New Doctor

Today Shannon and I met my new doctor in College Station. We love him! God knew exactly where to put us. Dr. Rayburn had talked to Dr. Wincek before my appointment. He knew all about me and what I had been through. He even knew exactly how I was feeling before I ever told him. He told us that he didn't want us to carry any burdens anymore. He said that was their job. He wants me to stay focused on the next six weeks only and not the entire pregnancy. My next appointment is on March 16. Three weeks after that, we will have a detailed ultrasound done. This is when we will find out what we are having. I can't wait! We did see the babies today, but the pictures are not as clear as the previous ones. I will post again when I have more news.

The Saga Continues

Today I went to work spotting like I have been doing for the last four weeks. About 15 minutes after I arrived, I had a gush of blood. I didn't panic and thought that it would go away. I was thinking I probably did too much work this weekend and a little blood was coming out. As the day went on, the blood got heavier. I have an appointment to see my new doctor in College Station on Friday, February 27. They told me to go see Dr. Wincek if anything happened before that day. So, I called and went to see him today. The ultrasound showed two growing active babies. I can not believe how much they have grown. As far as the bleeding, he is still not a 100% sure. He said the clotting blood in my uterus was gone. He thought that I might be in preterm labor, but he ruled that out. He did say one of the babies was right next to my cervix, and I might be experiencing placenta previa. He said that this is not uncommon in early pregnancy, and it should go away when the baby grows a little more. I asked why this is happening to me. He said that I have been a bleeder from day one and that we are just trying to figure out why. I don't normally do this, but please pray for us. I know God is good, and He will hear our prayers.


Here are the twins again. Twin A (top) is sucking its thumb. You can even see its brain starting to develop. Twin B has always been harder to see. As they grow, I think that one will continue to be harder to see. I think Twin B is more active and likes to put on a show. They are both the same size.

February 13 Visit

We just got back from Temple. The babies have grown another centimeter (4.5 cm). They were both very active. I think they have figured out that something keeps kicking me so I'll kick back. The blood is almost gone! My doctor has released me to see a regular OB. It was sad to have to leave a place that cares so much about you. We will now be seeing a doctor at a Scott and White clinic in College Station. I am not sure when my next appointment will be.

Ten Weeks

I was still spotting this week, but I did not have anymore big bleeding episodes since that last big clot. I went to the doctor on February 5. This time the babies were active. Twin B is easier to see than twin A. We were able to see arms and legs on both of them. Twin B was very active. I think Twin A was sleeping and didn't want to be bothered. Both of their hearts were beating away. It is such a good sight to see. My doctor could still see the pool of blood in my uterus. I don't think he was happy about that. I know that these two miracles are in God's hands. That is what keeps me going. Here they are again. How cute!!!

My Next Appointment

I went back to my doctor on January 29. This was the best visit I have had. The babies had grown so much and their heartbeats were in normal range. My doctor was very pleased with what he saw. He said there was still some blood in my uterus but was not real concerned. Here are the twins in one shot at nine weeks.

One More Time

I started believing that this was going to be a long nine months. I wanted to stay home and rest until the bleeding went away, but I could not afford to miss any more days. The Thursday, after the ER visit and the doctor's appointment, I went to a workshop in Victoria. I did not bleed much at all that day. I slept on the way there and on the ride home. About two miles from the school, I felt a big gush and I had blood everywhere again. I made it to the restroom and passed a clot about the size of a tennis ball. I called my nurse, and she said to hang in there that this may continue to happen. How was I not supposed to worry? After that episode, the bleeding went back down and I went back to spotting. I could not have gotten through all of this without my faith in God. He is so good!

Back to Temple

We went again to see my doctor in Temple after the ER visit. Another ultrasound was done, and the babies looked good. Their heart rates were good. My doctor said that he could see a lot of blood in my uterus. He said that the bleeding might have come from blood vessels that were popping. His thinking was that once the babies get a little bigger they will push on the walls of my uterus and cause the bleeding to stop. He said that I may have more episodes of the heavy bleeding. I was not happy to hear that. Here are the babies at eight weeks.

