More Beta Data

When I had my scan with Dr. Clueless yesterday, she said they would only call with bloodwork results if there was a problem, since the bloodwork is not that meaningful once the pregnancy is visible on ultrasound. I figured I would try to give it a go with that approach, but it just isn't me. If there is information out there in the world about my pregnancy, I want to know it. Besides, they really made me work for that blood draw yesterday. They had to stick me three times before getting a successful draw and the phlebotomist was having so much trouble that she asked someone else to do the draw. I have had trouble in the satellite office before, but never in the main office where they are doing up to 80 blood draws a day. Today both my arms are black and blue.

No call about my blood results came during the celebratory shopping yesterday, so I figured all was good, but I still wanted to know the actual numbers, so I called the clinic this morning. My hCG was up to 2140 and my progesterone is now 15. The Beta level was higher than I was expecting. I have been browsing around on the Betabase.info site. My intial Betas of 45@14DPO and 105@16DPO were definitely well below the median for a singleton pregnancy. The median according to Betabase at 23DPO is 2350 and I'm still below that level but not by much, because my Beta levels are doubling slightly faster than the median. My doubling time since my last Beta was 38.63 hours and the Betabase median doubling time for my hCG level is 45.16 hours.

I'm actual pretty happy with my Beta levels at this point. Because the initial levels were on the low end, I did not worry much about the possibility of multiples, even though I had used injectable medication that would increase my chances of getting pregnant with more than one. Elevated hCG levels can also cause the placenta to develop quickly at the beginning. While this may seem like a good thing, it is not. The placenta has a limited life span and is only intended to last for the length of the pregnancy, but if it ages too quickly, it may not be viable for as long as the baby needs it, which is what happened when I was pregnant with T. I'm hoping the lower hCG levels this pregnancy help create a better environment for a healthy placenta.

I had been a bit concerned about my progesterone levels as well. I had had a few significantly lower temperatures this week and had been worried that my progesterone levels were falling, which can be a precursor to miscarriage. It looks like my progesterone levels are actually rising, so I've gone ahead and retired my thermometer. I'm also happy that my levels have made it up to 15. I know my RE thinks anything over 10 is fine, but I had been reading elsewhere that other doctors think that over 15 should be the minimum for pregnancy. I was considering starting to take supplements, but I thought I would have a hard time explaining to my doctor why I don't take the supplements when she tells me I should and why I do take them when she tells me I should not. Luckily the numbers went up on their own, so I can at least pretend to be an obedient patient now.