We were on such a high that weekend we found out- everything was so perfect. We had talked about how we were going to tell our close work friends, our bosses, and Konnect. I was so excited to tell all of my girls. And then Satan started his attacks.....
Sunday afternoon my throat started hurting a little, by Sunday night it was so painful I could barely swallow. I went to bed hoping to sleep it off, but by morning time it was much worse. I called in sick for the day and Brian took 1/2 a day off to take care of me. We called my PCP to make an emergency appt about my throat- they got me in right away. I absolutely love my PCP, I had only started going to her when I had my gallbladder surgery, but she is so sweet its like we've known each other for years! She just had a baby, so she totally gets what I'm going through! I had to do a strep test- it turned out negative, thank goodness! Turned out I just had bad allergies- allergies, what? I've never had allergies!- welcome to pregnancy :) She gave me some nasal spray that is safe and I was sent on my way to rest!
Our next call was to the OBGYN- they said my first appt with my doctor would be at 7 weeks- which I thought was so late- I was expecting them to tell me to come in right away! But the more pregnant women I talked to, the more I realized just how lucky I was to get in that early! They did tell me I needed to come in today to get blood work done to test my HGC and progesterone levels. I was so sick that day and had already had 4 needles in me at the other office, they agreed the next day would be fine.
The next day I came in, took my blood test (and I HATE needles) and went about my way without a worry in the world. I was just floating I was so happy that we were pregnant! My HGC levels were great- I was definitely pregnant. However, my progesterone levels needed to be above 20 and in the 40's ideally- and mine were at 7. At this point, we had a 90% chance of a miscarriage because my body wasn't producing enough progesterone.
The minute the office got the results back they called and put me on a mega dose of Prometrium and ordered me to bed rest except for sitting at work. I still really didn't have a grasp of what was going on, but I knew it wasn't good. Once it all started to sink in that the odds were not in our favor of this working, I lost it. I called Brian and had to break the news to him over the phone and then went into the bathroom with a friend at work and just cried and cried and cried. I'm very blessed to be surrounded by women who love me, but more importantly who love God at work- and they just laid hands on me and prayed bold prayers.
The Prometium is tough- it makes you tired and nauseated and you just feel awful. miserably awful. and on top of that I was on the highest dose possible. I was told to take it for a week while on complete bed rest (except for sitting in my chair at work) and then come back in and retest. A week has never seemed so long. Every day we just prayed that God would work a miracle, and that our baby was fighting to hang on ,and that we had gotten on the medicine soon enough. I was lucky to find a website about women who went on Prometrium and it was filled with encouraging and positive results- almost everything else on the web was negative. But we would read other women's testimonies daily on this website, and pray, and read Gods word, and talk to our baby every single day.
Bed rest was tough for me- I am always on the go, I always have a to do list, and I hate just sitting around being lazy more than anything. It was equally as tough on my husband- he loves relaxing and watching tv to unwind from work. Normally, our opposite personalities work perfect together, but now we were forced to switch positions. He automatically had to take over all cleaning, all cooking...anything that had to be done, he had to do it, no matter how tired he was from a hard day at work. He had to bring me water every 30 min (or so it seemed!), give me all my medicine, answer my phone calls, keep up with the text messages! He did so amazing, but I know it wasn't easy- not only just the physical labor of doing everything and all the cooking he had to do- and not just any cooking, but healthy cooking- but on top of all that, he was just as worried and stressed about our baby as I was.
We had already shouted the news out to the world that we were pregnant on facebook, so we shared our pain and need for prayers with everyone too. It was amazing to see how many people reached out to us and offered encouraging stories, prayer, and support. Our friends and family just rallied around us saying big and bold prayers daily. I was blown away by the love we were shown from everyone, people who are very close to us, and people we might not have talked to for years! Whether it was a meal, a card in the mail, a text message, or a facebook message- we were surrounded by love.
