Less than 12 hours to go until I get to be first in line at my RE's office for my beta blood draw! The office opens at 6:00 am, and I plan on being there 15 minutes before. I made my nurse promise she would call me before anyone else. Nuts, I know, but patience is not my strongest characteristic. Persistence; yes. Patience; no. 

I'm feeling a little extra crampy today, which has me worrying, so I'm trying to drink lots of water. I could just be a little dehydrated from all of this warm weather we've been having. This is the sound of me trying to be positive, cause you know my mind is turning 1,000 mph with all the horrible things that could be going wrong. 

But on this Beta-Day Eve, I celebrated by taking my 8th home pregnancy test of this cycle. It's still positive, and still looking darker than the day before. My fingers and toes are crossed for a strong beta number. Then we can let out a little sigh of relief... at least until we start worrying about the next hurdle in this journey.

The POAS (pee-on-a-stick) madness continues around here! Here's today's test, looking even darker than yesterday's. I think this is pretty promising, although my hubby is hesitant to get too excited. At least today he acknowledged that this is, in fact, a positive pregnancy test. Progress.

I'm starting to break out like a teenager now, so something is definitely happening with my hormones. As annoying as the blemishes may be, I'm welcoming every symptom with open arms... treasuring it even! Six consecutive failed ivf cycles will make you cherish the strangest things. :-)

I have an unopened 3-pack of pregnancy tests in my closet. I swore that I would return them if I got my bfp before I needed them. But, guess what! I'm not taking them back! I want to pee on them. And the prospect of getting a $12.99 credit is not going to stop me. I'm in the midst of POAS madness, and now there's no turning back.

So here's to hoping that tomorrow's test is just as dark!

Today I'm 5 days past the transfer of my Day 6 frozen  embryo--or, in infertility hieroglyphics-- I'm 5dp6dt. I was hoping to to hold out on doing a home pregnancy test (hpt) until Wednesday, which would be 7dp6dt, but we all know patience and ivf just don't quite go together. I caved.

Now, with my previous cycles that resulted in some form of implantation, I did not get a positive hpt until the day before or the day after my beta. But today, four days before my beta, I'm seeing just the slightest little pink line. I hope it's not my eyes deceiving me. Sometimes when you want something so bad, you can swear that you see it... in the right light... at the right angle... with one eye closed... while holding your breath.
I do plan on testing again, hopefully this afternoon and again tomorrow morning. I'm praying this little line becomes darker. I've been fooled before by a faint bfp that remained a faint bfp until I eventually miscarried 3 weeks later. I need to see a dark bfp in the works here. A big, fat, positive in any light at any angle.

As far as symptoms go, I just had some mild cramping on the afternoon of my transfer and then lots of cramping for two days that followed. It seems to have lightened up. Now I just feel some tension in my uterus here and there... hoping it means my little guy has dug in and is starting to grow! I started with a bad headache last night, but this morning I feel okay. 

Anyone who has done ivf before knows that this game of "what was that?" goes on for most of the first trimester. Then there's the fun of trying to distinguish a symptom of pregnancy from a side effect of the medications. (Hint: It's pretty much impossible.) You'd think by now I'd have learned to just relax and wait for the beta, but like I've said before, every cycle makes us just a little more crazy. :-)