Exciting News

This probably isn't news to a lot of you who read my blog, but I bet it's going to be a shocker to some. Robert and I are expecting a baby on October 23! I wanted to wait as long as possible before making a general announcement because of what happened with my last pregnancy, and also because I've had some problems with this pregnancy, too, that I wasn't sure would resolve. Very early on (around 4 weeks) I was having stabbing pains in my side and I feared that I'd had another ectopic pregnancy. I went to the doctor and after a physical exam, he said that it was unlikely that I was having another ectopic, but he sent me to the hospital for an ultrasound just to verify his thoughts. It was amazing to see a yolk sac exactly where it needed to be. It was such a relief. It turns out that I had a massive cyst on one of my ovaries, and the pregnancy hormones were kicking it into high gear. My sister also had this problem during her pregnancy, so it appears to be hereditary. The other good news is that my current doctor doesn't believe that I'd had an ectopic pregnancy last year. He said that the symptoms just didn't fit and that I should have had a second opinion. Hind sight is 20/20, right.

I've also had a lot of cramping and bleeding and some other scares, but all of them turned out to not be such big problems. I have to drink a lot of water, otherwise I get contractions. The cause of the bleeding has never been determined, but my doctor isn't terribly concerned. I also have to realize that I have limitations, which is hard. I keep telling myself that I can do anything I want to, but in reality, it isn't so. I've struggled with it from time to time, but I know that growing this baby is the most important thing I can do, and I'm grateful for the opportunity.

Rob and I just feel so blessed. I won't go into details, but this whole pregnancy has been the closest thing to a miracle that I've ever experienced in my life. One thing that I will tell you about is my high blood pressure. At about 8 weeks, I went to the doctor because I'd gotten either food poisoning or the stomach flu and could not keep anything in me. I noticed that for the 4th time in a row, my blood pressure seemed to be high. No one ever said anything about it, so I asked the doctor and he looked at my records and said that he was not comfortable with how high my blood pressure was, but that it was most likely not related to my pregnancy. I do have a family history of high blood pressure, so he thinks it is related to that. He sent me to a peri-natologist who told me that I'd be on medication for it within a month, and that my risk for pre-eclampsia or toxemia were higher than someone who'd had normal blood pressure, and that I'd most likely be on bed rest for most of the pregnancy. I was really scared about the whole thing and prayed like I'd never done that things would turn out OK. And guess what? So far, my blood pressure has been normal for the last month. Nothing short of a miracle.

We'll find out in 4-5 weeks whether we're having a girl or a boy, but my inner feelings say it is a boy. I guess only time will tell.