It's working! It's working!*
884
It's a fabulous number. Textbook 48-hour doubling time would have been 744; this doubling time is about 43 hours. So this is good.
Nurse Space Cadet scared the crap out of me by calling nearly two hours earlier than usual. I had finally convinced myself to buckle down and get some work done, with the promise of an early lunch shortly after noon followed by a long walk during the expected phone call time. And then: bam. Lucky for me it was good news, because otherwise I think the rest of my workday would have been shot. (Note: the previous statement completely understates my feelings on the matter.)
Nothing to do now but wait for the 6w4d ultrasound (June 20). Wait...and worry. Worry that there are fourteen embryos in there. Worry that whatever is in there will decide to stop growing next week. Worry that the bagged salad I had at lunch on Saturday has doomed my pregnancy for sure (though with a delayed reaction). Oh yeah - is there anything out there I can eat? I made the mistake of Googling this last night, and I think my diet will soon consist only of brown rice and water. When I asked Nurse Spacey if there was anything diet-wise for me to be aware of, the only three things she brought up were alcohol, high-mercury-containing fish, and soft cheeses made with unpasteurized milk. So maybe I should just relax (ha!) but now that we've made it this far, I'm terrified that if anything goes wrong it will be all my fault.
On that note: I plan to stop off on the way home today and buy a pregnancy book. Just one, I promise. It's early yet, and it won't do to have a whole shelf of them taunting me if I come on from the 6w4d ultrasound with a picture of a 4w6d embryo. But I'd love any recommendations (or warnings) on books, for now or for the future.
Now, listen up, because this is the important part. I cannot begin to tell you all how much I appreciate all the congratulations and well wishes on my previous two posts. I am particularly touched to hear from those of you who have recently received bad news on the fertility front, or are mired in uncertainty. I can only hope that I would do the same if the situation were reversed, but I suspect that I am too selfish to feel joyful when I am in the depths of emotional pain. May you all hear the same good news, and only good news to follow. And soon.
* gratuitous E.T. reference
Labels: pregnancy
posted by Robber Barren at 12:14 PM
comments (20)
Oh man, I think I'm going to cry. I'm so glad this is going well for you. Can't wait until the 20th!
In addition to those usuals, I'm staying away from: caffeine, artificial sweeteners, and anything with tons of preservatives (hot dogs, etc). Beyond that, eat what tastes good and what is good for growing humans. Eat now, because you never know what your hormones will do to you. I haven't wanted to eat in about 10 weeks now, with no end in sight. So EAT NOW, and ENJOY!
Congrats!! I bought My Pregnancy Week by Week. I like it because it has a picture of the baby for every week.
As for eating, I'm a BAD person to recommend things. My diet is AWFUL!! I eat what I like, especially now that I feel sick I figure if I can get it down, I'm eating it!!
Mazel Tov, that number sounds great. And the fact that it's actually just over double makes it far more likely that there's just one baby. My beta was 89 at 15dpo, 357 at 17dpo, and 952 at 19dpo. The huge increases flipped me out--I was convinced there were a couple of them in there! Thankfully it was only P, starting out nice and strong as he settled in for the long haul. Hopefully your baby is doing the same thing.
BTW, the 20th is our 7th anniversary--I hope it's as happy a day for you as it has been for us!
I agree with Heather's recommendation of Your Pregnancy Week by Week. We used to open that one up every Friday and read what to expect in the coming week. It was fun. I would also like to tell you to avoid What to Expect When You're Expecting. They have a series of questions written from the view of the pregnant woman that the authors are answering. Maybe I was just paranoid, but I swear that nearly all the answers managed to bring in the possibility of miscarriage and other horrible thoughts. I put it down at about 7 weeks pregnant, when I just couldn't take it anymore, and never picked it up again.
I'm not expecting, but my very good friend is. She says she has nightmares about "what to expect when you are expecting". It's terrible and she thinks it gives the very worst case scenario. She mentioned that "the girlfriend's guide" was pretty down to earth and benign.
No help on pregnancy books - but I did want to chime in and say what a great number that is!
What a fantastic number! Congratulations and I hope that the rest of your journey will be a complete success.
