Breaking the Ice!

So I've been thinking about writing these for quite some time now. Just wasn't sure if there would be anyone interested in listening! Bob and I are always answering lots of questions from the awesome people in our lives that care about us so much. What better way to answer, than to keep you informed through my new blog (so fancy, I know :) ). 

Here's our story up to today, January 27, 2013: After dating for a couple of years, Bob and I got married on April 4th, 2009. Here we are that day!

It's funny how the day you get married, you have NO idea what's ahead of you. We knew there would be some really, really hard times ahead. We knew you can't just skate through life having things the way you "plan", but we couldn't have written this story then...especially with my mom, Joyce, being better known as Fertile Myrtle in her glory days.

So we decided to wait until we felt financially stable to try to have kids. After my youngest sister was married in December of 2010, we thought we'd give it a try. Then, in June of 2011, we were pregnant. As many people have experienced, the word "ecstatic" does not come close to how excited we were! It was awesome. Bob and I felt ready to give so much love and put in whatever it took to be great parents. We decided we did not want to find out if the baby was a boy or a girl...so much fun that way (in our humble opinions). I felt my belly grow and every single morning and every single night I thanked God for giving me this chance. We knew how blessed we were at every moment. We knew that having a baby doesn't come easily to many people and we knew that life is precious. We have learned from experiences, one in particular, that you just never know, and that EVERYTHING in life is to be appreciated. Talk about that more later...

My pregnancy was going smoothly, other than the obnoxious concerned nurse practitioner that told me that I should only have gained 2-3 pounds that month and I gained 4. Rude!!! I felt like telling her that at least I had an excuse, what's hers???

Ok, moving on. Our checkups went well, baby had a strong heart beat and we were hunting for a house. Yes, life was great! Then, on October 17th, 2011, we went in for an ultrasound. The week before, our ultrasound was great. Our little angel was breech, so this ultrasound was to get some better pictures. So on that Monday morning, Bob and I went in, excited as ever. And that's when we were hit with the "we had no idea what was ahead of us". We had lost our baby. There was no heartbeat. And while I'm still not ready to go into detail more about that day, I can say that it was awful. And I'll leave it at that.

Fast forward a few months and we wanted to try again for another baby. We tried and tried, but it wasn't happening. We knew we could get pregnant, so that was great! We just didn't know what the heck was taking so long. After another 9 long patient months, my doctor sent me in for some fertility testing. The big test was something called an HSG. That test showed that I have what's called a unicornuate uterus, aka unicorn uterus. I was like, ummmm, a what? Wellllll, unicorns like rainbows and so do I so I'm not THAT surprised! Side note, I love rainbows for anyone who was unaware. :) Anyway, the following month I had to get an MRI to see specifically what kind of unicornuate uterus I had, and yup, I had the kind where you need part of it removed. Son of a bitch. I was mad that I was going to be missing work right before Christmas...the best time ever to be with first graders!!! Yes, I was nervous going into this surgery. When people mess with your girl parts, it gets personal. And I've had lots of surgeries for Crohn's Disease, so it had nothing to do with going under the knife. I just didn't like the fact that I could wake up and they could tell me some more bad news.

But you know what?.. That's not what happened at all. It's really, really, true that when you least expect it, good things happen. So when I finally got back to my fancy room at The Ritz Pennsylvania Hospital and saw my awesome surgeon, he had good news. My uterus, well half of a uterus, was normal! And on top of that, I could try to carry a baby. Bob and I were very happy to hear this. Side note, Bob is totally awesome. He's insane and crazy and hilarious, but great and an active part of everything. I am blessed to be his girl. I wish I know how to make a heart on this thing, cause I'd do that right now!

And, as of last week, I have started all of the fun shots for IVF. This past week wasn't bad. Small needle for Lupron, which basically keeps me from ovulating. And on Friday, I went in for an ultrasound and some bloodwork, which was all good. The dr. said I am ready to start Follistim shots, along with the Lupron shots, so we are on our way! As I took a break from writing this tonight, Bob and I did the first Follistim shot. He put his in his butt and I put mine in my stomach. Juuuuuuusttt kidding. He doesn't have to do any shots, unless its tequila like last night!

It was all good, an experience we are going through together. Every single time of confusion, every bit of pain or uncomfort I feel from shots. All the lack of sleep, the crying, the ADDing at the doctor will be so worth it when God decides its our turn to have a baby, however that may be. And we are so excited for that day... So until then, the two of us will continue to crack up laughing at as much as we can and try our best to remember to take it all in stride..