We're Pregnant!

Well, our journey to this point was a long and difficult road, but we finally made it! We are going to be parents! Here is the story of our journey to parenthood:

John and I actually started trying to get pregnant around November of 2005. Too make a long story somewhat short, I was not ovulating on my own. Therefore the OB-GYN in Kansas started me on a common fertility drug called Cloimd to help induce/stimulate ovulation.

Clomid made me a hormonal and crazy mess! I was having hot flashes like I was menopausal. Poor John would shiver under the covers at night while I'd be sweating even with the window open and the 20 degree Kansas winter air circulating throughout the room. The Clomid did it's job and made me ovulate, but unfortunately, we still weren't getting pregnant. The doctor started to run other test and when I moved to Virginia in June I started to see a Reproductive Endocrinologist (RE, also called a fertility specialist). I had an HSG, an endometrial biopsy, numerous blood tests, and a post coital test done to try and determine if there were other causes of infertility.

In October of 2006 (a year later) we decided to stop trying to conceive because John was getting ready to head to either Korea or Iraq. We didn't know which at the time. We had also just learned that I had hostile (too thick) cervical fluids that were preventing us from getting pregnant. The doctor told us that our best bet was to use Interuterine Insemination (IUI). That procedure runs about $300. We decided it wasn't a good time to get pregnant with John fixing to leave, so we prayed about it and decided we would try the IUI after he finished his overseas tour.

I called my fertility specialists and shared with him our plans to wait for a year and see about trying the IUI then. He was very understanding.

I was very sad at first to no longer be trying to have a baby, but I knew it was the Lord's plan for us to wait. John and I grew so much closer as a couple during this time as we anticipated the future, but no longer had the burden of struggling with infertility. We finished our time at the hotel in Newport News, VA (Fort Eustis) and headed back to our home at Fort Lee. John got a stomach virus at the hotel the night before graduation. He had to go to the clinic and get an IV the next day, while I moved out of the hotel room and got my own room to keep me from getting the virus if possible. I spent that night in my own hotel room, and the next day I decided to head back to Fort Lee. John was too weak to drive his car back to Fort Lee so he spent one last night in the hotel. When he got to Fort Lee on Saturday, we decided to drive up to DC for the evening and try to get tickets to the Wizards game. We went to dinner at a Tex-Mex place and unfortunately weren't able to get tickets to the game so we went back to the hotel to rest up for the big adventure in DC the next day!

We really enjoyed our time in DC and John was finally feeling better. I was so nervous I was getting his stomach bug. Every morning I would wake up feeling funny, and I would spend the whole day waiting to start throwing up, but I never got the bug. We went back to Fort Lee and John started back to his regular class. On Wed., Nov 8th we went to Uno Chicago's for dinner. I started to get bad cramps during dinner. I felt funny and couldn't eat any of my pizza. The next morning I was convinced that my hormones were acting up because after all the terrible cramps I had, nothing had "started."

November 9, 2006

When John was in the shower, I got out of bed and felt queasy again (still thinking it was me trying to catch the stomach bug John had). I don't know why, but for some reason I went downstairs and took a pregnancy test. I wish I could tell you why I took that test. I think I was just convinced that something was wrong, but I didn't expect the test to turn positive, which it did immediately!!!!

I did a double take when I saw the lines do something I'd never seen before! Then my eyes got very, very wide! I sat the stick down on the counter and went in to the living room and started pacing. I was shaking and I don't know what I was thinking because I was in such shock. I just remember rubbing my cheeks with wide, terrified eyes and pacing. I kept repeating, "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh."

I heard the water to the shower turn off upstairs and I snapped out of it. I went to get the positive test and started up the stairs to John. I yelled for him at the foot of the stairs, "John!?"

When I didn't answer him with anything he got a little frustrated and yelled, "What!?!" a second time. When I got to the top of the stairs, I barged in the bathroom and shoved the test in front of him and said, "It's positive!"

He said, "What does that mean?"- I didn't tell him I was even thinking of taking a test. After explaining to him that it was a pregnancy test and that is was positive I think it finally sank in for him. I just remember him smiling and I remember my hands shaking so hard!!!! We went and sat on the guest bed and John prayed for me, us, and our little child.

When Dr. G's office opened, I called and told June that I had just gotten a positive pregnancy test. She said, "I love when this happens!" (she was referring to infertility patients who get pregnant when they stop trying.) She faxed orders for blood work in to the local lab and I got dressed and made my way over there to get my blood checked for HCG and Progesterone levels.

When I was driving to the lab, I was suddenly more aware of my belly than I had ever been before in my life! Every pothole I hit I thought I would hurt my baby!

At about 1pm, June called and told me congratulations! I was officially pregnant!!!

I called John at work and told him the news! When he got home from work he brought me flowers (lily's), Reisins (one of my favorite chocolate candies), and a card addressed to "mommy!" The picture on the card was a dog that looked like Charli, which John said was to remind me of my first child, our dog! :)

We went to eat at the local Mexican restaurant for dinner and then hit Books-A-Million to purchase a copy of What to Expect When You're Expecting!!! After dinner, we went home to get packed. We were flying to Seattle the next day to visit Khasha and Rachel.

Before we went to bed, we started calling our families to tell them the exciting news. John of course made it difficult on everyone he called! He asked his mom if she would like another grandbaby... she didn't know where he was going with it at first! He did the same with Josh and Misty (would Izzy like a cousin). When we told my parents I had them both on the same phone line and asked if they thought a crib would fit in the bedroom I was moving in to while John was in Korea. I couldn't tell which was my mom and which was my dad, they both screamed!! :) It was so exciting getting to share the news!!!