Thursday, August 28, 2008

On the rise...

On Monday we had to go back and have our levels checked. Again. I didn't get my preferred tech, but the young guy who stuck me was great. And then we waited the dreadful hour long wait (which would me A LOT longer if Ben didn't work at the hospital and have access to all my lab work as soon as they enter the information). And we wait. And wait. And wait. They want my beta's to be around 150 or so. I swear an hour feels like 93 years. They're back.
Beta's: 440.1

Holy. Cow. That is quite the increase! Low and behold, the PA calls and wants me to come back AGAIN on Wednesday. Geez louise. I have been stuck a total of 4 times now (they missed one time and had to do it over, which caused me to udder "shit." loud enough for everyone within earshot to hear) but oddly enough, while I don't like it, I would let them stick me a million times a day for 9 months if it means we will have a healthy, happy baby come May.
So we go in again on Wednesday and my numbers do, again, exactly what they are supposed to do.
Beta's: 821
Amazing! I said a quick "Thank You, Lord" prayer and counted my many blessings.

Ben and I are so amazingly blessed and still can't believe we are sitting here waiting on a baby to arrive next Spring. We are having a child. My teacher asked how being pregnant was and for a moment I didn't realize she was talking to me! I thank God everyday for granting us this blessing and the oppurtunity to be in this position. I can't say enough times how much of a huge blessing and how unbelievably lucky we are.

In other news, I started back to school this week. This semester will be great and I really do enjoy all my classes. The only classes I have left are directly related to my major, so that makes going to school so much more fun. Our only concern right now is my TB test. I have to have one in order to go into a child care center, but we are still trying to figure out whether I can get the screening or not. Who knows. If I've learned anything throughout this whole thing, never ask Google. Google lies. Google only tells you things to scare you. Remember that.


XO,
cate

Sunday, August 24, 2008

For the record...

I am not spaghetti sauce, therefore, please do not call me prego. I know the red hair may remind you of red sauce, but trust me on this one. I'm not sauce.

I'm pregnant (still hard for me to believe!). Not sauce. Knocked up. Not sauce.

See. It' says Pregnant. Not pasta sauce.


All our best,
Catie

Saturday, August 23, 2008

When two people really love each other....

Whoever said getting pregnant is easy is a bold faced liar. It takes much more than the backseat of a car or too much to drink (we have done one of those, I'll let you figure it out). Not everyone is a Fertile Myrtle and gets pregnant on their first try. Some people don't even get pregnant on the first 10 tries.
We tossed the Birth Control about a month before the wedding (sorry I lied about that, mom!) and decided to see what happened. We both knew I had some underlying fertility issues so we knew it would probably take a while. At first, my cycles were insanely short but I was prepared for that. I had been on the pill for a few years and knew it would take some time for my body to adjust itself. We charted in a very half assed manner (see www.fertilityfriend.com for more information). We didn't pay too much attention to it though. Ben and I went to Charlotte, Cedar Point, out to late dinners and early breakfasts, slept in when we could and stay up way past our bed time almost ever night. We took our money and bought what we wanted (see the big screen LCD in the den!) and went where we wanted. Time passes and we are still not pregnant. My cycles stretched to 36 days, then to 50, then back down to 36.
So we got serious about charting. I temped religiously at 5:30 EVERY morning. It sucked. I'm not going to lie. Getting up at 5:30 on Saturday is not fun. But we got used to it. Ben was 100% supportive of everything I wanted to try. So we both loaded up on vitamins and supplements and Ovulation tests. I finally spilled the beans to my mom that we were having some issues. I had a few charts that showed no signs of ovulation at all and for those of you who skipped Health class, you can't get pregnant if your body does not release an egg. Mom started praying for us, I started praying harder.
On our last cycle (cycle 14 since coming off the pill) I was sure I was NOT pregnant. I felt better than usual, I went tubing on the lake with Ben and his parents, I had way too much fun with my family on the slip and slide at our reunion, I drank what I wanted, etc.
Exactly ten months to the day we got married we were so unbelievably blessed to get the world's faintest line on a pg test. I took it at home, alone while Ben was at work. I cried. Hard. I couldn't figure out if I was seeing things or if this was a true line. So I tested again. (Thank God for www.early-pregnancy-tests.com!) Another faint line. More tears. I sat on the floor in the bathroom and tilted those tests EVERY way they could go.
"Is it a line?"
"No...you are seeing things."
I did some hard praying (and crying) on that floor. Only to look up and see the dog staring at me like I had lost my ever loving mind. I called Ben. At work. I begged him to come home. He wouldn't. Stupid job.
So I waited for him to get home. In the mean time, I spilled it to all my Nesties (Shout out, BOTB!). They chorused "A line is a line!" and congrats spilled over (along with more tears on my part!).
Ben FINALLY gets home and he clearly see's a line. I'm still skeptical.
I test again in the morning (ie: when you are SUPPOSED to test) and don't see a line. Owell. I head back to bed and hand Ben the test. He swears there is a line there. I get up from my warm bed and test with an EPT. I'm still half asleep but he again swears there is a line, so I send him flying down the road to the Kroger to buy some digital tests. (Did I mention I love him?!)
His accounts from the Kroger trip are hilarious to me. He couldn't find the tests anwhere, though I told him they were by the pharmacy. Poor Ben runs all over the store looking for the tests, the finally asks the woman at the pharmacy. She looks at my husband like he is growing three heads.
"Pregnancy test. I need a pregnancy test."
::looong stare from Pharmacy Girl::
"I need a pregnancy test. A digital one."
::Pharmacy Girl points to the test cabinet::
He speeds home and throws the tests at me.
Then we wait. And we wait. And we wait. Three minutes take 18 hours, I swear.

