Onward and Upward!

Well... it's graduation day. Talk about a scary prospect, huh? We're officially done with the RE; today was my last appointment there and tomorrow is my first appointment with a regular OB. I'm terrified. No longer will I be handled with kid gloves. No longer will I get to check on Petit on demand. No longer will I have the weekly contact with the support network at that office, although they all made sure that hubby and I know that we can call on them at ANY point during this pregnancy, even if we are dissatisfied with how things progress with the new doc.

I know that it's good to graduate, but heavens, it's a little daunting. I've always said that I know how to handle infertility, but now that I'm pregnant (but certainly not fertile!), I'm sort of lost! I've begun reading a few books and apparently a few co-workers who know have started a pool as to whether I'll be having a boy or a girl! A little premature huh for someone who's just over 11 weeks!

So the stats from today:
My blood pressure was superb at 128/80.
I've lost 1.5 pounds over the last two weeks. (YAY!)
Petit's heart rate measured 168 beats per minute. Right on track.
Petit's crown to rump length is 4.08 cms. Exactly right.
Petit's gestational age is 10 weeks and 6 days. (+/- 5 days) Thus... perfect!
The placenta seems "well established" and situated on the anterior wall which the doctor says is great. He thought that I might be able to cut down or stop the PIO injections but I'd rather finish the prescription. I might start doing the injections every two days as of 12 weeks or so, to slowly wean me off them. That might be the way to go.

And Petit is a wiggler! We saw arms and legs moving all around today; it was tough to isolate a heartbeat because of all the movin' and shakin' going on in there! Amazing to watch, that's for sure. Incredible. Nothing short of incredible to me. See for yourself! Once again, hubby is a budding filmmaker. For your viewing pleasure, today's video from the ultrasound! And yes, that's my voice saying, "Kicking??"



To celebrate, I picked up an English Toffee flavoured coffee today; my first since early November! I savoured every last drop, believe me!

Would it shock you if I told you that I peeked at Babies R Us yesterday? I had an hour to kill before heading from my office to the downtown core to meet some good friends for dinner. So I stopped at Babies R Us and poked around. I confess, I ooohed and aaahed over the beautiful items. It's so nice to fantasize. I had to give a giggle; I gave my family the update from the appointment today and one of my aunts wrote back to me saying, "So when can I start to buy some stuff for Petit!?!?" God love my family; I think they're getting excited too!

One more thing of note: I spent a bit of time during my lunch hour being interviewed to contribute to the Expert Panel appointed by the provincial government to study Infertility and Adoption in the province of Ontario. Approximately 100 people were chosen to be interviewed; I feel I am blessed to explain why I feel infertility should no longer be a taboo subject in our society and why the powers-that-be ought to look at the financial costs, possible regulation of the industry and options involved in aiding the population of Ontario (and Canada in general) when it comes to assisted reproductive technologies (ART). We'll see where it goes... but I'm remaining hopeful. To the best of my knowledge, the province of Quebec is on the verge of offering financial assistance/insurance to residents for ART (depending on the circumstances) and if one province offers this type of aid, so too should all the others and insurance companies will be obligated to provide some funding as doing otherwise would be discriminatory.


Hey Gil, what's up with your Ticker Troubles?
For those who've been keeping an eye on the pregnancy ticker at the top of the page, I've just changed it. Why you ask? Well, here's the deal:

Health care professionals have a variety of ways that they estimate due dates. When you do IVF, there are three dates to consider.
- the date of your last menstrual period (LMP); normal pregnancies usually only have this date to work with as the exact date of ovulation/conception wouldn't be known
- the date of your egg retrieval (or ovulation date)
- the date of your embryo transfer

Obviously these dates vary, and thus, so too do the estimated due dates. So according to which method they use, I've had THREE various dates given to me as estimated due dates!

Going by my LMP, my due date is August 22.
Going by my egg retrieval, my due date is August 25.
Going by my embryo transfer, my due date is August 28.

I tend to give more credit to the egg retrieval date; my LMP was deliberately modified with BCPs and why on earth would the transfer date come into play at all? I'm curious about that; I mean, some people have 2 day transfers, some have 3-day transfers, others have 4- or 5-day transfers! What would that matter because the embryo was conceived on the retrieval date (or thereabouts) so I'm very confused about calculating by the transfer date!

Anyway, I've changed my ticker accordingly. And by my calculations, Vee dear, that means you and I are due on the same date! Gotta love the cycle sistas!

Congrats to...
Crossing my fingers that J.J. at Reproductive Jeans had a great day today and that her c-section went well with beautiful little Ron being welcomed into the world!

And best wishes to my RL friends, T and M in Montréal! After 16 hours of labour, T gave birth to their first child, a baby boy! *throws confetti* YAY!!! He was born on Tuesday, February 3 at 18:46, weighing 6.2 lbs and measuring 19.2 inches. Congratulations to them both!