13 weeks

OMG, the heartbeat was SO easy to find and SO loud on the Doppler this morning which must mean my peanut is getting bigger, LOVE it! I can hardly believe I have actually made it to the official start of the second trimester.  It feels so real, like there really will be a baby for me at the end, and it is a little crazy to try to wrap my brain around that! Eric and I are becoming a little more comfortable in our belief that this pregnancy is going to work out and so we even took a stroll through the local Buy Buy Baby to browse baby stuff.  Holy walls and walls of choices for EVERYTHING! It is a little daunting in there really but we did see some cute things and we found a crib we both think is beautiful (I will put a picture below for your enjoyment and admiration).

In other baby related news, I finally felt comfortable enough to go out and purchase some maternity tops of my very own (a special thank you to Amanda for the ones you have donated that have helped get me through to now and to Kristie who spent HOURS shopping with me!) and I took my first official "baby" bump photo...though to be honest I think the baby is still all in my pelvis so this is more like my pre-pregnancy starting out comparison type photo.

Symptoms:

Nose is still stuffy but otherwise I feel pretty much normal.  May need to invest in a body pillow soon though as it is getting less comfortable to sleep flat on my stomach which is my current preferred sleeping method and then I wake up flat on my back which is a no no once the bump pops into the tummy 

 

Food Aversions:

Nothing - hoping this stays this way for the rest of the pregnancy!

Cravings:

Nothing here either really - Boring, I know 

 

 

Weight Gain:

 

 

Back to pre-pregnancy weight - will be starting to exercise again now in the second trimester and shooting for an hour of cardio 6 days a week

Great Moments/Milestones:

 

 

Making it to the official start of the second trimester....and FINALLY being ready to tell our extended families that we are pregnant come Easter Sunday!

Size of Baby:

Peach (2.9 in/0.81 oz)

 

The crib Eric and I love...not the bumper on it but the actual wood frame :)

 

I am a chunky monkey but I am looking forward to a rounder, more baby like belly in the near future...and then trying to lose some serious weight before baby #2 so I can have a cute little baby bump (oh, the best of intentions!)

 

 

12 weeks

Ok, so according to most websites, I am still in the first trimester but a few (those that are based on a developmental model) say that today is the first day of the second trimester since my embryo has now grown large enough to be called a fetus! Yay!

Symptoms:

Nasal congestion (which makes it hard to sleep well) and Headaches (both due to increasing blood volume), cramping (due to expanding uterus), and low back pain (due to loosening up of tendons).  Not the most comfortable symptoms but all good signs of progress so I'll take it.  Also hoping a baby bump will pop out of my pelvis soon as according to my baby app, it could happen any time now :)

Food Aversions:

Nothing - No nausea, Whoo Hoo (knock on wood)

Cravings:

Nothing

Weight Gain:

0.2 pounds lost

 

Great Moments/Milestones:

Hitting the second trimester in the developmental model by growing a FETUS!

Size of Baby:

Plum (2.1 in/0.49 oz)

 

 

11 weeks

This week has been very laid back. We got to go to Kaiyah's family birthday party Sunday and she was just as cute as a button and she is definitely at the age where it is fun to watch her open her presents and be surprised by what is inside. She gets SO excited! Another cool twist, Art and Becky got her some jungly wall decals that were super cute and now Eric and I are thinking of getting something similar once we are to the point of setting up the nursery.  Only down side, I still had the sniffles and did not want to pass on any bugs so there was no snuggling with baby Violet :(

 

Symptoms:

Wow, I thought morning sickness was supposed to start getting better now so why is it the worst it has ever been this week?!?!  All other symptoms seem to have disappeared except the baby's heartbeat which is still very audible on my in home Doppler (thank God for the Doppler and the peace of mind it gives me every Tuesday and Friday when I listen to the bumpity bump bump of the baby's heartbeat)

Food Aversions:

Nothing really -- except everything when I am nauseous

Cravings:

Popsicles and Sprite Zero

 

 

Weight Gain:

1 pounds lost

Great Moments/Milestones:

Not much this week...just glad the baby is still alive and growing :)

Size of Baby:

Lime (1.6 in/0.25 oz)

 

 

Blanket Progress - 10w3d

Well, I haven't exactly picked up speed like I was hoping BUT I do have another square done.  At this rate I will be finishing the blanket after the baby is born (Eric says it can be for the second baby...jerk!) but I hold out hope that my fingers will eventually become more nimble and I will get it done in time.

