Twelve.1

196.

Sorry, I have not been trying to be coy. We have had storms here all day and my internet connection dies when it gets cloudy. Damn satellites.

So the hcg yesterday (um, let's say 14 dpo, shall we?) was 196. For reference that is lower than the last pregnancy at 14 dippos (god bless my mother, she cannot shake this word), lower than Patrick, lower than the one before Patrick that looked normal but wasn't, and much much lower than the twin pregnancy I had that fizzled completely.

I will admit that I was terrified that the nurse was going to call and say, "Your hcg levels had to be sent to NASA for tabulation and... now, are you familiar with the term googolplex?" When she came up with 196 I was, like, oh.

Oh, I say again.

Oh.

How very... unsensational.

One, though, I think, don't you? What was your beta around now, if you ever checked? And was it quintuplets (it was, wasn't it! wow, you look great!)? I will go for another blood draw tomorrow but no results until Thursday; thus nothing to do in the meantime but theorize...

Comments

[TexasMama]

Well, it's a very solid number, though I know that means little to you after with your previous experience. So for the sake of reference, my 2 succesful pregnacies had a betas of 170 and 134 at 13dpo and 14dpo respectively. My m/c had a beta of 56 at 13dpo.

But I know many women have blogged about twins or more with betas lower. So while my guss is also one, it wouldn't be totally shocked to see 2 in there. I just hope one of them is the golden one. Good Luck.

[Liz]

Darn respectable, I'd say. I root for the embryo!!!

[heather]

Sadly I can't remember my beta at that stage of the game, but it was low. Low enough to get the staged whisper from the nurse as if he was going to fall out at any minute. He is 18-months old this past weekend and he totally kicks ass.

[kathleen999]

Well, mine started as trips and was 872 at like 16 dpo. How's that for reference? Divide by three or so (one baby was not healthy, so don't know if it had the full hcg, if you follow me) and that becomes less than 300 per embryo. If yours doubles in 2-3 days, it will be 392 (right?) and so that seems pretty good to me.

Crossing things for you.

[Lisa S (et al, aka Stolidoli)]

My goodness, how are you going to handle TWELVE children?

Oh for goodness sake, I'm kidding.

Anyway, I cannot for the life of me remember beta numbers, but I did want to say congratulations and that I had a feeling. That and I'm glad you got some drinks in before you had to abstain.

And hey, it's always sensational, isn't it? I will remain thrilled for you and the little beta that could. ;)

[Marsha]

I don't know what to say - you've got a way of sending me into complete stupefaction, actually. And you're now on my "refresh constantly" list. I shall get nothing done this week, I fear. Count me in with the rooters.

[Mmm]

With my daughter, i was 57 at 21 DPO. With my last miscarriage, i was 57 at 21 DPO. (It was a missed miscarriage; my body was doing just fine holding on to it.) With my current pregnancy (heartbeat seen, so far,9 weeks and counting), i was 400 at 16 DPO. One would think there would be some rhyme or reason to these things....to me, 196 at 14 DPO is fantastic.

[Dee]

My betas with twins.

6dp5dt 58
10dp5dt 283
13dp5dt 1,271
20dp5dt 15,385

Thinking of you.

[JT]

Delurking to say my beta 11dp3dt was 87 and I'm currently 35 weeks pregnant with a singleton girl. 4 days later, it was 606. Hard to be hopeful, I know, but I wanted to share my success story with an 87 initial beta. I'll be hoping and visiting...

[Deirdre]

With my current pregnancy, my level was 40-something at 15 dpo. I was charting, so I do know when I ovulated.

Baby is still going strong. I will be 27 weeks tomorrow.

I've been reading your blog since early 2004 when I was trying to slay the evil infertility beast. I do so hope that this one will result in a "I'm headed to the hospital" post in say 36 weeks.

[JustLinda]

Still rooting for you - go, team, go! Really, Julia - I have things crossed for you. I hope this little embryo defies the odds and goes the distance...

[Amie]

Beta at 13dp3dt - 1750 with twins. I think I'm a little higher than usual though...hoping this is the one (or two) you've been waiting for.

[VHMPrincess]

beta 130 at 13 dpo = BabyT
beta abnormally low, dr refused to give number at 12 dpo = OlderSon

Sounds like you're right on target!!

[Slim]

The one I can find the records for was 232 at 15 dippos. I was bleeding like crazy, especially after physical activity.

Ended up with healthy, charming baby.

[Andrea]

Mine was 14. 14 at 14dpos. And that little fart of an embryo is almost 18 months now :-).

196 sounds respectable to me!

