Below is a picture of our precious little one, who is now measuring around 3 inches!
Thanks for your continued prayers! Overall we are very thankful to have a healthy baby on the way and we’re looking forward to the next 6 months of pregnancy.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Two has become One....
Well Eric and I went in for our 13 week ultrasounds at the high risk doctor, and after 45minutes of ultrasounds they were unable to find Baby B. They believe that I miscarried the baby, and then my body reabsorbed it. While this news was heartbreaking to us, we were still able to see happy, healthy baby A moving around still. Right now I’m having mixed feelings. Full of joy and amazement at how much Baby A has grown, but feeling the sadness of our loss. Overall, I have a sense of peace. God did not put us in charge of making any decisions, and my body didn’t have to suffer any trauma that might have affected Baby A. I’m still astonished that I had absolutely no sign of miscarrying over the past 4 weeks. So far we are both doing ok, and know that this was the best thing that could happen for little Buster if he/she wasn’t developing and that it will help Baby A to grow and develop easier with the extra space.
Below is a picture of our precious little one, who is now measuring around 3 inches!
Thanks for your continued prayers! Overall we are very thankful to have a healthy baby on the way and we’re looking forward to the next 6 months of pregnancy.
Below is a picture of our precious little one, who is now measuring around 3 inches!
Thanks for your continued prayers! Overall we are very thankful to have a healthy baby on the way and we’re looking forward to the next 6 months of pregnancy.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Sonograms
Here's Baby A at 5 weeks. We only knew of the one during this one.
Here's both babies at 7 weeks.
We go in Monday for OB and the high risk appointment, so the 13 week ultrasounds will be coming soon.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Our Big News!
Well, after a long wait, we’re happy to announce there will be, not one, but two new additions to the Couch family.
Our adventure to expand our family began 4 years ago. With a few complications on both sides, we finally decided to visit a fertility specialist this past March. We were poked and prodded, well mostly me. Eric only had to give blood once. After being evaluated, all of our individual levels came back normal, but they found that I had a bicornuate uterus. This means that instead of having a pear shaped uterus, I have a heart shaped uterus. This doesn’t cause infertility for a lot of people, but was the only reason they could find at the time. The official diagnosis was “unexplained infertility” which is the case 15% of the time with infertility. Our first step was to try IUI (basically artificial insemination) for 4 cycles and if it didn’t work we would move on to IVF (where they break out the Petri dishes).
Round 1 I produced 1 egg, but it did not work. Round 2 was administered the day after Easter, with 2 hopeful eggs. After the negative news the first time, we were not optimistic. To our surprise we were pregnant. The first ultrasound at 5 weeks showed one fetus growing in the right horn of my uterus. We were thrilled and full of emotion to be able to see our child!
Eric was scheduled to head out on a business trip the following Sunday with his dad. I, of course, hate being home by myself, but sucked it up and was able to get a good night’s sleep. Monday morning I woke up to a little bleed, or so I thought. Before I left for work, the little bleeding turned into a lot of bleeding. Trying not to panic I decided that I would wait until lunch to see what would happen. Lunch came around and nothing changed. Trying to contain myself I called the doctor to let them know what was going on. She informed me that if I started clotting or cramping I should come in immediately or go straight to the ER. I was able to make it through the day at work and for a little while resting at home, but then the cramping started. It was then that I decided that I should let Eric know what was going on. I didn’t want to worry him, but knew he needed to know what was going on now. Marion, Eric’s mom, came down and took me to the hospital. We all know how the ER works. It is suppose to be an emergency room, but they are in no hurry to see you. As we sat and waited to be called, the cramping became very uncomfortable and the nausea was kicking in. After 3 hours of waiting, the called us back around 10:30 to be seen. A friendly man came to greet us and introduced himself as Dr. Pepper…at least I was able to laugh at that. He was able to give me morphine for the pain and then an ultrasound technician came in to see what was going on. She didn’t say much, and said she could not tell us anything and the doctor would be in soon. Thankfully the drugs had kicked in and I was able to relax for a little bit. The doctor returned and said that he had spoke with the fertility clinic, and they decided I should go in first thing in the morning for another ultrasound.