Then "Pregnant" pops up in the window and I promise you, my world stopped. Ben FLIPS out. I don't even think flips out describes it. I'm sitting on the couch in complete shock and he is already on the phone with the doctor getting my blood work set up.
Off to the hospital we go. I get my blood drawn by the nicest person EVER and I don't cry which shocks both me and Ben, being that I am terrified of medical needles. And we wait for my results to come back. And we wait. FINALLY they come back.
Beta: 29.1
Progesterone: 13.97
Then, the charming woman at the Dr's office tells me my numbers are entirely too low to sustain a pregnancy. I call Ben in a near hysterical panic. He quickly turns to Google (which I have learned, NEVER Google anything medical. It will scare the poop out of you). He sees my levels seem ok and gets more blood work for me on Friday.
Thursday lasts forever. We don't tell anyone but my mom, my older brother and Marci.
Friday comes, the blood work part this time wasn't so great. They had to stick me twice and I cried, but as usual, Ben was amazing. Then, we wait again. My numbers needed to double on the beta's and increase on the progesterone. I hold my breath when Ben pulls up the results on the computer (Yet another AWESOME reason I love him. I didn't have to wait for my results, he could get them for me instantly).
Beta: 77.9
Progesterone: 16.54
We're Pregnant.
Baby Phillips due May 1, 2009.
Please keep us in your prayers and thoughts. The first trimester is scary for me. We are so over the moon right now, but are cautiously optimistic.

Friday, August 22, 2008

So here we are!


Hi! If you are reading this, you know either Ben or me. How you may know us depends on who you are.
You can always follow up with us and our crazy string of antics that make up this thing called "our life" here! But I will warn you, what you will read is being written from a totally selfish point of view. I (Catie) am keeping this blog as a running journal of this great time in our lives and to chronicle our first pregnancy. We are so very fortunate and blessed to be expecting our first child and I want to remember everything, both the good and the bad, in an unfiltered and honest way. What you read may include TMI (too much information), honest opinions and brutal truths. So if that is not your bag of tricks, I would stay away.
Having said that, I really do hope you enjoy my/our entries and updates. With family across the country, we agree that this is the best way to keep in touch with everyone and give you all a personal insight to our lives.

XO,
cate