Everything is good

Well I went in today and had a sono. The baby looked great! The heart rate was 160 something and it is almost 6cm long from crown to rump. Still couldn't tell what Cletus is but he/she has some long legs.... They took blood from me to run some test and they also gave me a shot. They said that any time there is bleeding I have to have the Rhogam shot. Of course my insurance doesn't pay for it so there was another 116 bucks out of pocket. If anyone is thinking of any x-mas gifts for me a gift card to the pharmacy would be great! :) My next appt isn't till Jan 9Th. Hopefully I will find something to write about before then.

Here we go again!!

Well I had my appt with my new Dr. yesterday. Her name is Julia Flowers and she was really nice. I liked the office but it was a pain in the butt getting there. It is connected to Baylor Grapevine so you have to park (that in itself is a task) then you have to hike to the building then you have to wait for the elevator and ride up to the 5th floor... kind of wears you out!! Especially someone in my state! The exam went well. I got to hear the baby's heartbeat but did not get to see it... :( She said everything looked great and is having me come back in 4 weeks. Can you believe I have to wait four weeks. I do have to go today and do blood work though...OH Boy!

Well I guess since I was stressed out about not getting to go back for 4 weeks God threw me a little curve ball. This morning (well more like the middle of the night) I got up to go to the bathroom and there was blood.... Not like a TON of it but more than Ive seen so far. It was still going on this morning when I was getting AJ ready for school. I'm hoping that it is from the pelvic that she did yesterday... I called and left a message for the nurse so that I can maybe get a sono today too. So if you could please say a little prayer for us and the baby. Thanks!! Em

Long Time....

Well I guess I'm either getting a little busier... or Ive just been feeling a little better. No drama...and believe me that is just fine. I went for my appt on Monday and everything looked great! The baby is now just about 2 inches long and you can totally see its arms and legs and fingers and stuff. It is amazing!! This was my last appt with Dr Nackley. I'm sad because she is SO AWESOME!! She is a very good and caring Dr. I will miss her but I'm also excited about "graduating" from her office. While it was nice to see the baby every week and get that reassurance... it was also 30 bucks a pop. With Austin we payed our 10 dollar copay on the first appt and then never had to pay another dime... even at the hospital. Not so lucky this go around... but we are willing to pay whatever we need to for a healthy baby.

I go for the first time to Dr Flowers on Monday. From what Iver heard she is a really great Dr. Susan said that one of her friends tried to get in to see her and they told her that there was a 6 month. I called last Friday and got in a little over a week later. Love those Dr referrals. Well my belly is starting to get bigger. I now have bruises all over my thighs and stomach....don't worry we are trying to get Chris into an anger management class before the baby gets here.....JK

I will let you know how the appt on Monday goes.. Later. Em

Still Trucking!!

OK so i haven't written anything in a while.... which to me is a good thing!!!! So I'm at about 10 weeks and 3ish days now. We went to the dr on Monday and Cletus is getting SOOO BIG!!! He is only 3.38 cm though. We could see his little arms and legs and even his fingers. We could see the amniotic sac and the umbilical cord too. It is awesome! They checked my progesterone level on Monday and it was still low.... a 13. So needless to say i have to continue the suppositories. I go back next week for my last visit at Dr Nackley's office and then she said I graduate to another DR. Everything is looking pretty good so far... (except for my gut).

So Ive started looking at maternity clothes now. Let me tell you..... I guess the people who make them are like Amish or something... cause they are all BORING or ugly!!! Nat went with me to Kohl's yesterday to look. It was so scary. She would hold something up and say with a weird look " how bout this" and I was like.... OK i wouldn't wear that normally why would I wear it when I'm big and fat. I'm gonna go into maternity designing or something. Oh and then the ugly butt shirts are like 4o bucks... what the hell!!

Boring Week!!

Well it was kind of an uneventful week!!! Thank goodness!!!!! I don't mind not having drama. I actually was calm, non stressed and tired... very very tired. We had our appt on Thur and everything looked great. The baby is about 2cm and its heart rate was 171. Since next week is Thanksgiving week we have to wait over a week for our next sono. That kind of sucks but I'm sure Cletus will be huge by then. Thur we could start to see its little arms and legs coming out. We could also see the umbilical cord and a more defined head.

