and not ultrasound. We were wondering if they decided not to do the ultrasound because they know that we will be going to the high risk OBGYN who would closely monitor both of us.

Just around 11th week, we went to regular OBGYN for the first trimester screening test (blood test,pup smear,breast exam etc etc..) and we did not get to see the little Liam with sonogram and we were a little disappointed.

But I remember the nurse put a device on my tummy so we got to hear the heartbeat.Bom,bom,bom…

They said heartbeat was 162 per minutes and it is good.The doc said then, in about 3 weeks, I would start feeling the little one’s movement.

According to the pregnancy corner website, in the week of 12th week, Liam would have been forming the vocal cords and nails, and developing eyebrows and lips.

Liam 12 weeks 5 days..

Liam in 3D;12 weeks 5 days..

Overall, because of how my uterus is shaped (heart), they said I would have possibility of premature birth and possibility to have kidney problems (which they want to check later).

I understand their position is to go with extra caution with close monitor with me and Liam but, listening what will be ahead of us made me a little nervous than I was before.

IVF was stressful stuff to go through but all of these during the pregnancy weeks was also stressful,full of worries… Stress is not a good one for the healthy pregnancy so I tried to focus on positive stuff but every time we went to high risk OBGYN, I felt like I was given more stuff to worry… even though I understand their position in the situation.

Jan 28, 2015 | Comments are off | Pregnancy

Jamaican cooking: Jamaican bean and rice (Jamaica coat of arms)

When you start making weekly menu plan with something you already have in your pantry, you will see the dramatic decrease in your grocery bill.

I like to cook,and I like to cook variety of cuisine using wide variety of fresh produce,herb, and cheese etc.. and I used to plan weekly menu based on what I like to cook as opposed to what I can cook with what I already have in our pantry.

Now, my way of planning method has changed, we will see about 34% less grocery bill every week in average. It is a lot of savings that we can spend more on quality meat for special day such as wedding anniversary or birthdays.

Even though I plan the menu with something we already have, I still try planning meal with variety of protein source and, I do not plan chicken dish all the way in a week, for example.

With that in mind, I thought, in this entry, I would share the quick and easy recipe with something your pantry would most likely have most of the ingredients.

One night in a week,I have planned to make black bean and rice. Then, I was talking about the dish on Facebook;I have asked people on there for the authentic black bean and rice and variety of bean and rice dish you could make.

Interesting stuff that I noticed is that, there are so many variation of bean and rice recipes in the world;for example, in Japan, you will use glutinous rice (mo-chi-go-me) that is used to make mochi (rice cake with) is used,and cooked with sweet azuki beans.It is then served on the days to cerebrate something special;such as wedding.Japanese bean and rice;o-ko-wa is very simple and it got no meat in it. If you make Chinese o-ko-wa dish,then you would often find chicken and other vegetables in them.

Anyway, during the bean and rice dish conversation, Renee from Missouri has mentioned about Jamaican bean and rice recipe (technically, it is rice and peas dish called ” Jamaica coat of arms”) and it looked interesting so, I used her recipe as core and arranged some so we can have it one dish as entree as opposed to side rice dish. I just simply call it “Jamaican bean and rice”.

When I made it and tasted it,it came out great. Therefore, I thought I would share the recipe with you here.

I think many of you probably have most of the ingredients needed for this dish in your pantry. This is my version of Jamaican bean and rice recipe.Renee’s original recipe can be found below my recipe so you can try her version as well.

Jamaican bean and rice..

Ingredients for Jamaican bean and rice;

Extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic chopped
1/16 sweet onion chopped
1/8 red pepper chopped
1/8 green pepper
1/2 can of 15.5 oz red kidney beans
1C Jasmine rice*
(recommends Dynasty brand Jasmine rice. You can find it at International aisle)
1 2/3C unsweetened coconut milk (1 can 13.66 fl oz)
pinch of dried thyme leaves
dash of red cayenne pepper
pinch of kosher salt
2 stalks green onion
3 bacon strips cut to bits and pieces

