How accurate is it to test 12 - 14 dpo

DWP Minister Tom Pursglove has left the Department to take up a newly created position of Minister for Legal Migration
Mini re-shuffle following Robert Jenrick's resignation sees Tom Pursglove move to the Home Office.
Following Robert Jenrick's resignation as Minister for Immigration, his responsibilities have been split in two, with Michael Tomlinson working alongside Mr Pursglove at the Home Office as Minister for Illegal Migration.
Minister of State at the DWP since October 2022, Mr Pursglove has been responsible for the Department's work and health strategy, disability employment and disability employment programmes, and for financial support for disabled claimants and 'those at risk of falling out of work'.
Mr Pursglove's replacement at the DWP is yet to be announced. However, they will be the sixth Minister of State for Disabled People, Work and Health in the last 5 years following, in addition to Mr Pursglove, Claire Coutinho (Sept 2022 to Oct 2022), Chloe Smith (Sept 2021 to Sept 2022), Justin Tomlinson (April 2019 to Sept 2021) and Sarah Newton (Nov 2017 to March 2019).
For more information, see Ministerial appointments: December 2023 from gov.uk
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Increase in the transitional SDP element
Government has introduced new legislation from 14/2/2024 to try to compensate claimants who have undertaken natural migration to Universal Credit and lost (having be entitled during the month before the UC claim) either a enhanced disability premium, disability premium, disabled child premium or the disabled child element, and are now receiving the lower rate disabled child addition in universal credit.
The additional rates will be added from 14/2/2024-
in the case of a single claimant -

• £84 for those whose legacy benefit included an enhanced disability premium;
• £172 for those whose legacy benefit included a disability premium; and
• £177 per disabled child or qualifying young person where the legacy benefit or tax credit included a disabled child premium or disabled child element;

in the case of joint claimants -

• £120 for those whose legacy benefit included an enhanced disability premium;
• £246 for those whose legacy benefit included a disability premium; and
• £177 per disabled child or qualifying young person where the legacy benefit or tax credit included a disabled child premium or disabled child element.

The new legislation applies to England, Scotland and Wales, with related information for those in Northern Ireland available from ni.direct.gov.uk
For more information, see Guidance: Transitional protection if you receive a Migration Notice letter from gov.uk
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DWP confirms that Move to UC programme is ‘on track’ and that migration notices will be issued to remaining claimants in receipt of legacy benefits other than tax credits from April 2024
Writing to local authority Chief Executives, Universal Credit Senior Responsible Owner advises that migration notices will be issued sequentially according to benefit type.
Confirming that the DWP is on track to issue 500,000 migration notices to claimants in receipt of tax credits only by the end of this financial year, Mr Couling says that the Universal Credit Programme Board has now approved the Department's migration plans for the following year -

'We plan to undertake the issuing of migration notices to working age benefit claimants sequentially starting with income support (April - June), employment support allowance with child tax credits (July - September) and jobseekers allowance (September). If a housing benefit customer is receiving one of these benefits, they will receive a migration notice. From April we will also invite tax credits with housing benefit and then housing benefit (only) customers to move.'

For more information, see Mr Couling's letter to local authority Chief Executives.
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DWP must ensure that claimants sent a migration notice have all the information they need to understand what it means for them and how to claim, the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) says
CPAG highlights qualitative research which shows that, in some cases, misunderstandings have left claimants worse off financially, and says there is 'considerable room for improvement in this area'
Following its analysis of the latest data on managed migration - which shows that around 27 per cent of tax credit claimants have not moved to universal credit following receipt of a migration notice and that, on average, households are losing around £300 per month as a result - CPAG undertook a series of detailed interviews with 19 tax credit claimants who had received a migration notice.
While claimants reported that the migration notice effectively conveyed that their legacy benefits were ending and that they may be able to claim universal credit, CPAG reports that it also triggered a range of negative emotions and further questions -

• claimants' anxiety about the move increased because of not knowing how much universal credit they might receive, when their tax credits would end, and when universal credit would start;
• while the vast majority of claimants sought answers to their questions online, this did not provide them with a complete picture and often caused further confusion;
• in some cases, misunderstandings about managed migration left claimants worse off financially;
• some had to miss work to attend an in-person ID appointment, and a disabled claimant had to repeatedly request a phone appointment before it was granted; and
• appointments with a work coach are stressful - because claimants are having to provide evidence (for example, about their employment) they do not feel able to also ask questions about their entitlement.

