We're Having A Baby!

I know... shocked? I know I was...

Most of you know, but for those who don't and may just be following this blog, it has been a rough journey and a rough road of infertility.

In five years of wanting a second child, and having gone through a few relationships, one which ended after seeking a fertility specialist out to have children, I pretty much gave up.

In that five years; I've had: Multiple Recurrent Pregnancy Losses which include 7 first trimester losses, and 2 second trimester losses at 14 weeks which required D&Cs, and a stillborn at 20 weeks who had HLHS and was the result of a placental abruption and clots in the cord. I also had 1 chemical pregnancy. This pregnancy makes pregnancy 13.

I've gone through multiple ultrasounds, 2 Saline Infusion Sonograms, 2 Hysterosalpinograms to clear my tubes and check for uterine abnormalities, 2 Endometriosis Surgeries, 1 of which was out of state in Atlanta, GA by the worldwide renowned surgeon Dr. Sinervo (See previous blog posts from 2015)

I've gone through 3 cycles of Clomid and 3 cycles of Femara (which I never want to go through again; they made me into a crazy raving bitch and I didn't ovulate at all on them) 2 Cycles of Gonal-F (Injectibles of FSH; Basically, this is to help healthy ovaries develop (mature) and release an egg or

cause your ovaries to make multiple (more than 1) eggs)

I've gone through Genetic Thrombophilia Testing and Genetic Karyotype Testing, I've gone through removal of pre-cancer cells and uterine fibroids, and gone through inducing my cycles every 90 days with Provera AND I've been told that I needed IVF and it would never happen naturally.

The original plan was as follows: Become a patient of Dr. Bravermans in NYC (who is a worldwide renowned reproductive immunologist, there are only 3 in the US, one in California, one in Chicago, which is Dr. KK and then Braverman)

So I would become a patient under his immune protocol. Pay 3,000 out of pocket for a full immune panel to be ran, of which insurance would give me back 1350, and that could go towards my treatments which would likely include Nupogen, IVIG or some other immune protocol that he places his patients on, with an understanding of their complex immune system and he would monitor and treat me with the help of my OBGYN/REI.

I would go through immune treatment recommended by Braverman, complete the requirements for Bariatric Weight Loss Surgery, go through getting the Gastric Sleeve, get the Mirena IUD for 18mos, and than in 18mos, when Matt and I wanted to try for a child, we would go through IVF once my immune system is optimized through Bravermans Protocol for Immunity Related Issues...

After talking about it with a few friends, I had basically agreed that after severe pain during each cycle, likely caused from Adenomyosis and Possible Regrowth of Endometriosis (though the first is more likely than the latter) that I would go through the process to get approved for a Mirena IUD to allow my system to cool down for a few years until I was in a stable relationship and ready to actively try.

I also agreed that the IUD was the best option for me, because I was also a patient with Cleveland Clinic's bariatric weight loss program, and the requirement post surgery is that you do not get pregnant for 18 months post-op.

I know... I know... me and birth control don't get along... but this was something well thought out... I promise...

So... I went to my hematology consult, and they approved the Mirena IUD; I went to my consult with OBGYN to talk about birth control/IUD and they approved me as a candidate for the Mirena IUD (it was the Mirena or Skyla, but Mirena shows more potential in Endo/Adeno cases) and I had that Mirena IUD insertion scheduled to be inserted;

Fortunately/Unfortunately, that did not happen, and God had other plans in mind for us, and intended on providing me with a miracle child, I just didn't know it yet.

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I had sex on my birthday on 9/26/2016 with Matt; I was day 65 into my provera cycle and knew that it was highly unlikely to ovulate that far into a cycle, so I had unprotected sex. Even though OB has my last period date of 9/8 this is not accurate; I was spotting on 9/8, and never had a full bleed; I constantly spot in between cycles for no known reason.

On 9/28/2016, because I was still having bleeding and spotting all month long, in between cycles, they decided they wanted to do a routine ultrasound on me. The technician wrote in her notes "one dominant follicle from right ovary" which meant that I likely ovulated that month, though they were not 100% sure and couldn't confirm this. She also noted in her notes on the ultrasound that I had a "hyperechoic nodule" and a "dermoid cyst" that remained unchanged from previous imaging.

I didn't think anything of it at this point, and my OBGYN, Dr. Raymond continued to push me to consider hormonal treatment of some kind, preferably the Mirena IUD to manage my symptoms for a bit. I told her I would have to think about this.

About two to three weeks later, my period was late (again) and I was having severe heartburn and nausea which I had seen the doctor on October 4th for, and she told me that it was simply my GERD acting up and to get plywood and elevate my head while I sleep, but this heartburn and nausea was not going away;

Because my cycle was late and I was right at the 90 day mark, I knew this meant I needed to go get a test and take it and because I was having severe nausea and heartburn already, I decided I'd better be safe than sorry and before I take provera to induce a cycle, test.

The reason behind this is because if you take provera when you are pregnant, it will induce a bleed, and essentially, you'll have a very early miscarriage, so they ALWAYS tell you to use best judgement and test before picking up the medication

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To my surprise, I tested Positive on 10/26/2016 with a blue dye test. At first I thought, OMG, this cannot be positive; Perhaps its an evap line, or a faulty test, because I had read previously that blue dye tests were inaccurate, and often yielded false positives.

I texted Matt, and was like "um...." and he knew what I was going to say but was at dinner with his father at that moment in time for his upcoming birthday, and he was as shocked as I was. I wanted to be 100% sure that I was not seeing things. I couldn't believe it, and didn't want to believe it. So right away, I messaged a few friends I could trust.

Two of my friends, that I could trust not to spread the information, Jennifer Harmon and Nicole Fazio were the two I messaged, freaking out, asking if the test was positive and sending different angles. I was freaking out, because I was on medications that could, at the time seriously affect outcome of pregnancy;

So right away, I stopped ALL my medications. Some of these included Methotrexate and Depakote, which treated my migraines and my lupus. (Never ever do this; This is NOT advisable. I got very sick, very fast, and the withdrawals were the worse)

They both confirmed that it was indeed positive, from all angles; I than told Jessica Fuller next; and finally after some time, told Maryjo Hays (My daughters Coach), My best friend Tina (who I met at Cheerleading) and my photographer friend, Bobbi Frohman.

So right away, I contacted my OB who scheduled the Mirena to be put in, and asked her to please put an order in for a Beta HCG. I was seeing a woman named Danielle Whein who took over for my OBGYN, Dr Raymond, because Dr. Raymond moved to Twinsburg office.

On 10/27/2016, A Thursday, I went in and had my Beta HCG Drawn. On the morning of 10/28/2016, It was confirmed. I was definitely pregnant, and was approx. 6 weeks along. I was still very early, but she scheduled an ultrasound anyway, to confirm that there was a sac and a baby developing there.