This is my FET #2 cycle at 42 and half years old with donor eggs!! I decided to document this one a little more in detail, including numbers from the test results. The 10-week Sonogram Appointment was on December 14, 2023 despite the date this was published.
This post is the 7th post in this series: I’ve shared my Baseline Appointment, Endometrium Appointment, the transfer appointment, the Beta Appointment 1, and the Beta Appointment 2, and the 6-week sonogram. This is the 10-week sonogram appointment which is also graduation day. This is our last appointment at the fertility clinic.
I’m so glad the brown spotting has gone away, but the cramping hasn’t. It’s really not bad. The exhaustion is strong. I turn into a zombie about 8:00pm and make it to bed before 9:00pm. At work, I almost fell asleep while sitting at my desk. The food aversions are also strong. Before getting pregnant I was keto with a mostly carnivore diet, but there’s absolutely no way I could continue. The other day I started to brown some meat for chili. I got the meat in the pan and gagged. I had to walk away and let my husband finish. I had only a small bowl after it was done. I haven’t thrown up yet, though. When I’m nauseous, I want carbs and plain things like soup and crackers. It’s usually better after I eat. I crave carbs and fruit. I think I like the fruit because of the water content. I don’t think I’m drinking enough water.
The day of the 10-week appointment I was 9 weeks 6 days pregnant. It was a little ahead of being 10-weeks so it fit in with my doctor’s schedule. Otherwise, it would have been with someone else. It’s funny because I felt like I needed to prepare for the worst, but I was also confident everything was just fine. My husband got caught up with work, so he was unable to pick me up. My first thought was that wasn’t how this was supposed to go, and the outcome of the sonogram was going to be different. The drama really played out in my head. I was fine after I managed the wild thoughts in my head that made no sense. My husband made it to the clinic before me, and we walked in together. We didn’t have to wait long until they called us back which is really amazing. That is such a great thing to not have to wait long in the waiting room. “Confirm your name, date of birth, and then you can undress from the waist down.” As we waited for the doctor, I had to put my coat on once again.
Dr. Kathy came in and my eyes were locked on the screen. My husband was ready to record it again. Let’s go! The baby looked so big on the screen as I waited to see the heartbeat. There it was. Beating like crazy. Doctor said the heartbeat sounded great. I watched the baby float around. More sounds of the heartbeat which never get old. Then measuring the baby and the uterus area which were all good. Then came the awkward silence when I told her we wanted to go to a birthing center. Being in the medical field, one would assume she’s not a fan of a birthing center. Then she took a shot of the baby to print out. My husband wanted to continue the conversation after the sonogram was completed. She said it was up to us, but IVF pregnancies are higher risk. She didn’t want to get into why they were higher risk, but said it was up to us where to get prenatal care. She told me to stop taking the progesterone oil injections and the estrogen pills. When I wanted to fight back, she said my body doesn’t need them anymore.
We were given a goodie bag of the printout of the baby, a onsie, and a few other treats. I asked for a photo with Dr. Kathy and in front of the Christmas tree was the perfect spot.
I want a doula for a birth with little intervention. I actually found two on Instagram of all places. We had interviews with them and selected one. It was actually really easy to choose her, but we haven’t told her yet. I can’t wait to share more of that later!
We do not have prenatal care lined up yet. The two doulas we interviewed both raved about the hospital in Mansfield the birthing center uses. (Yes, you can also give birth in a hospital with a birthing center as an option.) I called my OB that I’ve used for the other pregnancies, so we could schedule an appointment to ask her a few more questions before we made our final decision. I was confused when I couldn’t make a consultation appointment. When the nurse called me back, she said she doesn’t do consultations. I tried to explain to her that I’ve been a patient for years and just needed to confirm if I could have a birth closer to what I want. The nurse would have to get authorization from the doctor before she could schedule an appointment. It’s been almost two weeks, and I haven’t heard from my OB’s office since. Maybe the decision has been made for us…
Thoughts I’ve been thinking: “I trust my body can give a great place for the baby to grow until the baby is ready to join our family.”
You can click My Journey to find all the posts on this pregnancy and before, when I was TTC.
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