As a result, CPAG calls on the government to slow down the pace of managed migration in order to -

• collect more evidence about those not claiming to understand if the vast majority are making an informed decision not to claim;
• develop a booklet with supplementary information about the transition from legacy benefits to universal credit to send to claimants alongside their migration notice with tailored information covering -
  • when legacy benefit payments will stop;
  • how universal credit is calculated and when the first payment is made;
  • how outstanding benefit undeoverpayments are resolved through universal credit; and
  • how earnings affect universal credit;
• clarify how the DWP is interpreting the transitional protection regulations as the current ambiguity is undermining welfare rights advisers’ ability to calculate a claimant’s entitlement and support claimants to make informed budgeting decisions about managed migration; and
• amend the migration notice to explicitly mention that claimants can get bespoke information about their entitlement to UC before they claim through the Help-to-Claim service.

For more information, see Managed Migration from cpag.org.uk
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DWP says its new Conversational Platform virtual telephony system will help secure better insight into why claimants are calling and how best to respond
New virtual agent will be 'continually improved to meet our customers’ ongoing needs as well as improving the customer experience'.
In last week's edition of 'Touchbase', the DWP confirms the introduction of the new system, starting with universal credit from 30 November 2023, and advises that -

'Conversational Platform will enable customers to speak naturally ... and provide self-serve instructions to simple enquiries, saving customers time spent waiting in a call queue and reducing call demand to agents. Where a further conversation with someone is required, Conversational Platform will help route the call to the right person first time.'

The Department also links to a factsheet that provides further information, including in particular about how people with vulnerabilities will be supported -

'If the DWP Virtual Agent identifies that a customer is vulnerable, is a phone claim, or needs to speak to a person, they will be taken out of Conversational Platform and routed to a telephony agent to help with their enquiry.'

In an FAQ section of the factsheet, the DWP also advises -

Q: How does Conversational Platform ensure that vulnerable customers receive the support they need? A: The DWP Virtual Agent will be able to identify vulnerable customers based on what they say; once identified the customer will be taken out of Conversational Platform and routed to an Agent to help with their enquiry. Q: What happens if during the call the customer does not respond to any of the questions? A: The customer will be routed to an Agent if the DWP Virtual Agent is unable to determine why they are calling. Q: What happens if the DWP Virtual Agent cannot understand the customers voice or responses, due to accents etc? A: Conversational Platform can recognise regional dialects from across the UK as well as accents. However, if the DWP Virtual Agent is unable to understand the customer, they will be routed to an Agent.

The DWP adds that -

'Now that the Conversational Platform has been introduced onto the Department’s telephony channel, it will be continually improved to meet our customers’ ongoing needs as well as improving the customer experience.'

Touchbase (8 December 2023) is available from gov.uk
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The DWP underpaid almost £30 million of winter fuel payments to pensioner households last winter, according to the Social Fund Annual Account for 2022/2023
Introducing the Social Fund Annual Account for 2022/2023 , DWP Permanent Secretary and Accounting Officer Peter Schofield includes details of spending on and recoveries of discretionary social fund payments of budgeting loans and crisis loans, and regulated social fund payments of Sure Start maternity grants, funeral expenses payments, cold weather payments and winter fuel payments.
In relation to winter fuel payments, the National Audit Office's Comptroller and Auditor General Gareth Davies says that -

'I estimate that £49 million of payments (both over and underpayments) were not made in accordance with the Social Fund Winter Fuel Payment Regulations 2000. I consider the estimated error in winter fuel payments to be material to my regularity opinion. These winter fuel payments have been made outside of the relevant legislative terms.'

However, Mr Davies also notes the Department’s efforts to address the irregularity, highlighting that -

'The error identified in 2022/2023 winter fuel payments of £49.2 million represents 1.1 per cent of winter fuel payments. This is a decrease on the relative level of error identified in 2021-22 which represented 2.6 per cent of winter fuel payments. This reflects the positive progress the Department has made in responding to this issue. Since my qualification of the 2021/2022 Account, the Department has put in place additional controls to improve the quality of customer data held within its systems; including timelier matching of data to allow errors to be corrected before payments are made. Additional controls have also been implemented over manual payments that are made by case workers, this has accounted for most of the improvement in the error rate.’

