HPT With IVF (And 2WW Symptom Watch)

Happy Monday Everyone!

So the question on my mind this week of course (because I'm in the 2 week wait [2WW] with my latest round of IVF) is whether or not to use a home pregnancy test (HPT).

Pros:

• You can potentially find out earlier than your blood test if you're pregnant, thus eliminating some of the pain of waiting
• You can have some control over the process

Cons:

• You can be pregnant and get a negative result
• The HPT coming up negative can cause severe emotional distress (at least it can for me)
• You have to deal with the disappointment of the negative HPT, and then the call from your doctor with bad news, instead of dealing with things just once

My second and maybe third (I can't really remember) IVFs I used HPTs. I was pregnant both times, but the tests always came back negative (the pregnancies were chemical pregnancies, though, which meant they weren't going to last...if I'd tested the time I got pregnant and didn't lose the baby right away, I probably would have gotten a positive result.) Each day I tested. Each day it came back negative. Each day I had a complete and total breakdown. I mean, sobbing and screaming on the bathroom floor, which couldn't have been good for the baby/ies, you know? I'm emotional to start with, but with the drugs on top of it...and how high the stakes were...

As tempting as the HPT is, I don't think I'm going to do it. I do better when I don't do it. But mostly, if there's a baby/ies in there, I want to protect them form me getting so upset. I can make it to Sunday.

All of you going through fertility treatments...what do you do as far as HPT? Am I the only one who can't deal?

In other news, let's obsess over possible pregnancy symptoms, shall we? My first 3 IVF cycles I wasn't blogging and didn't write anything down anywhere, and my last cycle I didn't really document as I was trying not to obsess. But now I wish I had a record of what symptoms appeared when. And so:

• Yesterday I felt some slight cramping/pinching in my abdomen...maybe implantation? (Yesterday was 2 days post transfer of what I think were 6-day embryos [possibly 5])
• And, I had to lay down and take a nap in the afternoon, which is not like me (and I've FINALLY started sleeping at night again, so it's not being tired from insomnia)

I know it's really too early for symptoms. Stay tuned...

XO