Baby Number Three

If you haven't heard the news yet, we're expecting baby number three!

It's been a long time coming, and we went through a lot to get here, so we couldn't be more thrilled. It all started back in May 2014. Isaac and I went back and forth for a while about whether we should have a third baby or not. One day he would really want another, and the next he would feel like we were in the perfect place with our two girls. We finally made the decision to start trying for another after Charley's second birthday.

The first month came and went, and after four negative pregnancy tests, we gave up. I tried one of those at-home ovulation kits the next month. A few more failed pregnancy tests, and we moved on. This went on for a couple of months before I started to really get worried. We got pregnant with both of our girls so quickly, that I assumed it would happen quickly this time, as well. We stopped trying to figure out my ovulation schedule, hoping that it would happen if we were a little more relaxed about it.

Fast forward to December. I made an appointment with my obstetrician. At twenty-eight, my mom had a hysterectomy after her doctor discovered tumors in her uterus. I started to get worried that I would suffer the same fate (especially since my mother also had two girls). My doctor did some tests and reassured my that everything was just fine. She said that if we didn't get pregnant after a year of trying, to come back in May 2015, and we would go over our options.

I obviously felt a lot of relief after this visit, and Isaac and I decided to continue to try for another baby. May came and nothing had happened. I went back to Dr. Tyre in June, and she suggested a hysterosalpingogram. Basically, they would shoot some dye into my uterus and fallopian tubes to see if there were any blockages. My doctor also mentioned that many women get pregnant right away after having this procedure, as it kind of flushes everything out. After doing some research, I came to understand that it was a little uncomfortable and painful, but it could give us some answers. I decided to go ahead and give it a try. I had to wait until the day I started my cycle to schedule the exam, three weeks later. Ugh! 

One week later, on day fourteen of my current cycle, I had some cramping on my left side. I told Isaac that I knew it was ovulation, and we should try just in case. I ended up being three days late that month and felt a little queasy. I waited another two days and took a pregnancy test the following Monday morning. To our surprise, it said "YES". We were shocked, and since we had been talking to everyone we knew about trying for a baby for fourteen months, we couldn't wait to share the news. I had an appointment with Dr. Tyre the following week to go over my test results, so I kept the appointment and surprised her with the amazing baby news instead. Since five weeks was a little early, she gave me a slip for blood work, and we scheduled an appointment for two weeks later.

I had been talking to my best friends about how excited I was to finally be pregnant, but I also mentioned to each of them that I was very nervous about it from the beginning. Something just didn't feel right. I wasn't sick or exhausted, and it had taken us so long to get to this point, that it just didn't seem possible that I could be pregnant. The next day at work, I started bleeding. I was terrified and knew instantly that I had lost the baby. I went into Dr. Tyre's office, and she sent me in immediately for blood work. I repeated the same blood work two days later and went in for an ultrasound. The technician told me that there was nothing there at all. After meeting with Dr. Tyre, it looked like a clean miscarriage. Since my blood work results still showed some hormones, she wanted me to come back in a week to make sure that it wasn't an ectopic pregnancy. I was just sad, emotional, and over it at that point and didn't even do the final blood work. I knew it was over. The hardest part of this was realizing that it took us fourteen months to get pregnant, just to have it ripped away a week later. My doctor didn't want me to go in for the hysterosalpingogram anymore. The thought was that if I had gotten pregnant, there weren't any blockages, and I just needed to keep trying. This was hard for me to hear. I kept wondering, "was it going to take another fourteen months?".

Exactly fourteen days after the miscarriage, I had the same ovulation cramping that I felt before. (This was only the second time that I have ever felt anything at all from ovulating. I usually don't even notice it.) I had heard about an old wive's tale that getting pregnant right after a miscarriage means a healthy baby. We decided to give it a go. The next two weeks were the longest two weeks ever. I waited to take a pregnancy test until I was five days late again. It said, "YES"! I called my doctor, and she had me come in at seven weeks. We did a quick ultrasound, and I was able to see the heartbeat. We had an actual heartbeat! I felt so much better about this pregnancy from the very beginning. After doing some blood work to confirm, I had a full ultrasound the following week where baby measured right on track at eight weeks and one day.

As time went on, I got super sick and napped every single day after work. I was grateful for both of these horrible side affects, because they meant that the baby was cooking and growing. I started Diclegis, a nausea medication, when I couldn't even keep down saltines and water. It's helped tremendously. My kids were complaining, "Mom, we don't have any clean pajamas! Please do some laundry!" I had zero energy, so I gave them my t-shirts to wear to bed. Luckily, Isaac has been going grocery shopping and even helping the girls get ready for bed and do homework, so I can rest. He's helped more this pregnancy than ever before, and I am so thankful for him. I started to get some energy back right around Halloween and am feeling incredible now. 

I hit the fourteen week mark last week, and we had our first 4D ultrasound last weekend.

When we got our first glimpse of baby, it was waving "hello" to us.

We searched for the gender for a little while, and although there was some cord in between her legs, it didn't look like there was anything else there. Isaac was really hoping for a boy, but we will be welcoming another little girl into our family. We are both so happy that the baby is healthy. She was bouncing around all over the place and even clapped when they said, "It's a girl!".

At one point, Isaac said, "look how weird the ears look", and baby instantly covered her ears.

We got a good profile shot of her and her belly full of amniotic fluid.

She kept standing up and stretching to show us how tall she is already.

We also got a good look at her heart, which seems to be just perfect with a rate of 154 beats per minute.

We spent a little more time just watching her move around and even showing us some sign language.

It's so incredible to watch this little human moving all around, making faces, and just living inside of you. I've started to feel some flutters, but definitely not all of the kicking and rolling around just yet.

We are so excited, thrilled, happy, and impatient to meet this little baby girl. May cannot come soon enough. After the past eighteen months, we just want to snuggle her in our arms and smother her with kisses.

(Fourteen weeks and four days)

We think we are pretty set on her name, but I'll share that another time. For now, let's just all enjoy the fact that soon we will be a family of five, with three precious girls to love and cherish.