For more information, see Social Fund Account 2022 to 2023 from gov.uk
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Government has produced a National Disability Strategy ‘ (NDS) in name only’ with disabled people and their representative organisations having little to no influence
Calling for a targeted ten-year plan, Women and Equalities Select Committee describes current strategy as a 'list of un-coordinated and largely pre-existing short-term policies'.
In January 2022, the High Court ruled that the NDS - which was launched in July 2021 - was unlawful, as the consultation process the government had carried out failed to provide for ‘intelligent consideration and response’. Pending its appeal of the judgment, the government paused 14 policies that it said were directly connected to the strategy.
With the Court of Appeal having then overturned the High Court's judgment in July 2023 on the basis that the NDS did not constitute a consultation and so did not attract obligations - including to ‘permit intelligent consideration and response’ - in September 2023, the government provided a further update on the Strategy setting out which commitments it had met and which were still in progress.
Examining that progress as part of its inquiry into the NDS, the Women and Equalities Committee has today published the first of three reports in which it concludes that the Strategy fails to meet the government's grand vision to 'transform the everyday lives of disabled people', but is in fact -

'... a list of un-coordinated and largely pre-existing short-term policies.'

Highlighting the government's failure to allow disabled people to have any meaningful input into policies directly affecting them, the Committee says it is a 'disability strategy in name only', and it makes a series of recommendations including that -

• the government should work with disabled people to develop a ten-year strategy with an action plan for the first five years outlining clear targets and timescales for delivery;
• the government should immediately establish a national advisory group bringing together the Disabled People's Organisations (DPO) Forum England and the chairs of Regional Stakeholder Networks;
• the DWP Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work should immediately update Parliament and disability stakeholders with specific timescales for delivery on all outstanding actions in the Strategy.

In addition, the Committee points out that the government does not include any reference to its obligations under the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in the NDS, and it therefore asks -

• why it has not yet adequately addressed the UN Committee’s 2016 recommendations, what steps it is taking to progress that work, and when those recommendations will be met by;
• for the government's reasons for failing to attend an August 2023 meeting with the UN Committee; and
• for details of the specific steps it is taking to ensure that the whole of government understands and follows the principles of the CRPD in policymaking.

Chair of the Committee Caroline Nokes said on 6 December -

'It is clear disabled people want more influence over the strategies, action plans, and policies affecting them. Ministers need to work much more proactively with disabled groups and develop the National Disability Strategy beyond short-term actions that were already in progress. To support this approach, it should collaborate with disabled people to develop a ten-year strategy with an action plan for the first five years outlining clear targets and timescales for delivery. The Disability Unit should have the final say on all disability policy sitting in or originating from other Government Departments to ensure that the whole of Government works towards the same long-term strategic objectives. It should also have the power to challenge relevant Ministers. The Government needs to listen to the concerns that disabled people and their representative organisations had with the strategy and work closely with them to deliver meaningful, long-lasting improvements to the lives of disabled people.'

For more information, see Targeted ten-year plan needed for National Disability Strategy, WEC warns ministers from parliament.uk
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Minister says that full rollout will proceed gradually as Department continues to test the functionality and stability of the new service
The DWP has confirmed that it aims to make the online apply for PIP service available nationally across England, Wales and Northern Ireland by the end of 2024.
Following the small-scale test of an online 'Get your PIP' claims service that launched in January 2022 and the expansion to claimants in selected postcode areas in England from July 2023, DWP Minister Tom Pursglove has confirmed in a written answer in the House of the Commons that -

'The current testing phase is allowing us to test the functionality and stability of the service; the department intends to scale the service gradually and safely. We aim to make the online applications for PIP available nationally across England, Wales and Northern Ireland by the end of 2024.'

