Here We Go Again…

Because I had now miscarried two babies, my doctor wanted to run some blood work on me to check for certain things: hormone levels, blood clotting disorders, etc. After what seemed like ten vials of blood were drawn from my terrible veins and nearly half an hour with the world’s best phlebotomist, Jackie, I was sent on my way to await the results. Luckily, I didn’t have to wait long. Two or three days after my labs, my doctor informed me that some of my blood work came back abnormal and she wanted to repeat again in three months. My progesterone level was low, as it had been with babies #2 and #3 (we supplemented) and my labs for certain blood clotting disorders was also abnormal. Uh-oh…I was a little terrified but my doctor assured me that it wasn’t anything we couldn’t work with so that Mike and I could become parents again.

Mike, Harper, and I moved on with our lives pretty much like clockwork. We were told that we needed to wait at least three months before “trying” for another baby so that is exactly what we did. As soon as I was given a time limit, my need for more children became ever present in my mind. Those were going to be the longest three months of my life.

We enjoyed the beautiful fall weather, the winning football season of the Cardinals, everything that the beginning of the school year had to offer, the pumpkin patch, etc. while we waited those three agonizing months. I repeated my blood work in October and everything came back normal. My doctor told us that now was as good a time as any to start trying again. Doctor’s orders in hand, that’s exactly what we did.

Now, as any mother or woman who is trying to get pregnant knows, it is not easy to wait the two weeks between ovulation and menstrual cycle to take a test. The hours and days tick by until the test can once again be taken out of its box and meet its destiny. Mike and I weren’t “trying” per say, but we were definitely hoping that we would be graced with two pink lines once again, and VERY soon.

The second week in November met me with a nagging feeling that our grand plan hadn’t taken shape. I was bloated, crampy, and generally not feeling well. Darn! Maybe next month would be “our” month. I know my body well enough to know that, before I start my period, I am met head on the day before with a ton of symptoms. I was due to start on Saturday, November 12, 2011. I woke up that Friday morning feeling….well….REALLY good. Something wasn’t right. Ever the eternal optimist, I grabbed one of the pregnancy tests from its box (I always have a pack laying around, just in case I or a friend needs one). I hadn’t told Mike what I was doing because, honestly, I expected to see only one pink line, but I wanted to be sure. Apparently, luck was on our side, because two pink lines appeared while I was brushing my teeth the morning of 11-11-11.

I woke Mike up to tell him I was going downstairs to start getting ready. He started to give me a hug when I told him, “Don’t hug me too tight; you don’t want to squish the baby.” His expression was priceless! I watched as his eyes turned from shock to surprise to sheer delight. He was the one that reminded me the day was 11-11-11 and that we would never experience this day again. He said it was fate. Fate, I guess, has a funny way of creeping up on us.

After that, the next few hours were a blur until I waited for my doctor’s office to open. I knew the drill: I had to call, they had to order a blood test which I would repeat each day for nearly a week.

At 3:00 that afternoon, I trekked off to the lab to have my blood drawn, knowing that I wouldn’t receive the results until after the weekend; what a nerve racking weekend that proved to be! I called my doctor first thing Monday morning and found out that my hcG levels were good, but my progesterone levels were low. She had already called in a prescription for a supplement and faxed over more blood work information. I was to repeat my blood work again that evening and two days later. Each time, my hcG levels were increasing appropriately. By the end of that week, she had set up an ultrasound appointment for me the week of Thanksgiving. YES! This was good news!!

Stay tuned for a PERFECT ultrasound story and the story of our Christmas season! Thanks for reading!