10 weeks (one day late) and the first prenatal appointment

Hooray! Double digits on pregnancy weeks!!!!  Feels like a real milestone :) Okay, this post is a day late because I still have a cold which is seriously kicking my butt, mainly because it is impossible to sleep when your nose is so clogged that NO air can go through yet it is still super drippy (and you can't sniffle the drips back in so the tickly drips wake you back up...sigh.  Oh well, this is a bump in the road and at least I am blessed not to have to go to work being sick and pregnant as well as I am sure many expecting mothers do.  Eric has been so a wonderful husband, especially this week when I really think I have possibly been the worst, crankiest wife on the PLANET!  Also, I was going to start doing belly shots this week (even if all you can see is my fat rolls, I am told I will regret it if I don't do it) but due to feeling generally gross with the cold, this is being deferred until next week....or maybe week 12 :)  Here is the week 10 run down and then I will give a recap of the first prenatal appointment at the bottom.

Symptoms:

 

Not sure I am even still having any pregnancy related symptoms.  If I am, they are all completely masked by the cold symptoms.  I do think my boobs are a little bigger for sure so :)  And the redeeming factor to not sleeping well due to having a cold is I haven't had a serial killer nightmare in days!

Food Aversions:

Nothing really -- maybe spinach

Cravings:

Popsicles, Apple Juice, and Sprite Zero but this could be related to the cold (they all feel nice on my sore throat and go down easy)

Weight Gain:

2 pounds lost

Great Moments/Milestones:

Going to the first prenatal appointment and having the doctor confirm that there is still a heartbeat

Size of Baby:

Prune(1.2 in/0.14 oz)

 

 

First Prenatal Appointment

 

I ended up deciding to go to For Women in Evendale at Dr Thie's recommendation because Eric seemed really excited to have the option to come to the appointments if he wanted.  I am nervous to deliver at Good Sam because they do double up rooms on mother baby if the census is high and though I have been told by Dr. Thie and Dr. Kessler that this hasn't happened in months, it does not mean it won't happen in MY month.  I would hate the thought of Eric having to leave and go home at night when our first child is born.  He has fought and waited for this baby just as much as I have and it would KILL me to have them send him home.  Obviously, I will be praying for low census in the mid Sept to mid Oct season :)

 

So the first prenatal appointment wasn't really what I expected. I thought I would be given information on how much weight to gain, nutrition stuff, safe exercises and medications, the general pregnancy information run down.  Instead, I got weighed, my blood pressure was checked, I got an STD check, a breast exam, and a brief listen to the baby on the Doppler and that is mostly it.  She took my medical history and asked if I had any questions but then didn't really give me any time to ask any before leaving to go see another patient. So the only new information I got was that she thought it would be great if I "only gained 10 pounds at the most" this pregnancy.  Seems like an ambitious goal but I will see what I can do.  Dr. Kessler was very friendly and nice but for a first prenatal visit and as a new patient to the practice as well, I was definitely disappointed with the amount of information given. 

9w5d -- we made it!

