Pregnancy with Devin

Ok- I think I'm going to do some more reflection on my past journeys for my family. Today, I am going to talk about my pregnancy with Devin. As stated in past entry, I got pregnant with Devin on my first IVF but after 2 1/2 yrs of trying. I found out I was pregnant in Dec 2003. In January, we saw the heartbeart for the first time. It was awesome. Taking so long to get pregnant, I was determined not to complain about anything during my pregnancy. I was so happy to be pregnant. I would love to do it all again. I truly think pregnancy is a miracle and I just don't understand when people don't appreciate that God has blessed them with a child. Overall, I would say I had a good pregnancy... no morning sickness, no diabetes, no high blood pressure. I think part of the reason I did so well was b/c I continued to work and stay active during my pregnancy. I did have a few problems, despite my optimitic outlook....

When I was 10 weeks pregnant, Jack and I were up in Sedona with my Dad on a weekend trip. I started bleeding about 10pm that night... and not just a little blood.. were talking urine that looks like Kool-Aid! I was just absolutely panicked and inconsolable. Of course, we called my doctor's emergency number and they said I was either miscarrying or having a uterine bleed. As long as the bleeding wasn't too much- I had to wait 2 days to get an ultrasound. I remember feeling total despair that weekend. I couldn't sleep for 2 days, called in sick at work for Monday, and cried all weekend. I was very mad at God at the time. How could He finally give me a child and then take it away from me?! I was sure I was having a miscarriage. What else could it be? I had to send my husband on an emergency run to the store to get sanitary napkins. Poor guy... doesn't have a clue and was panicked himself.. and he bought 3 boxes! It was kinda cute ... I was like "Honey- that's 150 pads- I only need a few!" He was really trying.

On Monday, we went to the doctor, she knew I was REALLY stressed---- I couldn't believe what I saw... the baby was fine and a good heartbeat! :) She said I had a placental tear and a large hematoma over the cervix and had to rest, no work or exertion all week. My family was very supportive- my brother Mike & Karen sent flowers. My sister Susan called all the way from Japan. Unfortunately, I found out Michael's wife was pregnant with their first child the weekend of my bleeding. So, they were on cloud nine...I tried to be happy for them- -- but instead I just burst out into tears. I tried to put on a happy face for them, but I just couldn't. I was devastated. They weren't even trying to get pregnant and I thought I was losing my pregnancy.

Well, things went better for about a month... I still had some blood drainage- but all old blood- this lasted for about another 3-4 weeks. I had some minor pregnancy stuff.... headaches and tiredness after late night emergencies. When I was 15 weeks pregnant, it happened again... another bleeding episode. This time, I was not as panicked. I had another ultrasound and everything was still ok- back to rest again!

I did do something stupid when I was 4 months pregnant, I had a mucoceole removed from my mouth. The doctor said it was no big deal. Well, it WAS a big deal. The sutures dehisced in less than an hour and I was in excruciating pain. I had to call the doctor on emergency and beg for painkillers. I was pregnant and hungry (couldn't eat b/c of the pain)- a bad combination. It was terrible, I could barely eat for 2 weeks and felt like I got punched in the mouth every day for 2 weeks. I would sleep with ice packs all around my face. Not only that, but the mucoceole came back! I was so mad. No way was I gonna have another surgery, so I opened it up myself with a scalpel blade and it went away after that!

During this time, my doctor's office really pushed me to have all kinds of testing b/c I was 35 years old. I did some research and ultimately ended up declining all the tests except the level 2 ultrasound. I figured, if something came up really abnormal on the ultrasound, then I would allow the testing. But, I just couldn't take the risk of an amnio - even if its only 5% chance of complications- statistics were not in my favor. I was the 5%. Jack and I decided we were going to keep the baby no matter what. I would not have an abortion. If Devin has Down's Syndrome, so be it. We would deal with that. Fortunately, her ultrasound was normal and we found out the baby was a girl!!!

Well, the next few months were pretty uneventful... Yea. Normal stuff... Charlie horse cramps in my calves, difficulty finding a comfortable position to sleep in, heartburn.... I loved being pregnant... nothing was going to get me down. I was still working as an equine vet and that was going well. I no longer took x-rays myself and avoided the more difficult horses, but , otherwise not much changed until I was 7-8 months pregnant. Then, it was harder to pull horse shoes (I couldn't breath when bent over or couldn't see the clenches on the horse's hoof!)

When I was 8 months pregnant, I got in a car accident! A young kid pulled out right in front of me without warning and T-boned his truck. Didn't even really have time to react. Fortunately for me, I was driving my F350 truck. If I wasn't in that truck, I am sure I would have been badly hurt or dead. It scared me, but otherwise I felt ok. Well, the EMT guy pushed me to go to my OB to get everything checked out. I said I would as soon as I got something to eat- I was hungry!!! So, I talked to my OB who sent me to Good Sam to get checked out about 2 hours later. Well, I'm glad I did b/c I started having contractions every 5 min at the hospital. They gave me some meds to stop them and put all kinds of moniters on me. They sent me home a few hours later, but I started having contractions again every 5 min that weekend. Went back to hospital- more meds to stop contractions. Started contracting again on Monday, and my doctor prescribed me terbutaline for the rest of my pregnancy to use as needed. Terbutaline makes you feel like you just drank a pot of Starbuck's coffee!! Iwas all hyper and shaky about an hour or so after taking it. Anyway, I had contractions every day up until I delivered. So, I used the medication daily for the next month.

I had a final ultrasound 2 days before I delivered... Devin had flipped to a head down position- Yea! They told me I would have to have a C-section b/c she was either transverse or head up the last 2 months of my pregnancy. They thought she might not be able to flip head down b/c of the septum in my uterus. Well, I was thankful and she came 3 1/2 weeks early at 36 1/2 weeks. She was small at 5 lbs 8 oz. Very healthy and normal. Thank God!!!

And, you know what? I would love to do it all again... but God had other plans for me....