I have a feeling I'm going to start needing a little looser fitting clothes soon. I'm to the point now where i have to unbutton my jeans when I'm sitting down. NOT GOOD!! Hopefully I will get off the progesterone soon too. She is going to have me not take it Sunday night and Monday morning to see where my levels are. If they are good then I guess I will be done with that!!! Thank goodness!!!!!!! Chris will be happy too! ;)

OMG 8 Weeks

OK, sorry that it Friday and I was supposed to blog yesterday. We got done with the appt and then went to yummy red lobster. So good... I could eat those biscuits all day!!! Then I got home and was so tired so I layed on the couch for a while and then got AJ and went to stupid Walmart. There are sometimes that I would rather stick a fork in my eye then do to Walmart and yesterday was one of those days.

OK so we go to the Dr and she sticks the wand in and there on the screen is my open uterus but there is NOTHING in it.... I started to freak out. Well then she wiggled her stick around and there was the baby. I is amazing how big it has gotten in just a week. Cletus the Fetus as my friend Laura is referring to it... has grown from .74cm to 1.26cm and last week its heart rate was a 119 and this week it is at 154.. SWEET!!! So of course then I start asking her all the questions that she cant answer (unless she had a crystal ball) and these were her answers. Once I get past week 10 then things will look good as far as the possibility of early miscarriage. Then all we will have to really worry about is the blood clots. She said that women on proper treatment have over an 85% chance of going full term. I would like a little higher percentage but I guess even with a "normal" pregnancy that is not possible.

OH and the spotting..... it was self inflicted! OOPS.... Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers...it is totally working!!!!

Always something

Well this am I went to the bathroom and there was a little bit of pink spotting. There really hasn't been anymore during the day so that is good. Ive been reading online..(go figure) that sometimes when you are on the suppositories they can cause pink spotting because they irritate your cervix. Other post said bad things... we will go with the first. One said that it would only do it in the evening and in the am. Who knows. Good thing is I have a sono tomorrow at 11:45. I am so happy that I get to have these weekly or I would be an even nervouser (made up word) wreck. Although it would be nice to have a pregnancy like a normal person. Oh Well this is what Ive got so I guess Ill try to make the best of it. I will let y'all know how it goes tomorrow!

What a Relief

OK so my appt was today at 1:45. When I got in to the room I made the stupid comment that I loved coming to this office because they don't leave you sitting there naked forever waiting for them to come in an do their job. Well the reason that was stupid is because for the first time ever at that office I had to sit there naked and wait for the Dr. What seemed like forever went by before the knock on the door came. In walked Dr Nackley smiling as always. She is so great! I wish she delivered babies. So in goes the wand and I waiting expecting once again the worst but up on the screen pops our cute (well as cute as it can be) little baby. This time it was easier to spot the heartbeat right away. She measured everything and said it looked good. While she was doing measurements Chris has to go "sit down" Once again the Dr was like can I get you crackers....sprite.... are you OK. He is always trying to be the center of attention.... JK.

The baby was .33cm on Monday and is now .74cm. Its heartbeat was a 110 on Monday and now is 119. She said the yolk sac looked good and there were no clots!! YEAH!!! what a freaking relief... I told her I had an appt for next Friday since she was out of town and she told me she would be back on Thur. and to go ahead and change it. I just love her!!! Of course at 30 bucks a pop I may meet my deductible with my stinking co payments... (if you can even do that). I'm going to try not to be so paranoid this next week until my sono....

Seriously

OK so after I finished writing my blog on Monday Dr Nackly called me. They had tested my progesterone again and it had dropped from a 26 to a 15.2. She said that it was still in a normal range but that she would like me to be on progesterone suppositories. (nice) Anyway so I head to the "Super Value Pharmacy" to pick them up and to my surprise they are NOT a super value. "That's gonna be 276.00 please... your ins doesn't cover this." CRAP!!!!! I'm like well OK here is my card take all of my money.

