L went off to the IF clinic this morning feeling a little apprehensive. Time for the next beta. And the results.

Turns out, she had nothing to worry about.

1660. That’s another strong number and a good rate of increase. What does it mean?

Most importantly, it’s indicative of a healthy pregnancy thus far. Excellent.

It could also be suggestive of twins. At least that remains a viable and perhaps increasing possibility. If that’s the case, it would be a pretty amazing outcome given where we’ve come from (to repeat: 7 mature eggs retrieved, 2 fertilized, both transferred on Day #3).

Talk about “doubling down” on the fatherhood bet.

In other news: Fertility clinics are no place for pregnant women

At our clinic, the blood collection area is setup to serve multiple patients. Today, L found herself there with another woman who was on IVF cycle #2. While doing whatever prep work is involved, it seems that the nurses were happily gushing over L’s beta score from Friday and suggesting that these follow-up betas were mostly a “formality” with such a good number out of the starting blocks.

They were also joking about how this must have pleased our RE, who’s exceedingly focused on her success statistics.

Anyway, in the midst of this convivial and congratulating atmosphere, the other patient burst into nearly uncontrollable sobs. It seems that our good news or her lack thereof was simply too much to handle this morning. L and the nurses did their best to calm and reassure her.

God knows, we could have found ourselves in the same predicament (a fact not lost on me).

In any case, it sure underscores why our fertility clinic is not a “one-stop baby shop” with services from pre-conception through delivery. Such “vertical integration” (to whip out my knowledge of marketing lingo) would seem like a natural fit, especially in such a large multi-doc practice.

However, on further reflection, I think it would be a very bad idea: pregnant women need to stay the hell away from fertility clinics.

Tags: In Vitro Fertilization, Pregnancy