I am finally getting around to blogging about our little guy! (Confession: I don't actually know if its a boy or girl yet, we make that appointment this week at our 16 week checkup. I keep calling the baby a boy though so maybe its a sign?)
How we found out:
In December Zack and I decided that we should actually really truly try to get pregnant that month. I took a bunch of ovulation calculator tests and they all said our time frame to get pregnant would be between December 6th - 10th. That was our window. We were pretty dedicated during that time. Two weeks after it was Christmas and I was supposed to start my period two days before Christmas. Christmas Eve came and went, and so did Christmas. Luckily I had all of the parties and festivities with family to keep me distracted from the fact that I hadn't started yet. Then Friday came, the day after Christmas and I just couldn't wait any longer. I didn't have any left over pregnancy tests so I ran to the store and purchased a few. I got home and took one first thing (that is a long time to hold going to the bathroom). While in the bathroom I just sat there, patiently waiting for the result. After about a minute I couldn't stand it anymore so I got out and started folding laundry (of all things to distract me). Finally after about 10 minutes I went back into the bathroom and red the test result: Pregnant! I started crying, I immediately got down on my knees and prayed, I thanked Heavenly Father for blessing me with a baby and promised I would do my absolute best to teach the child about Christ and Love and Forgiveness and everything else. I made a lot of promises in that prayer.
I showed the test to Zack and he said I knew it! He claimed I had been way too moody that week for it to say anything else. I was so excited and started taking precautions right away to prevent another miscarriage.
My doctor had prescribed me progesterone to help prevent a miscarriage. Progesterone is a hormone that your body produces until about week 12 of your pregnancy, it helps build up the Placenta and to help the baby develop. I started taking 200 MG of Progesterone once a day and called my doctor. He had me come in at week 5 to take some blood work to make sure I wasn't miscarrying again. After 3 miscarriages we were willing to do anything to make it work. I went in and had two tests done, one for my progesterone count, the other for my HCG count. I was to come back in three days. I went back and took the same 2 tests again on Friday January 9th. The doctor called me Monday January 12th and told me my HCG levels were rising normally but that my progesterone count was really low (it was 15 and its supposed be at 20). He put my on 200 MG of progesterone twice a day. I followed the instructions and went back into the doctors office week 8. I got an ultrasound done and heard the babies heartbeat! It was so strong and healthy, I was so amazed that I could hear it. I stayed on progesterone until my 12 week appointment when my doctor said the placenta was taking over now and that it had enough progesterone to keep the baby growing.
Current update:
Now we are 16 weeks! I have an appointment on Wednesday and then my next appointment will be to find out what gender we are having. Zack wants a boy, of course and I secretly want a girl. But I have this feeling its going to be a boy and I'm fine with that. Either way I truly will be happy. I have been extremely sick this entire pregnancy. During weeks 6-12 I threw up (sorry to be gross) twice a day, and was nauseous the rest of the time. Now I just throw up once a day and I am not as nauseous. I have more energy now and feel like I am getting better everyday. I don't have a bump yet, and probably wont for another 4 weeks or so.
We are so beyond thrilled to be parents. Everyday I get more and more excited. We already have a list of boy names and girl names picked out which I will share later when we announce what we are having. Although going through each one of my miscarriages was hard and not something I would wish upon anyone, I learned a lot through those times. I now know that this is the right time for us to have a baby, we can afford all the care our selves (something I always wanted to do because I am pretty independent that way), we are in a position where I can be a SAHM if I need to/want to or I can work if I need to/want to. It's great to have so much flexibility. We have a much stronger marriage and Zack and I are much better at communicating with each other now than we were even 6 months ago. Things would have been different had we gotten pregnant then. I am so grateful for everyone's advice and encouragement after I shared about my miscarriages. It really helped me to feel like I wasn't the only one experiencing that trial.
More updates to come
XO
Caitlin
