My very long update... (pg mentioned)

Hope everyone’s doing well… I know I haven’t posted in a while. After my miscarriage last January (2012) I needed to step away and try to figure out what was going on. It was our 6th miscarriage and 8th LO, and I knew there had to be more to the story than anyone was finding. I took a couple of months to do some research and made appointments for both DH and I to get allergy testing done, figuring we’d start there. We went in together and walked out finding that I was allergic to mold and dust spores and DH is allergic to everything else (including our 3 cats!) Not exactly the results I was hoping to find to help with our infertility…

During my break (if you want to call it that) we were also approached by someone at our church who was willing to be our surrogate--- and started the process of meeting with a lawyer and speaking with 2 others. The idea didn't sit well with me at first but my DH seemed for it and I figured it was a natural reaction on my part. About a month or so into researching DH came to me and told me he changed his mind, at which point I had actually come around to the idea by that point... and it was a different type of loss all over again. But I do believe that everything happens for a reason- even though I will never understand what some of those reasons are...

I then hit the internet and managed to end up back on my Dr’s website. I noticed he was testing his patients for allergies and how their immune system was reacting to them, and then putting them on the appropriate diet, depending on what he found. I sent him an email and he wrote me back right away. He cc’d his nurse and they set me up for testing. I replied that I had already had allergy testing done and that nothing was really found, so he told me to bring it with me when I came in. I met with him, he reviewed the results and told me the dr. had only done basic testing… he didn’t test me for foods, metals, etc...(Even though I specifically told him why I was there and asked him to do ANY and ALL testing and told him what was going on…)

Dr. B was pretty confident that I was going to be allergic to wheat, so from lunch time that day (in June) I went gluten free… about 2 weeks later we found out I was even more allergic to dairy than I am to wheat, so now I’m both gluten and dairy free (NOT a fun combo when you LOVE bread, pasta, cheese, milk, yogurt… you get the idea!) But I felt I owed it to DH and myself, and had to try given that we had nothing else new to attempt…and nothing to lose.

I got retested a month later and my levels were still elevated. A month after that I got checked again and my levels were normal! So DH and I sat down, talked it over and decided we wanted a mid-November transfer… and we set it up for an FET. I was terrified of the unknown, and tried to stay as emotionally uninvested as I could all throughout the cycle. On November 17th we put back 2 beautiful 5 day expanding blasts… I also took HCG shots this time around which is different (usually I was on neupogen). I’m not sure what did it or if it was a combination of things.

I was told I was pregnant after we got my first beta #’s back, but I had been told originally that we wouldn’t “really” know anything until my 6 week sono- so I tried to ignore the positive betas (they were high but they would’ve been positive even if the cycle hadn’t worked since I was injecting hcg/beta into my system).

At 6 weeks DH and I went in and found 2 beautiful LO’s with heartbeats. <3 I was SO in love from that moment but really tried not to get too attached given our history… at 6 weeks 2 days I had some bleeding. Freaked out and went to Woodbury, to find their little hearts beating away…it’s AMAZING how much they grow in 2 days! Then at 8 weeks 4 days I had more bleeding and passed a large clot, and once again thought it was over… so back to Woodbury I went.

Thank God they were both still ok. Baby A had a low lying placenta that was right on my cervix, which was what they thought caused the bleeding. At this point I was put on bed rest and told to see Dr. Kofinas even though I wasn’t being released yet. At 9 weeks I went to see him and he determined that the clot that passed was actually from near baby B- we could see the dark spot on the sono, but everything was still ok. I was put on bed rest again …for weeks.

I’ll spare you the rest of details. I am SO totally in love with and in awe of them. I was fortunate enough to have a sonogram every week during the first trimester between all of my drs. I’m still amazed at how much they grow in such a short amount of time!!

As of today I’m 19 weeks and 1 day, and so far, so good. We had our partial anatomy scan yesterday and both babies measured right on target and seem to be doing well. I am still very nervous, but taking it one day at a time… I know that was one major hurdle and now in I think 4 more weeks we will have the full anatomy scan, so I will hold my breath for that one!

I didn’t want to post too early since I’ve always felt like the girl who cried pregnant and then 5 minutes later wasn’t… but I felt it was time to come out on here since so many people have supported me over the years. My due date is August 5th but I’ve already been told I’ll be having a mandatory c-section, so they’ll definitely be here before then. Probably late June to mid-July, though I’m hoping they stay put as long as they can! So that’s the past 14 months, in a nutshell.