  <Jamaican bean and rice>

1. In the sauce pan, drizzle Extra virgin olive oil and add 2 cloves of garlic chopped, and stir

2. When it got fragrant, add 1/16 sweet onion chopped,1/8 red pepper chopped, 1/8 green pepper chopped and stir

3. Add 1 Can Unsweetened Coconut milk,  1/2 can of 14 oz can red kidney beans, 1C uncooked Jasmine rice and stir

4.  Add pinch of dried thyme leaves, dash of red cayenne pepper,pinch of kosher salt and stir

5. Bring it to boil and once boiled,stir and cover with lid on, and lower the heat to medium low. Cook it for 10 minutes

6. After 10 minutes of cooking, lower the heat to simmer,and cook for 10 more minutes

7. Once rice is done, fluff the rice with wooden spoon and taste the rice and adjust the seasoning if necessary

8. Chop 2 stalk of green onion and mix it in

9. When serve the meal, cook the bacon to crisp, and let it rest on the paper oil to drain off the excess oil from bacon.Then, cut the bacon into small bits to garnish the dish

10. Enjoy!

Makes; 3 servings

<Renee’s Rice and peas;Jamaica coat of arms>

3 cups rice
1 cup red kidney beans
a few springs thyme
1 medium size coconut
salt per taste
1 clove garlic
2 stalks scallion or leeks
1/4tsp black pepper
1 quart hot water

1. Grate coconut. using the quart of hot water, express the milk by adding two cups of water at a time and squeezing the milk through a sieve after each addition, until the water is finished.

2. Place red kidney beans in a saucepan with the coconut milk and add the clove of garlic, slightly bruised. Cook until peas [beans] are tender, but not overcooked.

3. Add scallions or leeks, thyme, salt, black pepper and rice, adding more water if necessary in order to boil rice properly.

4. Cook over medium heat, covered, stirring once or twice until rice is well cooked.

Note from Renee: A very small bit of salt pork is sometimes added after the peas [beans] have been boiled. Do NOT add salt to beans before they are cooked. ~~~ I served rice and peas with grilled kebabs of shrimp and beef.

 

Jan 17, 2015 | Comments are off | Miscellaneous (Cooking)

Yassy’s note;Natural IVF cycle and finally…

In 2012, we were still thinking about trying for another round of IVF using the frozen embryos, but we did not opt in for doing the another round of IVF right away. We did not give up on our chance, but we needed time to try for another round.

Us (me and my husband) and rest of my side of my family take turn to visit each other’s home;Japan vs USA. For the year of 2012, it was our turn but we were not sure what would be the best way to go schedule wise.

 IF we tried another round of IVF before the trip back to Japan and possibly got the good news, then, we would not be able to go see my side of family because of frequent monitoring at the clinic plus OBGYN checkups and all other necessary visits.

  If we go see them first and then try another round of IVF in the year of 2012, it is better but if we do so, possible months looked like around hot months (strong air conditioned in the building) , or colder months (chilly,windy,snowy weather).

 I did not like the idea to do the transfer during the cold month or hot months because the colder it is, the more it makes me want to go quicker for the bathroom trip and if outside is hot,many hospitals use strong air condition in the building and too cold for me to even visiting on days that I do not have to do embryo transfer.

 I was not confident that I could do the transfer without fail;coming with full bladder,holding for 15 minutes extras on the bed after the procedure under the such environment.

Therefore, we decided to take a break in 2012 for the IVF and instead, we decided to visit our family in Japan. Then, we decided to go visit hattasan soneiji temple in Japan.

Hattasan soneiji temple is located in the city called “Fukuroi city“,which is in south western part of Shizuoka prefecture.

 Part of the reasons that we decided to go there beside wishing for the good luck,getting rid of bad luck for the next round of IVF,was because I had not had a chance to dine my favorite broiled eel dish,and Shizuoka prefecture is famous for the eel. Plus, for my husband, visiting historical place was interesting to him.

Also, the temple has long stair step that is called “Shi-n-zo-u Ya-bu-ri no ka-i-dan”; “shi-n-zo-u” means “heart”,”yaburi” means “challenge” , “ka-i-dan” means “stair steps” in Japanese.

 The long stone steps are known to make visitors out of breath by the time you reach to the top.

 Once you see ahead of you and think “OK, a little bit more steps and should be on the top”, you are wrong.Still more to go..

It is very spacious temple with such unique stair steps and I thought it would also be a good exercise for us too, and the scenery was great. That was added bonus visiting the temple.

