Fertility Drugs
It took us a year and a half to get pregnant with Dylan, but after multiple rounds of clomid and tons of blood work, we found the right dosage and had our sweet little boy. I mistakenly assumed it would work much in the same way when we tried again. So, we planned it all out to have baby number two arrive right around the time Dylan turned two. As we all know, things don't always (if ever) go according to plan. The doctor started me on 100 mg of clomid (50 less than I took with Dylan) hoping it would work, it didn't. From there he upped me to 150. After two failed months at 150 I switched to a different fertility drug called letrozole. I honestly don't remember the dosage of that drug, but was told the first month I took it, that the dosage never increased. That turned out not to be true. After one failed month, I was upped from one pill to two. I for whatever reason got pretty sick from the letrozole, even though the nurse was confident that wasn't the cause. I however, am pretty confident, because after failed attempt number two, I was once again upped to three pills with similar if not worsening sickness. So here I was, six months into fertility pills and on my way for another round of blood work to test my progesterone levels which are the indicator for ovulation. The day after I did the blood work, I got the call from the nurse telling me I didn't ovulate and the doctor's recommendation was to seek further assistance from a fertility specialist. I was sad and tired and needed a break. I know six months isn't long, I know a year and a half isn't long, there are so many that would take my fertility "problems" but it was still heartbreaking to think I had it all figured out, only to realize I didn't. Together Pat and I decided to take three to four months off from trying, while I worked on losing some weight and feeling better about myself, and from there we'd contact the fertility doctor. A few days after the negative test results I still hadn't started my period, which was abnormal, and I was suddenly feeling so exhausted and moody. I brushed it aside, the test results had told me I didn't ovulate and no ovulation means no pregnancy. Then a few days turned into a week, and a week and a half, and two weeks - something wasn't right. So despite myself and the dread of seeing a negative pregnancy test, we drove to the store and bought a test. I reluctantly took it the next morning, feeling stupid for thinking there was even a chance, when all of the sudden, the test showed up with a plus sign! I ran out of the bathroom and yelled to Pat "we're pregnant!" My excitement quickly turned to anxiety as I got online and read about low progesterone levels and what it could mean in early pregnancy. I immediately got on the phone with my doctor's office and said something along the lines of "the blood work said I didn't ovulate, but this pregnancy test says I'm pregnant" I went into the office that day for more blood work that confirmed not only pregnancy, but from my hcg levels looked like a healthy viable pregnancy! The entire thing felt so amazing and impossible, it was hard to believe it was true! At eight weeks I went in for my first official doctors appointment and an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed I was actually only seven weeks pregnant, not eight, which explained the negative blood work, I had ovulated late in my cycle, so at the time of my blood test my progesterone levels were low. It was official, we had managed to get pregnant with baby #2 and she was expected to arrive May 8th!
Pregnancy
As I mentioned, my first doctor's appointment was at seven weeks, but I was experiencing horrible morning sickness weeks before then. I honestly couldn't believe the intense queasiness that I felt from morning to night and then the horrible morning sickness that hit any time I put anything in my mouth. Dylan's pregnancy was nothing like this. I had mild morning sickness with Dylan, I got sick a few times here and there, but this time around it was constant. At five weeks I called my doctor and let them know, even though they hadn't officially seen me for this pregnancy yet they gave me a prescription for zofran. I want to say zofran saved my life, and in one respect it did, but it also caused other problems, (oh the constipation!! TMI - I know!) that at times I was convinced were much worse than the morning sickness. I stopped the zofran a few times only to be reminded that the morning sickness was definitely worse than the constipation. It took nearly a month, but my body finally adjusted to the zofran and life became livable. I spent the next several weeks worrying, as I think all pregnant women do. For me, all 40 weeks of pregnancy are scary and anxiety filled, but that first trimester is a doozy! After what seemed like an eternity we hit the 12 week mark and went to the doctor and not only saw but heard our sweet little baby's heartbeat. It is without question one of the sweetest sounds in all the world. From there it felt like my pregnancy was going at warp speed! I for the most part was feeling pretty good, as long as I kept taking one zofran every night before bed. I attempted to stop taking it multiple times during my second trimester only to be reminded that I should just continue to take it. I ended up taking it every night until the night before I delivered. My second ultrasound, the "gender ultrasound" was scheduled at 21 weeks. Up to this point everyone kept telling me they thought I was having a girl based on how different my two pregnancies were, and as much as I wanted to believe them, I tried not to care either way. I told myself a little brother for Dylan would be awesome (and it really would be) but knowing this is likely my last baby, I really wanted a little girl. I can't say enough good things about my doctor that did the ultrasound, he was so thorough and made sure I saw and understood everything he was looking at, and I was beyond grateful to get confirmation that everything looked good, but I was dying waiting to hear the gender! He finally at the very end said, "and it looks like it's a girl." Pat and I both teared up, though he would never admit to that. By the time my appointment was over, I think I'd asked at least four times if he was pretty confident it was a girl. Despite his reassurance I still had moments during the rest of my pregnancy where I was convinced he was wrong and this little babe was going to be a boy. After my 21 week appointment time again seemed to fly by, before I knew it I was in my third trimester! Then as I think in all pregnancies with six weeks to go it was as if time came to a screeching halt. I had heartburn so bad I wanted to die, I couldn't sleep at night, and I had the worst pelvic pain! My doctor confirmed that my pelvic bones were separating and the only thing that would make it better was delivering my baby. In other words, I just had to deal with it. Every movement became excruciatingly painful, but nothing compared to the pain I felt when simply trying to roll over in bed. I reminded myself every day that this wouldn't last forever, it was only temporary!! At 36 weeks I was asked my thoughts on being induced. I was conflicted. I hated being induced with Dylan, but had to be due to high blood pressure. With Dylan my body wasn't prepared to have a baby and it made induction really difficult. I was assured this wouldn't be the case this time around. I still wasn't sure. Then after a series of events (some increased blood pressure, a positive hep-b test, and the peace of mind knowing my mom would be here to watch Dylan) I decided to go ahead and be induced at 39 weeks. It was official, baby girl was coming May 1st.
