Test Day!
This morning I had a 7:45 am lab appointment for an HCG blood test. The nurses would look at the results and call me to share the news: pregnant or not.
I wasn't sure what time to expect the call, but of course I was hoping to hear sooner rather than later. I carried my phone all through the school with me - to a PLC meeting, to the restroom, to the kindergarten and first grade classrooms where I collected each group of students. When I hadn't heard anything before my lunchroom duty at 11:35, I even took it into the lunchroom (as if I'd be able to hear my phone ringing over the noise of kindergarteners and fifth graders eating lunch).
As I was sitting down to eat my lunch at 12:02, my phone finally rang and the caller ID showed "Mid-Iowa Fertility Clinic." I ran out of the teacher's lounge, swiping across my phone screen to answer the call. The teacher's lounge gets terrible cell service, so I ran straight outside. But by the time I got to the front of the school, the nurse had hung up! I called back immediately, but the clinic is closed from 12-1 for lunch, so I just got the answering system informing me of this. At this point, I texted Eric - desperate to get ahold of the nurses, but realizing that we would probably have to wait until after 1:00.
So I went back inside, packed up my lunch, and spent a few minutes using the restroom and walking the hall to get my emotions back in check (there were a few tears of frustration). Then I taught kindergarten from 12:15-12:40 and a third grade guided reading group from 12:40-1:00. I quickly tried calling the clinic back at 1:01, but all the lines were busy. So I had to wait until 1:20, when my last third grade group had wrapped up, to try again. I said a prayer, walked outside to the front of the building and called the clinic with my fingers crossed.
The receptionist was very kind and transferred me to a nurse right away. Michelle, who had assisted with our transfer, looked at my results and CONGRATULATED ME ON BEING 4.5 weeks PREGNANT! I said, "Are you sure?" and she replied, "You are definitely pregnant." My HCG level was 649 which is a nice healthy number.
Obviously, I called Eric immediately and quickly told him the good news. His reaction was one of my favorite parts of the day. Another highlight was the flowers he sent me at school (swoon). We agreed that he would call Kelly and we would talk about sharing the news with other family members after we got home from work.
Here are the next steps:
1. Replace Estrogen patches (3 at a time, changed every 72 hours) with oral Etrogen pills (twice daily).
2. Continue all other meds until further notice (around 12 weeks of pregnancy)
3. Come back to the office on Wednesday (48 hours after first blood test) for a repeat HCG blood test. This is done to verify that the pregnancy is progressing as expected.
4. Schedule an ultrasound for 6-7 weeks, and another for 8-9 weeks. After the second ultrasound, transfer care to my OB.
It hasn't completely sunk in yet. I'M PREGNANT. With a baby. Our second baby. Eric told Mia that she's going to be a big sister again and we can't wait to tell Gavin the news - many weeks from now.
For now, we're just enjoying the feelings of joy and gratefulness that we had a successful transfer. And celebrating with ice cream, of course.