Second beta/progesterone result

In the ongoing saga of actually getting my blood test results, which involved about 5 phone calls, a voicemail this morning, and eventually my lovely husband calling this afternoon because I was so frustrated and getting nowhere - three long days of waiting, and the results are both good and bad:

HCG = 5468 (up from 620 a week earlier; a doubling time of about 52 hours, I think)

Progesterone = 7.8 (down from 15.3 a week earlier)

I'm not happy with my progesterone level at all, so I called back and left a message for my OB to call me back. She called within a couple of minutes, and told me that she thinks my progesterone is fine. I know I'm not a doctor, but everything I've read states that progesterone should be at least 15. The fact that it dropped by about 50% in one week really worries me. I told her that it's taken us so long to get pregnant and I'm really concerned that my progesterone levels aren't high enough. I really don't want to lose this baby if we can prevent it! She offered to put me on a progesterone supplement, which I gladly accepted. I know she probably thinks I'm a giant pain in the ass, but at least I'll know I'm doing everything within my power to keep our little one safe. She said my HCG level is great, but I know that's not the whole story. Progesterone is needed to sustain the pregnancy until the placenta takes over, and I don't want it to be low and do nothing about it! She told me she doesn't usually test for progesterone, but my reasoning is that she did test for it (twice) and a low level shouldn't be ignored.

Anyway, she told me she'd call my prescription in to my local pharmacy right away. We left home about 20 minutes later, and when we got there they had nothing. Great... I'll have to call them soon to see if they have it yet. Hopefully they will before they close tonight!

Still waiting!

I didn't want any of you lovely ladies to worry about the lack of update - so far I haven't heard anything! I'm thinking of calling my OB office in 10-15 minutes to see if I can get my results. When I called for them last week I was told I'd get a call if there was a problem; well, I got a call and there wasn't a problem. I know my OB will probably think to call me because she's been really good about that before, but she's human (and busy!) and might not. So, I'll call before they close. I really hope I find out today, the wait is like torture!

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Update:
I called and asked for my results... I was transferred to a different extension, which was just a voicemail message saying that any messages left after 4pm would not be heard before the next day. It was close to 5pm, so I didn't leave a message. I think they might not actually have my results back yet, because when I went for the blood-work it was about 3:30pm and a guy from the lab came to collect the blood samples while mine was being drawn. I don't know if he took mine with him or not... If not, maybe my results will be in tomorrow instead. I'm just going with "no news is good news" for now. Not much else I can do, except call again tomorrow! :)

Waiting...

I had my second beta yesterday afternoon. If last week is anything to go by, I'll hopefully get my results tomorrow. At this point there's no real reason to suspect that anything will be wrong, but the waiting is hard! I can't help but feel a little anxious about it. I know that stress isn't good for me or the baby, but I can't relax 100% yet! Maybe 85%, LOL.

My boobs were really sore last week and now they're pretty much normal. I've read that symptoms can come and go, but it's a little disconcerting. I'm a worrier, so the more symptoms I have, the better. Yep, I might be a little crazy!

Positive thoughts would really be appreciated!  :)

The results are in!

About 20 minutes ago my OB called. Yep, the actual OB, not a nurse. I was surprised by that, but I could tell from her voice that it was probably good news. My HCG was 620, and my progesterone was 15.3. She said that's very good, so I'll take her word for it. I'm so relieved! :)

I know next Monday's blood draw will be more important (to see if my numbers are increasing) but it seems like a good start! That call made my day  :)

Can't get beta results?

I hoped to have my first beta result by now, but after spending a bunch of time trying to get through to the OB office this morning I still have nothing. I called a few times and pressed whatever number it was for test results, and got voicemail; I called trying to get through to the billing department, because they're still trying to make me pay a bill that my insurance insist they've paid on 8/1 - which is like 6 weeks ago - and we have the EOBs to prove it. Yep, I spent quite a long time on the phone listening to crappy hold music. Eventually I did get to speak to someone who told me my test results are on the OB's desk awaiting review. I asked if I should call back later and they told me no, they'll call me if there are any issues. OK...

Then I spoke with the lady in billing, who was kind of rude and insisted that they haven't received payment from my insurance company. Well, I told her what they told us: it was paid via electronic funds on 8/1. The insurance company told us to tell the OB office to check their bank account or to contact them, since they have paid it. She said she would look into it - hopefully we will actually get somewhere this time! The stuff they're trying to bill us for is from May and June, and this has been going on since they first billed us in July. I can't tell you how many times we've contacted the insurance company - it must be 3 or 4 times about the same issue. I suspect this time the OB office is wrong, since we now have EOBs saying it was paid. I don't know why all this stuff has to be such a pain in the ass, but there you go!

