The last word.....

So this will be my final post on the blog. I am in the process of having the blog printed into a book for my son to read one day so he can see the journey we took to bring him into the world.

I truly hope that this blog has helped other women like me...other couples...and just people in general understand what IVF is all about. I hope that anyone out there who is considering IVF or who is going through IVF can do it with a brave face.

Stay strong, stay positive and always believe in miracles.

Baby mine....

My son was born on December 20, 2013 at 1:36 pm - 6lbs. 3oz. 19.5-inches

Life has a funny way of getting in the way....

In all honesty, I am mad at myself for not keeping up with this blog. I guess once our IVF was over....I didn't see much point in continuing. I didn't think anyway really wanted to read about my pregnancy since this is an IVF blog. I have considered starting a "Life with Baby" blog....so maybe.....
I have a hard enough time keeping up with food blog these days...LOL!

Not so much flutters as elbowing your stomach from the inside...

So a lot of people asked me if I felt the flutters (the baby's first movements). Well, I think I felt them once while we were in PA...in Walmart...buying...ammo.

I did however feel my first kick on August 15th.

I was talking to my friend Kelly about my 20 week which was the next day. I was telling her how the sonograms always make me nervous because I am always scared they will say that they don't see anything or that something is wrong.
So she tells me to eat something, lay flat on my back and wait. And I did...hands placed firmly on belly. Then suddenly....THUMP! I jumped up...and texted her - OMG! I think I just felt the baby kick!!!

She said eating or drinking gets them moving and laying flat tightens everything up so you are more likely to feel something especially at 20 weeks. It was so amazing! It really feels like being elbowed from the inside in the stomach.
Now...I am starting to feel him more even when I am sitting depending on my position. He doesn't seem to like it when I sit leaning forward.

Every might when we go to bed, I lay flat and have Billy put his hands on my belly so he can feel too. Sometimes he talks to my belly to try and get him to move more. XOXO

20 week sonogram...

Our 20 week sonogram was really cool. It takes about 60 to 90 minutes because they are looking at and measuring everything. AS the nurse was getting images of his face and head, he started yawning which was amazing to see. Then..he brought his hand up to his face and started chewing on his thumb.

Little man's profile...


...and a better than the 12 week 3D of little man sucking his thumb!

...and a few things for mommy too!

My Living Locket from Origami Owl..


My bracelet from Brighton...started by my good friend Lita!


Gotta represent my little boy!!!

Just some of the goodies that await little man...

Daddy had to start the NY Yankee's collection early!


Front..


Back..


..and a baseball hat collection too!


All daddy's favorites..


Billy searched through HUNDREDS of shirts to find this one..


If nothing else...be Superman!


..more Yankees!


Representing the fire department..




..and police!


Yo Adrian!


Closet is getting FULL!!!

The day we had both been waiting for....Verifi Test Results Day!

First..let me explain what the Verifi test is.

They take a blood sample from you through your arm and the genetic material is tested using a technique called DNA sequencing. It measures genetic material (or DNA) from your blood to look for too few or too many copies of chromosomes in you and the baby. Missing or extra copies of chromosomes are referred to as “aneuploidies” and may be related to conditions in pregnancy such as trisomy 21 (Down syndrome), trisomy 18 (Edwards syndrome), or trisomy 13 (Patau syndrome). Those are the 3 big genetic abnormalities that doctor's look for.

So we go in to see Dr. B on June 27. They take my blood and told us it takes about a week to get the results. Well, a week turned into July 10th!

I had to wait until after 10 in the morning to call. The nurse puts me on hold. Billy gets frustrated telling me that I will probably be told to call back tomorrow and goes into the bathroom. I am sitting on the steps in my foyer. The nurse gets back on the phone and tells me that the test came back negative for all chromosomal abnormalities...then nothing. So I ask - And the sex? She laughed and said - Oh you wanted to know? UMMMMMMM..YES!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's like the only reason we did the test. She said - What did you want? Now..everyone including my mom told me it was a girl. So I told her I thought it was a girl. She says - Nope. Boy!

I was in shock at that point and started giggle-laughing. I called out to Billy who was still in the bathroom and said - Babe, it's a boy!
Billy couldn't control his excitement and clapped his hands while screaming - FUCKING AWESOME!

I admit...it took me a few seconds to wrap my head around it being a boy. I had kinda prepared myself for a girl. But once it sunk in, I looked at Billy and just said (all teary eyed) - Oh my God babe...we're having a boy!

So I left off on Beta Day....

Well...the nurse was right. They did have good news for me. Dr. L called us at about 2:30 in the afternoon. I could heard the smile in his voice as he said to me - Arge, I have very good news. You are pregnant.

We were at the garden center..lol...so I had to limit my jumping up and down to just falling to my knees. Billy came over and I was just nodding my head. It was incredible.

My hCG level were as follows -

April 26 - 36
May 1 - 284
May 8 - 3921
May 15 - 11790

So I was definitely pregnant!!

On my next visit, I was going to have the sonogram which would tell me whether or not I was have 1, 2 or 3. It was 1 (a singleton as they called it). Don't get me wrong...Billy and I always said that we would be happy with 1 and we were.

5 week sonogram


6 week sonogram


7 week sonogram


9 week sonogram


12 week sonogram Finally looking like a baby!!!


At 8 weeks pregnant, Dr. L released me to the care of an OBGYN - Dr. B. It was kind of exciting and kind of sad. I love Dr. L and the entire staff. I mean they made this happen. How do you even begin to say thank you for something like that?

At my first appointment, Dr. B made us feel at ease. He was funny and cracking jokes. Billy asked when we could find out the sex. Dr. B said - Well when she gives birth I will be able to tell you 100% whether its a boy or girl. We laughed....
He discussed with us about Down's Syndrome because I am what they call - Advanced Maternal Age..that magical point in life where you are over 35. He told us about the Nuchal Translucency Test, where they do a sonogram at 12 weeks to measure the thickness of the skin behind the baby's neck, a test called Verifi, where they take my blood, which contains the baby's chromosomes to see if there are any abnormalities (PLUS...you get to find out the sex...8 weeks early!!) or an ammnio. We voted against the ammnio.
He sent us to MFM in Paramus to do the Nuchal Translucency. Everything looked good. They look for a thickness of 3mm or higher. The baby's was 1.5 so it was normal. Thank God!!

When we went back to Dr. B, he asked if we wanted to do the Verifi test, just to be certain. I admit...we were pretty certain with the Nuchal, but we were DYING to find out the baby's sex so we said yes!

And I'm back...

So after a looooooong and torturous (just about) 3 months....we FINALLY broke the news! I am pregnant!!

I have a lot to post and update everyone on so I promise...there will be what I am guessing will be some pretty long posts tomorrow.

Thank you to everyone for their love and support and to my husband Billy for being my everything. I love-ed you babe!!