[Carrie]

beta hCG of 34 at 12 days post-trigger (how long is o after trigger?).
14 dp trigger was 65.
Pregnancy was ultimately successful.

[Toni]

Do you know exactly how far along you are? B/c maybe you're off on your calculations b/c of the drugs?? But your number is still higher than each of my girls...they were in the 140s/150s.

[Heather Ann]

less than 25 - with my third child at 14 dippos - then just doubling, and i was told, probably you will miscarry. i couldn't decide whether to get drunk and mourn, or to wait and see. buy the peach schnapps, not buy the peach schnapps. it was a dilemma. so, i think it is really hard to tell what the number means.

by the way, i just wanted to say - 'cause i never said it before - i thought your genetic counselor sucked a** and i hope you can find a different one this time.

i am so sorry that this is so hard for you. i did really like the idea of doing it "turbo" and I wondered why you wouldn't ovulate on your own anyway, without the trigger.

[SprengBlingBling]

The only beta I have is from 5w5d and it was obscenely high for a singleton. 24,000-something. They thought it was a blighted ovum. Not so much. He's six months old now.

I am hoping you are on your way to tripling those numbers. I mean come on, it's you we're talking about here. There's always some weird angle, so maybe this time it will be "the case of the suspiciously low beta at the start of a successful triplet pregnancy."

[Kris]

At 13 dpo, mine was 86... at 16 dpo it was 271- I am now 29 weeks pregnant... so here's to sending some luck your direction!!!

[Gina]

I thought it was the rate of doubling not the number that gave the clue it was multiples. I have plenty of buddies with lower initial beta than 196 but then they really started to skyrocket.

I am just hoping this one is a keeper.

[meredith]

13dpo was 108 with 1st healthy pg, 115 with 2nd healthy (earlier m/c pg's were more like 45 at 13dpo)

Looks like 1 or 2 at the most (my girlfriend had healthy twins with a 14dpo of 96! what gives??)

Hope that helps in the obsessing..congrats!!

MEredith

[Laura]

My beta at 11dp3dt or 14 dippos (thanks to your mom that's in MY vocabulary now!) was 103 and I had twins.

Second IVF on the same dippo was 227 and was a singleton (later m/c'd)

Repeat betas two days later (16 dippos) were 267 for the twins and 414 for the singleton. Go figure.

For the record.. girl beta levels are supposedly higher than boys. My twins were both boys and the singleton (according to karotyping after the m/c) was a girl.

I'm guessing two for you :)

[Bev]

With my twins it was 459 at 14dp. With my singletons, #1--26, #2 57. Yah, I dealt with Infertility and now have 2 boys. Only 5 pg, though.

[Mia C.]

See, here's the problem as I see it.
You don't know when you really ovulated. Did they all let loose at once? Did they trickle down over four days? Do you have a late implanter?
So now you need the second number, kiddo....

[Jody]

With my triplets it was, um, 182 I think, 14 dpo. Well, 15 days after the trigger shot. Then it was, er, 4something? And then it was like 800 thousand.

Nah, it was high three thousands.

But the first two numbers had the nurses saying, "we'll bring you in to check numbers a week from Thursday, but we're not thinking multiples at this point."

So, there's that data point, but I know it's not worth much given your history.

I think there's a site somewhere that claims the original beta numbers simply aren't predictive of numbers implanted. It's the doubling rate that gives it away. So we shall see.

[anne nahm]

I'm sorry to be a fertility dumbass, but I can't tell if your number is good, bad or meh.

I would google, but not sure between the betas and the DPOs and all that, and like I mentioned, I'm something of a dumbass here.

I just want to root for you, I'm just a little iffy on wishing you a good thought if I don't know which direction to aim it in. Up? Down? Steady state?

Anyway, Woot to double helpings of sex! And positive pregnancy test. All with a small child under your roof! I think it's a satisfying day if I'm wearing a clean shirt, so go with your bad assed mommy self.

[Cathy]

As I recall, mine was 144 at 14dpo, and I didn't know if that was good or bad. That kid is now 4, and wild and crazy.

Best wishes for you.

[Chaya]

I am such a lurker and I hate commenting, but I check you obssessively because I love Patrick stories, and you are amazing--your strength, courage, and sense of humor are awesome, and not in a teeny-bopper way. Not to mention your husband and kitchen. I really hope and pray that this is it for you, and some of this awful stuff can be behind you, and start to seem something like a bad dream. And, I love your mother. Dippos. I love it.

[Laura K.]

