3rd time's a Charm?

Embryo at 7 Weeks Gestation

Is this not the most beautiful image you have ever seen? Okay, maybe not, but I think that's only because you aren't standing in my shoes. 

On 23 April 2012, we lost our second pregnancy.

I asked them to run blood work on me at the doctors office because (in my words) "I didn't feel like waiting around for a 3rd miscarriage to learn there was something wrong with me."

As it turns out, there was.

Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is a gene which everybody has. It commonly mutates, and in women the mutation causes a lack of folic acid, which the baby needs to grow. That was not my only issue however. I had a second problem. Apparently my blood has a clotting issue which causes blood clots to form in my uterine lining, which blocks off the placenta. Essentially, my body was stopping my babies from developing. They told me they hoped they could help with both problems, and the fix was easy. I was to continue on a prenatal as well as take 3 extra folic acid supplements and 1 baby aspirin a day, taking care of both my deficiency and my clotting issue (aspirin is a blood thinner). I implemented this change into my life immediately.

One month later, I had been constantly making mad dashes to the lady's room all week. Several times I asked myself 'why do I have to pee so much?' and then shrugged it off. There was no way we could be pregnant. We'd been trying not to. We hadn't "done the deed" in the 3 weeks after our chemical pregnancy, which more than enveloped my predicted ovulation date. During this week of constant bathroom breaks I took a home test for the heck of it. Negative. Duh. And then 2 days later, I was in bed and rolled over. My arm barely brushed my chest and the pain was too much to bear. I was grumpy, but fell asleep without giving it a second thought. I took another test the next morning thinking 'there is no way this will be a positive.'

The first test lied. Which I yelled as I charged upstairs from the main bathroom. I chucked the test at my husband who was just finishing his business in the upstairs bathroom. He barely got out an awkward "Congratulations?" as I threw myself into his arms, sobbing and repeating more than once "I don't want to be pregnant!!"

The doctor's office had told me to notify them immediately if I got pregnant again (after the 3 months we were supposed to wait) so I went in that morning. My hcg was 17, my progesterone was normal. I was pregnant. 

I am now further along than I have ever been, 7 and a half weeks. My last blood draw about a week ago, my hcg was at 9153. I am terrified, but so very excited. My baby is growing. I'm exhausted, sleeping in almost every day. Nausea has been plaguing me for 4 days straight. My bladder is always full. I'm not cramping. I haven't spotted once.  

I am praying that this sweet baby makes full term, and I can't wait to see this special child that will be a combination of my husband and I. We have our names picked out, Jax Abraham for a boy and Madelyn Lorraine for a girl. I can't wait to find out which of the two it will be. 

That is why I think this photograph is so beautiful. At 7 weeks pregnant, my baby probably looks very similar to that image. At 7 weeks pregnant, all of my hopes and dreams are resting in a child that is as small as a blueberry. But most of all, at 7 weeks pregnant, I am blessed beyond measure.