Labor & Delivery
I was told I would receive a phone call the day before my scheduled induction telling me what time to arrive at the hospital. I waited all day on pins and needles. That evening my phone rang and the nurse informed me I was on the wait list and I would receive a phone call some time the next day, and once I got that call they'd want me at the hospital within 30 minutes. In addition, I could potentially receive that call at 6 am, so I needed to have my phone with me at all times. I was annoyed, but I made sure my bags were ready and prepared myself for either an early morning wake up call, or an incredibly long day of waiting. Then at 5:45 a.m. my phone rang and I was asked to be there by 6:30! I did my very best to sound totally awake and alert and ready to go. I woke up Pat and said "it's time" to which he thought I was naturally going into labor and I had to explain that it wasn't "time" but I had gotten the call and we needed to head to the hospital. I insisted on a quick shower and we headed out the door. After grabbing a quick (and healthy) breakfast at Carl's Jr we barely made it on time. We quickly got settled in our room and met our labor and delivery nurse. She was awesome. I seriously couldn't have asked for a better nurse. She was so kind, but also totally funny and sarcastic, right up my alley! She did all the initial paperwork while another not so nice nurse (she actually was very nice) came in and started my IV. I did my best to pass out, but managed to stay with it with the help of a few cool wet towels. Once the IV was in they got the pitocin flowing as well as an antibiotic. I had already told the nurse that I intended to get an epidural and that I was a huge wuss, so she almost immediately started asking me if I wanted my epidural. I didn't know how to answer the question, I wasn't feeling any pain yet, but I also didn't want to wait too long and regret not getting it sooner. I ultimately decided to wait. After two hours of the antibiotic the doctor came in and broke my water and increased my pitocin, and while I still wasn't feeling any major pain I decided to go ahead with my epidural. I was a little anxious about the epidural due to what happened with Dylan and not having feeling in my knee for about two weeks after delivery. The anesthesiologist was so kind and talked me through everything and put my mind at ease a bit. The epidural seemed to take a really long time to get done, and while it didn't hurt, my anxiety still got the best of me and I once again tried to pass out. Bless my sweet nurse who held my hands through it all and made sure I always had a cool wet towel! When the anesthesiologist finished he said "I think I got it, but I'm going to stick around for a minute to be sure." He tried to explain in terms that I would understand that basically setting an epidural is all by feel and occasionally he finds what he called a "false pocket" so we sat and waited for my legs to start tingling, unfortunately they never did. After waiting a few minutes he determined he needed to try again. He offered to give me a break and come back, but I just wanted it done. The second time went much more quickly and luckily worked! At this point I had progressed from a 3 to a 5 and was feeling pretty good, so decided to try and get some sleep. Just as I was about to doze off the nurse rushed in because the baby's heartbeat dropped below normal. The nurse decided to replace the external fetal heart monitor with an internal monitor. Talk about a total freak out moment. The drop was brief and then went right back to normal, but there was no relaxing at that point! To add to the anxiety, I suddenly started to feel quite a bit of pain and became extremely shakey. The nurse checked me again and told me I'd gone from a 5 to an 8 in about 25 minutes! She told me to plan on having a baby within the hour! She explained that the shakiness was normal and my body's way of trying to release some of the energy from progressing so fast, she also had the anesthesiologist come back in and give me a boost in my epidural. My goodness did that boost work! Honestly, it worked too well. I went completely and totally numb from the belly down. At one point I reached down and asked when someone had set a rolled up towel next to my leg, only to realize it wasn't a towel, but was just my leg. I believe my exact words were "who put this towel here, oh wait, that's just my big ass thigh" ha! oh the things one says while in labor! At this point the nurse checked me again and told me I was crowning and that she would normally start prepping the bed for the doctor, but was going to leave the bed up just in case the baby decided to come before the doctor got there and half teasingly told me not to sneeze or cough too hard! Things had progressed so quickly that unfortunately the doctor on call Dr. Melendez was still in another surgery, so they had Dr. Bean run over from their office across the street to deliver me. Just as Dr. Bean got all set, Dr. Melendez showed up, but when he saw how far along I already was, he decided just to let Dr. Bean take it. As I mentioned, I was totally numb, I couldn't feel a single contraction, I couldn't even support my own legs, it was such a weird sensation. I felt really disconnected from everything that was happening. I didn't want to feel extreme pain, but I did want to feel something! The nurses had to direct me when to push and I did my best despite not feeling like I had any control over my bottom half. Then after three sets of measly pushes none of it mattered anymore, because our beautiful little girl was born!
Neko Ruby
12:59 pm
8 pounds 11 ounces
20 inches
