7DP5DT - Joy!

OMG!

14 days post trigger. (and 12DPER) I think this is the real thing! (Plus, these OHSS symptoms are back with a VENGEANCE) so something is definitely going on.

Here's how it happened: (I love these stories, so I'll share mine.)

My parents and sister came over for brunch, which I have to admit was pretty scrumptious. (Brunch consisted of a homemade spinach/sundried tomato/romano/goat cheese frittata, French toast, and fruit salad). We then played a round of croquet. Random, yes. We have a pretty big yard, and my parents had bought us this croquet set for Christmas, and my mom wanted to play. This was the first time that we've ever opened it. I don't think I've ever played before in my life, and I was terrible, but it was sort of fun even though J (age 9) got pretty upset and frustrated about her own skills.

They all left around 1:50 PM. I asked S if he really wanted to test today, and if so, whether he'd rather do it "right now" or maybe in the evening. He chose, "right now," and I somewhat reluctantly agreed. I knew we had to do it before Wednesday, but I was afraid of a negative result.

I got out my "crappy" HPT from the 99 cent store. It is called "U-Check" brand, and there is no indication anywhere in the box (and no instructions inside) regarding its sensitivity for beta-HCG levels other than the statement, "comparable to EPT." I peed in a cup. Yep, nice and yellow and concentrated; should be accurate. Then I used the plastic dropper and dripped 4 drops into the round well.

The urine raced across the strip. It passed the test area first, with no hint whatsoever of a line. Then it hit the control region and a bright pink line quickly appeared. S said, "oh no..." I said something about how they often take at least a few minutes to "develop." The box indicated that the results would appear within ten minutes. We walked away from the tests and went and laid down together on our bed. It was 2:03 PM and I declared that we weren't allowed to look at the test again until 2:10. We talked about how we would deal with a negative, how we hoped that our frozen embryos would be adequate in quality for subsequent trials, and how it was somewhat reassuring that we had gotten this far without major problems.

I checked the clock and it was only 2:07 PM. I had my head on S's chest and I tried to count the seconds by his heartbeat.

Checked the clock. 2:09. Let at least 30 seconds go by.

Still 2:09. Another 20 seconds or so.

2:10!

We both went over to the countertop together. My eyes first focused again on the bright magenta control line. But, next to it, kinda faint but ever so beautiful... a second line. We didn't have to squint or hold the test at an angle. It was definitely there.

I think I just said, "Oh my God, I can't believe it! It worked, it worked!" My eyes immediately filled with tears of joy. S, meanwhile, was saying, "it's pretty faint, are you sure? The other line is so much darker!" I said, "positive is positive, it just means that it's still early."

I then hunted for the secret closet stash -- the box with 2 digitals inside -- and managed to pee a few drops again. I dipped it for the prescribed 20 seconds and then S and I both stared as the blinking hourglass while it thought about whether to confirm or deny our joy.

Finally, after about a minute, the beautiful word "Pregnant" appeared. At this point, S's eyes, too, filled with tears of joy.

Neither one of us felt like we could get any work done at that point, so we went on a ~4 mile loop walk through Ro.se Cany.on. We saw wild roses, poppies, thistles, yellow mustard, and many many other flowers that we don't know the names for.

We're of course being cautious, trying not to get ahead of ourselves. We don't know yet what's going to happen. But for now, were thrilled and full of hope.