Our Story

Josh and I decided that we wanted to start a family in June of 2007. It has been a long journey with lots of ups and downs, but on January 16th we found out we were pregnant! I decided a blog would be a good way to keep track of my pregnancy. I'll give the somewhat abbreviated version of our history here, just so you know how this all started.

In June of 2007 and took my last birth control pill. At that point we were really naive and positive we would get pregnant the very next month! In July we went on vacation to Williamsburg and Ocracoke and were sure that during that time we would get pregnant. We didn't. Months started to go by and many of our friends (five in fact) got pregnant. We didn't. I was starting to get frustrated and feel like something might be wrong, but Josh was steadfast and sure it would happen "next month". I did some ovulation prediction kits and began taking my basal body temperature. My cycle had always been very normal and these both indicated that I was ovulating every month. This was a good sign. That December I was about a week late. We were sure we were pregnant. We were at the beach with my family when my cycle started. We were heartbroken and vowed to "try harder" in January.

We must have done something right, because in January of 2008 we conceived. We were so excited. In February, I knew I was several days late, so I took a pregnancy test. It was negative, but I didn't give up hope. I had friends who had negative tests the first time. On Monday, February 11th, I took a test before work that was positive. We were both super excited and I felt like I was on cloud nine all day. That very afternoon I went to the doctor to get confirmation. Sure enough, I was pregnant. It almost didn't feel real because I had no symptoms. We immediately began telling all of our friends. That weekend, for Valentines day, we went home and told our families. Everyone was very excited for us.

The whole time of the pregnancy, I kept telling Josh it didn't seem real because I wasn't having any symptoms. My friends all just told me I was lucky. On Sunday February 24th I noticed I was having a little spotting. This freaked me out and I made a doctor appointment for Monday. On Monday the doctor sent us for an ultrasound just to make sure everything was okay. Josh was with me and we got to see the baby moving and hear a heart beat. That was very encouraging, but later that day I began to have heavy bleeding an cramping. Two days later it was confirmed that I did have a miscarriage.

To say we were disappointed was an understatement. We were crushed. It was especially hard because I was in the process of planning baby showers for two of my good friends. I'm sure I went through a state of depression and Josh probably did too. We were lucky to have quite a few friends who had gone through the same thing and who were a great encouragement to us during this time and we vowed to get back to trying right away.

Needless to say, "right away" stretched into almost two years. I was somewhat opposed to medical intervention, but during that time I became frustrated and began seeing a reproductive endocrinologist. I had a lot of different tests. I had slightly increased prolactin level which lead to an MRI only to find out that my level wasn't really very high and I probably didn't need the MRI. In July of 2009 I had an HSG (which was torture by the way) which showed I potentially had a blocked fallopian tube. The only way to know for sure was endoscopic surgery. I wasn't ready to go through that yet and we were trying to sell our house and move, so we decided to take a break from all the baby stuff until after the first of the year. We agreed that in January of 2010 we would start medical interventions.

So, in January we had planned to begin trying taking clomid and possibly IUI. We were just waiting for my cycle so we could get started. Day 32 rolled around and I still had no signs of my cycle starting. All day on day 33, January 16th, I felt crazy and kept wondering if we might be pregnant. Josh encouraged me to take a pregnancy test, "just so we would know". At the last minute we ran to Target to get a test. I was sure that it would be negative, especially since I wasn't really that late yet. The second I took it, it was very positive. We were both in a state of disbelief.

We had planned to go out to dinner that with some friends at Magnolia Grill in Durham. These are some of our closest friends and we decided right away that we were so excited we had to tell them. Plus they would wonder why I didn't have wine with dinner. That night when we got home I was excited, but also a little nervous. In all of my past experiences, being pregnant hasn't worked out. What if that happens again? We decided not to tell our families or too many co-workers right away. The next day I emailed my reproductive endocrinologist and told her I was pregnant. She was very happy for us and scheduled us for an Ultrasound at 8 weeks. That's Monday! :)