(Pic of gorgeous Savannah, GA--check the timeline for why this photo for this post!)
When we left off, it was the end of 2018. Our first round of IVF resulted in four embryos, but our first transfer ended in a blighted ovum--a miscarriage. While we learned how common miscarriages are, we still never expected it to happen to us. And of course, we were already beat down enough from simply having to go through fertility treatment to try to fulfill our dream of having a baby.
Nonetheless, we dusted ourselves off in early 2019 and headed back to treatment.
Here's what happened next:
⏳January 2019: Two embryos and a morula remain in freezer. O starts preparing for a frozen embryo transfer (FET) in February
⏳February 2019: FET #1. We go on a lovely trip to Savannah during the two week wait. First beta comes back: positive! This time though, we know that beta is only the first step...
⏳Early March 2019: We go through three more betas, all of which continue to at least double. Woohoo! Things are looking positive!
⏳Mid-March 2019: A huge day--our first ultrasound for pregnancy #2. We see a flickering heartbeat and are thrilled!
⏳Early April 2019: After a second positive ultrasound at the IVF clinic, we graduate. We're still nervous, but all signs are good thus far.
⏳May 2, 2019: Our 12-week OB appointment and ultrasound reveals no heartbeat. The baby stopped developing about a week prior. Miscarriage and D&C #2.
As awful as the first miscarriage was, this one hurt even more. We had graduated from the IVF clinic--we had seen the baby twice on ultrasound and all seemed to be going well. Then, we went in for our 12-week ultrasound and wound up in the hospital that evening for another D&C. Miserable.
The only silver lining here was that we decided to have the fetal tissue tested for genetic abnormalities, and found out the baby had a trisomy (basically, a genetic problem). Thus, the pregnancy was really not meant to work out from the start. Nonetheless, the whiplash of having several positive ultrasounds and then hitting the wall with a missed miscarriage was awful.
It felt like we were back at square one. What to do next? Could we even go on after something so terrible? Check part three for what came next....