Mr Pursglove's written answer is available from parliament.uk
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The government says that the DWP's use of artificial intelligence (AI) will be developed within a 'robust governance and ethical framework'
In a letter this week to the chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Mel Stride says that the DWP has a strong track-record of designing and delivering digital innovation and automation to deliver its services efficiently, and sets out how artificial intelligence is the 'next step' in the Department's digital transformation.
Mr Stride highlights -

• the Department is piloting AI to scan its inbound contact channels to alert for potential risks of harm. ‘White Mail’ AI technology has further increased the speed at which the DWP is able to identify vulnerable people from the around 22,000 letters it receives each day. This process, which now takes a day rather than weeks, means those most in need can be more quickly directed to the relevant person who can help them.
• the Department is exploring how Generative AI can be used across the Department through its Lighthouse Programme. The programme is exploring the use of AI in several use cases which include trialling: (i) AI-enabled projects to complement the services work coaches provide in job centres; (ii) how AI can write, update, or organise code to address the current digital skills shortage in areas like software engineering; (iii) productivity tools for use in, for example, rapidly summarising policy documents or providing simple tools for frontline staff to gather information.

Mr Stride's letter to the chair of the Work and Pensions Committee is available from parliament.uk
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The Public Accounts Committee says that the DWP must substantially reduce the ‘unacceptable’ high level of fraud and error in benefit spending
Introducing its new report on The Department for Work and Pensions’ Annual Report and Accounts 2022/2023, the Committee notes that -

'The level of fraud and error in benefit spending remains unacceptably high. The DWP overpaid some £8.2 billion in 2022/2023, of which £6.4 billion was due to benefit fraud. This has fallen only slightly since last year, when we reported that DWP overpaid an eye-watering £8.6 billion - compared with £4.4 billion in 2019/2020 before the pandemic - and warned that high levels of benefit fraud could become perceived as normal.'

The Committee goes on to highlight that the DWP does not expect benefit fraud and error to return to pre-pandemic levels until 2027/2028. It notes that this is driven in large part by universal credit fraud and error, which the Committee says-

'… was overpaid by a staggering 12.8 per cent (£5.5 billion) in 2022/2023. DWP estimates that 18 per cent of universal credit claims - relating to over 800,000 people - and says it cannot reduce universal credit overpayments to the 6.5 per cent of expenditure that it previously committed to.'

In addition, while the Committee acknowledges that the DWP is now being more transparent about its plan to tackle the increase in fraud and error, with investment of an additional £895 million in counter-fraud activities, it points out that -

'Now DWP needs to implement its plan and demonstrate a meaningful reduction in the levels of fraud and error. DWP expects most of the savings to come from a £443-million project to cleanse the benefit system of incorrect payments by reviewing some 8 million live universal credit cases over the next five years. The success of this project is dependent on DWP’s ambitious plans to scale up recruitment and productivity of the team reviewing the claims.'

The Committee also raises concerns about underpayments of state pension affecting an estimated 210,000 claimants whose pension entitlement may be affected by missing Home Responsibilities Protection and around 165,000 claimants who are married, widowed or over-80 affected by further historical errors, and recommends that -

'DWP must work urgently with HMRC to provide clarity on how it will fully address this issue and provide assurance over the integrity of the National Insurance records. DWP must also do more to detect underpayments before they build up and have a significant impact on pensioners and other claimants.'

Finally, turning to the use of machine learning algorithms for detecting fraud and error, and while noting that the Department is at an early stage of implementation, the Committee urges greater transparency about how they will be used and the expected impact on claimants -

'DWP has not made it clear to the public how many of the millions of universal credit advances claims have been subject to review by an algorithm. Nor has it yet made any assessment of the impact of data analytics on protected groups and vulnerable claimants; though we acknowledge it has recently committed to provide such an assessment in next year’s annual report.'

Committee Chair Meg Hillier said -

'Many pensioners have been left significantly out of pocket by up to thousands, while DWP has been asleep at the switch. These are injustices that may never be corrected for some. We are now in a place where Parliament needs assurance that the State Pension is being paid accurately. We expect DWP to respond to our report in a timely fashion, but frankly, paying pension accurately is a basic that we expect from DWP and not recommendations that our Committee ought to be having to make. While it is good to see benefit fraud and error fall slightly this year, we are yet to see any significant post-pandemic strides made in addressing it. The DWP’s future strategy relies on assessing many millions of claims over the next few years, and contracting out this work brings its own risks. We will be continuing to scrutinise this work closely, as it is essential for public confidence in the system that the government fights fraud with unswerving determination, while ensuring legitimate claims remain undisrupted.'