Marion spent the night, and we woke up bright and early the next morning to drive to Gaithersburg. They were able to see me right away. While exploring to find the source of the bleeding and to everyone’s surprise, they found another fetus. This one was about a week behind the original fetus and was too small and in a weird place that they didn’t see it the previous week. The doctor deliberated with the technician for a while, and then informed me that they wanted me to go to a high risk clinic down the road to have another look. The bleeding had not slowed down, but thankfully the cramping had stopped. Marion and I went to lunch while we waited for the next appointment. My mom had decided earlier that morning that she was going to come up for the day to help out and was able to meet us while we finished up lunch.
Soon after, I headed to the high risk clinic with two moms in tow. I was so thankful to have them both there for support and later to ask the questions I was unable to ask. The doctors did an evaluation of both fetuses, and we were able to hear the heartbeat of the original fetus. The second fetus was still too small to pick up the sound, but we could see the little heart beating. I was starting to feel more comfortable and was excited to see they were both still alive. That joy soon turned to the greatest pain I’ve ever felt as the doctor said the second fetus was an eptopic pregnancy. They were going to have to cut out the fetus, part of my uterus and part of my fallopian tube. The baby is implanted very high and right next to where the tube connects. Because of this, the baby would cause the uterus to rupture and could cause death to both the other fetus and myself. At this point my mind went blank, and all I could do was cry. The joy of hearing a heart beat turning to the fear and sadness of having to kill one of the fetuses to help the other and myself was an unreal feeling. Thankfully, the mothers were able to ask where we would go from here and took care of getting things set up. I was to have an emergency surgery and had to go to the hospital right away. By now, Eric and Bob were on their way back and would meet us at the hospital.
I was admitted fairly quickly to the hospital through the emergency room and Eric was there soon after. We both were full of emotion, knowing we were going to loose a child we had just found out we had only hours ago. My surgery was scheduled for early the next morning, and I was able to get one more meal. The parents were all able to go home and rest, while Eric and I spent the night in the hospital. It was a sleepless night between the emotion, and the many visits from the nurses to check up on me. As they wheeled me down to the operation prep area, I became overwhelmed once again and was unable to control my sadness. The hardest part was trying to explain the procedure to the nurse to make sure I had an understanding of what would happen.
It was soon time to be wheeled back to the operating room. The nurses were wonderful and talked to me the whole time as I fell asleep. I guess the operation was the easiest part because I was asleep while mom and Eric sat in the waiting room waiting to hear how it went.
I slowly opened my eyes to see a blur of movement around the room I was in. A nurse came over to say hello. The only thing I can remember is asking how the surgery went and she responded by saying that everything went well and I still had both babies. All I could do is smile, and I quickly fell back asleep. The baby turned out not to be eptopic, so they stopped the surgery. I spent the next 48 hours in the hospital thankful to know I was carrying two little miracles.
Since I’ve been discharged, there have been no complications and both babies are growing strong. Baby A, the original fetus, is measuring a week ahead of Baby B (Eric has nicknamed him Buster for his resiliency). The only concern is that the embryonic sack around Buster is small. There is no explanation for the bleeding, cramping, or the sack size difference at this point. They offered to do genetic testing, but we declined since we will carry both no matter what.
Pregnancy has been quite a different experience than we think as little girls who play with baby dolls and dream of being a mom one day. You don’t hear about the miscarriages, or the babies who grow inside the womb but can’t survive when their born. You only associate being happy with a baby. During the 4 years we waited for a baby, I always questioned why we were not able to have children. The only aspiration I truly have is to be a mother. I’ve never had a desire to attend a certain college, and I’ve never thought this is the one career I will be good at. I’ve only known that being a mother is what I want. I think God just took his time in order to show me that other women have struggled with complications and hardships during their pregnancies. Without this exposure, I know that this experience would have been much, much harder.