Well I head over to Chicken Express to eat lunch and do my first dose. Fortunately it was a one holer so i though I would be uninterrupted...NOT. It is kind of unnerving when you are trying to figure out..OK how does this pill get where... oh this stick thing.... oh.... don't drop it in the toilet..... its like gold... quit banging on the door.... shit! Well i figured it out and then decided to go through the drive through. Well of course they forgot to put my damn biscuit in the box. you know there are sometimes when you just really want your biscuit!!! That's what I get for being to chicken just to eat inside.

So that afternoon I started getting very sleepy. Of course I googled everything I could on progesterone and if it really helped and all that crap. Then I went to bed..... for the next TWO days. I woke up around 3am on Tues morning with a migraine.. took some Tylenol. ( yeah like that is gonna work) and then for the next two days I was in bed. I finally started to come out of it yesterday evening around 6. Not sure if it was the extra progesterone that put me over or what but I was miserable for almost 48 hours.

Well I have another sono tomorrow. I am very nervous. Last time the second sono is where they found that the baby had died. I know that last time there was already a clot but I'm still nervous. Ill shoot a blog out after that appt. Love all!!!

FREAK OUT

Ok so today is Monday and I had my sono today... Lets just jump back to last night though first. All was good.. we were "feeling kind of sunday" Chris took a break from football and was outside putting some motion lights up. I ran in to go potty real quick and thats when it happened.... I realized I had started spotting. It was brown ( I know TMI) but it was still there and I started to freak out. I was like great here we go again. I got on the stupid Internet and started surfing for " 6 weeks preg spotting brown blood" of course most of the stuff you read is "oh its brown its ok" but of course there are the ones who are like who cares what color you are having a miscarriage. Some said if you don't have any cramping your ok.. well then all the sudden I'm cramping. OF COURSE!!! So I went to sleep and wondered what was gonna happen. I was expecting the worse and praying for the best. Luckily we wouldn't have to wait long to find out because my sono was at 9:30 the next morning.

So that brings us to today. Woke up feeling sad. Wondering why I was having to have ANOTHER mascaraing. Got ready and Chris and I left for the Dr. I am seeing Dr. Anna Nackley at the Center For Assisted Reproduction. She is AWESOME!!! We had used them in the past to try to get pregnant and just feel so comfortable there. Even though we got pregnant on our own I still called them because they make you feel so safe.

She asked how I was doing and I told her what had happened. She said well lets take a look.... and the next thing she said was there is the baby's heartbeat. I was like SERIOUSLY!!! She looked all around and said things looked good. There were no signs of blood anywhere, there were not any clots and the baby was exactly where it was supposed to be. We got to listen to the heartbeat and it was good and strong. What a relief!! They are testing my progesterone again to make sure it is still good and then they are gonna see me back once a week!!! The cool thing is that she is out next Monday so she told me to come back Friday!! BONUS!!!

Well I feel like we have made it through our first obstacle... I know we are not out of the woods yet but I am very hopeful! Thanks to all of you who have prayed for us and who have been thinking about us. I know 9 months is a long time but if you don't mind keeping it up we would really appreciate it!

Happy Halloween, Part II

Well as Emily was typing up the last blog, AJ and I had a little fun with Photoshop... and in the spirit of Halloween, we made Em look scary!

When we first started the picture actually looked like this:

Happy Halloween!!

Well today is Halloween and we just got home from the Jones' house. We go every year and the kids have a blast! Austin was Hulk this year.... he looked great! We painted his face green and dyed his hair black. He is currently trying to wash it all off. I got tired of hearing him whine that I was scrubbing to hard so I gave up. The past couple of days have been pretty good. I have felt for the most part good. A little gaggy but not to bad. It is kind of nice to feel a little bad because then you know things are going good. I know that is a warped way of thinking of it but warped is like my middle name. Every day I tell my self to not surf the net about APS but everyday I do. I was six weeks yesterday. Two more weeks and Ill feel a little better. That will be the farthest Ive gotten the past three times. Also still way looking forward to my sono on Monday morning. Later....gotta go eat some candy!! Ive got a baby in my stomach... give me some candy! (for those of you who remember that old SNL skit with Adam Sandler)

Nothing Much

Well today was just a normal day except for I didn't' get to sleep till 11. Mostly now I'm just tired, nauseated and very nervous. I spend a lot of time of the internet searching for any info I can get on phospholipid antibody syndrome. There is a lot of information on it and luckily it is all about the same from one site to another. My stomach looks like Chris has been beating me. I thought about trying to make a design with my bruises, but when you are injecting yourself with your eyes closed it is hard to know exactly where you are going to hit. 5 more days till the sono!! Once I have that done I will relax... a little.

