hCG Test #1
This morning I went to the lab for my first blood test. The phlebotomist asked if I had taken a home pregnancy test, so I had to fess up. But she congratulated me on the positive test result. I told her I was still a bit anxious about the result of the blood test and she said, "Of course you are! Everyone wants to know their numbers." She is the sweetest - and the most talented. She always get my vein on the first try and never needs a second attempt. It's very impressive.
After filling the vial, the phlebotomist (Jessica) told me that a nurse would call me later today with the results. I was hoping for a morning phone call as the kids and I were planning to swim at Judi's house in the afternoon. But the call came around 1:30 pm and I was able to sneak to a secluded spot in the yard to answer. The nurse (Michelle) said she was calling with good news. My hCG level was 206 IU/L. Anything over 5 IU/L is considered pregnant, so that's a great place to start. I had a list of questions to ask, but it would have been difficult to have a long conversation in that particular setting. So I will ask my questions when I speak to a nurse after Thursday's blood test.
At first I was slightly disappointed about the number being 206. I had gone back to my post about the first blood draw after Elsie's transfer and my hCG was 649, almost doubling to 1280 after 48 hours. By comparison, 206 seems low. I had already reminded myself that Elsie's blood draw was actually 13 days post-transfer (the 12th day was a Sunday) and this blood draw was actually 11 days post-transfer. Since the level nearly doubles every 48 hours, I should have expected a lower number. This evening, I researched expected hCG levels and found that the "normal" range for women who are 4 weeks pregnant (I think I'm 4 weeks + 2 days) is 5 - 426 IU/L. The normal range at 5 weeks pregnant is 18 - 7340 IU/L. Obviously my level falls nicely within that range and I felt better about it knowing that.
The next step is to repeat the blood test on Thursday morning. If the number has increased by at least 66%, the pregnancy is considered to be progressing normally and I will schedule an ultrasound for the 6-week mark (around 2 weeks from now). There will be one more ultrasound around the 8-week mark and then I will "graduate" from Mid-Iowa Fertility and become a patient of my regular OB. This time will go so quickly since we're in the second half of summer break and we have things going on (Allison's baby shower this weekend, swimming lessons next week, etc).
As we always do, we celebrated this good news with milkshakes. I'm praying we have more good news tomorrow!