Thanks also for the link to Betabase.info. That is exactly what I was looking for because I just got the results of my second beta and didn't know how it measured up. Looks like mine is 47 hours doubling time!
To quote the lady with the 884 beta:
"Dude, if any of your reaaders needed the footnote, they don't deserve you!"
When our cycle failed, I thought I'd be too self-absorbed to care about anyone else's progress, but I actually found it made me feel better - albeit superficially - to post well wishes to others. The superficial feeling better kept me from sinking irretrievably into the muck.
So ya, just relax and enjoy the ride. And stay away from the soft cheese stuffed-high mercury tuna filled-mixed drinks.
Congrats on more good numbers! I'm with the others in saying avoid "What to Expect..." I can't stand it. If it isn't scaring you to death with worst-case scenarios, it is painting everything as nice and rosey and wonderful. I'm very thrilled to be pg, but it really isn't all glowing and wonderful all the time... especially when your head is hanging over the toilet and you feel like death.
I like "The Girlfriends Guide..." and "Pregnancy Sucks: When Your Miracle Makes You Miserable." Both give an honest, down-to-earth look at things, with plenty of humor thrown in.
And, my $.02... eat what you like and what you can, lest you get hit with morning sickness in another couple weeks and can keep nothing down. Avoid the really bad stuff, like your doc mentioned, but remember... variety and moderation and there's really not much you could do to harm your babe.
I've been eager for this next post!
Am I right that the infertility trouble you've experienced is basically anovulation? If so, is there not little reason to think you can't sustain a pregnancy once pregnant?
I bet the early triggering did the trick in minimizing the risk of multiples.
How about you eat barley and first fruits in honor of Shavuot? I'd say, eat as much variety as you are able, incorporating much whole grains and fresh fruits and vegtables, and avoid artificial stuff and chemicals as much as you can without making yourself crazy. Oh, and certainly add ground flax meal into lots of your food.
Yay! And again, yay!
And your gracious appreciation and self-reflection was simply lovely.
Excellent beta! As some of the others have said, I, too, hated "What to Expect..." I read that book during my first pregnancy and it annoyed the hell out of me.
As for the diet, I tried really hard to eat healthy foods when I found out about the pregnancy, but that all went out the window once the morning sickness started. Now it's just a question of what I can manage to keep down. So I second others who said to just eat what you want to eat, so long as you stay away from the usual hazards. Congrats!!
Looking good there! I hope s/he/they keep on going strong!
Feel well and enjoy!
Congratulations! I'm a few weeks ahead of you, and I went with TWO books. One was "What to Expect..." and it does tend to bring up every problem known to man, but it has pretty solid diet and exercise guidelines. The other is "The Girlfriend's Guide...". There were parts of it that caused me to laugh out loud, but it definitely isn't tznius.
Enjoy yourself!
As far as books go - I agree etc. about "What to expect" - don't get it. I found the Girlfriend's guide a little TOO light, but really enjoyed The Complete Book of Pregnancy And Childbirth by Sheila Kitzinger as well as the Birth Book by Dr. Sears.
Excellent doubling!
As for books - The Anxious Parents Guide to Pregnancy by Dr. DiLeo... as I'm a bit anxious... he seems straight on... the other one I like is The Whole Pregnancy Handbook by Joel Evans, MD. Holistic which is kind of nice has the medical and the crunchy stuff in it.
Again CONGRATULATIONS!
Well done RB! It's so nice to read good news..I'm really happy for you.
Hi there, I haven't checked in on you in a while and I am very glad for you that it seems that you are well on your way! And I do really mean this in spite of the fact that there is no good news on the horizon for me. If anything, it seems I am back to square one of two years ago, when this problem first surfaced.
Good luck to you and here's hoping that everything continues to go well!
oh!! i'm just now checking in. this is GREAT NEWS! fantastic. keep on keepin' on, girl!
RB - I am so glad to hear that the numbers are going up. yay!
Hey Robber! Great news - I am over the top thrilled for you, my friend. I am catching up on my reading and am so happy to see your good news today! I'll check back soon, I promise.
Speak up!
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