Pregnancy 4.0

I can't believe it's been 2 and half years since I've posted on my blog. Ooops! Time flies when you're having fun! I'm currently 20 weeks into my 4th pregnancy. I took one round of Clomid in December 2014 and here we are on this amazing journey again. Again, we were completely shocked that the Clomid worked with just one round. I have taken Clomid 4 times and become pregnant each and everytime! It's my miracle drug!

As expected I'm already on medical leave. We had planned for this happening so we were prepared and were not surprised. Around 11 weeks I started to notice braxton hicks contractions and began to get the heavy, pressure feeling I had experienced in my pregnancies with Carter and our twins Chloe and Zoe. These symptoms gradually got worse until 15 weeks when I also started to experience painful cramps and a small amount of spotting. I visited the ER and was reassured that my cervix was closed and everything looked ok. I haven't experienced anymore spotting since then thankfully.  I then saw my obstetrician a few days later who put me off on medical leave.

At this point everything is going well. I can't do too much as I feel so much pressure when I stand for too long. I am shockingly only having about 5-10 braxton hicks a day. At 20 weeks 3 days into my pregnancy with Carter I was already having TONS of braxton hicks. So here's hoping they stay few and far between. We had our anatomy scan last week on April 27th and found out that my cervix was measuring 3.9cm which is great for me. The ultrasound tech isn't allowed to say much about the scan so I will find out if everything looks ok with baby at my OB appointment this afternoon. We found out the sex of the baby, and the only people that know what it is are myself, Ralph and Ralph's sister. We are not telling anybody else as both of our parents don't want to know so we are trying to keep it a secret for them.

I have been able to feel baby moving since just before 12 weeks. It started off feeling like little flutters then around 15 weeks I started to feel little nudges. I now feel baby moving all the time, little kicks, punches, nudges, rolls and I love it. It's truly the best part of pregnancy. I can't help but smile every time I feel this little one.

I will be starting progesterone suppositories within the next week or so. I took these during my pregnancy with Carter. Whether they made the difference in me making it full term with him or not we will never know. However we have decided it's just not worth the risk not taking them. My obstetrician seems fairly optimistic that I won't need to go on bedrest this time. I really hope I don't have to, but am ready and willing to do whatever I need to do to bring this baby home safe and sound.

Hopefully I keep up with this blog a bit more often. Carter is already 3 years old and continues to be the light in our lives.

So handsome! :)

- Amy

Pregnant!

Well, its been a while since I've updated my blog and a lot has happened in the meantime. I'm going to bore you with all the details of my current pregnancy..... so be forewarned. I took Clomid from June 15th-19th. This is the 3rd time I've taken Clomid. I took it first in 2009 when I got pregnant with my girls on the first round. Then I took one round in March, got pregnant and had an early miscarriage. So, when I took it again this time I really didn't think I would get pregnant a third time on one round. On July 9th I worked a day shift and had been feeling kind of off all day. I also had quite a bit of pain in my left flank. I took a pregnancy test at work which was negative, but I couldn't shake the feeling that I could possibly be pregnant. I took a home pregnancy test later that night and this is what I got.

To a normal, non obsessed person, the vvvveeeeryy faint line may be missed. But no, I did not miss that line. I quickly showed my husband, who said there may be a line there but he wasn't sure. Ughh, MEN! I just don't think he wanted to get his hopes up. So of course I had to buy more tests! I took this one 8 1/2 hours later.

My husband couldn't deny there was a line there this time, albeit still faint. Over the next few days I kept taking tests and the line continued to darken, and I of course had to take the clear blue digital test that says "pregnant" or "not pregnant". It said PREGNANT!! yay!! My heart skipped a beat when I read that.

Now that I knew I was pregnant, I couldn't help but wonder why I had so much pain in my left side... hmmm... My nurse brain immediately thought ectopic pregnancy! On July 11th my HCG was 42. This single number doesn't mean anything as the number has to start somewhere. The main thing is that the number at least doubles in 48 hours. I had repeat bloodwork on July 13th; my HCG was then 105. It more than doubled! Woot!

I had an ultrasound done on July 12th. I was only 4 weeks 1 day pregnant at the time so it was far too early to see any signs of a baby. However, we discovered what was causing me so much pain on the left side. I had an 8cm ovarian cyst, likely caused by hyper stimulation of the ovary by the Clomid. From what I can gather, the average size of an ovary is around 3-5cm. So this thing was around twice the size of my ovary. The ultrasound tech had the radiologist review the findings right away. Within a few minutes I was told to register in Emergency because cysts this big need to be surgically removed. Of course I was freaked out! So I headed on over to visit with my ER folk and waited to see the doc. He consulted with another doc. The consensus was that being pregnant, my growing uterus would push on the cyst not allowing it to twist or get bigger and would eventually dissolve. That was a relief; I definitely didn't want to go through surgery.

I continued to have my HCG checked over the next couple of weeks and it continued to double. I then had an appointment with my reproductive endocrinologist on July 26th. She did a quick ultrasound which found our little peanut was at the perfect size, but no heartbeat yet which we were told was ok at this point. She also had a look at my cyst. She chuckled as she explained to my husband and I that it was like those Matryoshka dolls......there was a mini cyst inside the big one.... awesome.... She also wasn't concerned about it and said it would eventually be reabsorbed.