Eric and I are so blessed to have the chance to be parents to both these munchkins. I know it will not be easy. I mean just thinking about how I’m going to breast feed two kids is blowing my mind, and making my breasts hurt from the thought…or maybe that’s just dealing with the symptoms of the first trimester. Either way, we can’t wait to share our lives with these two little ones.
Feel free to share this with anyone you might think would benefit from knowing what pregnancy could look like. I know that knowing what might happen during pregnancy helped me get through the toughest experience of my life.
Ultrasound pictures will be coming soon!
Our adventure to expand our family began 4 years ago. With a few complications on both sides, we finally decided to visit a fertility specialist this past March. We were poked and prodded, well mostly me. Eric only had to give blood once. After being evaluated, all of our individual levels came back normal, but they found that I had a bicornuate uterus. This means that instead of having a pear shaped uterus, I have a heart shaped uterus. This doesn’t cause infertility for a lot of people, but was the only reason they could find at the time. The official diagnosis was “unexplained infertility” which is the case 15% of the time with infertility. Our first step was to try IUI (basically artificial insemination) for 4 cycles and if it didn’t work we would move on to IVF (where they break out the Petri dishes).
Round 1 I produced 1 egg, but it did not work. Round 2 was administered the day after Easter, with 2 hopeful eggs. After the negative news the first time, we were not optimistic. To our surprise we were pregnant. The first ultrasound at 5 weeks showed one fetus growing in the right horn of my uterus. We were thrilled and full of emotion to be able to see our child!
Eric was scheduled to head out on a business trip the following Sunday with his dad. I, of course, hate being home by myself, but sucked it up and was able to get a good night’s sleep. Monday morning I woke up to a little bleed, or so I thought. Before I left for work, the little bleeding turned into a lot of bleeding. Trying not to panic I decided that I would wait until lunch to see what would happen. Lunch came around and nothing changed. Trying to contain myself I called the doctor to let them know what was going on. She informed me that if I started clotting or cramping I should come in immediately or go straight to the ER. I was able to make it through the day at work and for a little while resting at home, but then the cramping started. It was then that I decided that I should let Eric know what was going on. I didn’t want to worry him, but knew he needed to know what was going on now. Marion, Eric’s mom, came down and took me to the hospital. We all know how the ER works. It is suppose to be an emergency room, but they are in no hurry to see you. As we sat and waited to be called, the cramping became very uncomfortable and the nausea was kicking in. After 3 hours of waiting, the called us back around 10:30 to be seen. A friendly man came to greet us and introduced himself as Dr. Pepper…at least I was able to laugh at that. He was able to give me morphine for the pain and then an ultrasound technician came in to see what was going on. She didn’t say much, and said she could not tell us anything and the doctor would be in soon. Thankfully the drugs had kicked in and I was able to relax for a little bit. The doctor returned and said that he had spoke with the fertility clinic, and they decided I should go in first thing in the morning for another ultrasound.
Marion spent the night, and we woke up bright and early the next morning to drive to Gaithersburg. They were able to see me right away. While exploring to find the source of the bleeding and to everyone’s surprise, they found another fetus. This one was about a week behind the original fetus and was too small and in a weird place that they didn’t see it the previous week. The doctor deliberated with the technician for a while, and then informed me that they wanted me to go to a high risk clinic down the road to have another look. The bleeding had not slowed down, but thankfully the cramping had stopped. Marion and I went to lunch while we waited for the next appointment. My mom had decided earlier that morning that she was going to come up for the day to help out and was able to meet us while we finished up lunch.
