Like Beans Through the Hourglass, So Are the Days of our Lives

In a mere two and a half days they will be drawing blood for our pregnancy test. Obviously we are getting excited and hope to be celebrating, but I also know that we will quickly be in wait mode again. If everything worked and we do get a positive than we need to come back 48 hours later for another blood test to see how everything is progressing, and next make an appointment for an ultrasound a week later. Are both Mary-Kate and Ashley holding on? Basically, I feel like Jack Bauer, walking around with one of those digital countdown clocks in my head. beep-doop, beep-doop, beep-doop. Frankly, I am not sure if I will really feel that we are out of the woods until January.

On a related note, I have been thinking lately that one of the more frustrating aspects of this process is that IVF robs you of your privacy with regard to telling people. Before IF, I always imagined having a few weeks to savor the news of nascent pregnancy. Mrs. Beans and I would nervously hold hands in the waiting room through our first doctors visits, leisurely peruse the advertisements for nursery furniture in the Sunday paper, make lists of potential names, and think about how and when we would share our big news. Now I have a list of phone calls to make after we get the results. Don't get me wrong, without the love and unyielding support of our close friends and family (many of whom read this blog), there is no way that we could have gotten this far. But selfishly, I wish that we had some time to digest the news, good or bad. I also think what really worries me is that there is a reason (which shall not be named) that people do not run around telling others about their pregnancies until the end of the 2nd or 3rd month (at least). My worst nightmare is having to make those phone calls. Yikes! Guess, I am feeling a bit anxious. Back to Norman Vincent Peale mode.

Other updates? Well, our 2 remaining embryos continued to develop and we now have two waiting in the on deck circle for FET. I know that it doesn't work this way, but I can't help but take their development as a positive sign for Mary-Kate and Ashley. We received a very lovely form letter from our clinic. "We at Baby Factory, Inc. Wish you nothing but the best on your journey to parenthood and wish to inform you that we froze _____ embryos from your most recent retrieval." I was feeling a little frustrated with this Hallmark moment so I called them up and asked for some more details. They assured me that the blastocysts were of high quality, although one was a bit more advanced. (Please note that the accompanying picture is Trot and not JD "Nancy" Drew, Sox fans will know this is important)

What else? Mrs. Beans is feeling very uncomfortable. She is being a very good sport about her injections, but I think that she is at capacity. Over the last four days quite a bit of the progesterone has been leaking out of the injection site. Of course, we called the pharmacy and the IVF nurses in a panic and they assured us that it was no big deal, but I am still worried. Has this ever happened to anyone else? Mrs. Beans, who incidentally would have made a fantastic Civil War doctor based on her medical theories (Headache soldier? Must be too much blood in your head, let's bleed it out!), has decided that her body, specifically her ass, is filled up like a giant progesterone water balloon, and the needle is simply springing a leak, cartoon character style.

Finally, I wanted to share this resource that I happened upon earlier this week while googling "IVF pregnancy tests, how soon is too soon?" This site gives the IVF success rates of the majority of the country's clinics. The data is from 2005 and obviously dependent upon a variety of different factors, but we still wish that we would have had this centralized info at our fingertips a few months ago. It even comes with a handy map! I will add it to my sidebar as well. Enjoy!

Please keep your fingers crossed!