Friday, April 17, 2009

4 weeks & Tales from Beta Day!

First, thank you all so much for your incredible words of support and congratulations! Sean & I were all teary eyed reading all the comments last night. You are the most amazing group of women I have ever had the pleasure to know. To hear that my story has given you hope is unbelievable to me! I know that feeling so well, I remember the stories that gave me hope and still give me hope each day.

Second, I can hardly even believe I am typing this, but I am 4 weeks pregnant and according to Babycenter, our little one is the size of a poppy seed. The baby (babies?) is also working on a primitive placenta & an amniotic sac. INCREDIBLE!!! My due date is Christmas Eve! Sean & I met at Christmas and were engaged at Christmas, so it is a very appropriate time for our miracle to arrive!


Third, I promised you all the beta day details, so here we go!

Sean & I woke up at 6:15 on Thursday, got ready and headed out for the clinic a little after 7am. I was still feeling calm and dare I say, perhaps even a little bit confident. My nurse was thrilled to hear that I had not tested and drew my blood a little after 8am. She instructed me to call between 1-2pm for results.

Sean & I made a plan: I was to drop him at the office, spend the morning with Amanda , pick up Sean up at the office around 12pm, grab lunch, drive home & call the clinic together after 1pm.

Great plan, right? Well, the universe had other plans...

I arrived at Amanda's after 9am and we had a yummy Pan.era breakfast and decided to head to Tar.get. We were chatting & getting ready to leave when my cell rang.


Me: (panicked) IT'S THE CLINIC!!!
Amanda: (excited) Are you going to answer it?

Me: (shrieking) NO!!!
Split second decision, answer the phone.
Me: (scared to death) Hello?

Nurse: Emily? You know how you said you weren't really feeling too much?

Me: (hesitantly) Yes...

Nurse: Well, you better get ready because you are going to be feeling a lot pretty soon. (long pause)

Me: (more shrieking, lots of disbelief) AM I PREGNANT?????

Nurse: YES!!! Congratulations.
Me & Amanda: Commence screaming and hysterics and of course, crying!


The nurse & I exchanged more details such as beta #, which I thought was 54, but learned today was 56, next beta which is Monday, lots more congratulations and disbelief.

Amanda was shooting photos the whole time and as soon as I hung up, we hugged and screamed and cried some more. I was stunned and completely caught off guard by the early phone call.

I decided to call my mom and more crying and hysterics ensued. She was OVER THE MOON to hear she was going to be a Grandmother.
I felt a little guilty that Sean hadn't been there for the big news, but immediately began formulating a new plan to surprise him.

I told Amanda I wanted to go to Tar.get for a bib or onesie and some balloons. She loved it! We rushed out the door and the plan was in action.

In the mean time, Sean calls my cell phone because he is trying to book a week at the beach for June and needs my input. I am dying inside, bursting to tell him, but I stay calm, cool and collected the whole time on the phone. The secret is safe!




Found this bib & onesie @ Tar.get, it says, "Daddy's Little Sunshine" and balloons at Par.ty City. I picked a congrats balloon and a Happy Bday balloon since transfer was on Sean's birthday and we had talked about how a BFP would be the greatest gift ever.








We arrived at the office pretty close to 12pm, so Sean wasn't entirely shocked to see me walk in the door. He was perplexed by Amanda and Nolan and of course, the gift bag and "Happy Birthday & Congratulations" balloons. He was like, "What's this?" I said, "Happy Birthday! Open it!"




He pulls out the onsie and bib and is extremely confused and asks, "What does this mean?"

I reply, "WE ARE PREGNANT!" He says with trepidation, "How do you know that?" I explain and he jumps up, hugs me so tight and gets very emotional. Much more excitement and congratulations ensued from all Sean's coworkers. It was an AMAZING moment. Amanda videotaped the entire thing and I am so thankful she was able to document it, especially since our families are long distance.

I thought that infertility and IVF had taken a lot of the surprise factor out of the BFP announcement, but was I ever wrong! Yesterday was one of the best and most emotional days of my life. It was very cool being surprised by the nurse and the icing on the cake to be able to surprise Sean like that. I have not stopped smiling.

We all left the office and began calling family as soon as we got into the car. Everyone was very excited and emotional. We felt like screaming it from the rooftops and between the phone, the blog and face.book, we pretty much have!


