For those of you following our infertility
journey, you know that by now Matt and I should have known if our treatment plan for
July worked, or if we needed to move onto our treatment plan for August.
I am very excited to share with you
all…
…that our July fertility treatments
WORKED!!!!
YES, we are PREGNANT!!!!
The above
picture was taken last week. We have
known about this exciting news for a few days, but decided not to share the
news until we went through two rounds of beta testing to confirm that the baby
is developing as it should be and that the pregnancy is viable….meaning that at
this point, there are no signs of an upcoming miscarriage. If I didn’t have this blog as my platform to open
up about our journey with infertility, I’m certain that we would not be sharing
our joyous news this early in the pregnancy.
I guarantee, we would wait until the first trimester was over to go
public with this news. However, since so
many people do know where we are at on our journey, it would be really hard to
keep such news a secret for long;)
In some ways,
I think going through the valley of infertility has robbed us of the normal
pregnancy experience that most people get to enjoy. For most people, a pregnancy may go something
like this: you take an HPT and find out you're pregnant, celebrate with those you love, schedule
your first OB ultrasound for around 8wks (fully expecting to hear the baby’s
heartbeat and share a very happy moment with your significant other), plan fun
ways to publicly announce your pregnancy (maybe with a fun photo shoot thanks
to all of the wonderful Pinterest ideas), and then go on your merry way for the
remainder of the pregnancy enjoying (or maybe not-so-enjoying) all of the
things that come along with being pregnant.
For us, it is
a little different. We are trying to take one thing at a time. We have what we are calling our pregnancy hurdles. We've already had two hurdles, and we're not even quite five weeks pregnant yet. We had to get through two rounds of blood work this week, and the next hurdle is our first ultrasound. As many who struggle
with infertility know, getting pregnant is one thing (one really BIG thing for
us, because we have not been able to achieve it until now), but staying
pregnant is another. The same factors
that contributed to our infertility also put us at a high risk for an early miscarriage. The doctors are keeping a close eye on
me. So far so good, but it’s still really
early in our pregnancy.
When I took my HPT (home pregnancy test), it was the
first and only HPT I took this cycle. I
took the test at 13DPO (days past ovulation) fully expecting a negative
result. I mean, of course I always hope
for a positive, but the reality is that I’ve probably taken over a hundred HPTs since we’ve been trying to
get pregnant, so I am groomed to expect a negative. Plus it was still early….before an expected
period…and I didn’t ovulate until CD16.
Imagine my surprise when I immediately saw two pink lines and realized
we were very PREGNANT! I was elated to
say the least. From our bathroom, I
screamed to Matt, who was still in bed, that WE WERE PREGNANT!!!! He jumped out of bed, even more surprised by
the news than me, and we hugged each other and cried for what seemed like a
very long time. I mean, we cried!!!! We
rejoiced and gave thanks for what we knew was a miracle! I was screaming and crying with such emotion
that words could not even come out of my mouth!
Matt too was crying with joy, and he rarely cries.
That exciting
moment could only last a short time before my reality set in. I knew that whenever we did get pregnant, I
was at a high risk for a miscarriage. I
called my RE first thing that morning, and they wanted me to come in for beta
testing immediately. I was a little
apprehensive about the results of my blood work. For most women, a postive HPT would be enough to keep them excited, but I only had a few hours to enjoy the HPT before worrying about the bloodwork. I knew they were not only looking at my HCG
levels but also my progesterone levels.
Progesterone is vital to achieving and maintaining a pregnancy. I do not make enough progesterone on my own,
so I am prescribed progesterone post ovulation and will have to take it until
10 weeks of pregnancy. Three hours after
I had my blood drawn, the nurse called with my results. Fortunately, the progesterone levels looked
good! The HCG results were also good in
my first round of betas! I mean.... VERY
good!!! HCG is the hormone that a woman’s
body makes during pregnancy, and an HPT is positive when HCG levels are as
low as 5. I was only 4 weeks pregnant and
my HCG levels were 362. Implantation
occurs anywhere from 7-12DPO, and then HCG is usually detected 48 hours after
implantation. Doctors are looking for
HCG to double every 48 hours. The fact that I was only at 13DPO when I
tested and my numbers were at 362, meant that I was probably MORE than doubling
my HCG levels every 48 hours prior to our first beta tests. That was very exciting to say the least!