I had another ultrasound done on August 15th, I was 9 weeks at the time. Our little peanut measured perfectly with a strong heartbeat! Yay!! Everything was going well until I hit about 14 weeks. I started to get the same feelings I had with my twin girls, a lot of pressure and frequent uterine tightening especially with standing. I continued to work, but was finding I needed to sit more often due to these feelings. Its kind of difficult to find time to sit working in an ER, so I knew I was not going to be able to work much longer.

On November 3rd (2o weeks 3 days) I was having increased pressure and a lot of uterine tightening. Given our past experience I was quite worried and went into labour and delivery to be seen. The doc checked me over and everything seemed ok at that point. The tightening was chalked down to braxton hicks. However, due to my history of preterm labour and the fact that my symptoms were exactly the same as with my girls, the doc thought it would be best if I stopped working.

So, I took it really easy from then on. However, on November 18th (22 weeks 4 days) the braxton hicks increased again. Back into labour and delivery I went. This time the monitor picked up the mini contractions and the nurse could feel them. The doc diagnosed me with irritable uterus, which i self diagnosed myself with in my pregnancy with my girls. I was admitted to keep an eye on the contractions and to make sure I wasn't going into labour.

I was just discharged home on Dec 12th. During my 3 1/2 week hospital stay I had at least 4-5 braxton hicks contractions an hour which would sometimes pick up in frequency. At one point they were every 3 minutes for 8 hours straight. I thought for sure that I was in labour, but apparently not!

So, now I'm home taking it VERY easy! I continue to have at least 4-5 BH contractions an hour. This just seems to be the norm for me. Its just physically and emotionally exhausting having them all the time. My belly hurts from my uterus contracting constantly and I always worry about the fact that I could go into labour at any minute. But, I'm 26 weeks 2 days pregnant today and I am so thankful to have made it this far!!

And now, some belly pics....

21 Weeks 1 Day

23 Weeks 5 Days

25 Weeks 1 Day

I'm sorry this post is so long, but I had 6 months of pregnancy to update you all on! My posts from here on out will be much shorter! I have some ultrasound pictures that I will scan onto my computer and post in the next little while.

We would like to thank you all for your continued love and support!

- Amy

Lets see where this goes...

This is my first ever blog post, and I'm not entirely sure what I will be writing about yet. I guess I could start off by telling you a little about myself. I'm a 24 year old married gal living in Canada... you can call me A. I'm a Registered Nurse that just graduated last year, and I'm currently working in an Emergency Department. My husband and I have been trying to have a baby for almost 3 years now. I have been diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. I got pregnant with Clomid in June 2009 with twins girls. Our lives were shattered when they were born too early in November 2009. I was 6 months pregnant when I went into preterm labour. Chloe and Zoe were in the NICU for 2 weeks before they lost their struggle. We miss them so so much, and think about them everyday. We have not given up though; I took Clomid again this past March and got pregnant again on the first try. However, that ended in miscarriage very early on. Soooo.... we are back at it again. I'll keep you updated.

I have so many interests that I think it would be too hard for me to focus on just one.... so I'll probably just write a little about all of them and see where this goes. I'm obviously interested in Nursing... as well as medicine in general. I have actually been discussing my desire to attend medical school with my husband recently. Don't get me wrong, I love nursing I just crave more! I'm constantly reading textbooks and researching. I thought I could share some "interesting" stories from my job, and perhaps things I'm learning along the way. I've only been working as a Nurse for 10 months, but feel like I have learned waaaay more than I ever learned in school!

My husband and I are huge movie fans. I'm going to try and get him to help me do some movie reviews. We actually just saw "X-Men: First Class" last night; it was very good! It was nice to learn the origins of the characters. I obviously didn't read the comics as a kid, so didn't know how the X-Men came to be. I also have some regular TV shows that I watch. I enjoy Nurse Jackie, Grey's Anatomy, Shameless, Mythbusters, Intervention, America's Next Top Model, Little Britain.... There are many more, I just can't think of them right now.

Photography has become a major interest for me in the last couple of years. I eventually plan on selling some of my work on here so stay tuned! I also enjoy scrapbooking, sewing, painting, and making jewelry. I suppose you could call me crafty.

I'm fairly techy, enjoy computers and LOVE my iPad!! I am a HUGE fan of Apple products. I will never go back to a Microsoft computer again! As I mentioned, this blog thing is new to me so bare with me. I'll learn how to add links, photos, etc soon so I can make this blog interesting. My husband and I love video games. We have a PS3 and a Wii. My favourite game is Call of Duty: Black Ops for PS3 ... and I'm not afraid to tell you that I'm pretty friggin' good at it :D

Ever since I gave birth to my daughters I've been struggling a little bit with my weight and body image. I'm 5'4" and weigh around 140lbs. I know, I know I'm within a healthy bmi, buuuut I am NOT happy with my body. I know, I know what woman is happy with their body?? Anyway, I plan on starting to eat better (I eat too much junk food!), and exercising again. I've played soccer since I was 5 years old, but haven't had too much time for it these past few years. So, here's hoping I get the motivation to head to the gym and eat better!

Wow! I didn't mean to blab on for so long. Anyway, you now know a little about me now and hopefully you'll keep coming back.

- A