The Road to Ethan's birthday.

Now that I've blogged about how I got pregnant, I figured it'd be interesting to see how I got to Ethan's birthday. The long road called pregnancy! At 16 weeks, I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes. I had been steadily losing weight so they wanted to check things out (especially since I didn't throw up my entire pregnancy). I kept my gestational diabetes under control by diet alone until I was 35-36 weeks pregnant, when I went on pills to level out my morning sugars.

We moved to Saint Louis when I was about 18 weeks and I got a new OBGYN. From the first time I met her, she had decided I was having a c-section. I believed they had my due date wrong all along (about two weeks later than it actually was) and that's why I was measuring big, but overall she was a very supportive OB and said "we'll see". She didn't like GD patients to go much past 39 weeks because of complications. At 38 weeks, I had an ultrasound. Ethan was measuring at 41 weeks + and my placenta was showing signs of dying. The choice was made for me to schedule a c-section for the next week.

On the morning of June 16th , I got up bright and early and we went to IHOP for breakfast (around 5am), my c-section was scheduled for 6:00pm. I started having bloody show and contractions about that time and knew that either way at the end of the day I was probably going to have a baby. I tried to nap and couldn't, I was so excited and in a little bit of pain. After checking into the hospital and waiting for the doc (getting the IV and all that) she came in and was very surprised to see that I was having contractions, but on we went with the c-section.

When I got into the OR, I got the spinal block, once they laid me down I became very sick and told the anesthesiologist. He gave me blood pressure medicine, saying that my blood pressure had dropped really low. When the first dose didn't help at all, he gave me a second dose. At that point I had become loopy and Andrew walked into the OR and said, "why do you have that doofy looking smile on your face?" I just laughed at him.

At 6:30pm exactly, Ethan was here! He took a gulp of amniotic fluid right before coming out and so he didn't cry right away. One quick suction and I heard him and teared up. At that point, everything happened so fast. Andrew stood up to go see him and the nurses whisked him to the other side of the room. No one bothered to show him to me. His apgar scores were 8, then 9. He was too big for the regular scale (read: too long) so they got another one out and I got to see him. It was love at first sight!

When we left the OR, I got to hold him, and he opened up his beautiful brown eyes and looked right at me. It was one of the most beautiful moments of my life.

OLD POST--From February 2008

I have PCOS. What is that most people ask, well I've put together a blog so you will know. This disease is a big part of my life, so before you go making fun of some of the syptoms I have, know that it is most likely part of my disease, and not me not taking care of myself. I am sensitive to the fact that I can't get pregnant, and have been trying for almost two years, and I'm really sensitive to the fact of people asking all the time when we are having kids.

Here are some facts about PCOS:
What is polycystic ovarian syndrome?
Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), also known by the name Stein–Leventhal syndrome, is a hormonal problem that causes women to have a variety of symptoms.
What are the symptoms of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)?
The symptoms of PCOS include:
• infrequent menstrual periods, no menstrual periods, and/or irregular bleeding
• infertility (not able to get pregnant) because of not ovulating
• increased hair growth on the face, chest, stomach, back, thumbs, or toes—a condition called hirsutism (HER-suh-tiz-um)
• ovarian cysts
• acne, oily skin, or dandruff
• weight gain or obesity, usually carrying extra weight around the waist
• insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes
• high cholesterol
• high blood pressure
• male-pattern baldness or thinning hair
• patches of thickened and dark brown or black skin on the neck, arms, breasts, or thighs
• skin tags, or tiny excess flaps of skin in the armpits or neck area
• pelvic pain
• anxiety or depression due to appearance and/or infertility
• sleep apnea—excessive snoring and times when breathing stops while asleep

Clomiphene citrate (Brand names: "Clomid" or "Serophene"). Clomid is taken for 5 days early in your cycle to stimulate ovulation. Clomid may not be effective if taken for more than six menstrual cycles.
There is some evidence to suggest it may increase your risk of ovarian cancer if taken for 12 or more cycles. Clomid also has a number of side effects including bowel problems, headache, dizziness, blurred vision, depression, and more.
After taking Clomid for up to six cycles, it is reported that you have a 30% chance of becoming pregnant. (1)
Metformin (Brand name: Glucophage). Metformin is an insulin-sensitizing agent that is sometimes used in conjunction with Clomid. Metformin may increase your fertility to the extent that it reduces insulin resistance, and thus helps to normalize insulin. Too much insulin reduces your fertility. For more information, please go to our Metformin page.

My road to Ethan

Andrew and I tried for Ethan for two years. This included learning how to take my BBT (basal body temperature), learning more about PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome), learning about cervical mucus, taking Metformin, taking Clomid, and finally dieting to lose some weight. This road was so long and so hard, especially after the PCOS diagnosis and failed fertility treatments. I endured comments like "Your baby will come when you are ready", "Enjoy your childfree life now", "You'll get pregnant when you deserve it", "Just relax, it'll happen when you do". So on and so forth.

One night in tears I explained to Andrew that I thought he was going to divorce me because I couldn't have a baby. He reassured me we would have a baby, whether we adopted or whatever. We looked into adoption and into things like IVF and realized that we would have to wait for quite some time before we could afford those types of things.

So, in September I made an appointment with my PCP (primary care physician) to go back on birth control. My doctor had to cancel due to a death in the family. I was so mad, I just wanted to be on birth control to control my emotions and know that I couldn't be pregnant. I rescheduled the appointment and talked about going to planned parenthood for the birth control.

One night, Andrew and I watched Baby Mama (btw not a very funny movie for me), and I bawled and bawled and Andrew held me and told me "Someday...". Now mind you, at this point we had decided to wait until after I finished seminary (I was starting in January) to start trying again to have a baby.

The next day I was SO thirsty, like, I drank 4 glasses of water before lunch. My co-worker (who was pregnant at the time) said, "I bet you're pregnant". I laughed at her, but decided to buy a pregnancy test (i should have bought stock in them, really). I came back to work with the test, went to the bathroom POAS (peed on a stick) and thought I saw two lines...At this point, I knew that I "saw" things when looking at pregnancy tests so I packed it in my pocket and went back to our (mine and my co-workers) office. She was on the phone and I asked "Is this what I think it is?" She was like "OMG, you are pregnant!"

I wanted to call my mom first, but knew I had to call Andrew. He was in shock and didn't/couldn't say much. Next, I called my mom and she was super excited, but trying not to be.

The next several weeks were filled with worry. I had some first trimester bleeding and was put on bed rest/pelvic rest. I was terrified that my little baby was going to be gone before I could enjoy it and I did whatever I could to help. As you probably have figured out, nothing bad happened and I have my wonderful little boy!

In my next blog, I'll tell more about my pregnancy and the road to and day of Ethan's birth.