The Weekend

I had a pretty good Anniversary and Birthday weekend. Found out the crazy news Friday on our anniversary then we had a pretty cool Halloween Party at Bonita's on Sat. Sunday I went to see HSM3 with Tiffany, Camp, Cooper and Camby and Austin (both of them for the second time) then we had delicious Birthday hamburgers at the Comstocks. Cambry is convinced we are gonna have a girl. They all watched me give my shot that night...FREAK SHOW!!! We tried to go ahead and tell everyone over the past few days. Even though it is risky we went ahead and told our family and friends. One time we thought we better wait and tell and then it was like... uh we were pregnant and now we are not. It sucked pretty bad. Plus it will be helpful to have every ones support and prayers all along the way.

We told Austin on Friday and he was very excited. He knows that it is not a sure shot but he is still excited. I guess we will cross that bridge if we get to it. Hopefully we will not have to. It is hard to explain to all the kiddos that it may not work or why I have to take shots but they have all been great! Susan told me that Jacob has been praying alot for me and also Austin said he prays about it during their moment of silence in the morning at school.

Last night we went to Chuys with my Mom and Dad and Brandon and Nat. It was delicious!!! One fun thing about the shot is that there are a few people who are grossed out by a needle more than me and it is fun to mess with them.. Amy, Chris and Brandon just to name a few. I love making them squirm... it takes a little of the pressure off of me. Pretty much other than that all I am doing now is surfing the web for Phospholipid Antibody Syndrome. Anything I can find on it I'm reading it. Some things I read make me feel better some make me feel worse. I'm counting the days till my sono on Monday. Later

The News

Happy Birthday to Me!!! Wow what a weekend! Friday was our 10 year anniversary... dang can you believe it 10 years. We have been together for 15!! If that wasn't enough to celebrate we also found out that we were pregnant! It was definitely unexpected since we really were not trying but it was great news.

I had gone to the OBGYN on Thur for my yearly and when they asked my last MS I told them it started on Sept. 18Th. They were like oh did you know you are a week late... are you pregnant. I told them probably not and instead of testing me they just took my word for it. CRAZY!!! I woke up on Friday and decided to go ahead and take a test. I had been feeling kind of yuck and was super tired. Also it was our anniversary and I thought if I was pregnant that would maybe change our plans for the evening... (not as much celebrating). I went to Walgreen's to get a test drinking as much water on the way as I could and then came home and took it. Before I could even get my pants pulled up the double lines were there. I was pregnant.

Mixed emotions immediately filled my mind. I was so excited but yet I was so scared. Since the past three pregnancies have all ended before 8 weeks I of course was already nervous. I got on the phone and called my Dr's. The first to call me back (thank goodness) was the Fertility Clinic that Chris and I had gone to in the past. They had me come right in and took about a gallon of blood. After they picked me up off the floor (kind of kidding) they went over how to do the shots again and sent me on my way.

After I had my second miscarriage they ran a bunch of test and realized I had phospholipid antibody syndrome. This is a condition that causes my blood to clot and can kill the baby. I have to take a baby aspirin and two heparin shots a day so that hopefully my blood will not clot.

A few hours later they called and said that the hcg level was at 978 and that my progesterone was also at a good level and to come back on Sunday for more blood. I started my shots on Friday evening and it hurt like crap. For someone who doesn't like needles AT ALL it sucks giving yourself a shot....but it will be totally worth it if it all works out.

I had my blood done again on Sunday and it my hcg level was a 1785... almost doubled and it is supposed to double every 72 hours... so far so good.