I had no idea what a blessing it would turn out to be that my doctor was
adamant about running these tests immediately. See, I thought this was
just routine. Turns out, I have talked to very few women whose doctors
will run blood work that early and even fewer who will check for
progesterone levels. My doctor is amazing- and their pro-activeness and
Gods will saved our baby. I went back in a week later to re-test, and the next day we got results that have no other explanation other than a true miracle from God- I started at a 7, we were praying for the 40's (medically, that was a long shot)- but the final number? 50! 50, 50, 50 I couldn't stop saying that number after I heard it! Everyone was amazed! I will be forever grateful to my doctor for doing everything she could to help out our baby. And if there is one piece of advice I could give to women it would be to find a doctor who will test that early and will test for progesterone- it could save your baby's life! I know that little one inside of me is a fighter- and I know it already knows who God is. Baby B is already a miracle baby and everyday it hears all about the goodness of God.
However, one piece of good news led to another piece of bad news. While the prometrium did work on raising my levels, it was also causing me to bleed any time I was up and moving-- and as any woman who has been pregnant knows, blood= scary! I continued on the mega dose of prometrium for another week and had to stay on bed rest.
It was finally our ultrasound day!!! We would (hopefully) get to see our little one's heart beat! With all my research with the progesterone levels I had run across a lot about blighted ovums ( this is when the cells develop to form the pregnancy sac, but the embryo itself does not develop- and there are no symptoms are signs to know if this happened)- this was on my mind, and I was worried about whether this would happen to us or not. When the tech student first started the ultrasound they put the wand over my belly and on the screen I could see the pregnancy sac, but nothing in it. Getting more nervous about this blighted ovum thing, I asked- is that the baby? In which her response was "Well that is where the baby WOULD be, let me get the trained tech to come in" . OMG- freak out mode for me. Brian tried to keep me calm and reassure me everything was okay, but I was scared to death.
The trained tech came in, and they made the decision they would need to do the inside ultrasound to check everything out. And as God showed us another miracle right before our eyes- we got to see our tiny tiny baby and its flickering heart beat. It was such an amazing moment. Baby B was there- heartbeat and all! After taking measurements and some calculations we were told we were only 6 weeks and 2 days along (we had thought we were at 7.5 weeks already)- the new due date would be Nov 7, 2012. We were lucky to be able to see the baby heart beat with it being so early- but I thank God every day we were- He knew I needed to see that heartbeat that day! They sent us home with a CD of pictures and huge smiles on our faces :)
That next week we met with our doctor to go over everything. She was able to cut my Prometrium in half- whoo hooo!!!! And told me that I will feel miserable on this medication and that is normal, just rest as much as my body needs too- but that I didn't have to be on strict bed rest anymore! I would continue to have to take this medicine through the 2nd trimester. We met with all the financial people and signed contracts with both the doctor and the hospital, and we were taken on a tour of the hospital. Today was a very blessed day!
Cutting the Prometrium in half did help with not feeling so awful all the time, I wasnt as tired anymore, and the bleeding stopped- Hallelujah! But, the nausea was getting worse and worse- just talking made it worse. I felt like I couldn't move, breathe, or talk- so I finally caved in and called the doctor to see if I could have some medicine for it. And boy am I glad I did! The medicine worked amazing! I don't take the full daily dose, only 1 per day and it worked wonders! I feel like a whole new person again:)
While the nausea went away (for the most part)- I again got an allergy attack! Booo!!!! So while I'm dealing with stuffiness and a sore throat and not being able to breathe- I couldn't be more thankful that is the most of my problems right now!
It's been a very bumpy ride since the day we found out we were pregnant- but I have faith that there is so much good to come! Spiritual warfare is real- and whether it is a negative test result, a bad situation, or hateful words- what Satan means for evil, God will use for good, and He deserves all the glory and honor!
We feel so blessed that we made it through all this and that our baby is healthy- we are so excited to be parents and love seeing how this whole experienced deepens our marriage. My husband amazes me on a daily basis- there isn't a day that goes by that I don't thank the Lord for him, not a moment that goes by that I don't feel like the most loved girl in the entire world. Baby B is so lucky to have a daddy like him- he will be the most loving, devoted, and actively involved father in the world.