The Public Accounts Committee report, The Department for Work and Pensions Annual Report and Accounts 2022/2023 - Fraud and error in the benefits system, is available from parliament.uk
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Early reform of universal credit and reversing changes to delivery of reserved ill-health and disability benefits among key priorities for social security in an independent Scotland the Scottish government has said
Setting out plans for reform were it to have full control of social security powers, Scottish Government says it wants to move away from UK Government’s system of benefit freezes, caps and punishment to create a fairer, more dignified and respectful social security system.
In Social Security in an independent Scotland, the Scottish Government says that independence would give Scotland the opportunity to take a new approach to social security that would be -

'… designed to be fairer, more dignified and more respectful.'

In particular, the Scottish Government highlights the negative impacts of the UK Government’s current welfare policies on poverty levels in Scotland, on account of it holding the majority of social security powers in relation to low-income and working-age benefits.
However, despite having only limited powers, the Scottish Government reflects on the progress it has made in creating a fairer social security system and sets out how it could go even further once full powers were transferred following independence. Its key proposals include -

• introducing early reforms to universal credit, including removing the bedroom tax, benefit cap, two child limit, and young parent penalty;
• working alongside wider labour market, health and social policies to create a stronger and more dynamic economy like comparable European countries;
• stopping the rollout of changes to the delivery of reserved ill-health and disability benefits introduced as a result of the UK Government’s Health and Disability White Paper; and
• moving towards a new system grounded in adequacy, such as a Minimum Income Guarantee, to ensure that everyone could have a decent level of income and live with dignity.

The Scottish Government also says that it will set out proposals for pension reform in an independent Scotland in a later paper in its Building a New Scotland series.
For more information, see Social Security in an independent Scotland from gov.scot
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New regulations have been issued in Scotland that make miscellaneous changes to the rules and eligibility criteria for Best Start Foods from February 2024
In force from 24 February 2024, the Welfare Foods (Best Start Foods) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2023 (SSI.No.371/2023) make changes to the Welfare Foods (Best Start Foods) (Scotland) Regulations 2019 to remove the income thresholds which apply to some qualifying benefits, to further align the eligibility criteria with Best Start Grant and Scottish child payment, and to make changes to how payments are made.
SSI.No.371/2023 is available from legislation.gov.uk

I have PCOS, and am currently on my 6th cycle of clomid (first two were 50mg, next four were 100mg). I consistently ovulate on clomid, but always sometime after CD14. Still, my doctor insists that I always get my progesterone test done on CD21 (and then re-test 7 days after a positive OPK, if I did not ovulate yet), regardless of how many DPO it is. There was only once I did not do that, and had my blood drawn on CD24 instead, because I was out of town.
Because of that, I feel like I can't accurately compare my CD21 progesterone levels from cycle to cycle, because they're pretty much all at a different DPO. All my doctor tells me is basically "yes, you ovulated" or "no, you did not ovulate yet." I also have a follicle scan done sometime in the CD10-12 window, and they've seen multiple mature follicles during a couple cycles (I wasn't told an exact number, though). This cycle, I don't know if I have one or two, because they weren't able to see my left ovary on the ultrasound, so only confirmed one on my right.
I was sort of hoping that I'd be able to tell whether I had one or two eggs this cycle from my progesterone levels, but because they're all at different DPOs, I can't really directly compare them. I've looked around online, but can't seem to find anywhere how much progesterone changes per day, so I don't know how much I should expect it to rise before 7DPO.
Here are my progesterone levels from each cycle:
Clomid Cycle 1 (50mg) - Ovulated CD16 - Progesterone tested CD21, 5DPO 14.80 ng/mL
Clomid Cycle 2 (50mg) - Ovulated CD22 - Progesterone tested CD21 0.81 ng/mL - Progesterone re-tested CD28, 6DPO 15.60 ng/mL
Clomid Cycle 3 (100mg) - Ovulated CD19 - Progesterone tested CD21, 2DPO 4.95 ng/mL
Clomid Cycle 4 (100mg) - Ovulated CD15 or 16 (multiple eggs) - Progesterone tested CD24, 8-9DPO 25.10 ng/mL
Clomid Cycle 5 (100mg) - Ovulated CD16 (multiple eggs) - Progesterone tested CD21, 5DPO 34.80 ng/mL
Clomid Cycle 6 (100mg) - Ovulated CD17 - Progesterone tested CD21, 4DPO 16.00 ng/mL
This cycle, my progesterone level is a little bit higher on 4DPO than it was 5DPO or 6DPO of cycles where I believe I only had one egg (so it should definitely be higher -- although I'm not sure by how much -- at 5 and 6DPO this cycle). But, it's still quite a ways below my 5DPO and 8-9DPO numbers from the cycles where I had multiple eggs.
TL;DR -- My 4DPO progesterone level was 16.00 ng/mL. Is there a way to determine what that might be at 7DPO, or whether I released one or two eggs this cycle?
Edit: In case it makes a difference, I can't necessarily confirm that I only had one egg on cycles 1-3. During two of those cycles, they weren't able to see any mature follicles at all at my follicle scan (once because I ovulated late and they hadn't grown much yet, and once because they weren't able to see my ovaries well enough on the ultrasound).

