Paranoia and The Second Beta

We got our positive pregnancy test.  I went from being totally elated to extremely paranoid.  I was hating this about myself.  Why could I not live in the moment and just be happy?  I tried, but the fear overtook me.  Fear of losing the pregnancy.  It's happened before - it can surely happen again.  I don't think my brain could actually comprehend that I was pregnant.  It was not sinking in.  We've tried for so so long and become accustom to the disappointment.  I was so worried that after all we've been through this last year, everything it took and all the help we've received to get us to this point, that my body would not sustain the pregnancy.  Every little anything I felt made my heart beat a little faster and my mind go haywire.  "This can't be good" - I would hear in my head.  I was going to drive myself (and hubby) crazy!!  I'm suppose to remain stress free.  This was going to be hard.  I prayed.  I could not wait to go back to the doctor.  

I went back on December 9 for more blood work.  My hCG levels should double every 48 hours. hCG is "Human Chorionic Gondotropin" or the "pregnancy hormone".  It is produced by the placenta at implantation and the levels continue to rise until about 10-12 weeks of pregnancy, at which point they stabilize or drop.

The presence of normal hCG levels indicates you are pregnant.  When you take a home pregnancy test it is looking for traces of hCG in your urine.  When they do a blood test (or beta) they are looking for the level of hCG in your blood.  It's one of the early ways they determine if the pregnancy is progressing.  There is a wide range of "normal" levels:

Week from the Last Menstrual Period	Amount of HCG in mIU/ml
3	5 -50
4	3 - 426
5	19 - 7,340
6	1,080 - 56,500
7 - 8	7,650 - 229,000
9 - 12	25,700 - 288,000
13 - 16	13,300 - 254,000
17 - 24	4,060 - 165,400
25 - 40	3,640 - 117,000

In a positive pregnancy, the hCG levels usually double every 48-72 hours and increases by at least 60% every 2 days.  My first "beta" was 675.  My second beta was something around 1453, which was great news.  The pregnancy was  progressing.   My only job now (aside from my "real" job of course) is to stay stress free and take good care of myself.

We were scheduled for our first ultra sound on Monday!