Target is the land of temptation

I don’t plan on blogging too frequently throughout pregnancy, but I still feel somewhat in limbo right now as we await the first ultrasound. I’m really hoping for some more BFPs out there, and completely understand if you no longer want to follow me.

I dropped by Target on the way home to buy a couple of my favorite yogurt brands, since they’re cheaper there than anywhere else I’ve found. I’ve been chowing down like crazy on yogurt, nuts, crackers, and fruit, and hoping I don’t lose the healthy cravings as this pregnancy progresses. This is everything I brought to stash in my office yesterday, including my protein smoothie and salad for lunch (yes I like a fried egg in my salad):

Little did I know I’d also walk out with amazing deals on 3 maternity items (thick leggings, long-sleeved shirt, and short-sleeved shirt for under $25 thanks to the Cartwheel app!). And of course, a pack of 2 Clearblue Weeks Estimator tests. Aggghhhh, I swore I wouldn’t do this but I couldn’t help it, since October 4 feels so far away. But this is looking good! Planning on taking the second one next Wednesday, the night before my OB prenatal intake.

The last pee sticks, my crazy thyroid, and symptoms

I peed on a stick for hopefully the last time ever yesterday night. These are all the pregnancy tests I had at home, and I refuse to spend a cent more since money has been flying out of my wallet much too rapidly for my taste. And we know it won’t get better when a kid (or two) arrives!

I admit the 8dp5dt test did freak me out a little because it actually seemed lighter than 7dpfdt – but that was the same day my beta was 100, and I realized even though it was almost a 4-hour hold, I’d been pounding water leading up to it due to an A/C outage at work. Yesterday’s 9dp5dt line was much more satisfying 🙂

I wish my thyroid was more cooperative right now. I’d finally come back down to 75 mcg of Levothyroxine daily throughout my IVF cycle, after a max dose of 112 mcg while taking Clomid several months ago. As soon as I got the positive test 3 days ago, my endocrinologist told me to increase to 100 mcg daily, and we checked my labs. My TSH jumped from 1.4 to 2.48 in just a month, probably helped along near the end by the pregnancy. Strangely enough, my free T4 was a tad high at 1.6, and total T3 was normal at 97. Now I’m back up to 112 mcg and we’re rechecking in 2 weeks. So much for a break from the blood draws, but it will be worth it to make sure I carry the little one(s) to term.

Early fatigue was definitely hitting me yesterday at our dinner out with the hubby’s coworkers. I slept all the way home, and promptly went to bed at 10:15. Today I tried to make sure that my stomach was never too empty or too full, and that seems to help keep the nausea away. Work wasn’t too bad, but my back definitely started to ache more by end of day, and after coming home all I want to do is lay on the couch with my feet up. My 3 colleagues now all know, since they’ve been affected by my being in and out for the IVF, and I wanted to give them a heads-up since the first trimester could be dicey given all the risk factors.

I did email my RE yesterday to confess about my first beta, and I was getting nervous that I’d offended him because it was taking him longer than usual to respond. He finally emailed back this morning, and said what great news it was, to continue the Progesterone and Aspirin (through first trimester), and stop the Medrol (which I already did). Tomorrow I’m heading in at 8am to get my blood drawn, since I need to take my car in for service after that. I should be able to schedule my ultrasound in 2 weeks then as well. My next question for the RE will be when I can finally exercise again. I’m missing yoga and SUP, and want to take advantage while it’s still warm enough! I spoke with my aerial teacher, and I can even do relaxation flying yoga with modifications – I feel like this would help relieve some of my aches and pains, so this makes me very happy!

7dp5dt and it’s unofficial!!

