I’m Pregnant!
Six years ago, I never imagined the journey it would take us to start our family. For the first 4 of those 6 years, we were blissfully unaware and would on-and-off try to conceive (the off times would be when we had an upcoming holiday where if I hadn’t fallen the month prior, we’d pause so I could enjoy all the cocktails!). But when our GP suggested that it wasn’t normal to have not fallen pregnant in 4 years without birth control, we started to investigate.
If you’ve followed our journey, you already know that the investigation brought us to the conclusion (or lack-thereof) of ‘unexplained infertility’ and after a few more months of trying naturally with disappointment after disappointment, we took the decision to go down the road of IVF. For some, IVF takes years, hundreds of needles and unimaginable strength to keep going. But for us, we were thankful to have a successful first round. We had been left with 3 embryos from the 8 eggs retrieved, and a fresh transfer of embryo #1 resulted in me carrying our first baby … but only for 8 weeks. Our baby girl had trisomy 16, a common chromosomal abnormality not compatible with life, and I miscarried over Easter weekend earlier this year. We were devastated and grief stricken … the highest of highs followed by the lowest of lows. But our friends and family rallied around us, loved us, prayed for us and sat and cried with us.
When I got to my next cycle, we transferred embryo #2 on an all natural cycle. No medication, no injections. It didn’t work. The embryo didn’t even ‘try’ to implant. We were gutted.
With only one embryo left, and the thought of having to go through egg retrieval all over again if it didn’t work, to say I was nervous is an understatement. So we spoke with our doctor and she agreed for us do a few extra things to make sure all our bases were covered this time. We monitored my cycle with blood tests again, and when they saw I had ovulated, I took a trigger injection which released hCG into my body to tell it to prepare my uterus for embryo implantation. I also had an ultrasound to make sure my uterine lining was in perfect condition to carry our last little embryo. Finally, I took on a course of daily progesterone pessaries from the day of the frozen embryo transfer.
The Friday evening before our Monday pregnancy blood test, I started spotting – the tell tail sign I always get leading up to my period. 99% off me had given up, but there was a tiny bit of me that knew God was faithful, and that 1% of me called forth the promises over our lives. On the Sunday, my spotting stopped. My hope started to creep back in, higher and higher. But at the same time I was experiencing none of the usual pregnancy symptoms. My breasts weren’t sore like last time, I didn’t feel ‘off’, I was so confused.
7:30am the next day, Adam and I went in together for my blood test, followed by the agonising 5 hour wait for the phone call from the nurses.
“Congratulations, it’s a positive result! You’re pregnant!”
We’ve had this phone call before, but this time with the following news, “Your hCG is at a good level of 579 so you don’t need to come back for a follow up blood test.” We couldn’t believe it, this little embryo growing inside me was so strong, and holding on so tight that I was well and truly pregnant!
The moment I’ve been dreaming of for 6 years is finally here! I’M PREGNANT!!!!!!! As I write this blog post, I am 14 weeks along and thinking about the joy this baby has brought our family and friends, sharing the news of this little miracle, still makes my eyes well up. So many people have been praying for this Little One and I can’t wait for everyone to meet them.
Baby Leung is due early March 2019 and I cannot wait to discover who this little person is.
I’ll take all the sleep deprivation, all the crying, all the dirty nappies to hold you tight and to teach you who your Heavenly Father is. Because He is a good, good Father and His promise of you, my dear Little One, has finally come true. Mummy and Daddy love you so much already!
#BYOB