I just looked up some of my old numbers. With M, my hcg levels at Days 11 & 13 after the IUI were 17 & 73, respectively. I wonder how different 'dippuis' are from 'dippos'? Anyone know? I thought these were good at the time. I have no idea what they were when I was pregnant with K...I can't believe I never wrote it down anywhere!

Anyway...it's not so much where they start but whether or not they double, right? Right?

[Laura K.]

PS - at this site I just googled: http://www.bobrow.net/kimberly/birth/hcglevels.html 'normal' from conception is anywhere from 3-426

[kt]

My girls (singletons) were approximately 360 and 170, each at 14 days. When I looked at the literature, there appeared to be absolutely no correlation between HCG level and number of embryos. I do believe that 100 is the "golden number". I think at this point it's really the CVS that matters most for you?

[Ann]

Coming out lurkdom to give one more datapoint hcg levels at 17dpiui was around 630 I think. There's just one in here.

[tertia]

What? 196 at 14 dippos? Both my twin pg's were lower than that! A 'normal' beta 14 dippos is supposed to be 100. My quad pg was 367 14dpo.

How very odd that your betas were always so high. but then again, you are very odd.

I think it sounds like twins.

hahahah, imagine that. Will be larffin and larffin.

[Shannon]

My HCG around 17 days past ovulation was 200, 356 two days later and 1290 four days after that. I am now in my 21 week of a totally healthy pregnancy. Oh yeah, I had on successful pregancy, two miscarriages and now this pregancy. I am thinking your first number looks pretty normal. Hopefully it continues to rise.

[tertia]

first twin pg = 137 (both lost so clearly 137 sucks as a beta), second twin pg = 167 (the lovely and delicious Adam and Kate)

[libby]

I am ignorant of the numbers and dippos, alas, but wanted to cheer on #12-196-14dpo! And hopefully it was Nurse Sewage that told you the number. Because I am vindictive like that.

Seriously Julia I wish all good things for you and this little one.

[kati]

I have almost no personal experience with (positive) betas (my last one must have been something like -100 and was laughing in my face), so all I can say, 196 sounds good and solid to me. No help at all, I know. But I just wanted to wish you (again) the best of luck with this pregnancy, may it be one or more occupants!

[liz s]

Beta that early are so unpredictable and with your history don't really indicate anything. But...... I am excited for you and pray that this one or more will be healthy.

Can't wait for Thursday's number.

Liz S

[Leah]

At 14dpo I was 120 with my now 2-year-old. :)

[Dee]

196 sounds just fine to me. Since my one and only pregnancy was a blighted ovum, this doesn't mean much, but at 11 or 12 dpo beta was a walloping 53.

[J]

What a nice, solid number. My first beta was 471 at 18dpo, and turned up healthy twins. It was on the low end of the twin beta spectrum, though. Then again, www.betabase.info says that a 14dpo 200 is the median for twins.

In any case, there's lots of fervent hoping for you over here -- hoping for a healthy one or two.

[Sonetka]

Hope you don't mind if I throw my hat into the Beta Ring, but the beta for my successful pregnancy was 129 at 13DP3DT, so working backwards, he would have been something like 65 at the 14DPO stage. Holding out hope for your embryo(s)!

[gkk]

pg 1, beta 196 at 14dp3dt = m/c 8w Trisnomy 7
pg 2, beta 178 at 14dp3dt = dd 1
pg 3, beta 4.7 (yep, that is a decimal point) at 14 dpo = dd 2
pg 4, I'll tell you Monday :-)

Fingers crossed Juila, surely it is your turn by now. Wishing only good things for you.

[e]

Ah yes, but you might only be 10dpo at a pinch, no?

[Anita]

I agree with E. You might not have O'd when you think you did.

[Pamplemousse]

Aw hecks, who knows? I only have ectopic PG beta numbers to compare and they ain't playing bingo. Lets just wait and see what the doubling rate is but I am holding thumbs for you.

[Anita]

So I'm back from my early morning run and this chart http://www.thedoctorslounge.net/gynecology/labs/pregnancy_test.htm

says 48 is average with a normal range from 17 to 119.

So it sounds like your numbers are good. Is that table not valid based on others experiences!?

[jac]

Julia, I wouldn't know a dippo from a hippo. I come for the writing. And Patrick, of course. Just wanted to say good luck and that I am constantly amused by all the people 'rooting' for you ... you know what that's slang for in Australia, don't you? Heh. Heh heh. Heheheheh. Rooting.

[Andi]

They always say you can't really compare betas from one pg to another. That said, mine was 107 at 10dp3dt this time around (my first ongoing pg, currently at 35 weeks). At 13dp3dt, it was 371.

I hope you've got a good one in there.