Also, the temple had the one special spot; small building across the stone bridge,which my father told us that this is the place you would wish only one thing and it is believed that “the only one wish” shall comes true.

Therefore, we have visited the special spot, and I wished for the success of IVF.

 Then, in 2013, when it was my family’s turn to visit us, my father got us amulet and other charms from the temple for the good luck for the success of IVF.

 He  came to visit us before we start another round of IVF. I have kept those charms/amulet all the time with me. Whenever we visit the clinics,I kept the the little daruma doll that is believe to bring in the good luck plus all other charms my father brought to us in my purse.

Another round of IVF; Before starting with Natural cycle with frozen embryos..

As you can guess, as you age, the lower the success rate will be for the IVF. I was approaching to big 40 in a few years,and we wanted to do the another round of IVF as quick as possible.

 Again, before we try the another round of IVF with natural cycle, we had to read,sign,and notarized the consent forms. Then, we visited the billing department to ask for the cost of natural cycle using the frozen embryos.

This time, since we had 3 frozen embryos left, we did not need to repeat the fertility drug part to stimulate the ovary to retrieve the eggs produced. Therefore, the cost of the cycle was lower but it was still the expensive price to pay for.

The natural cycle with frozen embryo IVF cycle was estimated as $4,980 and mock egg transfer procedure ($400),  pre-screening testing,medications, pregnancy testing, storage of embryos, follow-up visits with doctor was excluded.

What included were ovarian monitoring with sonograms,blood test for estradiol/progesterone, laboratory preparation of embryos for transfer, assisted hatching, ultrasound guided embryo transfer.

We also learned that if we got blessed with little one;become a pregnant, then, the clinic would want the separate cost for the pregnancy package deal,which was $550 that included a couple of times of clinic visits for monitoring the little one in the belly up until 6th week via ultrasound and blood test to keep monitoring the hormone level.

After that, checking with insurance companies for the coverage, I had to do the mock embryo transfer (had to be full bladder) along with cervical check and other blood tests including HIV/Hep B Surface Ag/Hep C ab when next cycle came because we did not do the another round of IVF within 6 months. The blood tests needed to be updated every 6 months.

Natural IVF cycle..

With the natural cycle, steps you would take is very similar to the stimulated IVF cycle but slightly different.

When your cycle started, you would call the clinic on day 1. Then, they will have you come on day 2 or day 3 for the baseline blood test along with sonogram. From there on, your ovaries will be monitored.

Since you are not giving yourself fertility drug shots, the clinic visits are much less frequent.

Next time you visit the clinic will be cycle day 7 through day 11. During the time, you will get your blood drawn to be checked for estradiol and progesterone (hormone level check) as well as sonograms to monitor your ovaries.

  Somewhere around day 10, if you did not have frozen embryos, since you would want to get the egg retrieved,and then to get it fertilized, you will get HCG shot 2 days before the egg retrieval day.

  When the eggs were fertilized, you would wait 5 days to see if the embryo could survive the 5 long day in the dish. If they did, you have the embryo to be transferred into your uterus.

When you have frozen embryos to be transferred, you would still get the HCG shots 2 days prior to the could have been the egg retrieval day without actually getting the egg retrieved.You would skip that part.

After that, you would wait 5 days, and then finally,the embryo transfer day.

 Before the transfer, the laboratory staff would pick the best embryos in the bunch and thaw them to be transferred.

Natural IVF cycle with frozen embryos..

 Just like before, we were asked how many embryos we wish to be transferred. We decided to try 2 embryos again. Our 2nd round of embryo transfer was September,2013.

2 embryos transferred in September,2013..

On the day the 2 embryos were transferred, I tried to stay laying down as much as possible with legs a little up.

 Another long 2 weeks wait til the pregnancy blood test had started.

 With our little son “Liam”, I feel one day passes by so fast now, but that 2 weeks wait was longest wait ever. The 2 long weeks wait had the anxious/nervous/exciting feeling all mixed together.

Unfortunately, those 2 embryos did not implant as we hoped they would. Another sad moment for both of us.

 By now, we have experienced embryos not making it to the 5th day, when they did, embryo did not get implanted two times… We still got one embryo left but, we were very disappointed for the result.

 After the sad news telling us that I was not a pregnant, once again, we were very sad but knowing we still got one last chance to try (We wanted to keep trying until we get blessed but financially, it is hard on us and, we were aging each year..), we decided to try to be positive and stay strong. Stress is not a good friend for this.

