Tomorrow's Agenda: Our last Beta Test was back in May of 2011, so some of you may not remember the drill. And I know we have some new folks following the blog this time around - so let me explain how tomorrow will work. We don't have a set appointment time for our blood draw tomorrow - but if we want the results the same-day, it's best to go to the Lab Corp next to Ohio Reproductive Medicine. My sister actually has a seminar that she's hosting and presenting at - so we're going to plan to get there right at 7AM when the lab opens. We'll take our quantitative beta HCG lab order forms, they'll draw our blood, and we'll go our separate ways. Then later in the day (most likely around lunchtime or in the early afternoon) we will get a phone call from Nancy/McKenzie telling us the results of the blood test.
During dinner tonight, we were talking about "the call." I was asking my husband if he thought that they would lead with the good news first if only one of us is pregnant. He thinks that they'll start with my results regardless. I've been referring to tomorrow as the "results show." And my husband has joked that at least when we get the call, they will get right down to business and we won't have to wait to find out ".... after this commercial break!" I told my husband that I want to record the phone call tomorrow - which at first I think he thought was crazy. But I figured if we do get good news - it would be something cool to have on video. We did a little role playing last night after I threw out that idea. He called my cell phone with the home phone pretending to be Nancy - while I recorded the call with his phone. The video is quite hilarious and I was cracking up at his impersonation of Nancy. As you all have probably become to know, we tend to use humor to deal with things.
No Work for Me: For our two other beta test days, I did work in the morning and ended up having to tell my manager I couldn't work the rest of the day when we got our bad news. I'm hoping for great news - but figured I wouldn't be able to focus in the morning anyway and didn't want to have to deal with the added stress of taking the afternoon off at the last minute. So I just took the whole day off - hoping that we'll be celebrating with tears of joy tomorrow afternoon!
Quantitative hCG Test: Tomorrow morning, my sister and I will both be getting the quantitative hCG test done. It will be just like any other blood draw from our perspective. But here's some info I found online that explains more about hCG, the quantitative hCG test, and what the hCG levels indicate.
HCG stands for "Human Chorionic Gonadotropin," the pregnancy hormone which is produced by the placenta and enters the blood soon after implantation and is detected with pregnancy tests. HCG is being produced by the placenta and enters the blood stream as soon as implantation happens, about one week after fertilization and ovulation, when the embryo implants and the placenta attaches to the uterine lining.
A quantitative human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) test measures the specific level of hCG in the blood. HCG is a hormone produced in the body during pregnancy. Quantitative hCG measurement helps determine the exact age of the fetus. It can also diagnose abnormal preqnancies, such as ectopic pregnancies, molar pregnancies, and possible miscarriages.
Below are what the different levels of hCG mean in terms of pregnancy. So anything between 5-25 would mean we have a chance, but over 25 would be better news. For my two previous beta tests in 2011, I think I got like a 0 and a less than 1 on my beta hCG tests.
- hCG under 5 mIU/ml: Negative. Not pregnant
- hCG between 5-25 mIU/ml: "Equivocal". Maybe pregnant maybe not. Repeat test in a couple of days
- hCG over 25 mIU/ml: You are pregnant!
Mix of Emotions: We are feeling a crazy mix of emotions as tomorrow approaches - nervous, anxious, scared, excited, & hopeful. The hopes and dreams of this whole cycle will either continue or come crashing down tomorrow. I know that many of you are feeling quite anxious about tomorrow as well. We do appreciate you all following along and supporting us every step of the way. We know we'll need your love and support no matter what type of news we get tomorrow.
In closing, I'm going to leave you with a song that I've shared on the blog before. Here's to hoping that later tomorrow we could be holding up a sign saying, "We're both pregnant." or "I'm pregnant." or "She's pregnant with our baby." :) Good night!!