13

Wow, Here I am.

I have been holding off waiting to write this blog post. So much fear, trying to trust in God and give this journey to Him. So often I get excited and forget to give thanks and pray.

I am SO happy and SO relieved to announce

 

Ron and I along with some doctors have gotten me knocked up! As I am writing this I am 11 weeks pregnant and by the time you read it I will be 13 weeks!!! Here's how it all happened...

In February I explained to my fertility doctor that I would like to try an IUI. IUI stands for Intro Uterine Insemination. (This is not IVF, In-Vitro Fertilization) IUI is the process of me testing my ovulation, calling my doctors office when I have a positive OPK (ovulation Predictor stick/kit), I then "collect" my husbands "goods" and since we live so far away I put on my blue and pink lighted siren, slap the sperm in transport sticker on my car and drive like a mad women to the other side of town. (Just joking) But I do have to get the "goods" to the office within 30 minutes. So it does call for some speeding. Once at the doctor I hand over the "goods" and wait in the waiting room for 40 minutes. In my case I went back out to my car with Ron and Dillon to take my mind off the process for a sec. In this 40 minutes the nurse washes the "goods" with a saline and seperates the good guys from the bad guys. After 40 minutes I go into the office. (The following may be TMI for guys to read and prudent ladies) ;) I go into the exam room, hoist my legs up into the oh so comfy stirrups. The doctor slips a catheter into my body and places it at the base of the uterus. (This saves the little swimmers an exhausting trip up vagina I-5 and hopefully get's them to the egg!) She injects the "goods" and we're done. (seriously a less than 5 minute procedure and completely painless) She hands me a magazine and I lay on the table with my hips elevated for 30 minutes. Then go home and wait.

That procedure was done on March 16th! I waited.... and waited... wondering if this costly little procedure was going to work or if we were going to have to keep on trying. I was feeling positive. That week I had a bit of an emotional breakdown. 3 days prior I had tested positive on an OPK and then negative on 2 more sticks with the same cup of U. Called my doctor and they said most likely it was a negative and to test the next day. I was frustrated. I had been on fertility drugs since November, still not pregnant, exhausted from tracking and trying. I was feeling burnt out. I remember I prayed and told God I was done. I didn't test the next day, or the day after. But that Friday I felt like I should. So I did. I tested + on 4 OPK sticks. Called the doctor. They were leaving the office for the day in an hour. So we rushed, got there, did the IUI and left. The weekend went great. It was St. Pattys day weekend and I WAS feeling lucky. I felt like everything had fallen into place.

I tested 11 days after the IUI and had a POSITIVE pregnancy stick!! I cried. I mean I CRIED!!! I was getting into the shower and I cried uncontrollably and just kept praying. I couldn't stop giving thanks that the procedure worked. And then.... I was terrified!!!! Oh my gosh. here I am pregnant... for the 5th time. and 3 of those times ended between 7-8 weeks. I am technically 11 days past the IUI and 4-5 weeks pregnant. I have SO long to go before I'm "out of the woods" called the first trimester. In the past we have told our family right away. I announce it to the facebook world and only 1 time out of 4 I didn't have to share the bad news of loosing the baby. This time I decided I didn't want to tell anybody. I wanted to focus on my emotional and physical health without the calls and questions of "how are you doing?" "are you taking it easy?" "what are the doctors saying". It was a nice choice that I would not change. I really focused on giving thanks to God and asking for his protection over this pregnancy. To help me overcome my fear and anxiety. And though I still have my days of feeling uncertain I have been pretty at peace with this pregnancy. In the last 2 weeks we have told our mother's)

I have been extremely tired with this pregnancy, nauseous if I am not eating, so needless to say I eat constantly and will probably get ginormous. I have had a ton of round ligament pain, Which I had with almost all of my pregnancies. And the best is we had a GREAT ultrasound at 8 1/2 weeks and I saw a strong heartbeat and a little head and leg buds, yesterday at my midwives (tell you about that in another post) appointment Augustine found the heartbeat!! Strong!!! I was so relieved and so excited!

So that is where we are at right now! 11 weeks (tomorrow, Friday the 18th) and my plan is to announce to our family and friends at my 30th birthday party on June 1st!) I will be 13 weeks.