Our first pregnancy ended in miscarriage at 9w4d and I am happy to confirm that today at 9w5d the baby still has an audible heartbeat and I haven't had any bleeding or spotting in several weeks!!! I am very excited to get to this day but will not be celebrating it the way I had hoped (by going to Becky and Kelly's birthday party) because when one worry passes, another must take its place (this is a law of physics right?).  So, now that we are past the last miscarriage, my body has decided to host its third illness in the 7 weeks since our embryo transfer, this time a wonderful head cold complete with horrible amounts of nasal congestion, sinus pain, nose blowing (thank God for the tissues with lotion!), sore throat, and the worst part: FEVER and chills.  Tylenol does help keep the fever down and the headache and sinus pain at bay but in general I am TIRED of being SICK!!!!! Hopefully this will be the last parasite to visit me (other than the baby) for the next 30 weeks!

9 weeks - Heard heartbeat on Doppler :)

This is it.  The week our miscarriage happened in last time.  So far, I have just had mild spotting and bleeding, usually just following ultrasounds and I am feeling pretty positive about this pregnancy.  All the same, I will be quite happy to be past the 9w4d mark! Here is a run down of the past week's pregnancy happenings:

Symptoms:

 

Nausea has gotten out of control and now lasts from whenever I first eat until I go to bed, Still getting up 1-2 times a night to pee, very vivid dreams that are unfortunately usually nightmares (usually about serial killers), maybe slightly fuller boobs (or maybe wishful thinking), and continued Super Smell

Food Aversions:

Anything with a strong smell

Cravings:

Fresh Fruits (especially Bananas) and Junk food

Weight Gain:

0.4 pounds total!!!

 

Great Moments/Milestones:

Was able to hear baby's heartbeat on the Doppler today

 

 

Size of Baby:

Cherry or Green Olive (0.9 in/0.07 oz)

 

8w2d ultrasound - Our squishy gummy bear

Today is our last visit with Dr. Thie.  After this, we are no longer considered special infertile people but just part of the normal pregnant population which is a milestone of sorts I guess.  I am both excited and nervous for this appointment.  Obviously I am very excited to see the baby and the growth that has occurred since our last little peek. I am excited to make sure that he or she is still okay.  I am nervous because I have gotten used to checking in on the baby and am afraid to leave this special doctor with her frequent ultrasounds for a regular doctor.  I did buy a Doppler machine to use at home but I am not sure how far along I will need to be before I will be able to hear anything, especially considering I am not starting out a skinny girl.

The visit was quick and smooth this time.  Dr. Thie herself came out to take me back to the ultrasound room and after a brief pause to let me get undressed and covered back up on the table she did the ultrasound.  I was literally SHOCKED by how much bigger the baby is! I am so used to only seeing the blobs (1st pregnancy was all blobs, this pregnancy was blobs so far) that to be able to clearly make out a head, a body and even tiny little arm and leg buds was AMAZING! And then the most important thing, that tiny little flicker in the middle of it all that said I am still here mommy, my heart is still beating, don't worry :)  It was an awesome experience.  To top off the awesomeness, I will soon be switching from Progesterone in Oil injections (OUCH!) to progesterone suppositories which I will need to stay on until 12 weeks.  From experience, the suppositories are messy and not the most fun, but my booty needs a break from being treated like a very large pin cushion. Without further ado, here is the picture of our sweet baby.  Today the baby measured 8w4d along, so two whole days ahead :) You just keeping growing in there big guy (or girl).

8 weeks

Time is moving SO slowly. Days seem to take a week to go by but we are now at 8 weeks with only 2 weeks to go to get past our previous miscarriage milestone. Other than the dragging of time, this has been a pretty good week.  Most importantly, I am VERY excited to see the baby again at our final RE appointment on Thursday :)

Symptoms:

 

Night time pee fest continues, occasional nausea, occassional tiredness, super smell BUT the good news is my normal pants are back to feeling normal so I guess I was just bloated before and won't be the fattest pregnant lady ever! :) 

Food Aversions:

Anything with a strong smell and also, and I am very surprised to say this, but ice cream usually sounds TERRIBLE right now (which is quite out of character for me)

Cravings:

Fresh Fruits, Cinnamon Applesauce, and Popsicles

Weight Gain:

 

None - Back to starting weight :) LOVE it!

