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.