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Note: My husband and I are currently expecting our first baby after 7 years of infertility and 3 cycles of IVF. I have been writing blog posts since we found out but not publishing them until now (I’m currently 13 weeks). I’ll be posting one a day until I ‘catch-up’ to current time. I ask that if you know me ‘in real life’ that you not post about this on Facebook, because while we are ecstatic to be this far, we are still being very cautious.

Written November 28, 2011

On Saturday morning (November 19) I took a First Response Early Detection test at 6AM, I was 8dp3dt. At first I thought it was only showing one line and then, miraculously, another pink line appeared, not a faint one either, a real second pink line. I woke Doug up and made him come look at it. We both got very excited but we also knew not to get too excited. The next morning (November 20) I took another test, also two pink lines, this one slightly darker than the first. I continued this pattern for the next two days, the tests stayed positive and the lines grew a little darker. 

My first hCG test at 11dp3dt was positive at 130, which is higher than my highest beta last year during my chemical pregnancy. On Friday, 14dp3dt, my second beta test showed my hCG rose to 415 and the nurse told me I didn't have to come in for a third beta and they scheduled us for a viability ultrasound on December 12th. My doubling time was 43 hours, with a 219% increase and I *think* that's good. We decided to tell our immediate family on Thanksgiving and a few close friends on Friday after the second beta.

We have been so, so, so happy but we're both cautiously optimistic. We know all too well how many things can go wrong and this is only the first of many hurdles we have to pass. Every morning I'm scared I'm going to wake up to cramps and bleeding. The wait until the ultrasound seems like eternity and I'm afraid if we make it to the actual ultrasound then there won't be anything there. I'm afraid of a thousand things going wrong.