 

Great Moments/Milestones:

 

 

Upcoming ultrasound in 2 days

Size of Baby:

Raspberry (0.63 in/0.04 oz)

 

 

Valentine's Day

My dear husband Eric is quite the cutie :) This Valentine's Day he brought me home a dozen beautfiul yellow roses (becuase yellow is my favorite color), a heart shaped box of Kit-Kats, and a book about Love.  We stayed in tonight as fighting the crowds is not romantic for us.  Eric cooked some lovely pork chops and we gave each other nice back massages, took a walk, and watched a movie together. All in all, a lovely day.  Here is a picture of my roses for you to enjoy:

7 weeks

We have made it to 7 weeks, just 3 weeks to go until we make it to the first major milestone (our previous pregnancy miscarried at 9w4d so at 10 weeks we will be farther along than we have been before!).  Today is also my oldest nephew Dylan's royal birthday.  According to my mom's mom, the royal birthday is the birthday on which you turn the same age as the date of your birthday, so for example, Dylan is turning 12 on Feb 12th.  Eric and I are scheduled to head down to Mom's for a visit and dinner later today to celebrate :) 

This week I also want to start keeping a pregnancy tracker of sorts to track the progress of this pregnancy over time.  I probably will not do belly bump shots as those of you who know me know that the stress and depression of these last several years of infertility have already added a pretty good sized bump anyway :( Oh well, that is a problem to be tackled at a later time! Without further ado, the pregnancy tracker:

Symptoms:

 

Frequent Urination at night only (which does not help symptom 2), Fatigue, Occasional Nausea (worse in the evening this week), Super Smell, Uncomfortable when trying to sleep or wearing pants (oh sweat pants, you are my new best friend!), Spotting/Bleeding (which causes an additional symptom of nervousness) and Sore boobies (sorry future baby, it happens) 

Food Aversions:

 

Anything with a strong smell

Cravings:

Fresh Fruits (especially Cuties)

Weight Gain:

 

2.4 pounds - not great but not terrible

 

 

Great Moments/Milestones:

 

Getting to see the baby's heartbeat

Size of Baby:

Blueberry

 

Baby Blanket Progress

I am trying to make a baby blanket in time for the jellybean's arrival.  There are 13 jungle babies to cross-stitch onto the blanket and today at 6w4d I have finished the first one and it looks great but I am going to need to get quicker to get them all done in time :)  Here is a picture of the first square.

6w3d Ultrasound

Today we got to go in for our second ultrasound at 6w3d.  I had to be weighed at this visit (YIKES!) and then was asked to empty my bladder, undress from the waist down, and wait for the doctor to come in to do the ultrasound.  As a veteran of many, MANY a vaginal ultrasound now, I know the trick is to undress and dive under the tiny square of paper given to protect your modesty as quickly as possible since the doctor could come walking through the door anywhere from 15 seconds to 15 minutes after the instruction to undress is given.  So I make quick work of undressing as Eric guards the door and then we assume our positions to begin waiting for the doctor at around 10:40.  We talk about our nervousness regarding the last week's spotting, how anxious we are to see the heartbeat and how we are both slightly concerned we won't see one.  We talk about the lunch Eric is going to after the appointment, when our next doctor's appointment is likely to be, etc, etc, etc.  Around 11, after 20 minutes of sitting there half naked on a somewhat cold day in a not quite warm room, my conversation starts to turn to how long the doctor is going to take. I tell Eric if she is not in by 11, I will go out half naked to find her.  By 11:10, I am growing QUITE impatient and trying to convince Eric to go check how long it is going to be.  By 11:15, I insist he needs to go tell them my lady parts are developing signs of hypothermia and to ask if I can just wait with my pants on but FINALLY, at 11:18, the doctor comes in and I swallow my mounting irritation to discuss my spotting concerns and get the ultrasound started.  Within seconds, the gestational sac comes up on the screen (Whew, still pregnant!) and a quick zoom in shows our jellybean with the cutest little flickering heartbeat and all my irritation about the delay and the indignity of my pants-less situation melts like summer snow. 

