When Will I Know?

That's the question some people are asking, so here's the answer. It's not quite as simple as a fertile person who pees on a stick and announces they are pg. The trigger shot that I did almost 2 weeks ago contains the hormone HCG that makes your body ovulate in 36 hours. The artificial HCG hormone slowly leaves your body over about 10 days and as of Friday it was down to 6.

Now I want my HCG levels to go up, and almost double every 48 hours. My official Beta (pg test) uses serum (blood) HCG levels to determine pg and is technically this next Sunday which is 14dp3dt (14 days past 3 day transfer). I'll get my HCG levels M/W/F this week when I go in for blood tests, so I'll know which way it's trending. I'm hoping for an HCG of > 200 on Sunday to show a strong Beta.

If it's positive, I keep going in for bloodwork twice a week to make sure the HCG is still doubling and that my estrogen and progesterone levels are in range, otherwise my medication needs to be adjusted. I would have an ultrasound to confirm how many embryos implanted. Then ultrasounds once a week to hear the heartbeat, then to make sure there is a fetal pole and a yolk sac. Around 8 weeks I would go to the OB for my first ultrasound there, and then I would officially graduate from the REs office around 10-12 weeks. Embryos through IVF have been through a lot with all of the synthetic FSH and LH that was used to create the egg, so it's a little more cautious to make sure the pg will stick.

If it's negative and HCG levels are low, I start weaning off steroids and stop the other hormones, blood thinners, etc., but still have to go back in for bloodwork to make sure the HCG goes back to zero.

So this is the week where the late afternoon phone calls from the doctor have my heart pumping as I wait to hear if we'll have a Merry Christmas or a melancholy one. I know of at least 4 pg friends and more that are trying. Whatever the outcome, please understand that I won't share it right away. If it's positive, there are still a number of steps that I need to get through to feel confident that it's a viable pg. If it's negative, I'm going to need some time to grieve and get the tears under control before I can face swollen bellies and baby talk again.