Dancing in the womb

We saw you today little one. You were dancing in the womb. You are only 9 weeks new and you are so very loved. Here is your glamor headshot.



Stats: heartbeat of 170. due date of Dec 11th.

~Kristen

The blessings of life or YES, you can get pregnant on your own after IVF

We had an unexpected surprise.... I am PREGNANT!

Honestly, I wasn't ready for another baby. Having another baby meant hormones and heartache. I was happy to just enjoy being Isabelle's Mommy. Many of our friends are adding their second child but it is different when you know you will have to go through IVF to get there. So... I was spending my time getting myself back in shape. I was eating low carb no sugar, (eating the PCOS diet) going to the gym at least 3 times a week. (or more) I lost 10 pounds in about 2 months. and It was time for my yearly check up and they found my vitamin D level was low. I was taking 10,000 units for a few days and then went to 2000 a day. That was it... the Perfect Storm! My body ovulated on it's own. The first month I added the vitamin D. Can you get pregnant on your own after IVF, yes!

It is the strangest thing... who knew you could get pregnant from having unprotected sex? It took us 3 very long years to have our dream baby, life was full of hormones and shots and blood work. We knew embryo quality, we knew we had the best sperm. I still look at this picture and think... how did that baby get in there??!!

Here is our little bean, measuring 7 weeks with a heartbeat of 138.



It is funny how life happens, I thought I didn't want another child yet, but now, I can't imagine not having this one! Much love little one....

~kristen - Mommy to be... again.

BTW... When I saw those 2 lines on the test and totally freaked out! I did go immediately and have my beta numbers checked and rechecked to see if they doubled. Also started on progesterone for piece of mind and will continue until my 11-12 weeks. I contacted my infertility doctors office to verify that here was a heartbeat, after all we did not see a heartbeat on 3 of them before. (my regular OB's office could not understand my concern) They were nice enough to get me in and check for the heartbeat. I go see my regular OB in about a week. The fear of failure seems to stay even if you are blessed to get there on your own.

38 weeks!!!

38 weeks!!  I am excited, nervous and freaking out a little.
Dilated 1cm and 50% effaced.

Here are a few of our maternity pictures....







ready to get this show on the road!!
~kristen

IVF... and it worked!!

We had our first ultrasound on May 15th. Our little bean had a heartbeat of 118.
A "heartbeat", never have we seen a heartbeat with our other 2 pregnancies. It was an unbelievable feeling. Looking back now, I was still in disbelief at the time. I did not allow myself to be happy. But, dreams really do come true!




~Kristen

That's the thing about the day before your life changes forever...it feels like any other day

I had two frozen embryos left from my IVF procedure in May. The process of a frozen embryo transfer is so much more relaxed than invitro. There is not a process of making the eggs so no shots are needed which means no overstimulation. I had to take estrogen pills for two weeks then progesterone for 4 days before the transfer then steroids for four days after and estrogen and progesterone for the next ten days until the blood pregnancy test.  My frozen embryo transfer was last Wednesday on the 17th (which was the 3 year anniversary of our engagement..good juju right?!) My blood pregnancy test is scheduled for October 27th, which is 10 days past transfer. After a miscarriage in July, we really want this to work or should I say.. We really need this to work. My sanity needs this to work.  I of course, googled FET and found very high success rates and also that taking progesterone before the transfer makes the uterine lining sticky and ready for implantation. Google very seldom makes you feel better but i tried to only find accurate and successful information to keep my spirits up.  I felt confident but having infertility makes you feel like getting pregnant is nearly impossible so you say you are trying to be positive but its pretty difficult. Along with my other medications I have also been taking baby aspirin, prenatal vitamins and vitamin D all month. My transfer was on the Wednesday, I stayed in the bed Wednesday and Thursday and sat on the couch doing work Friday. Now comes the big question.. when to do my home pregnancy test? If you do it too early and its negative, its tough to mentally understand that it could still be too early. After IVF last time I tested 11dp5dt and it was positive and I kept thinking that if I would've  tested sooner than i could've known sooner! So now its been 5dp5dt and I'm still trying to stay positive..to just think positive, the mind is a powerful thing. And one minute I feel like this has to work, this is the plan..and then the next minute I am terrified that I will never have my own children. I feel like I could have some pregnancy symptoms: breast tenderness, sore lower back, smelling everything and even throwing up from a smell today. But as infertility women know, again, the mind is a powerful thing and I never trust my symptoms because so many times in the past it has been nothing. And so now I wait, I wait and wonder...will one day this week be the last day before my life changes forever? because today feels like any other day..

Tips to help you get pregnant!

Are you trying to get pregnant? Here are some tips I have learned along the way.

Take a baby aspirin everyday. It is supposed to help your lining thicken up and the baby stick. Reasons to use Baby Aspirin if you are trying to conceive.

Eat a pineapple core during the 5 after ovulation. Cut it into 5 pieces and eat a piece everyday. Pineapple core for implantation.

Have your Prolactin levels checked? Everything we went through.. this was not done until I hit the RE. My levels were too high and that could have been one of my problems all along. Prolactin levels and Infertility
Prolactin doesn't just cause your body to increase milk production - it also affects your ovulation and menstrual cycles. (This is why women who are breastfeeding rarely get pregnant). Prolactin inhibit two hormones necessary for ovulation: follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH). When you have high levels of prolactin in your blood (a condition called hyperprolactinemia), you will not ovulate and this will result in infertility. This anovulation can also cause you to have irregular cycles.


Take at least 1000 mg of Vitamin D3 everyday!!!! Sometimes this is all you need!
"Having enough vitamin D circulating through your system can increase your chances of fertility whether you’re struggling with poly cystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), lack of ovulation or general fertility problems. This “hormone” also plays a role in male reproduction. Both sperm motility and production are increased when levels of vitamin D are normal. SO get your men tested too- as we all know it takes two to tango (so to speak)." Vitamin D

They also have Fertility Vitamins! I have a friend that could not conceive  even after injectables and multiple IUI's, after being on only the vitamins for 2 months she is expecting.<3 (i think she took both)
Fertility Blend or Fertility Plus or FertilAid

Start taking your prenatal vitamins now.

Hope this was useful. :)
~Kristen