We have a baby and its heart is beating. 

(The baby is between the plus signs...you can't see its heart beating but trust me, it is)

 

We have been here before and I know that this is no guarantee that this baby will stay with me, but for this moment, I am pregnant and the baby looks as perfectly perfect as any mother could dream. I am indescribably happy and schedule my final appointment with the RE's office for Feb 21st (8w2d) at 3:30 pm.

I float on cloud 9 from the office and stop at the store on the way home to do some grocery shopping.  I want to show the other shoppers and the cashier my tiny jelly bean photo but I somehow manage to restrain myself. I drive home thinking how silly I have been to be so worried about this pregnancy since a single previous miscarriage DOES NOT mean that you will miscarry every baby you ever conceive....and disaster strikes. While walking through the door, I feel a warm gush and head to the bathroom to confirm my fear.

I am bleeding.

Bright red, brand new blood, has pooled in my undergarments and trickled down my leg.  All my previous calm and happiness vanishes and I assume that now this pregnancy is EXACTLY like that last one. I call my mom, and I start to cry, and cry, and cry, and cry.  They are not kidding when they say pregnant women are emotional.  Even after the first 30 minutes of crying when I start mentally pulling it together and telling myself that the bleeding could just be due to cervical irritation after the ultrasound, I cannot turn off the water works. Adam (the most awesome brother in the world) texts me links of other people with the same experience due to ultrasound and still I cry.  I am a nurse. I know this can be NORMAL but because I lost my first baby, and because it took over a year and a half, a complete medical team, and a brand new cars worth of money to finally get pregnant again, I can only see the failure and the inadequacy of my body to do what it needs to do to make a healthy baby.

Talk about an emotional roller coaster. I have a feeling this is not the last of my worries for this pregnancy and I know that I will not begin to feel truly comfortable until we get to at least 10-12 weeks and put the time frame of the last miscarriage and this first risky trimester behind us, but, for now, I have found the emotional even ground and I will continue to hope and pray with every ounce of strength in my soul that this baby will grow to be the wonderfully healthy, beautiful child that I know Eric and I are meant to have.

5w3d ultrasound...Please be there little bean!

Wow, was it ever a bad idea to pick an afternoon appointment for this ultrasound!  I have been up since about 7 am (Eric wakes me up every morning for the delightful task of injecting Progesterone in oil into my tushie using a 1.5 inch long needle...SUPER fun!) Anyhow, today I cannot fall asleep again following this injection as I am excited for the ultrasound this afternoon.  As the day progresses though (and it does progress, though VERY, VERY slowly), my excitement to see the bean starts to turn into fear that there will be NO bean...or a bean in the one and only tube I have, or some other horrible reason why a million pregnancy tests have been positive but I am not truly pregnant.  I am completely stressed by 11 am and the appointment is not until 1:45. I try to distract myself with TV (not diverting enough), with the Internet (mistake!), and by taking a nap (not actually going to happen)...Eventually it is time to go and I bundle up my courage and head out.

We are taken back very quickly to the ultrasound room (a pleasant surprise) and Becca (the medical assistant) gets my blood pressure before heading in...it is High at 132/90.  She asks if there is any reason it might be high today (I usually run 112-120/70s).  I mention my stress/anxiety and she smiles at me and we move on. The doctor is in lickity split and it is the moment of truth...Eric holds my hand and I hold my breath and we see:

One gestational sac with a yolk sac and a very tiny, sesame seed sized fetal pole (it is between the two plus signs).  We definitely have a baby! It is in the right place! This really WORKED!!!! There are many hurdles to overcome and anything could happen at any moment but for now I rejoice in the knowledge that I am in this moment, a MOTHER :) :) :)

Announcing to the Bacon's (my immediate family)

