There were two blood tests last week to check if our little embryo was doing well. The first would measure my HCG level to see if it was at the appropriate number to indicate whether I was pregnant or not. A second test, scheduled two days after the first, would confirm if the levels are increasing at the correct rate to confirm pregnancy.
The first test was Thursday afternoon, and because the results take about 5 hours, it would reach our doctor’s office after they close for the day. Jin and I ate dinner, not even expecting a call until the next day. We made small chit-chat about our respective days, but we kept circling back to the test result. Jin tried to gently remind me that we were still facing a 50/50 chance - it was still very possible that this would not work for us this time around.
The optimism that overflows from this man…
My appetite was shot, I was tired, and all I wanted to do was sleep (I had been sleeping a lot as of late). While Jin was finishing his last few bites, I walked over to the couch to check my phone.
There were three missed calls and a voicemail from our doctor. I grabbed the phone and pressed play.
Hi, Vicky. I was hoping to catch you on the phone, because I usually
don’t like leaving voicemails for something this personal…
I immediately stopped the voicemail, rushed back to the table, and played it over from the beginning on speakerphone. Jin and I sat in stunned silence as she told us that the results looked “really good,” and that the numbers for both my HCG and progesterone levels were within the first trimester range.
We cried tears of joy. We had FINALLY reached the next step in this journey - we were one step closer to getting our prayers answered. The important next step was to make sure that the levels were rising at the appropriate rate (about doubling in number) by Saturday.
It was impossible to get an appointment for the test lab on Saturday, so Jin and I woke up early to get there as soon as they opened.
And then we came home and waited - something we were VERY accustomed to doing by now.
The phone call came at the end of the day: HCG levels had reached the appropriate levels, and I was confirmed pregnant at four weeks.
I sobbed tears of relief.
We shared the good news with family and some of the people who have been praying with us throughout this journey. And I was tickled to learn that at four weeks, our little girl is the size of a poppy seed.
In about a week or so, I’ll have my 6-week ultrasound (the first one since the positive result) to get a glimpse of the embryo attached to the uterine wall and to make sure everything else was going as well as it can be.
And I’m told that by that time, the little one will be the size of an orange seed.