Even with
that high number of HCG, we still had some concern. We had to go back after 48 hours to see if my
numbers had doubled. The doctors needed
to make sure my numbers were doubling, and the only way to do that is to have
more blood work done and compare the two results. This was probably the most nerve-racking part
for me so far. Even though my first beta results were high, it didn’t mean
anything if they didn’t double in my next beta results. If my numbers didn't double, it indicated that my body was rejecting the pregnancy, potentially leading to an early miscarriage. I’ll admit that doubt began to creep into my
mind, as I anxiously waited three hours for the test results. I certainly wondered if this was all too good
to be true. To be honest, I will
probably still have a lot of those moments throughout this pregnancy,
considering how hard it was for us to even get to this point. When the phone
call came with the second tests results, taken 72 hours after the first, they came
back at 1,783. YAY!!! They more than
doubled. The doctors seemed happy enough
with those results to not order any more betas for me, and we do not have to go
back to the RE until August 21, for our very first OB ultrasound! I have had numerous fertility
ultrasounds, so it is very exciting to know the doctors will be looking for a
baby instead of just looking for something wrong with, what I have come to call,
my broken ovaries and uterus.
We are
excited about our first OB ultrasound, but also a little nervous. Again, when you’re told you are at a high
risk for a miscarriage, it kind of makes you on edge. The ultrasound will put us around 6wks
5dys. We are praying that we hear a
healthy baby’s heartbeat during our first ultrasound and are given the green
light to leave the care of our RE and move onto the care of an OB. I think when I finally hear the baby’s heart
beat I will be able to relax a little and this whole thing will seem more real
for me. Even if the ultrasound turns out
fine, I think the first trimester is still going to be the scariest part of
this pregnancy for me, simply because the first trimester is when the risk for
a miscarriage is at its highest.
So that’s
where we are on our journey. A pregnancy
has been achieved, and we are currently at 4wks 3 days! It is still VERY early, so please keep us in
your prayers. We are thankful for the
positive HPT and the good results from my blood work. We also know we still have
a very long road ahead of us, and these next few weeks are critical. Thank you to all who prayed for me and
encouraged me through this journey. Infertility
is probably the hardest thing that I have ever had to go through, and at times
I thought that I would never be able to write a blog post announcing a
pregnancy. There was no greater feeling of defeat for me than when I was told that
we may never be able to get pregnant, even with fertility treatments. Infertility has groomed me to expect
disappointment, but today I do not write about our disappointment… I write about
our excitement and joy. To my friends
who, like me, know infertility all too well, never give up hope. God is the God of miracles. My journey is only proof of that.
To read more about our journey through infertility, click the following links:
You have no idea how happy and excited that I am for you! I will be praying often for you and the baby.
ReplyDeleteHannah
Thank you, Hannah! Still praying for you and Darren as well.
DeleteCongratulations!!!! We will keep you in our prayers!
ReplyDeleteRobin & Dave Schneider
Thank you so much!
DeletePrayed for you! Congrats to both of you!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your prayers!
DeleteRachel, I am so happy for you and Matt. I cried when I saw your Instagram post and I'm crying now. Your story touches me more than you know. I will be praying daily for Matt, you, and your miracle. :-)
ReplyDeleteAwww, Anna that means so much to us, Thank you so much! Praying for you too, friend:)
DeleteThank you!
ReplyDeleteGod is so good! Crying tears of happiness for you and thanking God for giving you the miracle of Life. Your blog dated July 30th is exactly how I feel after 7 years of trying to conceive, but we continue to ask God to give us a child if its His will for our lives. If not, we trust His ways are higher than our ways. Rejoicing with you at the news of your own miracle!
ReplyDeleteOh thank you so much:) Will be praying for you and your journey!
ReplyDelete