This surprise took a bit of planning but I KNEW it was going to work.  You see, today is my Mom's birthday!  My mom is probably my most favorite person in the world (except maybe Eric, sorry everyone else, you all come in a close second) and it is not out of the ordinary at all for me to make a big production of her birthday. I sent her an itinerary of events starting with breakfast at 9 am and ending with cake and ice cream at 9 pm and once she approved the itinerary, I invited the rest of the family.  I also called up Adam and Kristie to get them in on a special plan of providing 3 separate birthday presents throughout the day.  I don't think it would have been suspicious if I was the only one doing 3 separate presents, but it might have made it more suspicious that I was video taping her opening the presents, so I am glad they played along because the video is PRICELESS!  So, the three gift themes were #1 - movie candy, #2 small gift, #3 actual present.  The baby surprise was my gift #2 which we were giving after lunch. 

So Eric and I show up with doughnuts at 9 am and we all give mom gift #1.  I gave her a bag of Swedish Fish and a vase with Tulips (it didn't fit anywhere else with my gift giving and Adam and KB were a little grumpy about it, but hey, the woman loves tulips), Adam gave her snow caps, and Kristie gave her cherry cordials. Then we head to the movie (Silver Linings Playbook) and I realize I have made a critical mistake...I forgot to film the first set of gifts! I panic but come up with a plan to begin photo documenting starting with lunch and then back track to take pictures of all the Gift #1's before proceeding to Gift #2's.  We go to Waffle house (which Mom loves for reasons unbeknownst to literally anyone else with taste buds) and lunch passes quickly and we are FINALLY on the way back to the house to do the second gifts. I lap back to take pictures of mom with the morning presents

and we get started with the afternoon presents.  Adam wants to go last because his present has a funny story behind it but Eric says "you DO NOT want to go last!" I want to punch Eric because I feel like he is going to give something away but no one thinks anything of it.  KB goes first and gives mom an Amazon gift card.  Adam goes second and gives mom and 5$ Kroger gift card wrapped in 3 dollars and with 3 dimes taped to the front.  At the beginning of the week Adam had had 28 dollars in poker winnings and he said he was going to double it up at his weekly poker game and use it to buy her present.  Poker did not go so well so then he only had $8.30 for her gift and she couldn't come up with a gift she wanted in that price range so Adam had to get creative.  She got a pretty good chuckle out of that one.

Next came the gift from Eric and I and to say she was totally SHOCKED would be an understatement.  The video below speaks for it self and is HILARIOUS (viewer discretion is advised, KB in her excitement to find out what is going on does drop one F bomb pretty close to the mic).

This is a close up of the onesies in the box; Mom's says "I can read Grandma like a book" (because she is an avid reader) and Dad's says "Grandpa's next project" but shows a baby playing in paint (because my dad was artistic back in the day and I am hoping he will pass that along to our baby)

Announcing to the Ilse's

So, the Ilse's are VERY smart people and apparently they are also naturally suspicious.  Eric and I wanted to surprise our families with the good news (which was possible since we had kept our frozen embryo cycle a complete secret) and we first dropped the hint about doing a family lunch while visiting Eric sister Kelly's house this past Monday. Eric just mentioned that he had been craving PF Chang's for a while now and since the nearest one to us was also near to them, maybe they might like to tag along. We were trying to be subtle but then when we also invited Eric's parent to come (who live nowhere near PF Chang's) everyone became suspicious.  You see, we normally go out with one group or the other, but rarely do we exert the effort to bring everyone together at once and especially in the wake of the icky stomach bug fiasco, it was difficult to play low key.  Kelly tried to cancel or move the lunch to another day to prevent further spread/re-infection but Eric insisted he still wanted to do it as planned.  At this point, I think everyone was expecting some kind of special announcement.  To try to throw them off the scent, and since I had had a job interview a week ago Thursday, Eric and I decided we would start off by telling everyone I got a new job.  When they asked questions I would say it was in home care, not the job I had actually interviewed for, and that it would start in 9 months. 

