Seven Weeks Plus...

I had my seven week ultrasound on Monday. See, going through fertility treatments has its advantages - like getting to see my baby every week for the first little bit. It certainly reassures me after my miscarriage to be able to see that little baby grow and grow and his or her little heart ticking stronger and stronger. So it's a little bittersweet that everything's going so well, because my fertility doctor has decided the chance of miscarriage has dropped so low that he's ready to release me to the regular OB.
Geoff and I go for our last appointment and Ultrasound with the ART clinic on Tuesday, at 8 weeks. I already have an appointment the week after with my local doctor, so hopefully they will keep monitoring me closely like the fertility folks have.
I have told some of you how much work it takes every day to make sure this little baby gets everything he or she needs to survive. Each morning I take a prenatal vitamin and baby aspirin. The aspirin helps to thin my blood due to my high levels of something called anti-nuclear antibodies which attack my good blood cells. Apparently these ANAs may have kept a good bloodflow from getting to my womb during the first pregnancy. Also each morning I give myself an injection of Heparin (for the same purpose as the aspirin I think) in my stomach. My stomach looks like a war zone - it's absolutely covered in bruises. Because of this, I'm already in maternity clothes (tight clothing causes the bruising to be worse). Finally in the morning I use a gel (take a guess where this goes) that provides extra progesterone.
In the afternoon/evening, my sister-in-law (who is a labor and delivery nurse) comes over and gives me my progesterone injection (because the gel doesn't deliver as much as I need). This is an IM shot (goes in a muscle) so I get it in my hip. The needle is an inch and a half long and the progesterone comes in gel form so it's kind of difficult to inject. Luckily I've only had to give it to myself twice before. When I do it, it goes in my thigh and makes my whole leg hurt for days after. Also in the afternoon/evening I give myself another injection of the Heparin in my stomach. And with my dinner I take Metformin which does something to block my insulin and helps nourish the baby somehow.
Anyway, it took me so long to write all of that up that I've got to go finish getting ready for work in a hurry, but I thought I'd just tell you all of what is going into getting this baby through to August. I don't know how long I'm going to have to do all of this, but I do know it will all be worth it.