The two week wait requires lots of patience and strength. The days following Embryo Transfer are known as the dreaded Two Week Wait (TWW). You wait until your period starts or your hCG beta blood test to determine if you’re pregnant or not.
About 5 days after Embryo Transfer I started getting period like cramps. I was scared to death and worried beyond belief, but I wasn’t bleeding. Paranoid that I was going to start my period. I prayed that I would keep the embabies we transferred.
The next day (day 6) I was fine and started spotting in the afternoon. My friend suggested I call the on-call nurse. The nurse said that spotting and cramping are normal, and not to be concerned. She wanted to stay updated on what was going on with me and to call back tomorrow.
The next morning (day 7) I woke to find bright red blood all over my underwear and pad. We were devastated. We thought for sure that I had lost the babies, and that my period had come.
I called the nurse back, and she said she bled a lot through one of her IVF cycles and thought the same thing. She said to call the clinic in the morning and see if they could get me in for an early test.
Chase and I both were upset enough that we asked for the day off. We relaxed, grieved, and went to see a movie. My IVF coordinator called and wanted me to come in for a blood test in the morning.
Tuesday (day 8) I had a hCG beta test. Though bleeding enough to have to wear a pad. My IVF coordinator called, and said my hCG levels were at 11.5! Anything higher than 5 is considered pregnant.
While on the phone she said it’s common to spot while on suppositories. They wanted to put me on more progesterone. They wanted me to add progesterone in oil (PIO) shots in addition to the progesterone suppositories. I would start the PIO the next day.
She told me to be cautiously optimistic.
The pharmacy called, and had the PIO shots over nighted to me. Chase gave me his first ever shot in the behind. He hesitated for what seemed like 5 minutes. He finally ended up doing it. Thankfully we both survived. My butt ached all night. Lots of women who have done IVF gave me tips and tricks to help with before, during and after injection of PIO.
My 2nd beta increased to 46! They quadrupled! Which definitely was a great sign. We told our parents and they all seemed excited.
My 3rd beta test was Monday morning, and my numbers went up to 132, and had my 4th beta test that Friday.
I tried to stay positive during that week.
On Friday my hCG levels had gone down to 106! While on the phone with Chase, he said he couldn’t stay at work.
We both were in tears and devastated.
The clinic wanted me to go in the next morning for my 5th beta. Chase and I were out to lunch with family when we got the call telling us my numbers were now 105. Again, going in on Monday for another test.
All weekend we tried to stay cautiously optimistic, and hope for the best.
Studying up on anything and everything that could give us hope, that maybe our numbers would increase again. And I couldn’t find anything.
On Monday my hCG levels had dropped to 38. I was having a miscarriage. They told me to stop all of my medications; which included baby aspirin, PIO and Progesterone Suppositories.
I made it to roughly 6 weeks pregnant before miscarrying.
Fertility clinics call this type of miscarriage a Chemical Pregnancy. And because my clinic didn’t give me any explanation of why I researched chemical pregnancy with IVF and found this great article. The article explained it had to do with the embryos being abnormal. I’m so thankful that I was able to get pregnant, even if it was only for a few weeks.
Because Chase and I believe in life after death, we know that we will be with our babies again. They were so loved, even if it was only for a few weeks. We believe that this was their test and trial, and now they are back in Heaven. It is so heartbreaking, we are so heartbroken. So many friends and family have given us strength through prayers and many, many blessings. We were told that we need to continue to move forward with faith, and that Heavenly Father loves us and will take care of us.
I cry every time I think about what happened.
We never thought we’d experience any more pain and suffering after dealing with infertility. It was ignorant thinking that IVF would work with our first cycle. No one ever prepares you for having to endure a miscarriage, or even having to tell people you miscarried.
This has been an emotional roller coaster the past few weeks. I haven’t shared what has been going on. Mainly, because I didn’t want to answer a lot of questions that I didn’t know the answer to. Is there anyone who likes sharing good news and then the next minute bad news, I sure don’t.
We are not sure what the next step will be for us, but will continue to move forward in faith.
P.S. If you haven’t read my whole IVF journey, read here about injections, egg retrieval, and embryo transfer.
P.P.S. Check out my Etsy Shop! I have lots of infertility apparel.
