the details

First of all, if you haven't read my last post you need to click here first :)




*The news we shared was not a surprise nor spontaneous...it was, once again, intentional and very calculated.

*When we got pregnant with the twins and knew we had two frozen embryos yet, Cody was determined that we should start trying again when they turned ONE! He wanted to have kids that were close in age. I was completely on board, until 9 months later when we had newborn twins on our hands. Then my thoughts turned into "let's just see how things are going when they turn one".  I wasn't making any promises at that point.

*The kids turned one and Cody was ready to head back in this summer to get the ball rolling.  I was panicking, just a little. I kept thinking of adding kids to "this" and right now, it would be insane. But I kept telling myself, a new baby is not coming now, it would be another year. When I thought about other children who were two years apart (or less), my fears started calming a bit. If they can do it, so can we! 

*In June we made our first appointment, back with Dr. Hansen, Reproductive Endocrinologist in Sioux Falls. We just wanted to talk about things and to see what the process of doing a Frozen Embryo Transfer would look like. I would start with a month of birth control so they could control my ovulating. Then injections, (oh, I remember the joy of injections), to continue to suppress my ovaries. This was followed by many ultrasounds to determine the thickness of my uterine lining and decide when to do the transfer.

*I had also started acupuncture again, approximately 3 times a week.

*Cody and I wanted to tell ABSOLUTELY NO ONE!!!  We wanted this to be a secret and a huge suprise to everyone. But when I was heading over to Sioux Falls 3-4 times a week and needed help with the kids, it was time I told someone. I told my mom but made her swear to secrecy.

*The weekend in August when we went to Des Moines...Cody went camping instead. Well, he was my injection man, so this caused a problem.  I, unable to come up with the strength to give myself the shots, needed help from my mom. So we are standing upstairs in my sister's bathroom, trying to do this all on the sly, and she freezes. My mom can't do it either!!  Now I have to call on my dad. So now both my mom and dad know.....and that's it!!  We were bummed that we had to tell, but it really was necessary.

*A week before the transfer, I started my daily progesterone in oil injections. YIKES!!  Soooo not ready for those again. Progesterone runs like syrup, therefore needs to go through a BIG needle. It also is an extra-long needle because it needs to be given into the muscle...of my butt!  Have I mentioned how much I hate these things?!?  I need to continue them through 12 weeks of pregnancy, so I only have just under 3 weeks left. Already counting down the days!

*We had 2 frozen embryos remaining, so we decided to transfer both of them. I had my transfer done over Labor Day weekend and we all hung pretty low. My mom and I had made up some meals to have on hand, and Cody became Mr. Mom for the next 3 days.

*We found out we were pregnant on September 14th

*At 6 weeks, we ended up losing one of the babies :(   I woke up early on a Sunday morning with significant bleeding. I called my doctor and he told me that I could go into the emergency room or wait until their clinic in SF opened at 8:00.  We got ready and got the kids ready and headed over to Sioux Falls. I cried the entire way over. I just knew this was going to be the end of everything. Everything we had worked so hard to achieve. I just knew I wasn't going to get to be a mom again. It was hitting me very hard. We dropped the kids off at my parents house and went in. We did an ultrasound which showed one very healthy baby yet. Praise the Lord!!

*I am still struggling with the loss though. I have not yet found the balance between mourning the loss of a child and the excitement that we are still pregnant.

*I am currently 9 weeks along

*We are due May 21st, 2012

*Chasing after 14 month old twins, being in my first trimester, and continuing to be anemic, means I am still struggling with exhaustion. Cody is amazing and is really picking up the slack. Ok, so maybe that's a lie. I do have to get a little bossy with him, or things just really wouldn't get done around here :)

*I really have been feeling great. There are times where I feel a little queezy, but I haven't even thrown up once!!  I received a pregnancy journal from my sister in law the first time around and kept notes in there week to week. It's been fun to go back and compare. I had been puking for several weeks already with the twins.


So there ya have it. Are you surprised?  Once again, we have a lot of work to get done around here to bring another member into the family. So maybe once I'm done being soo tired.....we'll get to work :)