January 3rd...1st Ultrasound

First of all for those following my blog, I apologize for no posts in a very long time...I have come to the conclusion I stink at blogging, something I hope to get better at over the next few weeks. I am updating and will continue to do so until I am up to date :)



They day had come, our first ultrasound...
I was extremely nervous! Not sure I will ever forget that day! We went to the hospital and anxiously waited! Cliff and I had discussed how many babies we thought were in there...he said 2, I had no idea!
We finally got called back and prepped for the ultrasound...the Doctor came in and got started...
We saw 2 sacks, yes 2 embryos!!!!! 
TWINS...our two miracle embryos implanted! 

I was excited yet still very nervous until I heard Doctor Vroon say the 1st baby's heartbeat looks good and the 2nd baby's does as well....yes tears came down my face! It's really happening! I'm pregnant, we are going to be parents! Emotions flowed, all that we have been through and now success and not just 1 baby, 2!! We were/are so thankful! Prayers of thanksgiving were constantly going up to our Lord!
Now to get through the next few weeks! 
Doctor Vroon gave us a picture of the ultrasound and let me get dressed, he came back in to talk to us...He stated I would be considered a high risk pregnancy because it is twins and because we did IVF.  
We didn't care! Basically that just meant more vitamins and more doctor visits (every 4 weeks with an ultrasound)! He said for the most part to act normal and continue doing normal day to day activities! I still did not pick up anything over about 5-10 pounds, I still did not go exercise...I took it easy, we wanted the babies to stick and stay healthy! Plus I was afraid to do anything that later I could blame myself for if something went wrong. 

Vitamins I started taking:
Extra folic acid- one pill a day
Iron - 2 pills a day
Calcium - 2 pills a day
DHA -2 pills a day
Continued Prenatal - 1 pill a day

All the vitamins were a challenge...the calcium and iron are suppose to be taken about 3 hours apart! 
I started taking a pill every time I ate. Around 9 weeks I started getting nauseous so every time I started to get an empty stomach I would need to eat which would also remind me to take a pill so taking the pills became easier and easier. 

We had another appointment on January 14th...another nervous day for me! It was my birthday and I was hoping for the best but fearing the worst! I said this could be an amazing or horrible day! Turns out it was wonderful! Both babies were still holding on strong and looking great!!!

January 15th we had another appointment! This appointment was just an office visit to get my weight, give us information on pregnancy (how to eat, how much weight to gain...). Of course that visit went fine also! 

Treatment costs

Our Payments throughout our treatment (all of the payments are in Euro):

08/8/2012 - Day 5 Follicle Count Ultrasound...50.00

20/10/2012 - 1st payment to Clinic, Paperwork for treatment...230.00

22/10/2012 - Vitamins: Inofolic Plus...27.50
                                    Inofolic....13.50
                                    Genadis...41.50

23/10/2012 - Eco-cardiograph....150.00 

08/11/2012 - Vitamins: Inofolic Plus...27.50
                                    Genadis....41.50

18/11/2012 - Anesthesiologist....120.00
                      Ultrasound/blood work/Biologist....470.00      
27/11/2012 - Ovitrelle....27.00

29/11/2012 - Pick up (aka Egg Retrieval)....2,700.00

04/12/2012 - Transfer...1,370.00
                      Blastocyte....170.00                                                                                        
                    
10/12/2012 - 4 vaginal washes (that I ended up not needing)....52.00
                                                                                                         

Grand Total....5,490.50 Euro

We were very lucky to have the 38 vials of meropur given to us by the clinic, this medicine like I mentioned before is very expensive, about 200 Euro per box which has 12 vials in each box which could have been a two days worth supply. 

Alessandra was able to get us the Enantone to take on 18/11/2012 and the Ciproxin to take before and after pick up, she also gave us some syringes. Her being able to get us these medications saved us some money and we were very thankful. 

The Clinic also gave us some vitamins (for both Cliff and myselt) and some vaginal washes, which was also a huge help to us!