The day arrives and we do the script exactly as planned...and everyone seems a little less smart because they all stare at us blankly (except Kelly who smiles broadly right away).  We then give Eric's parents the gift we had planned (onesies with a ribbon saying "Baby Ilse Due October 1st, 2013) and they eventually catch on.  Mark wins the slowest to get there award because even after he figures out there is a baby he says "Wow, that is really nice of your new job to wait to let you start until after maternity leave!".  After that there was general congratulations and a good lunch was enjoyed by all.



The group at lunch

The surprise as boxed



Grandpa and Grandma Ilse with their onesies.  Grandpa's says "Grandpa's next project" and shows a little girl holding up her dress looking at her diaper (Grandpa is OFTEN doing project's at our house so this was good for him).  Grandma loves puzzles so hers shows a baby picture with a few puzzle pieces missing and says "It's no puzzle why Grandma loves me"

Houston, we have confirmation!

I finally got the digi to admit what I've known for almost two days now, I'm "PREGNANT"!!!!

Telling Daddy

So I woke up this morning and took another test and the line was slightly darker so even though the digital still said negative, I decided to go ahead and share the good news with Eric.  I have been planning this surprise for quite some time (ever since losing the first pregnancy which I announced by PowerPoint presentation).  The idea has morphed over time but the final product has been sitting in my closet for about a year now, waiting. Everything is packed inside a box which I pretended to bring in from our front porch as though it was just delivered by UPS.

When he opened the box, he saw this:

And when he pulled it out and opened it, this was inside:

 

Eric is an engineer so one of the onesies has a picture of a robot and says "my daddy engineered me" (Especially relevant since this is an IVF pregnancy). He also LOVES video games so the other onesie is a picture of a baby with a video game controller coming out of the umbilical cord and under that it says "1 UP". I have never been so happy as watching him open that box (except maybe when watching the second test line FINALLY show up)!

There ain't no doubting it now :)

I did not tell Eric last night because the lines were so light I was SURE he would not believe me.  I think I can tell him today though ;)  Here are this mornings tests and I think even fertile people should be able to see a line on at least one of these.  I have to do the post quickly because Kristie is coming up to visit and I would like to keep waiting to tell my family until we have more confirmation (blood tests) and we can do it as a cool surprise :) P.S. I am not a hillbilly, the post title is supposed to be a cute play on the song that goes "there ain't no stoppin' us now"

Here are the tests:

OMG...I think we have a second line!!! It worked!!!!

I am without question an early tester when it comes to pregnancy.  I can't seem to help myself. I mentally bargain with myself over how long I can wait/ how long I SHOULD wait to maintain my sanity! I was an early tester even when I was just charting because I figured if you knew within a day or two when you ovulated, you could know within a couple day window when to test. Well, IVF has been a whole new bag of NUTS because I know EXACTLY what the embryos looked like going in and ABOUT when a test might turn positive if there were one or maybe two babies in there.  So I started testing the morning of 2dp6dt and the tests have all been negative.

Well, I woke up this morning feeling well rested and optimistic...only to look at my morning tests and be disappointed to see them all (yep, I take MULTIPLE tests every morning) be negative. So, I left them on the counter to go down and take my morning meds and let old Hank (our dog) out and then come back up to brush my teeth and get ready and find....a possible super squinter of a second line on my Wondfo but the OSOM test is negative. So I dip an Answer test and force myself to walk away for 10 minutes (who knew 10 minutes lasted SO LONG!!!). Go back, Answer is a squinter, OSOM is a squinter, Wondfo still a squinter. OMG, OMG, OMG. I dip a digi...it comes back "not pregnant" but it doesn't crush my hopefulness because I think this is it. God I hope it darkens over the next couple days and I can get a positive digi by Monday so DH will let us go for the beta Monday morning!!!!!!
P.S. I am very much aware that most people (especially those among you who are fertile) can NOT see a line in these pictures.  It takes months and years of practice to be able to squint enough to make out the lines on these....but they ARE there ;)