Natural IVF cycle; One embryo,one last chance.. and finally….

We then decided to try another round of Natural Cycle with frozen embryo. We were not sure if we could afford to try more even if we wanted to.This round was possibly the one last time. It was November,2013.

This time, after the embryo transfer procedure, even though we were told ok to resume to the ordinal routine from the next day, but since I have read that the first 5 days after the embryo transfer is the most crucial date for them to implant in other news article, I have decided to stay much more cautious this time and,I made myself laying on the bed with legs a little up as much as possible for more than a day and made myself not to move around much. Plus refrained from strenuous physical activities.

Liam as embryo… November 2013..

As you can guess, that one last standing embryo eventually became our little son “Liam”. We have received the great news that telling me that I was a pregnant finally.It was December 2013. Great Christmas gift for both of us.

 I still remember how we spent the day we received the great news.

After visiting the clinic for the pregnancy blood test, we dropped by the nearby Asian store to get Palette’s meal to stock up her freezer. Then, we decided to dine in at PF Chang’s because we do not have much chance to dine in in our area.

It was cold day and I remember it was raining. My husband then took me to the nearby store to show me things that he thought would be interesting to try.

 After coming back to the house,I was cutting down beef heart for Palette so I can portion out her meal to freeze them. It was that time the phone rang and, at first,I did not know who my husband was talking to downstairs,but he came up and told me the great,great news.

As soon as I hear the great news,my tears started coming out because I was very very happy and we both knew that the road that come to the positive result was such a long one.Not only that, we had so many emotional/physical stress and all the emotions came out.

 In the kitchen,we hugged and cried for a while.. It was that much of news that meant so much to both of us. While we were doing the natural cycle IVF for the last embryo (Liam), I found a few 4 leaves clovers in our yard. It might had nothing to do with this,but I kept the clovers in between the book I was reading. I still have one. It brings good luck,and we wanted one:-)

 One embryo, one last chance, and we got blessed with him:-)

 I do not know what to say about this. Embryo ,which is “Liam” to be, beat the odd!  Our doctor was amazed for the result knowing it was the last embryo, and it would have been our last try with IVF.

Pregnancy test and beyond..

Now we knew that I was a pregnant, next chapter of pregnancy journey has begun. In my case, I had to visit the clinic about a couple of times for the blood test and ultrasound for the doctor to monitor/assess the embryo (Liam).

I still remember the doctor showed us the image of the embryo (Liam);white dot in the sac my uterus, and said “Can you hear the baby’s heartbeat?”. He did find him/her right away and amazed how strongly growing this little one was. It was still weaker sound just enough to be able to hear if the room was complete silence but we did hear the heartbeat for the first time:) It was mid December,2013.

When we heard his very first heartbeat…

There was no arms and legs yet, but we saw the white spot in the sac that turns on and off as we hear the sound of the heart.

That little heartbeat sound was such a strong beat to my heart and it made the big impression on me.

Meanwhile,we had to find the OBGYN we wanted to go to for the rest of the pregnancy weeks after the IVF doctor release us to the regular OBGYN.

Then, one incident that got me worried if I were still fine for the pregnancy-wise; I took Palette out for the potty and the ground was slippery from the rainy weather previously and when she suddenly pulled hard, I fell on my butt.

Then, I had heavy bleeding after that. Therefore, when we went to go see the doctor, I told him about the incident and it made his face white,which made me nervous.

However, everything was good, and he saw Liam was growing at the rate he should. He reassured us for that.

After the positive pregnancy blood test,doctors are to determine if the pregnancy is in the uterus,and embryo is at the appropriate size (growing as it should), the doctor will refer you to the OBGYN in your area.

With us, on the second visit, the doctor said to us that today’s visit will be the last visit for both of us and now we will be seeing OBGYN in our local area next.

All in all, after the positive result from pregnancy test,I got to see him only twice.Then, rest of the pregnancy weeks were monitored by high risk OBGYN and regular OBGYN in our local area.

I was blessed with Liam at the end but, even if I got pregnant, at that time, I was still nervous/worried/scared of miscarriage and all other possible difficulties we may face against. Never ending worries to come…

 

Jan 08, 2015 | Comments are off | IVF