Tuesday, January 03, 2006

musings at 5.43 weeks

I think it's so silly that they start counting your pregnancy before you're even pregnant. According to the way you're actually supposed to do it, counting from the first day of your last period, I'm actually at 9w1d. Although I'm pretty sure I ovulated on Saturday 12/10 (and definitely between 12/8 and 12/11), so I'm actually at 3w3d gestation, aka 5w3d. Silliness.

I've done a little more research on the internet, including looking at the betas that various people have posted on their blogs, and my numbers are higher (by almost double) than people who are having twins. Gulp. Now admittedly that sample size is pretty small (6)... Here's a little chart for your amusement. Actually, it was for my amusement. I was not concentrating very well at work today. I took my actual numbers for 14 and 16 dpo, then extrapolated what they would be on later days (assuming everything is going well, knock on wood!, numbers in italics). I did one set of calculations with my actual doubling time (37 hr), one with 48 hours (which is about average), and then put in the results from the other folks for comparison. If you assume that I ovulated on 12/8 instead of 12/10, so move all my numbers down a row, you're pretty much around the same levels as the folks with twins. But I think that's pretty unlikely (that I O'd that early).






















dpome(37)me(48)CassJennTertiaPersephoneSuzOva Girl
14344344166
164


16823823

305459166490
1819691646



457
2047113292
2489

1385
21728646561910





22112706584
5133

2735


(if I have you here and your numbers are in the wrong place, please let me know! Also, if anyone else would like to add more data (singles, doubles or more!), please let me know in the comments. If I get enough, I'll post it all in an Excel file)

I'm excited for our ultrasound on Friday, when we get to see how many there are, and check that they're developing nicely (the baby[ies] should be somewhere between sesame seed and lentil sized), but a little nervous too. They do say that you can't use hcg levels to predict singletons vs. multiples, but I'm suspicious! Another potential reason for such high levels is Down's syndrome :-( I guess we can't find out about that for about another 6-8 weeks though.

I'm not really feeling much of anything at the moment. My breasts are a bit tender, but my Gap Body bras are dealing with that nicely ;-) I've also had some intermittent minor cramping, more of a dull ache than sharp pains though. No bleeding (which is good!), no nausea (also good), not feeling particularly hungry, no cravings (maybe a slight tendency towards wanting salty foods rather than sweet, but nothing major), no enhanced sense of smell, no burning need to pee every five minutes (perhaps I need to go more frequently, but it could just be because I'm trying to be better about keeping myself hydrated). Not feeling any more tired than usual (I'm crashing a little right now, but I did get up at 5:20 this morning to play hockey, so this amount of tired is usual for me on hockey days), no headaches... in short, I'm feeling just about the same as normal. I did use another OPK over the weekend, and it came out quite a bit darker than the previous one, so that's a good sign.

I think that's about it for now. Fingers crossed for Friday!!!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's neat to see such a wide variation in all our numbers. I'd be suspicious with your numbers too.

Katie said...

Jesus. Twins, mayhap?

And I think the number chart is tres cool-- it gives a nice contextual view of what beta numbers might be for various people. I hope more people give you numbers and it can expand.

April said...

I had no idea that numbers varied so much...

Thinking of you and hoping that Friday brings you incredibly good news.

Liz said...

It's nice to see the different hCG levels. Your numbers would indicate twins...can't wait to hear about your u/s tomorrow.

EAB said...

Ooooh, I can't wait to hear how the u/s goes! And thanks for the advice on the Repronex -- always easier to deal with things when you're prepared in advance, right?

Anonymous said...

Dear Nico, First of all: congratulations! Awesome, awesome news! (OK, as you see I came to the party a bit late.) I was very touched and impressed by your numbers approach -- you seem to think a lot like I do. Math is something to hold onto on those pre-appointment days... And as for your HCG levels, whoa there! Overachievers, perhaps? I'm wishing you the best of news for your appointment tomorrow. What a great way to kick off the year!

Thalia said...

I think the official line is that the numbers don't double faster with twins - can't remember where I read that though. How do you feel about twins??

Nicole said...

I love the table. Also there is a page with a range of info about b-HCG numbers. It is at:

http://www.paternityangel.com/Articles_zone/BHCG_Levels/TableofAll.htm
http://www.paternityangel.com/Articles_zone/BHCG_Levels/TableofAverages.htm

I think they use numbers from ovulation though, not day 1, so you have to redo your numbers maybe, the first one is several labs, the second is an average.

Also they have this table with averages (sorry it didn't copy well):



Weeks Days HCG level for single
Week 3 7 0 to 5
Week 4 14 5 to 426
Week 5 21 18 to 7340
Week 6 28 1,080 to 56,500
Weeks 7-8 35-42 7,650 to 229,000
Weeks 9-12 49-70 25,700 to 288,000
Weeks 13-16 77-100 13,300 to 254,000
Weeks 17-24 4,060 to 165,400
Weeks 25 to birth 3,640 to 117,000
4 to 6 weeks after birth Less than 5

Good luck this week. I am sure you will get great news.

Nicole

Anonymous said...

CAN'T WAIT to hear how things went today. Great, I hope.