During my healing process after the birth of Austin, I kept reaching out to the doctors because I felt that I shouldn't still be bleeding and cramping the way I was. Three months had gone by and I continued to receive the same response, "Your continued bleeding is probably due to the complications of the birth of your son and your excess bleeding during your C-section." So, in my mind, that made sense and I would let it go. Fast forward to New Years Eve- remember, I had Austin in September- something fell out of me. It wasn't a clot, but had some resemblance of an organ? It had a grey/purple hue, and was hard. So I knew it wasn't normal. After sending a photo into the nurse line that I had contacted previously, I was told to come in for an ultrasound. The ultrasound did in fact show a "scattering" of pieces of unidentified material. After speaking with my doctor, he told me that it was unlikely to be a retained placenta because I had not gotten seriously sick in the three months following my son's birth. But he said that we could do a D&C to ensure that everything was cleaned up inside. At that point, I preferred he go ahead with it because I wanted to cover my bases and start fresh. Turns out, the D&C was a good idea because I had many pieces of retained placenta left inside of me. For those who are unaware, retained placenta can be extremely dangerous and lead to sepsis and death. My doctor apologized and stated that he was unsure how this happened because he and his assistant did a "wipe" through to ensure nothing would be left behind. The only thing he could think of was that there was so much blood during my complications, that the goal was to just stop the bleeding and close me up. All this to say, if you feel that something is off with your body, make sure you continue following up on it!

Though this pregnancy has been a gift, and I currently have our little miracle boy in my uterus, it hasn't been the easiest pregnancy. I'm not sure what I expected. The people closest - friends and family- have had "easy" pregnancies. In other words, no symptoms besides being tired. That has not been my experience in the slightest. I have had ALL DAY nausea since week three. It wasn't until last week- week 17- that my nausea started to ease up. Instead of being all day, I'd just get nauseous at night. Yesterday was a fluke because I was sick from sun up to sun down. But I do believe my nausea will now come in spurts, rather than nausea with no relief. Additionally, I've had acid reflux, bloating, terrible migraines, heart palpitations along with the normal tiredness. As I mentioned before, I'm not sure what I assumed my pregnancy would be like, but it wasn't this. I guess a part of me thought that maybe since I had been through so much already, my pregnancy would be a breath of fresh air. HA! Silly me! God had other plans. 

As it's my anniversary today, I found it fitting to update everyone on where we are at!On September 27th, Sean began administering shots into my abdomen again. These are known as Lupron shots and are used as an injectable fertility medication that helps prevent premature ovulation. (As stated in my last post, I have been put on and off birth control so the doctors can control my cycle. But this really messes up my body, therefore the Lupron shots are needed to ensure the doctors are still in control.) We ended the Lupron shots on October 8th. 

Following our egg retrieval process in July and August (featured in a separate tab,) I entered what was called the Wash month, or recovery month. During this process, no medications are administered besides being put back on birth control. The doctors do this, to monitor all aspects of my cycle- therefore they're in control of it. I must say, being taken on and off birth control, and going from injection medications to nothing, really messes with ones hormones! YAY!

It's been a while since my last post because I encountered some hiccups that needed to be taken care of prior to continuing our journey. I regularly have heart palpitations, so the doctors requested an echocardiogram and stress test. I needed to wear a heart monitor for a week, where it was discovered I have Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVT). Additionally, my heart skips beats and stops when I'm sleeping, so I will need to get a sleep test done. That being said, we are FINALLY at a starting point. 

Do you ever have those days, so consumed in thought that you're completely withdrawn? Driving 40 minutes to work and not knowing how you got there? Enduring another restless night's sleep full of racing thoughts, rapid breath, and blurry vision?