Rebelina1's TTC Story

Posted Friday, March 26, 2010 3:13 PM

"Right after our daughter's first birthday we started talking about having another baby and completing our family..."

A Workplace Romance
I met my wonderful husband in one of the most ordinary places: work. We had worked together for several years before we started dating. At first, we were worried because we did not know how a personal relationship would affect our working relationship, but there really was nothing to worry about. He is my colleague, my best friend, and my companion for life. Even though we have different personalities, we have so much in common, something which makes our union even stronger. Plus, how many couples get to enjoy a daily commute and a lunch hour together?
 
To Have and to Hold
We were married in the fall of 2004 with the backdrop of the gorgeous foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Every little girl dreams of her wedding day and mine was truly a dream come true. I walked down the aisle to the amazing music of a harpist, looking at the man that I would have children with and grow old with. I felt so much love and pride on that day and I am able to carry that throughout our daily lives together.
 
And Baby Makes Three
We started trying to conceive at the beginning of 2005. Like most couples, we thought it would be easy to conceive. I had been on birth control pills for several years, however, and I was not prepared for the effects that they left on my body. My cycles were very irregular so it was difficult to pinpoint my fertile time. We never gave up hope and later that year, 10 months after we started trying to conceive, we were truly blessed and found out that we were having a baby.  My pregnancy was relatively easy and I actually really enjoyed being pregnant. The day after Valentine's Day in 2006, we found out we were having a baby girl. We were so excited to meet her and become parents. Unfortunately, her arrival into the world would not go without drama.
 
Independence Day Baby
July 3, 2006, I was 38 weeks pregnant and had a regularly scheduled OB appointment. I had developed high blood pressure throughout my pregnancy and was being closely monitored by my doctor. At the appointment, I was told that my blood pressure was extremely high. Combined with the extreme swelling I was also experiencing, the doctor was concerned that I was developing pre-eclampsia. She sent me straight to labor and delivery to be monitored. I called my husband at work and told him to come to the hospital. Once my husband arrived, my doctor decided that it would be best to go ahead and induce me right away.  The induction started early afternoon on July 3. The day went by and there was little change. Around 9pm on July 4th I was checked again, and I was only 3cm dilated and the baby was not even descending into the birth canal. Around 10:30pm the baby's heartbeat was very stressed, so my doctor decided that for the baby’s sake, I needed an emergency C-Section. The C-Section went quickly and it was no time before I heard my baby's first cry. It was the most beautiful sound in the world! Ryla Diane was born with a bang on the fourth of July at 10:51pm. She weighed 6lbs. 10oz. When she was delivered, the doctor discovered that the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck three times, which was causing the stress. I was so grateful that they finally decided to do the C-Section and she was OK.
 
The Best Job Ever
Becoming a parent has been the best experience of my life.  When I was pregnant everyone always asked me if I was nervous to give birth.  I always answered that question by saying that the birth goes by fast; it was being a parent and role model for the rest of my life that made me nervous.  My husband is the best dad I could hope for my daughter to have.  I always knew he would be a wonderful father, but he has far exceeded my expectations.
 
Completing Our Family
Right after our daughter's first birthday we started talking about having another baby and completing our family. Since we had a fairly easy time conceiving our daughter, we thought it would be just as easy to conceive another baby. We tried sporadically throughout the next year, but we wanted to have fun with it so we kept everything light and easy. When our daughter turned two, we started to wonder what was taking so long to get pregnant again. Thanks to my e-friends on The Bump I learned about charting temps and recognizing the fertility signs of my body. That next year I charted my temps, used OPKs and we thought we were timing sex perfectly.  When our daughter turned three, however, we still were not pregnant. We continued on the same course that we had been on, but my husband was getting discouraged and was seriously thinking of throwing in the towel. We had one beautiful daughter and we thought that maybe we were greedy to ask for anything more.

Staying hopeful
At the beginning of this year, my husband and I realized that we really wanted to have another baby and it would make our family complete.  We also knew that our daughter would make an amazing big sister and we really wanted to be able to give her a sibling.  In January we made our first appointment with a Reproductive Endocrinologist.  We went through the standard tests: SA, HSG and CD3 blood work and everything came back normal. We were diagnosed with Unexplained Infertility. Our RE suggested that we try Clomid in combination with IUI.  We just completed our first IUI cycle and we did not get pregnant.  We are disappointed, but we want to push forward.  We know that with persistence and faith we will be able to complete our family. We just have to keep trying.

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