Since it was a fresh round, we started from scratch. It definitely didn't go exactly how we planned, but that rarely happens in life. We were shocked on the day of the retrieval when our doctor told us that there were only 5 mature eggs (apparently 32 is not the new 22 when it comes to producing massive amounts of eggs to be fertilized). We were hoping for a lot more so we would have countless tries at frozen rounds. My acupuncturist was so encouraging through the whole round reminding me that we were looking for quality embryos not quantity. Out of the 5, we ended up with 3 strong embryos. We were also set on using 5 day embryos, not 3 day ones because it seemed like my body responded the best to the 5 day ones. Thankfully our doctor felt the same way and let our embryos grow for 5 days despite how few we had.
Then, on November 13th, we transferred a 3AB and a 4AA (these only make sense if you speak IVF) embryo. We had a sense that this had to be the one and that one of these babies was going to stick. It was pretty much our last shot. See picture below of our two "beautiful" embryos.
I was an absolute mess during the wait after the transfer. I was still recovering from the egg retrieval and trying to stay relaxed. When we went in for our first blood test I was convinced it didn't work. We got our results at the lab and it said I was pregnant. The lab techs who were there knew me from our many months of blood draws, and they were literally jumping up and down with excitement. I still felt a little nervous because with the ectopic, we found out on the second blood test something was wrong.
So we waited another 48 hours for the next test and the number more than tripled. Then it tripled again, and more than doubled after that. I think our nurse immediately thought twins but for some reason I felt like it was one strong baby. Our almost 4 year old thought differently. From the start she has claimed that it is two babies. We tried to prepare her that it could only be one, but she wouldn't accept it!
Then we waited another two weeks for our first ultrasound on December 10th when I was 6.5 weeks pregnant. What do you think showed up?? Two sacs of course. I immediately asked if there were babies in those sacs, and the doctor showed us two beautiful babies in two sacs. We held back tears as we saw them for the first time and heard their strong heart beats. Everything looked great. The twins were growing right on target and had strong heart beats at 124 and 125 bpm. You can hardly see them in this picture because how tiny they were and Twin A was nuzzled close to the lining.
Sorry for the length of this post, but there's been a lot to cover! On December 23rd we had our second and final ultrasound at the fertility clinic when I was 8.5 weeks along. That's when we saw two thriving babies with strong heart beats. We even got to see them wiggling around, and they were very active. Twin B is the one that is harder to see and was definitely the more active one. After this appointment we were officially released to a regular OB. Our doctor was so pleased with how they looked. We are very grateful for all they did for us to help our dreams come true.
There is never a "safe" time to announce a twin pregnancy, so I wanted to blog to share our story but also to ask for more prayers for these two babies and this pregnancy. We still feel like we have a long road to travel to hold these babies in our arms, but we are taking it one day at a time and celebrating every milestone along the way. Today I am 9.5 weeks along and working through lots of typical pregnancy symptoms. Every day I am in awe of what God has done in giving us these amazing Christmas presents.
We are so grateful and excited about what is ahead. Please cover these babies in prayer as they continue to grow. I will head back to the doctor January 7th and probably every couple of weeks after since it is twins. We are so thankful for your support and prayers!