Up until last night, I was feeling NO symptoms whatsoever, which I thought was strange considering all the progesterone I’m on. I normally get some sore boobs, nausea, bloating as part of my PMS, so was expecting at least one of those things. Then last night, I had to get up TWICE to pee. I’ve become used to getting up once since starting the injections, but definitely not twice. So when I realized at 5:30am it had been 4 hours since I last went to the bathroom, I figured why not, break out the Wondfo… 5 minutes later, I had my first squinter!! Which of course doesn’t photograph well, or appear obvious to my hubby, who I told by hanging a special onesie on his towel while he was working out in our garage this morning (we’re both known for our pull-up capabilities in our usual workouts). His expected response – a casual “Nice!” and “let’s wait and see for the blood test”. Sigh… men! I messaged my sister with a solarized-effect picture to make the line appear more obvious, and she gave me a much more enthusiastic response 🙂 As did my endocrinologist, who promptly added a T3 to the TSH lab that I’m getting drawn on Thursday. I was tempted to ask for a beta, but decided just to wait until the Saturday draw for it.

Of course, when I came home, I couldn’t resist the urge to POAS again, if only to see if I could get a more obvious line on a FRER that my hubby couldn’t miss. I got my wish 🙂 But yes, if you know me in real life, please keep this on the down-low – we’re planning to tell our parents after the first ultrasound, which should be in 2-3 weeks. Fingers crossed that these baby/ies stick!!

The rationing of pee sticks on 6dp5dt

Contents of the test basket in my bathroom cabinet yesterday:

• 1 Clearblue Digital Ovulation test
• 1 Wondfo pregnancy test
• 3 First Response Early Result pregnancy tests

Any guesses as to the contents after this morning? I’ll get to that at the end of this post, but first, some background…

Once upon a time, long before I had an inkling we would have trouble getting pregnant, I wasted many a hard-earned dollar on the Tesla of pregnancy tests – the holy FRER. I cringe to think of the money I wasted, even when purchased for cheaper on Amazon. After those first naive months, I switched over to the most popular internet cheapie – the Wondfo. I mean come on – 20 tests for the same price as a box of 3 FRER’s? No-brainer, right? And I used those guys sparingly – I still had a few laying around after over a year, since once I started BBT charting, I accepted the futility of testing before the end of my usual luteal phase. But then the end of my last 2ww on Clomid approached, and I realized my hopeful test date would be falling while traveling internationally – and damn it if I didn’t want to be absolutely certain of a result – positive or negative! So I ordered that box of 3 FRER’s, and took the tests with me abroad, to remain unused once my period slowly but unfailingly made its appearance.

With ovulation tests, I traveled in the opposite direction. I started with the Wondfo, and it worked reliably for me, until my first cycle on Clomid, when I didn’t get a positive test until the day after I seemed to ovulate based on ultrasound, symptoms, and temperature dip. Then I started to mistrust it, when I really should have blamed the Clomid – Wondfo hadn’t failed me in predicting ovulation for over a year until that point. I begrudgingly bought what the NP recommended in the first place, the Clearblue Digital Ovulation Test – a whopping $1.80 a test! And guess what – I found they were consistent with the Wondfo. Anyways, I used those suckers sparingly, and ended up with a few extra when we started IVF, so I used a couple to test out my HCG trigger last week. Because yes, it’s not going to be as sensitive as a pregnancy test, but since HCG and LH are almost identical, OPKs can pick up on HCG in your urine.

So if you had an OPK, a Wondfo HCG test, and 3 FRER’s, what would you do if you suddenly woke up at 4am on 6dp5dt, unable to get back to sleep because you needed to pee? The smart answer would have been to just pee and go back to sleep, but you guessed it – I grabbed that last Clearblue Ovulation test and peed on it, knowing that if it was negative I wouldn’t be heartbroken. And no, I wasn’t greeted with a smiley face, but at least I was able to get back to sleep peacefully until my alarm went off.

If this happens again tomorrow morning, I feel like I could sacrifice the Wondfo, but if it’s negative, I don’t know that I could use the 3 FRER’s in the following days, Tune in tomorrow for more POAS adventures, and start placing your bets on on whether I succumb to buying HPTs at Dollar Tree, which is oh so conveniently located halfway between my home and office!