Well, many of you may have already heard, but Casey and I are expecting! I added a little floating baby on the sidebar so everyone can watch the baby grow. My due date is June 9th although I think it is the 12th. Casey and I are so excited, well maybe I am a bit more excited than he is at this point since there isn’t much for him to do other than watch me get fatter.
I am going to try really hard to be better about posting to the blog so everyone can share in this journey with us. Since we didn’t share the news until now I was thinking I would catch everyone up on the last 3 months. I am actually going to go back even further. See Casey and I first started trying in 2007! Yikes. We went on our big last trip before kids (Italy) and the plan was to come back, get pregnant in the next few months and have a baby 9 months later. Easy, happens for everyone right? Wrong! After a year of trying I went to my doctor and was told “Here, take Clomid for 3 months”. Great. Thanks for the help. No questions, no tests, just a horrible nasty drug that no person should have to take! One month of that was all I needed to know this was not going to work. So they sent me to the reproductive endocrinologist. My first appointment was a complete disappointment. It was about 4 minutes and cost us almost $300. I left with a cookie cutter plan starting with Femara for 3 months. Again, no questions, no history, no tests. Great. The Femara did nothing. I had to ask for further tests which I won’t torture you all with explaining. Just trust me, not fun. So far doctors had done nothing to help us and we were out thousands (yes, thousands) of dollars on tests, shots, drugs and appointments. Thanks health insurance for a bunch of nothing.
Around September of 2008 I started to notice my lower back was hurting more than normal (this was before all the doctors). I really didn’t think much about it because it wasn’t all that bad and didn’t last long. As time went on the pain increased. It was over time so I really didn’t think much about it. Since the doctors weren’t offering me much help I did my own research, a lot of it. I read blogs, message boards, websites. I began to worry I had endometriosis. Again, sparing the details I had a few symptoms that continued to get worse as the months past. My back began hurting all the time and something just wasn’t right. I asked the RE about it before starting our next treatment round and he suggested going to my OB to see about having surgery. Yep, no way to diagnose endometriosis or most female reproductive issues without going in to take a look around. My OB said sure, we’ll do the surgery. Insurance was like no, I don’t think so. Great. Even though I had most symptoms of endometriosis they knew we were trying to get pregnant so they felt the surgery was fertility testing and refused coverage. Sure, my main goal was to get pregnant, but honestly I was just sick of the pain! My OB’s office pushed for the surgery, sent more information to my insurance company and finally about 10 days before the surgery it was approved.
Now, for those that don’t know I hate hospitals. I can’t even stand to drive past one much less go in one and have surgery! I was pretty nervous. So July 14th Casey drove me down to Wake Med at 5:30 in the morning… maybe earlier, I can’t remember. As soon as I got there I was going back to the pre-op area. It was so hard to not cry at this point! I was surrounded by horrible hospital equipment. I got in my room, put on my gown and listened to my ipod. It was the only thing that kept me calm and from crying the entire time! They came in and put in the IV. The doctor came in, the anesthesiologist came in and talked to me for a few minutes and then it was time. So scared! As they started to wheel me out of my little “room” they gave me some kind of drug and that was the last thing I remember. I don’t know what happened when I got to the operating room. Perhaps it is best I don’t remember! The next thing I remember was waking up like I had slept all night. I was so tired. My throat hurt so bad. I was given a cracker and something to drink. They sat me up so I wouldn’t just fall back asleep. When I was pretty much awake they shipped me off with Casey. I think I was home by lunchtime. The first thing I asked when waking up (apparently I asked many times) “did they find anything”.
Yes, they had. I had a small amount of endometriosis, but it was on my left ovary and had caused my left ovary to get stuck on something – the pelvic wall, uterus, I am not really sure. At any rate it was an answer, finally! I am assuming I had the endo for awhile, but when the ovary became stuck I think that was when the lower back pain really kicked in. Even though the endo was mild there were adhesions and it was affecting my ovary so it was a good sign that we would now have a good chance to get pregnant.
Recovery from the surgery wasn’t bad at all. I was up and moving that afternoon. I was so tired for several days and sore for almost two weeks, but nothing bad. I didn’t need any pain meds past the first day. I started my research right away and my main concern was keeping the endometriosis away for a long time. The solution – diet, acupuncture and a holistic doctor. My diet consisted of no dairy, no wheat and no sugar. I went to acupuncture once a week and was taking all kinds of vitamins, herbs and teas. We decided to not try in August to give my body time to heal and all my new vitamins and herbs some time to set in. Well, the next month we tried and it worked!
We took our first pregnancy test while in Disney World, the day after my birthday. What a great birthday present. We were excited, but cautious. Hey, we had been through a lot and didn’t want to get our hopes up. When we got back in town I took another test, still pregnant. I called my doctor and set up my first appointment. The first appointment was exciting, but we were nervous too. They took lots of blood, asked lots of questions and then we got to see the baby and we even heard the heartbeat. My last appointment wasn’t as exciting, but I did get to hear the heartbeat again. We went the following week for the first trimester genetic screening tests. It was fun to see the baby again and to see how much it had grown. He/she was moving all around and stuck out his tongue! All the tests came back normal so we started telling everyone.
I could go into all the fun and creative ways we told everyone, but I will save that for another day. My next appointment is Monday afternoon and will be a basic appointment. We go on January 12th to find out the sex!
So why am I posting all this? Well, my story might help someone else out there. I have been a part of many couple’s journey’s over the past year. I read many blogs and so many of them still struggle with infertility. It is a very difficult journey. We were lucky to have found our answer, but so many never get an answer or can’t fix the problem they find. It wasn’t fun, easy or cheap, but I am glad we went through it. I feel that it has prepared us for the challenges ahead as we become parents. I appreciate this pregnancy so much more than I would have if I had gotten pregnant right away (not to say if you get pregnant right away you don’t appreciate your pregnancy or baby!). I know me and I know I probably would have complained about every little ache, pain and issue during the whole 9 months, but I am just so excited to finally be doing this that I don’t even care. Sure, I will be uncomfortable in the end and I will probably post a complaint or two, I am human after all, but I will love every minute of it. I honestly don’t think I would have appreciated it all without having the struggles we have had so far. Okay, so I have had it really easy…. no morning sickness, no issues yet so maybe it is easy at this point to appreciate it all. I guess only time will tell.
Thanks to my closest friends who have supported me and listened to my never ending complaining at times during the last 2 years. I couldn’t have made it through without you all… nothing like great girlfriends! You stayed positive and encouraged me even when I had given up and I guess you were right. Those of you still on your journey, stay positive because it will happen for you too. Whether it be birthing a biological child or adoption, the child that was meant to be in your life is on its way! 
It is only a matter of time until one of these bugs he brings home gets me and then he will be dealing with a very unhappy and angry pregnant lady. I have asked him to please take vitamins, eat better, sleep more and wash his hands!! So far it hasn’t worked, but maybe he is finally growing tired of being sick and like I said if I end up sick he will really regret it. I am pushing for him to see a doctor to get to the bottom of this issue. I want him to get some blood work to see if anything is off and also to check his vitamin D levels. So, feel free to give him hell and tell him to stop trying to make me sick! I am not a fan of the flu vaccines and haven’t gotten them, but I am thinking I need to make sure Casey gets them since he can’t seem to fight off anything lately.