My husband said maybe we should just go to the OB office with the EOBs and get it sorted out that way. I don't really know what to do, because honestly all this insurance stuff is kind of alien to me since I'm from England and our health care is socialized. Anyway, I think I'll let him deal with all of this since I need to relax and not stress out! :)

Last night I had some light pink spotting. I tried not to freak out, because I know some women do have spotting during early pregnancy (and some all the way through it). It's kind of hard not to assume the worst, though. I had a tiny bit of light pink spotting on Sunday morning, but it really was hardly anything. Last night there was definitely more, but I still wouldn't class it as heavy. I haven't had any pain, and it's never been like a period, so I'm trying to stay positive and hope for the best. Last night's spotting stopped within less than an hour. I told my OB on Monday that I'd had some spotting the day before and she said not to worry. Easier said than done, but I'll try!

OB appointment

I had my first OB appointment today (well, my first if you exclude the times I saw her for infertility testing and all of that stuff.)
It went well; I got given a bunch of information, had a nice chat with my OB and then had some lab-work done. They're testing my HCG and progesterone levels, among other things (I'm not exactly sure what - standard first visit testing, I guess!)

My OB called the RE's office during our chat, to get the full scoop on this mycoplasma thing. After speaking with the staff there, she prescribed a 5 day course of cephalexin for us both. She said it's not something that's routinely tested for, and the evidence of it causing any issues is not very strong, but we might as well treat it of course. The antibiotics are safe during pregnancy, so I'm happy to take them. Evidently she didn't get my message on Friday, but it's cool - I don't think a few days should make much difference. Besides, if it wasn't for our visit to the RE I would never have known about it in the first place!

My first scan will be in 4 weeks - October 8th. All being well, I'll be a little over 8 weeks along by then. It's going to be a long 4 weeks, I'm sure! I just hope everything is OK. I got pretty obsessive with testing - apparently I'm an addict when it comes to peeing on a stick! I confess, I bought another pack of FRERs today. I know, I'm crazy. So far the lines have gotten darker with every test I've taken, so that's been quite reassuring. I know the true test is the beta HCG levels, though. I can call the office in 2 days for the results from today's blood-work. I keep reminding myself that there's no reason to assume the worst, and I shouldn't worry until/unless there's really something to worry about. I know it, but I'm a worrier by nature! :)

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support and encouragement up until this point. Each one of you has made this journey a little more bearable. I can't tell you how much it's meant to me to be in touch with other women who understand! So thank you all so much, you're wonderful ladies!

There may have been an explanation for our infertility after all

My husband just got his latest SA results (not that they're necessarily relevant at this point!). We're pretty surprised by the variation in the results from last week and his first SA in May. Of course, the tests were carried out at different facilities and I'm inclined to put more stock into the SA performed by the fertility clinic than the regular lab.
Anyway, the latest results are drastically different (mainly worse) than the first results were. Example: motility. This time it came back at 31% (which is low - it's supposed to be at least 50% according to the report). Last time it came back at 67%! That's a crazy difference. The count was drastically different too. The most worrying, I think, was the % of normally formed sperm: only 3%. Apparently that's supposed to be 14% or higher. His count was 34 million/ml, whereas last time it was 107 million/ml. 34 million is fine, though. The conclusion of the report is this:

Concentration, forward progression, and total motile sperm are within normal limit. Motility is below normal limit.

The proportion of the normal forms (3%) is in a range where fertilization may be compromised.

If this pregnancy proceeds normally, this all might be irrelevant. I just wonder if our infertility wasn't really "unexplained" after all - it could have been male factor infertility all along. I wish the first SA had been done at the fertility clinic! Obviously things can change in 3 months, but he hasn't been sick, he hasn't started smoking, he rarely drinks, doesn't do drugs, doesn't use hot-tubs etc. I'm surprised at the huge difference in reports, but I guess none of that matters at the present time. It only takes 1 sperm to fertilize the egg, and somehow that happened. I think we might have beaten the odds, based on this last SA! 

I also got a call from the RE office yesterday, because one of my cervical cultures tested positive for something called mycoplasma. Apparently it's very common, according to the nurse I spoke with. The RE prescribed antibiotics for both of us, but when I told the nurse I'm pregnant she spoke with the RE and he said my OB should decide what to do about it. The antibiotics he was in the process of prescribing aren't OK during pregnancy apparently, and I guess because I'm pregnant and we conceived naturally he doesn't want to be involved with treating me now. I can understand that, because it's not like we conceived as a result of infertility treatment. I think if we conceived through IUI or something, he'd probably treat me. As it is, I'm seeing my OB on Monday anyway. 

I'll admit I was kind of freaked out yesterday when I got the news, but only because the information given to us by the RE last week mentioned mycoplasma and a link with miscarriage. The thing is, I'm trying to think about it logically: if we hadn't seen the RE, I wouldn't have been tested for this and wouldn't have known I have it. Surely lots of people are walking around with this thing and have no idea. I've never had any symptoms of anything! Anyway, ignorance is bliss in a way - but knowledge is power. I'll find out on Monday if we need treatment, or if it's OK to leave it alone. I don't want anything to cause problems with the pregnancy, obviously. I'll do whatever I need to do to protect this little bean. I've left a voicemail message for my OB this morning, asking if mycoplasma is something that requires urgent treatment or not. I know I'm a worrier, and waiting until Monday is most likely fine, but I just want to hear that from my OB. :)