Soon after, I headed to the high risk clinic with two moms in tow. I was so thankful to have them both there for support and later to ask the questions I was unable to ask. The doctors did an evaluation of both fetuses, and we were able to hear the heartbeat of the original fetus. The second fetus was still too small to pick up the sound, but we could see the little heart beating. I was starting to feel more comfortable and was excited to see they were both still alive. That joy soon turned to the greatest pain I’ve ever felt as the doctor said the second fetus was an eptopic pregnancy. They were going to have to cut out the fetus, part of my uterus and part of my fallopian tube. The baby is implanted very high and right next to where the tube connects. Because of this, the baby would cause the uterus to rupture and could cause death to both the other fetus and myself. At this point my mind went blank, and all I could do was cry. The joy of hearing a heart beat turning to the fear and sadness of having to kill one of the fetuses to help the other and myself was an unreal feeling. Thankfully, the mothers were able to ask where we would go from here and took care of getting things set up. I was to have an emergency surgery and had to go to the hospital right away. By now, Eric and Bob were on their way back and would meet us at the hospital.
I was admitted fairly quickly to the hospital through the emergency room and Eric was there soon after. We both were full of emotion, knowing we were going to loose a child we had just found out we had only hours ago. My surgery was scheduled for early the next morning, and I was able to get one more meal. The parents were all able to go home and rest, while Eric and I spent the night in the hospital. It was a sleepless night between the emotion, and the many visits from the nurses to check up on me. As they wheeled me down to the operation prep area, I became overwhelmed once again and was unable to control my sadness. The hardest part was trying to explain the procedure to the nurse to make sure I had an understanding of what would happen.
It was soon time to be wheeled back to the operating room. The nurses were wonderful and talked to me the whole time as I fell asleep. I guess the operation was the easiest part because I was asleep while mom and Eric sat in the waiting room waiting to hear how it went.
I slowly opened my eyes to see a blur of movement around the room I was in. A nurse came over to say hello. The only thing I can remember is asking how the surgery went and she responded by saying that everything went well and I still had both babies. All I could do is smile, and I quickly fell back asleep. The baby turned out not to be eptopic, so they stopped the surgery. I spent the next 48 hours in the hospital thankful to know I was carrying two little miracles.
Since I’ve been discharged, there have been no complications and both babies are growing strong. Baby A, the original fetus, is measuring a week ahead of Baby B (Eric has nicknamed him Buster for his resiliency). The only concern is that the embryonic sack around Buster is small. There is no explanation for the bleeding, cramping, or the sack size difference at this point. They offered to do genetic testing, but we declined since we will carry both no matter what.
Pregnancy has been quite a different experience than we think as little girls who play with baby dolls and dream of being a mom one day. You don’t hear about the miscarriages, or the babies who grow inside the womb but can’t survive when their born. You only associate being happy with a baby. During the 4 years we waited for a baby, I always questioned why we were not able to have children. The only aspiration I truly have is to be a mother. I’ve never had a desire to attend a certain college, and I’ve never thought this is the one career I will be good at. I’ve only known that being a mother is what I want. I think God just took his time in order to show me that other women have struggled with complications and hardships during their pregnancies. Without this exposure, I know that this experience would have been much, much harder.
Eric and I are so blessed to have the chance to be parents to both these munchkins. I know it will not be easy. I mean just thinking about how I’m going to breast feed two kids is blowing my mind, and making my breasts hurt from the thought…or maybe that’s just dealing with the symptoms of the first trimester. Either way, we can’t wait to share our lives with these two little ones.
Feel free to share this with anyone you might think would benefit from knowing what pregnancy could look like. I know that knowing what might happen during pregnancy helped me get through the toughest experience of my life.
Ultrasound pictures will be coming soon!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Weekend Trip Round 1
Well, June is going to be a busy month with two weddings and a volleyball reunion we will be gone 3 out of the weekends this month.
This past weekend we traveled to New England to visit old friends and to celebrate Eric's cousin's wedding. We left on Thursday and headed to the Christophel home for a day. Although Jesse had to work, he and Eric had some "man time," as Rosie put it, Friday morning over breakfast. The boys caught up while I slept in :-) I was greeted by Rosie's smiling face. After a quick breakfast, Stewart woke up and the Michaelson's came over for a fun filled day with 5 kids. Somehow Kim is able to watch all 5 by herself, but Eric and I were wiped after it was 3 on 5. We had a great day catching up with Kim and playing with the kids. Friday night we got to meet our newest New England friend, Luke. Our friends Josh and Courtney had their first a couple months ago. He is a smiling happy baby. Josh made us some yummy burgers and we chatted the night away. Later that night, we, well I say we, but really I just slept, made the drive to the Cape to meet up with the Couch family.