We had a celebratory lunch and then hit up Tar.get again for the all important DIGITAL!!! I promptly peed on it upon arriving home and "PREGNANT" popped up in less than 30 seconds. Another amazing moment!



We spent the rest of the afternoon in awe and total disbelief. I kept saying to Sean, "Can you even believe it???" and he would just shake his head. Every time I heard him tell someone he was going to be a Dad, I got teared up all over again.

Even though our families could not be there, I know they will love seeing Amanda's video. It was such a departure from the original plan, but it could not have worked out any better!

In retrospect, I think I knew I was pregnant. As beta got closer, I felt more calm and confident. I think I was just afraid to admit it to myself, although by that morning I told Sean I thought it was about an 80% chance of a BFP. Both my mom and Sean's mom said they had a good feeling and Christi said she knew when I started posting my symptom checker.

Speaking of, here is the latest installment!
Symptom checker: Getting very crampy! All day yesterday and today I am feeling cramps and pulling and activity. My boobs are HUGE and sore. They are also very, very veiny. Sean is in awe of the boobs and said that the boob fairy has paid me a visit :) I am also hungry every 2 hours or so. My sense of smell is heightened & am having very detailed, vivid dreams.

I am having my beta rechecked on Monday, u/s in aprox 2 weeks and I have my first ob appointment on May 15th , which continues the birthday theme - it's my stepdad's bday!

I can't tell you how excited we both are. I can't wait until Sean gets home so we can go to Barn.es & Nobl.e! I plan to enjoy every moment as it comes and not worry about all the things I cannot control. I hope and pray that our miracle is growing healthy, big & strong...

Thank you for reading, commenting and cheering me on! I cannot wait to share this phase of my journey!

41 comments:

Unknown said...

I am SO HAPPY for you two! That is So great! Can't wait to hear more!

Hugs!

Lisa said...

I can't really type anything because I have tears running down my face for you and Sean!!!!!

'Murgdan' said...

Awww..yay. Tears for me too. I want to see the video!

ME! said...

What a wonderful story! How awesome that your friend was there to chronicle it??? YEAH! I am so flipping excited for you!!!!

Jill said...

I'm so, so, so, so, happy for you! I just can't believe it! What a great surprise!!!

Leslie Laine said...

Hi Emily - I'm all teary after reading that, remembering our BFP day. It was one of the best days of my life, and I'm so glad that it was special for you as well. After going through so much hell to get to this point, it's so wonderful to have such a monumental day together, and I will treasure it for the rest of my life, as I'm sure you will as well. I remain convinced it was all the more special for us because it was so hard to get to that point.

You have an amazing attitude about this, and I'm deeply inspired by it. I'm so excited for you all - looks like 2009 is going to be our year. Finally!!

I'm praying for you. Enjoy every minute of it! It feels so good to really be pregnant, doesn't it?

Have a great weekend, and thanks for sharing.

Jill M. said...

I LOVED reading this post!!! I literally cried happy tears. You totally have to post the video!

The "boob fairy", LOL!

Congrats, congrats, congrats!!!

MissMVK said...

YES! Enjoy every single second and do not get bogged down by worries about this and that. You and Sean are going to have SO much fun during this pregnancy (not to mention after). Congrats again, thanks for sharing your heartwarming story.

fmo said...

Another wonderful post. What a wonderful day... I cannot tell you enough how much your blog reminds me to hang in there because one day it will happen. Enjoy the weekend.

cady said...

i was planning the exact same surprise on beta day (minus the balloons!) for my hubby, but we ended up doing a hpt the night before. and, the first onesies we bought that night were the same ones you bought! how funny! :) i got teary-eyed reading your recap. i'm really happy for you.

sunflowerchilde said...

Congrats! What a beautiful, emotional story. I could NOT be happier for you!

Somewhat Ordinary said...

Isn't the "Pregnant" on the CBE the best looking word? Congratulations!

kayjay said...

Congratulations and enjoy every single second and ounce of joy you can wring out of this!! It has been a long hard road but look at you now - pregnant and smiling :)

Meant to be a mom said...

What a great way to find out for both of you. Thats great. Congrats again. What a wonderful gift!

Barefoot said...

What a wonderful day!! And so glad I'm not the only one getting regular visits from the boob fairy. :)

Carrie said...

