If you have been following along, you know Ryan and I have been trying our darnedest to create a life... From many doctor's appointments to blood tests (oh the blood loss!) to medication to thousands of dollars to negative results to many prayers and priesthood blessings. It has been a long, hard journey.
I am here to say, today we can announce that we have kicked PCOS in the butt and told it to kick bricks! We are officially able to announce the arrival of Baby Craig, due October 2, 2015!!
We are over the moon excited, words can't even begin to explain how excited we are.
If you have been following along, you also know that this round has been different, in both results and feeling. I didn't have to re-dose my Letrozole or put on my estrogen patches, which is significant progress. I will tell you, that at my baseline u/s appointment, when I began round 4, my doctor recommended IUI but I refused, I wanted it to work its course this time and if we became desperate, then we'd go that route. During round 3, I told God in a frustrated prayer (and kept repeating the prayer throughout the long round) that I wanted to be pregnant by my 25th birthday, no ifs ands or buts. Well I tested on December 22nd and what do you know? I got a BFN! Bummer. I repeated my prayer, in hopes that maybe I would be. I stopped my prometrium and waited to be able to start the next cycle. Usually, I get my period the next or 2 after I stop the medication, well that didn't happen... This is where it gets good (and a little TMI)!! I started the morning of my 25th birthday... If anyone knows anything about pregnancy and timing, you know that the first day of pregnancy is counted to be the first day of your last period. Goosebumps right?!
Well I thought of that, of course after I was a little frustrated that I got a negative test. I thanked him for giving me a good sign and prayed that this round would be THE one! You can read more about the doctor's appointments, etc. in the previous post, I'll save you the details and time in this one. I can tell you though, that this round was different and better.
I took a test on January 24, 2015 and this is what it looked like:
Amen! Hallelujah! On Monday, January 26, 2015, I went into the doctor to get the blood test done. My HCG was at an 88, which definitely means I'm pregnant. He had me go in on Friday, January 30, 2015 for a follow-up just to make sure my levels were increasing at the rate they should be and they were, the new level was at 468! My RE said he would like to see it somewhere between 375-400, so they were great in his book. We went in for an ultrasound on Wednesday, February 11, 2015 to see if there is a heartbeat and too see our baby for the first time!
On the 11th, we were able to see our little bundle of joy! We found out it is actually due on October 5th, 2015, not the previously calculated October 2nd... Which is fine by me! The baby is measuring at almost a 1/2 inch long :-)
We also got to hear the heartbeat, which my doctor was surprised at because a lot of times, the heartbeat can't be heard so early. He saw its little heart fluttering on the screen though and thought he'd try. He said it needs to be at least 100 bpm and our little nugget's was at 120 bpm! Woot woot! Strong little heartbeat, which is a great thing! I did do more blood work. My progesterone level dipped a little bit but nothing that my RE is concerned with. My testosterone also spiked ridiculously (119 to 221) in a month so he said we need to really monitor that. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about it during pregnancy so we'll just have to deal with it as it goes along.
We returned to see him on February 25, 2015 to make sure everything was still going well, developing and to see if the heart rate increased. The baby's size has increased 3x what it was before (6mm to 18mm) and the heart rate was a strong, loud 176. So the baby is growing strong!!
I will say that I have had two scares of a very tiny amount of spotting that was brown and pink but still scary, prior to having my second appointment. My RE said it is nothing to worry about if its not red and not a lot because the progesterone tablets can irritate the cervix and cause some bleeding. Since the baby looked great when we went in, he reassured me that everything was great.
I got released from my RE's care and into the care of a regular OB/GYN (which is normal) since everything was going well and REs don't deliver. I got to see him on March 9, 2015.
When I saw the new doctor, we waited FOREVER!!! 45 minutes after our appointment time, which made us late to a new teach Ryan was coaching (luckily, he's not the only coach). We get into the room, I'm removed to get my weight and BP... waited 15 minutes for her to do all of that and ask the same questions that I had already answered on my registration forms. I go back into the room and we wait another 20 minutes before the doctor comes in. He is finally in there, asking questions, giving us the standard pregnant talk and then makes us wait a little longer because the nurse needed to come in because apparently I needed to have a quick pelvic swab, breast exam, lung check and belly rub. Overall, I like him. What really stunned me was the waiting. We had to rush to get the girls to their hockey practice and they had to put their equipment on faster than ever before... It was crazy!
I go in to take my NT scan on March 23, 2015 to check my chances of any birth defects or down syndrome... I'm crossing fingers the chances are low because I REALLY don't want to do an amnio or CVS test... I HATE needles/shots and to have one in my stomach pulling fluid out that could potentially cause a miscarriage of the baby we have worked so hard and paid so much for would REALLY peev me! I'll write more on the test at a later time in a different post.
And lastly, we plan on going on a couple hospital tours. I know its early BUT we are not sure where we are planning to deliver since my OB/GYN delivers at a couple places. We are going to look at ease of getting there, size of birthing/recovery suites, neonatal care, friendliness of staff, etc. and then make our decision from there :-)
