Thursday, May 21, 2015

The Scare

The past few weeks have been a whirl wind of emotions. Hollie's received three blood tests checking our HCG levels on the following days:
  • 9 days post transfer her HCG was 265
  • 13 days post transfer her HCG was 1522
  • 15 days post transfer her HCG was 3005
These numbers are far above an average singleton pregnancy. THIS website explains average beta HCG numbers for those of you who are intrigued. Signs were pointing towards twins but nothing could be confirmed until our first ultra sound which was weeks away. Hollie felt certain of multiples. Matt and I remained cautious with our emotions. For the next 19 days post transfer everything seemed to be going well. Hollie reported feeling extremely tired and a little nauseous, both normal signs of pregnancy. Matt and I began brain storming about baby names, planning out our nursery, and imagining the reality of life as parents.

On Monday 5/18 Hollie called me to report she was spotting. She had called the doctor and they said not to worry, this can be normal in the first trimester, especially after IVF. I'm a worrier by nature but I tried to remain calm and not waste energy on negative thoughts. However, there was a monster in the closet just waiting to expose itself: the spotting could be nothing, but it could also be a miscarriage. Our egg donor was 39 at the time of harvesting her eggs before creating our embryos. This increases the odds of miscarriage which we were aware of going into this. On Tuesday night Hollie texted to alert us that the bleeding has increased quite a bit, more than what she felt was considered normal. We prayed together that night and hoped it would clear up by morning. 

On Wednesday morning 5/20 Hollie called again and the monster had officially jumped out of the closet. The bleeding was worse, she had called our doctor, and they wanted us to come in right away for an ultrasound and blood work. Matt and I both left work and I couldn't control my tears all morning.

As we arrived at the doctor Hollie laid on the exam table and Matt and I held each other at the head of her bed. Our doctor came in and asked Hollie to explain what was happening. Our doctor explained that it was very early to perform an ultrasound, we may not be able to see much, but let's take a look. As soon as an image appeared on the screen I held my breath. I thought, "am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?" Yes indeed! Our doctor said "there are two sacks here."


We are officially having twins! She went on to explain that they both looked healthy and then we experienced something I will never forget: the heartbeat. Two heartbeats! We could hear and see the pulsing heartbeats right there on the screen! What a miracle, especially so early. We were only 22 days post transfer and we could SEE both babies and HEAR both heartbeats!!! Baby "a" on the left and baby "b" on the right are both measuring perfectly on size and both have good solid heartbeats. Our doctor explained that Hollie has a subchorionic hemorrhage. This was nothing to be worried about, nothing that would cause harm to our babies, but it was something that needs to drain and would continue to bleed for a little longer. When the doctor left the room I burst into tears of joy which I'm sure could be heard from the next room and down the hall. Matt and Hollie smiled and rubbed my back. We arrived to this appointment in fear of devastating news and left flooded with pure joy! It's official; we're going to be parents of twins!

 
 
 
The babies are coming soon!
Click HERE to learn more about the fees associated with this process.
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1 comment:

  1. I can share bc you are mom to two beautiful babies. I had a subchorionic bleed that caused me to have a miscarriage. (I went on to have 2 babies after that) but I am surprised they told you that nothing could happen.

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