Second Trip to ER

I went back home still bleeding. I missed work for a day and a half to try to take it easy. The bleeding slowed some. I rested the entire weekend and went back to work on Monday. Tuesday after school, I started bleeding again. It was so much that I could not leave the restroom. I called mom, and she was able to get me to the emergency room in La Grange. I bled and clotted heavy for a good four hours. You could tell by the nurses' faces that this was not looking good. Still, way down deep inside, I knew both babies were okay. We live by faith, and not by sight. That is what I kept saying over and over again. My blood levels were still high, and the doctor ordered another ultrasound. The babies were still there and both of them had strong heartbeats. They could not give me a reason for the bleeding. Again I went home wondering what was going on.

Another Scare

I went back to work on Monday still spotting. My doctor did not want to see me until my scheduled appointment (that Thursday). Well, on Wednesday, January 14 I started bleeding and clotting. I called my doctor immediately, and they told me to come in. I bled like I was having a period. Even though it looked like this was the end, way down deep inside I felt like everything was going to be okay. God had this under control. My doctor did an ultrasound and saw the two babies again. One of them had a really strong heartbeat, but the other one was only 97 (which is low for this stage in pregnancy). He examined me and removed the polyp. It was very painful!!! He thought that this could have caused the bleeding but wasn't 100% sure. He told me to take it easy and sent me home. He wanted to see me the next week. Here are the twins at 7 weeks.

I kept saying this over and over on the way to Temple:

We live by faith, and not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7

First Trip To the ER

On Saturday, January 11 I went to buy groceries. When I got home, I started bleeding. Not just spotting. I told Shannon that we should probably go in. I thought for sure I was having a miscarriage. We went to the ER. By the time I got there the bleeding had almost stopped. They ran some blood work and my HCG levels were still high. The doctor found a polyp in my cervix and said that that could have caused the bleeding. We requested an ultrasound. We had to wait about an hour for the tech to come in. He was very good. He did the ultrasound and found two babies with strong heart beats. I was so excited. We left the ER with the first pictures of our twins and not real sure what caused the bleeding. I was told to take it easy.

The Excitement Begins

My doctor did not want to see me until he was sure a heartbeat could be seen on the ultrasound. So I was not scheduled to go in until January 16. I knew that was going to be another long wait. At this time, I did not know how many babies I was carrying. Well, the excitement started a few days after I found out that I was pregnant. I started spotting again. My nurse did not sound too concerned and told me to just take it easy until my appointment. Because I have already had a miscarriage, telling me to take it easy was not good enough. I was worried sick. I made it through my first week back to school. I was a basket case.

The Long Wait

The two weeks waiting for the pregnancy test just about killed me. I was pretty sure this procedure did not take when I started spotting. I spotted for three days. I was going crazy. My sister somehow knew how to calm me down. She reminded me that I had three embryos transferred and maybe one did not take. She told me that she had peace within her and that she knew everything was okay. I waited and on Monday, December 29 I received the good news. I was pregnant!!!!

IVF Procedure

I am not going to go over all the details of IVF, because it would take too long. I will tell you that it took many visits to the doctor, a lot of money and too many injections. Shannon has become a very good nurse. Our egg retrieval was done on December 10 and the Embryo transfer was done on December 15. My doctor transferred three embryos. One of them was developed into what they call a blastocysts. This is the best. The other two were almost at that stage. My doctor felt that transferring three would give us the greatest chances. Here is a picture of the three embryos and the arrow shows them after the transfer.

Seven Long Years

After struggling with infertility for seven long years, Shannon and I finally decided to take the next step. We knew that this would be our last attempt for having children. On July 10, 2008 (our anniversary) we went to see our fertility specialist at Scott and White in Temple. He recommended In Vitro fertilization (IVF). I knew that it would come to this, but I had a lot to think about. I turned to God and asked Him what to do. After several weeks and a lot of prayer, I knew we were going to do this. December was the month to do the IVF.