Journey to a baby

We have been instructed to meet with a REI and see what they think. The whole idea of having to see a fertility specialist has been heavy on me. Insurance covers nothing - so I am hoping we having a quick (inexpensive) experience.

June 29: First Meeting via Zoom:
This meeting was so awesome! Dr. Moe, she even went to undergrad in Kirksville! I don't know why but I was very hesitant and nervous. I was dreading someone telling me I needed to jump through 80000 hoops and then we'll reconsider. But it was completely the opposite.

She explained that you look at 3 things when you have recurrent miscarriage.
1) Chromosomal abnormalities
2) Uterus shape
3) Blood work

Since we are both young and fairly healthy we are going to wait on the chromosomal abnormalities since the only real solution if we have that is IVF or just keep trying!

Uterus shape - getting a saline ultrasound done to make sure there isn't something weird getting in the way.

Blood work - get some more basic labs drawn TSH, Vit D, and see where our levels are there.

Our battle plan is to run labs, do a saline ultrasound at the end of my next cycle and then load up on Lovenox, intralipid therapies & cross our fingers!!
So! After an hour we hopped off the call and felt really great!

June 30: Meeting with Dr. Jackson MFM
It just so happens that I had scheduled this appointment first because I had no idea when we would ever get into the fertility clinic. So we went the next day to get Dr. Jackson on board and have those labs looked at.

July 8: Saline Ultrasound
I was SO nervous. I wanted to die when I got my IUD placed so I was terrified it would be just as bad, if not worse! Thankfully it went really smoothly. They said I had some of the prettiest uterine lining they had ever seen! What an honor, I am waiting for my trophy to come in the mail. :) The saline ultrasound wasn't even that bad! Everything looked totally normal, thank goodness. She sent me off a prescription for Lovenox & upped my dose of Levothyroxine. We will start Lovenox 7 days after ovulation and continue it until 36 weeks of pregnancy.

July 9: Picked up Lovenox
We picked up the Lovenox, thankfully we have maxed our insurance so it was FREE! Cash payment is $400 for 30 syringes! WHAT! Yikes. We watched some tutorial videos on YouTube with administering the shots, and we are both a little nervous!

July 18: Started Lovenox
We decided to start the Lovenox a few days early and get some practice in over the weekend. First shot we hit a vein. There is definitely a learning curve!

July 19: Mother of all Bruises
The nastiest bruise ever formed from our shot tonight. It looks awful. I went to bed with it slightly bruised and woke up to a holy cow bruise! It feels super overwhelming if all of them are going to end up like this.

July 21: Mother of all Bruises update
Still going strong. Our other injections have gone much better... love handles is the place to go!

July 23: POSITIVE!
I took a pregnancy test because I am sooo impatient. There is the FAINTEST little line. I am sooo excited, I was so worried now that we have all of our ducks in a row I wouldn't be able to get pregnant. I'll tell Logan when he gets home from school. I am feeling super hopeful and just crossing every freaking finger and toe!

July 24: Definitely Positive!
We went and purchased some expensive tests just to be certain and sure enough! Woot woot! I'll plan on calling the OB's office on Monday.

July 27 - 30 : First round blood draws
This week I will do a serial HCG test to make sure things are doubling correctly.

Tuesday 28 - HCG: 332, Progesterone: 21
Thursday 30 - HCG: 740, Progesterone: 18
Yahoo! Labs look awesome! I get to schedule my first OB appointment for next week, Wednesday August 5. We will do an ultrasound and intralipid therapies. Stick baby stick, grow baby grow!

August 5: First appointment! 5 weeks
I had my first ultrasound appointment & intralipids this morning! The ultrasound was awesome, everything looked great for being 5 weeks along. We decided to put me on some progesterone supplements just to check every box. It's a very peaceful feeling to know I am being monitored so closely and being thought of.

Intralipids were next! It was easy peezy, kinda boring and long! I just laid there on a hospital bed, read my book and watched the clock for 2 hours. I will go back in two weeks for another ultrasound. :)

August 19: Second appointment! 7 weeks
I was so incredibly nervous about this appointment. I have felt soooo sick lately, sicker than I have ever been. So I knew that was a great sign but I was still so nervous!! As soon as she started the Ultrasound she said what a great heartbeat! Such a relief. Strong heartbeat at 144. I did intralipids and they went much quicker!! I'll be back in a week for my last appointment here.

August 27: Third appointment!! 8 weeks
I was praying this one would be good too. Logan had the morning off so he was able to drive me to the appointment and wait in the car. We stopped by and grabbed some McDonald's on our way there. My stomach was going CRAZY. I met with the other Fertility Doc and she was super nice! There had been so much change within the last week! A super strong heart beat at 175 and little arms and legs are growing strong. What a relief. I'm now headed back over to Dr. Phillips office on September 8th!

September 9: Back to Dr. Phillips!! 10 weeks
I was extremely nervous for this appointment.. Logan happened to get done with his patient early and was able to come! This was a huge relief for me. I swung down to the school and picked him up and we headed over to Mercy hospital. We went back and got our ultrasound first - and there was the cutest little bean dancing around! It was so crazy and funny to watch, it was fist bumping all around and kicking their legs. It was really great to have Log be there to actually see! We met with Dr. Phillips after, and man I love her! She has been a HUGE support to me, especially when things were really rough. She was thrilled with how things were looking and was very happy for us. We will be back in 3 weeks for another check. :)

September 16: Dr. Jackson 11 weeks
Another person to get into the loop of this crazy pregnancy! I had no idea they would check for the heartbeat, and when she whipped out the doppler I nearly died. Thankfully she found the heartbeat quick, 171. Phew! Dr. Jackson met with me and we discussed if I wanted to get genetic testing done. I decided I would feel better if I knew everything there is to know, so we will go next week to get an ultrasound and some bloodwork.

September 25: 12 weeks
We started off the meeting with a genetic counselor, named Porter. He was super helpful and it was great to get a big picture with Logan there. Next, they took some blood and sent us off to the ultrasound. It was really fun to see that baby squirm around for a good 30 minutes! They were sticking out their tongue and jumping all over. Soooo fun! We will be back here on October 22 (16 weeks). After that we will be here every Thursday from 16-28 weeks!

September 29: 13 weeks
Another quick trip to Dr. Phillips. I think she was super nervous to see me, she told me she wasn't going to talk to me until we found that heartbeat. Thankfully.. we found it! Phew. I'll be back here on October 20 (16 weeks)!

October 5: 14 weeks
I got the call today about genetic testing results... WE ARE HAVING A BOY! I was literally in shock. I couldn't even begin to process it. I hurry and had some boy clothes delivered to our house via Instacart to have ready to surprise Logan. He was SHOCKED! It's so weird to suddenly get this new identity to this little person. We celebrated with Chili's and some shopping. I bought a crib, and mattress. I can't help but think how excited my dad would have been. We love you Benson Chase Carter!

October 20: 16 weeks
Check up with Dr. Phillips. Everything looked good! I had a UTI while we were in Florida, but everything seems to be cleared up and looking good. We will see her again at 20 weeks after our scan with Dr. Jackson.

October 22: 16 weeks
We started weekly PR interval readings this week. We will do these until 28 weeks, and then switch to biweekly appointments. We verified you are most definitely a BOY.

October 29: 17 weeks
Another PR interval. Things are looking great! It's really fun to see you each and every week! Bump growing big.

November 5: 18 weeks
PR interval again! Still looking awesome. We are excited to get the big anatomy scan in a few weeks. You are growing sooooo fast. I am feeling your kicks and wiggles, it is so fun!

November 12: 19 weeks