moment of truth.

I was probably more nervous about this morning's FRER than I have been about almost anything so far post-transfer. In part, because Kyla at Three Quarters Full posted a picture of her FRER yesterday, when she had a beta of 679. Literally ONE point from where I need to be in order to be doubling appropriately.

Now, I know all pee sticks are different, even from the same brand. But it's kind of like when you're making a recipe - you know your dish won't turn out EXACTLY like the picture, but you want it to look pretty close.

So I dipped the FRER and right away the test line was screaming red, even before anything hit the control line. I exhaled a little. Ten minutes later, I could see that the test line was brick red, super-dark, and the control line looked smudgey, and had more of a cherry color.

I took the stick back to my desk to look at Kyla's again. It's very close. If anything, my test line might be a little darker and my control line a little lighter. Obviously I can't look at two lines on a stick and translate that into a specific beta, but I went back and looked at the pictures from last cycle. I know that my beta was 508 on 12dp5dt and 1461 at 19dp5dt. I didn't take a test at 19dp5dt last cycle, because I'd moved on to every other day, but I did take one at 18dp5dt, and it looks similar to the one I took today.

Ergo, I do not think I will get a nasty surprise at today's beta. I think I will be scheduling my first ultrasound for next week.

In other news, Precious Pup needs to go back to the vet due to a small, smooth cyst on his front right paw that he keeps chewing at. This in addition to the fun post-op stuff he's still got going on. My poor little furbaby. I just want him to be healthy and happy for a few more years. Ideally five or six. I don't mean to be greedy but this dog is my heart. This morning, I woke up with him tucked between Mr. Hope and me, and he had one paw draped over my arm, NBD. It was the cutest thing.

And remember how my car totally crapped out at Posh Clinic on Friday? The repairs were going to run us a whopping $2,000. Not cool, car. I asked about a trade-in value and the dealership offered us a decent one. We'd still owe on the loan but if I put the money I would've spent in repairs on the loan instead, it doesn't leave all that much to roll over into a new loan. It's kind of like buying a car without a down payment. Another option is a short-term lease, like a year, just to get us out of the money pit. We're going back tonight to get me into something.

I'd taken today off from work thinking it would give me time to catch up on some things, but the universe has totally conspired against me. Now I'm leaving the house at my normal time, only it's to get Mr. Hope to work so that I can have the car today. Then it's the long drive to Posh Clinic for my third (and hopefully last!) beta, then back home to pick up PP for his vet appointment. Then I've got to get PP home and might have an hour before I have to leave to go get Mr. Hope so that we can go to the accountant's together to get our taxes done. Not sure how long that's going to take, but we'll need to grab at least a snack before we go to the car dealership because they never get you out in less than 2.5 to 3 hours.

Even so, I'll try to find a few minutes later today to update after I get my beta results. They usually don't call until the afternoon, but that should be between the vet appointment and the tax appointment. Fingers crossed!