THE RESULTS ARE IN!

This is a picture of a home pregnancy test that I did this morning. We have had positive results going back about seven days, so we have been cautiously optimistic. We were looking forward to the beta test today to get confirmation and to find out how strong our "number" was. Well, it was great news. At 13 days past a 5 day embryo transfer, our HCG number was 945! According to one website, the average number for a positive test 13 days past transfer is 522. Anything over 100 is considered a decent number, so we blew both of these numbers away. This is a very good sign that this is a strong and viable pregnancy. Today I am officially 4 weeks and 4 days pregnant. If everything goes well, our estimated due date (according to one online calculator) would be March 16, 2007.

I need to go back on Friday and again on Monday to have additional blood work done. Per standard procedure, the doctor wants to make sure that the HCG numbers double every two days. Once I have my beta completed on Monday, and if everything is still on track, we will be able to schedule an ultrasound for about my six week mark. At that time the RE would look to see how many sacs are in the uterus (one or two) and if we have a heartbeat(s) yet.

We wanted to use this site to congratulate all of the grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends to be! Just to let you in on a little secret, we have come up with some potential names for our baby (or babies). These are the number one choices for a girl or a boy...I'm sure you will agree that they are just splendid!

• Girl: Judith Joanne Ritter
• Boy: Jerome Robert Ritter

Runners up for the list are as follows:

• Girl: Woodrina Hayes Ritter
• Boy: Santa Pizza Ritter

Of course we would welcome any input regarding our short list, but we are fairly certain that these are the best options....aren't they all just beautiful?

(disclaimer: for those of you who don't know our senses of humor all that well, we have to admit that these names are a joke! As lovely as they are, we will not actually be using them for our child (children). Thank you.)