Breakdown below, but first...
We have been married for 3.5 years and in order to get married in the church, we had to take a temping class where I received instruction on temping by hand and a basal thermometer (accurate to the 10th but I just ordered one online that lists the 100th degree, haven’t gotten to use it). We started trying in July ’14. I’m 31 and he’s 32. We’ve seen our share of heartache and trial through my SIL's multiple MCs and finally trying IVF, which was thankfully successful. I posted a BFP back in July after 14 years on BCP we got a BFP right away. We were so freaked out and excited. We were prepared to have to try for months and our plan was to stop trying after a year. Looking back, we were so naive and I would never put that restriction on myself again. We lost that pregnancy at 6 weeks. I know this sounds strange, but it never felt right though it would have been a blessing either way.
We took mid-September through mid-November off from trying. Took a vacation with friends and finally started feeling better about continuing to try. I was temping by hand – I didn’t have a smartphone yet for the handy FF app, it’s proven invaluable. January was my first cycle temping through FF with my new phone. I was amazed by how much it told us. The anticipation of the O date instead of guessing was nice. So this month, I gave up caffeine, started drinking half my weight in ounces of water daily, we tried to space out sex (not exactly every other day) to let sperm replenish, elevated my hips for 20 or so minutes after BD and I also ate about 2 whole pineapples from 3 DPO to about 7 DPO and got mouth sores - probably too much pineapple. I’m on a multivitamin, B complex vitamin and my allergy meds (Pulmicort/daily cetirizine tablet). Here is my chart BD: CD 6,7,10,11 & DPO 1,7
CD 1-10: Nothing amazing to report. I enjoyed a little wine, so that was kind of amazing.
CD 12: O
DPO 1: O pain/nausea
DPO 4: Breasts started feeling tender – nipples especially – coinciding with the first dip in my chart.
DPO 7: Symptoms really took off: mild twinges in my uterus, bloated, fatigue, mild lower backache, my appetite… omg my appetite – I was either going on a diet after AF or I was pregnant. I have 3 meals a day, still hungry afterward, wake up in the middle of the night and my stomach is still growling. That hasn’t let up.
DPO 8 & 9: Temp spike! Hooray!
DPO 10 & 11: Temp fall… what? Took an early test (Walgreens generic) and it came out faintly positive. Took a FRER and it was negative. Cervix became super soft. Like a wet, warm gummy worm soft (TMI? Lol) It was a strange sensation. It was also super high. A lot of creamy discharge. The rest of my breasts stopped hurting, just the nipples feel like they’re bruised and sunburned.
DPO 12: This is when my nose started running and ran for three days and then stuffed. I still can’t smell anything at DPO 15 though it doesn’t feel like a cold or normal allergy symptoms. It’s just stuffy/swollen. Still a lot of creamy discharge.
DPO 14: Positive FRER test. Called the Dr. and got my blood drawn/levels tested. HCG is at 123 and progesterone is at 20. Dr. said the levels were pretty normal. I go back in on Monday to see if they are doubling (tripling by then hopefully) like they should be. So I’m still tentative, trying to relax. My LP is usually 14 to 16 days long.
Though this process is so frustrating, it’s so unbelievably interesting, too. If everything goes as planned, I will miss the support and cheering section this sub gave me. You all are such amazing women (and men who support us!). I wish you all the luck and baby dust this sub can hold. Thank you for being so wonderful to all who join.
UPDATE: I had another blood draw and my HCG levels nearly tripled from 123 to 640. In two weeks, we'll have an ultrasound to see if there's a heartbeat, but I shouldn't be more than 4 weeks now. Still scared and trying to remain hopeful that everything is going fine.