After the two-week wait, Surrogate Beth headed to her monitoring clinic for her blood draw to check her levels of hCG, a hormone produced during pregnancy.
Nick, tell us about your thoughts during the wait for Beta?
Beta Week was very stressful. I remember entering that week thinking that after all the extra time, waiting, and tests that Beth and I went through before our transfer that Beta week wasn’t going to be that bad. I told myself it was just a little more waiting and we had been doing a lot of that anyway! Boy, was I wrong!
Each day the levels of stress and worry just built up. I don’t want to recall how many times I wanted Beth to “cheat” by taking a home pregnancy test after a few days had passed. I even joked with Beth that I was considering peeing on a stick myself to feel better and we had a good laugh about that! So instead of peeing on a stick, I consumed every comfort food I could find during those 10 days—a lot of cheese popcorn! By Beta Day, I was mentally exhausted but had a quiet confidence that Beth was pregnant. I stuck to it— I believe in the power of positive thinking!
What was your reaction when you got the results?
The morning of the beta test was a blur. I just remember when our fertility doctor told me that Beth was pregnant and her beta levels were great. I don’t know how many people I called and messaged. I was ecstatic. I remember thinking about how proud I was of my “little guy” for growing strong. Every day since, I have thought out to him, “Just keep growing, you can do it.”
Beth, what were you thinking and feeling during the two-week wait?
During my first surrogacy journey, I experienced a couple of failed transfers. During those two failed transfers, I also took some home pregnancy tests starting 5 days after transfer. Analyzing the tests to see if there was a second line, or comparing whether lines when were darker or not when I had a chemical pregnancy, totally stressed me out and made the wait until Beta Day seem that much longer.
This time around, I didn’t want to stress myself or Nick out by spending days overanalyzing. I knew that I was doing everything I was supposed to be doing, and I knew that Nick had healthy, PGS tested embryos. He checked in with me throughout the 10 day wait and I think there were times when we both wanted me to cheat, but I waited until the day before our beta to take a test. I decided to take a digital, so there was no interpretation involved and was happy and relieved to see the word “Pregnant” appear on the test!
Nick messaged me the morning of our first beta and I could tell he was really excited, but also nervous. He admitted that he may have had too much caffeine while waiting, but I was glad for his enthusiasm and support.
How did you feel when you got the results?
We were hoping to hear a number over 100 after the official hCG beta blood test and my results were 110. Three days later, my levels were 578. I used an online doubling calculator to figure out that my levels were doubling every 30 hours, which was a great result. I was thrilled that everything seemed to be going well and looking forward to the first ultrasound to ensure that everything was on track!
From the surrogate side, I know what a failed transfer feels like, so I can’t imagine the heartache intended parents go through. I was so glad that we were getting good results and neither Nick nor I would have to experience those feelings!
You can read more about Beth and Nick’s incredible journey in other segments of this series.
*Names have been changed to protect privacy.