Friday, June 27, 2008

My Journey to Pregnancy

Ladies, I have spent HOURS trying to figure out how to get my ultrasound picture on here. My dad has a really great scanner so I had him scan them in for me and they are all on the same page. I tried to crop out one of the images and post it but once I copy it, it won't let me save the image on my computer. So I am at a total loss. If you're a computer genius, and want to help, please feel free!

I thought I would give some more information on my ttc journey. I didn't realize so many of you out there have been through (or are going through) similar things. If you ever need someone to talk to, or just want me to pray for you, feel free to leave me a message/send me an email.

So here's some of my story...

I've always wanted to be a mom. I'm talking since I was little, that was my career of choice. After my husband and I got married I wanted to try for a family, but he wanted some time to ourselves. So after we'd been married for awhile, I convinced him to get on the baby bandwagon. If we had done what he wanted, well, I still wouldn't be pregnant because we would have just started ttc. Anyway, a few months went by and my periods went back to how they had always been...irregular. I decided to make an appt with my then OBGYN to talk about what was going on. This was 6 months into our journey.

As I expected, I was not ovulating. He said that because I was young and healthy that the drug Clomid should do the trick. We did 6 rounds of Clomid. After the third round I asked him to monitor my ovulation progress with ultrasounds and he refused. I knew that I was getting cysts (some of which painfully burst) from doing too many consecutive rounds of the drug. After the 6 rounds of Clomid, he had me take one months worth of Femara (a similar drug) but I didn't ovulated. At this point, I decided not only to switch OB's but to find an RE (fertility doc) to assist us.

Since we live in the middle of nowhere (just kidding!!!) there are no RE's withing 2.5 hours of us We selected an RE in Tulsa, OK since Chris' mother lives there and we knew that we could visit her/stay with her if needed. While I was with the RE, I did 3 rounds of IUI, one with Femara (a much higher dose than my old OB had given me) and 2 rounds with Femara and injectables (fsh shots and a trigger shot).

After all of these had failed we had to make a decision. Were we going to pursue IVF? This was in January of 2008. I decided that I needed a break, mentally, physically and emotionally from the strain of infertility to take some fun vacations, spend time with family etc. In Feb 08 I was pregnant. We called everyone to share this miracle! I had become pregnant without any medical intervention! And then, two weeks later I was in the emergency room having a miscarriage.

After that we didn't talk about ttc very much. But after I got my first period (post miscarriage) I told Chris that I felt like God was leading us to try naturally again immediately (the doctors recommend waiting 2-3 cycles, and this was cycle 1). I don't often get such strong feelings and so he agreed to try. The rest is history. I knew I was pregnant. I tested the earliest possible day I could (I was 3w4d!). The next day I had a beta and the number was 12. Anything over 5 is pregnant and the nurses were shocked that I had caught it so early.

From there the numbers began tripling (I had 4 betas because I'm paranoid) and they thought it could be twins (though it's not). I've had two ultrasounds and gotten to hear/see the heartbeat both times. I've been SUPER sick, but that's okay. I refuse to complain about anything pregnancy related. If you've heard the song "I'd Die For That" by Kelley Coffee then you know what I mean.

I say all that, to say this. If you are going through infertility, I know where you are. Even if you are doing treatments that I didn't do, I understand your struggle. Know that I am praying for you every single day. If you want to send me a message, I would love to read it. I would also love to pray for you by name. You can email me at wife2chris@yahoo.com

5 comments:

Robyn Beele said...

I am so glad you went to my page! I love finding people that are also pregnant. We are a month apart. You can tell me everything that is going to happen before it happens to me! HA! Congratulations! I just read your last post and I know you have to so excited and relieved. Good luck with everything!

Kelly said...

Jenna - several months ago I posted that video by Kelley - I used to listen to that song over and over and bawl. It said everything I have ever felt.
Thanks for sharing!

Adrienne said...

Hi Jenna! I'm so glad you stopped by to say hi! Congrats on a succesful end to a long journey! Its nice to have newbie preggy friends to compare notes with! I'll be praying that you get to feeling better soon.

Meredith said...

Oh Jenna-good story. You know, that can be part of your testimony. I am kinda like you. I have always wanted to be a mom and wife also. Russell and I definitely want children when God plans for us to.

Megan L Hutchings said...

I love reading your stories about how God has blessed you after months of waiting, trying, etc.

Please continue to keep us posted about every detail!!!

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