Best of luck to all of you! This board has been such a source of inspiration and support to me. Over the years I’ve made some great friends, and I know without them I never would’ve gotten here today. Thank you to everyone who helped me during this difficult journey. It’s been a very long 8 ½ years of trying for us, and there were so many times that I was ready to throw in the towel, but I’m so glad we continued on our journey… Many prayers to all of you!

To those of you who are friends of mine on Facebook, please don’t post anything on my wall as we haven’t announced on there yet, and probably won’t for a few more weeks. Thanks!!!


This pic (if it actually posts) is from my 11 weeks sono- and is the last pic I have of the 2 of them together... so it's the one I've decided to post. I hope it's ok that I posted on here instead of Pgy after IF... this is where most people look for updates from me (or so I've been told lol) and I hope that it will be a post of hope for those of you who are still on this journey Hope everyone has a great day!

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Message edited 3/12/2013 9:43:01 PM.

Re: My very long update... (pg mentioned)

That is a great story!!! Thank you for sharing!!! Congratulations, and best of luck to you!! Wishing you a happy and healthy!!!

Re: My very long update... (pg mentioned)

great news! I wish you a very healthy pregnancy

Re: My very long update... (pg mentioned)

I am so happy for you!!! Wishing you a happy and healthy rest of your pregnancy!!!

Re: My very long update... (pg mentioned)

Crashing to say I am so happy to see this update. Many congrats and well wishes for an uneventful remainder of your pregnancy!!

My very long update... (pg mentioned)

Omg....that is wonderful news! Congrats!

Re: My very long update... (pg mentioned)

That's amazing news!!!! Congratulations!!!!!

Re: My very long update... (pg mentioned)

I am so incredibly happy for you and your husband.

Re: My very long update... (pg mentioned)

What amazing news! Congrats!

My very long update... (pg mentioned)

That's wonderful!!! So happy for you and your DH!!!! Congratulations!!!!!

Re: My very long update... (pg mentioned)

Soooo happy for you!!!!!!!! XOXO

My very long update... (pg mentioned)

Crashing....
I am so happy for you. Here's to a happy and healthy pregnancy!!! This is such a wonderful update from you <3

My very long update... (pg mentioned)

CONGRATULATIONS! I love stories with happy endings!!!!

Re: My very long update... (pg mentioned)

I just need to say that I was just thinking about you!! I was recently searching through older threads and you came up and I remember you and all of your trials. I am so happy for you!! What an amazing update. So many prayers and wonderful wishes for you. I am so glad you took control of your body and found out these results. Did you have any symptoms of being gluten and dairy allergic?? My Dr is currently testing me for celiacs and said there is a HUGE correlation to gluten intolerance and infertility! I didn't know that! Best of luck to you and thank you for updating!!

My very long update... (pg mentioned)

Crashing to give you a huge congrats ! What a wonderful story, may the rest of your pregnancy be easy and uneventful !

My very long update... (pg mentioned)

Shannon- I am so unbelievably happy for you. I was just thinking about you the other day, too! You deserve this so much. Have a VERY happy and healthy pregnancy- and make sure you bask in it! Xoxo

Re: My very long update... (pg mentioned)

fantastic news, congrats!

Re: My very long update... (pg mentioned)

OMG I am SOOOOO happy for you!!!!!!!

Re: My very long update... (pg mentioned)

thank you for sharing you story. I am so happy for you and so glad you never gave up!

Re: My very long update... (pg mentioned)

Congrats ....this really lifted my spirits!

My very long update... (pg mentioned)

I am so incredibly happy for you. I have followed your journey and this is amazing. Congrats to you and your DH!! H&H pregnancy!!

Re: My very long update... (pg mentioned)

Thank you everyone!

Re: My very long update... (pg mentioned)

What an amazing update! Congrats!

Re: My very long update... (pg mentioned)

Congrats!!!
Sorry for lurking but this is an amazing story! Dr. B gave my sister her miracle after 20 (yeah, you read that right) IVF cycles! He's a miracle worker!

Re: My very long update... (pg mentioned)

Congratulations!! It seems like there will be a lot of August miracle babies out there!