So amazing! I love that your whole day was full of happy, pregnancy surprises for both you and your hubby. I could NOT be more overjoyed for you!!!

Huge hugs!
Carrie

Anonymous said...

I am an avid follower from Clarkston, Michigan and i am SO HAPPY for you and your Hubby.... May God bless you even more so on this journey that is before you... Keep us all posted with fun photos and such... Again CONGRATS

Kellie Poehner-johnkelliep@gmail.com

Amanda said...

Amazing!! What a wonderful story, I have been a lurker, we are getting ready for IVF soon and it is comforting to read of others experiences although I am not ready to share my own ... Thank you so much for sharing. I am sooo excited for you, your strength & postive attitude to get this far has been inspiring!!

Banana Pancakes said...

Just think this time next year you'll be toting a little munchkin around on your hip! :) Congratulations again.

Anonymous said...

I am so happy for you and even happier that you are enjoying every single second!!!! ((HUGS))

Sky said...

I KNEW IT! With all of your symptoms (particularly the metallic taste), you were as good as gold.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! WOO HOO!!!!

Lost in Space said...

Woo Hoo!! Late to the party, but thrilled for you just the same. Congrats, Emily. Enjoy every minute!!

C said...

this was such a sweet beta day story... i am so very happy for you guys..and am happy you are allowing yourself to enjoy the whole process...lots of love and congratulations again..

RMCarter said...

Ahhh, that story was everything I was hoping for and more! Sounds like a perfect day to me!! :) I can not wait to share in the next 9 months with you! (Oh, wait! You're already 1 month along... I guess it's only 8 months!!!)

Just Believing said...

sobeautiful! are you going to post the video?? I would love to see it cuz i already have tears in my eyes! its so inspriing to hear of so many bfp's this month via ivf!!!!

poppy.f.seed said...

I love how you told S, and all of the joy in this post.
Fantastic!

bunny said...

Emily-

Hooray! I am so happy for you and S. Enjoy every minute. Happy weekend!

bella1021 said...

AWESOME!!!!!!!

Loved how it all worked out.. even the best laid plans.. there is always something better ;)

we pretty much have the EXACT same symptoms right now too! (Monday I will be 5 weeks.)

So exciting!! YEAH!!! I still have no idea how people don't shout it from the roof tops as soon as they hear! How can anyone keep all that excitment bottled up!!

Jill said...

I love hearing your beta day story! Such a great one! Hope you are loving POAS!!

Phoebe said...

I'm glad you were able to have a great beta day. I hope the good news keeps coming!

M. said...

Emily! What a great story!! I love the onsie :) enjoy every second of this- pregnancy goes by really fast!

Just Another Mother said...

I'm so glad you could surprise Sean. And I'm also glad you are enjoying every joyous minute of it. Congrats again!

Anonymous said...

GUESS THIS MEANS YOU NEED TO CHANGE YOUR TITLE TO YOUR BLOG NOW... AS YOU ARE EXPECTING A PEANUT;-]

Ashley said...

HI!!! I'm coming from "Just another infertility blog" to say CONGRATS!!! We have just started doing IVF so I LOVE to hear postiive stories!! I'm going to add you to my blog list...hope you don't mind;)

piccolina said...

Hi! I have been following your blog since my first IVF last summer. I have done two more since that time, and just got my BFP on Tuesday from IVF#3! We are due within days of each other.
Woo-hoo! Congrats! By the way, I see you said you are from Buffalo, I live in Albany!

Suzanne said...

I'm new to your blog (found you via Jill @ One Day In Pairadise).

Just wanted to stop by and say "Congratulations!".

Lisa said...

That is the best BFP story I have ever read!!

CONGRATS to you and Sean!!!

Anonymous said...

Yay!!! I was waiting on pins and needles!! What a great story!
Prayers for you both.
-Sarah

Michelle said...

This is such wonderful news and such a beautiful story! My husband and I have severe male infertility. This story gives us such hope!! Congrats and I can't wait to hear all the details as the pregnancy continues! God bless you!
~Michelle

Where's my miracle? said...

That is a great story. I loved it! Congraulations!!!!!

Peaches said...

Thanks sooo much for sharing your beta day story-so awesome!!!Congrats!!!! Enjoy the boob fairy gifts :)