caden: Ethan James & Evan John's Birth Story
Posted
Wednesday, December 22, 2010 4:43 PM
"Pregnancy was as much of a rollercoaster as infertility."
February 6, 2010
We had just completed our 3rd round of IVF. Our first cycle was negative. The second was a chemical pregnancy. This cycle was our "Hail Mary". During my 2nd cycle I had felt pregnancy symptoms but they went away, along with the embryo. This time I felt symptoms again and decided to take a pregnancy test early. It was positive! Then I suddenly felt panicked that my symptoms were going away again, so I called my doctor's office in tears asking if it was normal for symptoms to come and go. They said I could come in early for a blood test. So I did. I waited the longest 4 hours of my life before the nurse called to tell me that my blood work was very positive! She scheduled my ultrasound for two weeks later. I hung up the phone and sprinted upstairs to tell my husband. I spent the next 2 hours Googling beta numbers and it felt surreal.
February 11, 2010
Today I was put on indefinite bedrest. I figured it would happen eventually but I was surprised when it happened at 21 weeks. I knew I needed to take it easy but I turned 30 that week and my husband graduated from a local institute, so I was busy! After a bad ultrasound I was sent to L&D for monitoring, which showed contractions. I got a shot of terbutaline, which seemed to work. For the next 14 weeks my husband drove me to and from my grandma's house, where she took great care of me all day. Thankfully my employer let me work from the couch -- and I did until the day I delivered.
February 22, 2010
I was so nervous to have my first ultrasound. Because of my previous chemical
pregnancy I had constant doubts and fears that this pregnancy would end badly. I was 6 weeks, 6 days and prayed that I would at least see a heartbeat. When the ultrasound began the nurse said, "Well, I see at least two." At least?! We saw 3 sacs, 3 embryos and two little heartbeats. My husband laughed and I stared wide-eyed at the monitor for what felt like an hour.
February 23, 2010
At 7 weeks exactly I had my first bout of wretched morning sickness. I felt
nauseous all day and realized "morning" sickness was a misnomer. But at least I felt pregnant. That night things took a turn for the worse and I started bleeding. Of course I assumed the worst. I called my friends sobbing and drove myself to the hospital. My friends and parents met me in the emergency room where we waited for what felt like an eternity. The doctors told me everything appeared to be fine but I needed an ultrasound to know for sure. The next morning I saw my two babies on the monitor again, looking just fine. At that point I realized pregnancy was as much of a rollercoaster as infertility.
July 17, 2010
Today was my baby shower! It was the first time I had been out of my house in 7 weeks due to bedrest. I had to stay in a wheelchair since I wasn't supposed to
walk. My friends had decorated the restaurant in a Dr Seuss/Thing 1 & Thing 2
theme complete with cardboard cutouts and blue-haired cupcakes. It was exhausting but really fun.
September 8, 2010
After 5 trips to L&D and 14+ weeks of bedrest I found myself at my OB's again. I was dilated 4cm and thought I might deliver that weekend. But two hours later a nurse called me and told me my MFM decided it would be better if I was induced that night! My parents drove me to the hospital while my husband went home to pack my bags. Since I was only 35 weeks my MFM did an amnio to see if my babies' lungs were mature. When the test came back good we decided to induce the next morning. At 5 a.m. they broke Baby A's water and at 8 a.m. started pitocin. My doula helped me through the contractions and everything went very smoothly. My OB recommended I get an epidural in case something happened with Baby B, and I got one at 11 a.m. The timing was perfect because I only had 2 painful contractions before the meds worked. An hour later (12:02 p.m.) Ethan James was born! As he was getting cleaned up Baby B's water was broken and Evan John was born at 12:09 p.m.