Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG)

They call it THE two week wait. They say it is one of the most terrible waits one must endure on the journey to create a human with the hands of science at play. They are correct. 

We know this little one was a 5 day blastocyst which is thought to have a better success rate compared to a 3 dayer. We know according to genetic testing (Preimplantation genetic screening, aka PGS) on this tiny one that some of the factors that contribute to early miscarriages are not present. We know that the place this little one is supposed to call home for the next 9 months is ready. We know the hormone levels that are supposed to sustain this little one in the first trimester are right....seriously...my bum can attest the presence of this hormone that must be injected daily for nearly three months. Plus the oral pills twice a day that have turned me into a lady that cannot be without her purse because that is where the pills live.We know that home pregnancy tests, LOTS of them, have told us this little one has decided to stick around and grow. We know everyone in this process is hoping for success. 

However...THE two week wait is the lead up to what many call their beta test. This is where they test for the presence of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG.) This will tell us if indeed implantation has occurred. This will give us a hint if little one is growing in the wrong place (ectopic) as the numbers would grow too fast. It's also not unheard of for the HPTs to give false positives, or for it to be a true positive, but not a viable pregnancy. So many possibilities. However, the IM and I have had a gut feeling from the start that we were going to be having this baby. It was this feeling that we have had to rely on during this wait. 

Well...I have a secret...I've already had my first blood draw, and my hCG was 101! We were thrilled to see that number!! As great as seeing that number was...we had to wait a couple more days, because the key to hCG is seeing it grow (double really.) So two days after the first draw I went in for another to see if we were progressing. I was expecting a number between 200 & 250. Well this little one is a testing whiz already (no surprise...little one's parents are super smart,: ) and gave us a hCG of 308! Today makes four days since that last hCG blood draw, and we had another one this morning. Now we are waiting for the hCG level to be over 2000. This generally tells us that we'll be able to get our first glimpse of Tiny Tot. 

So now we go back to waiting. This seems to be a recurring theme, but all worth it in the end <3