Saturday morning we enjoyed a New England breakfast of Dunkin Donuts before heading out to the Christmas Tree shop. Eric was not too excited about shopping, so he went putt putting with Lexi, Brett, Sean and Eileen. Will the putted the morning away, my basket quickly filled up at the Christmas Tree shop with lots of low priced goodies. Later, we headed to the church to see Reenie get married. The ceremony was beautiful. I was in the middle of the row, so the pictures all had a person's head blocking the shot. I did however get some pictures of the family hanging out after the ceremony.
With a 2 hour break before the reception, everyone headed to the near by Friendly's for free ice cream. Full of sugar and ready to dance we went to the reception. In addition to the wonderful 4 course meal, we had an ice sculpture, and we were right on the water. It's always a fun night when the whole family gets together and tonight wasn't any different.
Sunday morning, we woke up early so we could make it to our old church for the morning service. It was wonderful to be back in the small community we left a few years ago. The church is continuing to grow, but still has the intimate felling we left. After church, we spent the day with the Christophels and then hung out with some of our close friends later that night. I was going to take pictures, but our friend Sarah is a wonderful photographer and I decided I would just borrow hers. I'll post some pictures of the afternoon later.
Monday we said our good-byes and headed down south. It was a world wind of weekend, but wonderful to see so many great people again. Although we love being down south where we're not only closer to family, but it's actually warm in April, we do miss our wonderful friends in Connecticut.
This past weekend we traveled to New England to visit old friends and to celebrate Eric's cousin's wedding. We left on Thursday and headed to the Christophel home for a day. Although Jesse had to work, he and Eric had some "man time," as Rosie put it, Friday morning over breakfast. The boys caught up while I slept in :-) I was greeted by Rosie's smiling face. After a quick breakfast, Stewart woke up and the Michaelson's came over for a fun filled day with 5 kids. Somehow Kim is able to watch all 5 by herself, but Eric and I were wiped after it was 3 on 5. We had a great day catching up with Kim and playing with the kids. Friday night we got to meet our newest New England friend, Luke. Our friends Josh and Courtney had their first a couple months ago. He is a smiling happy baby. Josh made us some yummy burgers and we chatted the night away. Later that night, we, well I say we, but really I just slept, made the drive to the Cape to meet up with the Couch family.
Saturday morning we enjoyed a New England breakfast of Dunkin Donuts before heading out to the Christmas Tree shop. Eric was not too excited about shopping, so he went putt putting with Lexi, Brett, Sean and Eileen. Will the putted the morning away, my basket quickly filled up at the Christmas Tree shop with lots of low priced goodies. Later, we headed to the church to see Reenie get married. The ceremony was beautiful. I was in the middle of the row, so the pictures all had a person's head blocking the shot. I did however get some pictures of the family hanging out after the ceremony.
With a 2 hour break before the reception, everyone headed to the near by Friendly's for free ice cream. Full of sugar and ready to dance we went to the reception. In addition to the wonderful 4 course meal, we had an ice sculpture, and we were right on the water. It's always a fun night when the whole family gets together and tonight wasn't any different.
Sunday morning, we woke up early so we could make it to our old church for the morning service. It was wonderful to be back in the small community we left a few years ago. The church is continuing to grow, but still has the intimate felling we left. After church, we spent the day with the Christophels and then hung out with some of our close friends later that night. I was going to take pictures, but our friend Sarah is a wonderful photographer and I decided I would just borrow hers. I'll post some pictures of the afternoon later.
Monday we said our good-byes and headed down south. It was a world wind of weekend, but wonderful to see so many great people again. Although we love being down south where we're not only closer to family, but it's actually warm in April, we do miss our wonderful friends in Connecticut.
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