The Long Journey

Hi everyone. I am writing this blog to keep family and friends up to date with our pregnancy and for anyone that might be interested. The information in this first blog is very personal and only a handful of people are aware of what Dan and I have gone through. This first blog is to help family and friends understand our journey and how hard it has been.

Dan and I were married on September 26, 2009, as most of you know. We couldn't wait to get married and start a family. Two months later, on November 26th (Thanksgiving) we found out we were pregnant. Dan and I were so excited and we told both of our parents the same way - by putting a baby sock in a card for Thanksgiving. Little did we know that our happiness would turn into heartache. On December 1, 2009, I had a miscarriage. We were understandably upset but we started trying to conceive again.

Our Angel Baby #2

On May 26, 2010, we found out we were pregnant again. It was a great moment but I was so scared of losing the baby. We made our first appointment with the obstetrician for June 17th which was almost at our 9 week mark. The doctor did an ultrasound and said everything looked great. She said it was too early to see a heartbeat since she measured the baby at 6 weeks. Dan and I knew that we were farther along because we calculated the days I was ovulating and only tried on those days. We knew we were about 9 weeks and tried to explain that to the doctor but she kept saying that we were only 6 weeks along and we must have calculated wrong. She continued to say everything looks great for 6 weeks of pregnancy and gave us the ultrasound picture. We went home very confused and tried to rationalize her discrepancy by saying there must have been something wrong with the ultrasound machine or she may have put the wrong size when she measured. Deep down I was fearing the worst.

One week later, the morning of June 25th, I started to bleed, just a little. I made an appointment right away for that afternoon and because we were just told the prior week that everything was good, I tried not to let myself get worked up. I went to work that morning, told my supervisor that I had to leave at 12pm but that I would be back within an hour or two. When I got to the doctor's office, I saw a different doctor than the week before and he gave me the most horrible news: our baby stopped growing at 6 weeks and I was having a missed miscarriage. I couldn't talk, all I could do was cry, and I was alone. The doctor was very nice, but I don't really remember too much about the rest of that appointment. I went to my car and I called my supervisor to tell her I wouldn't be back. I could barely get the words out. She knew I had a miscarriage before so she knew what was going on and I didn't really need to say much. Then I had to call Dan and tell him what happened and that he needed to come home. I think I called my mom, but I don't remember too much about the rest of that day. I don't remember the drive home. I didn't pass the baby until July 1st, at 10 weeks 6 days.

Dan and I were happy with the 2nd doctor I saw. He seemed to really listen to our concerns and he recommended that we see a fertility doctor. He said, "Why wait till you have a third miscarriage to go to a fertility doctor, like most doctors would recommend?" Good point. So we had our 1st fertility appointment on August 3, 2010. Lots of blood work, lots of testing. I had an HSG (Hysterosalpingogram) and an SHG (Sonohysterogram) done to look for abnormalities and/or blockages in my uterus and fallopian tubes. They tested Dan's blood and semen to make sure he was OK.

Here were the findings:

• Dan checked out OK - no problems on his end
• They found that I have PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) and put me on a medication called Metformin. Read about the condition here: PCOS
• The HSG came back normal while the SHG showed 2 large polyps on the wall of my uterus. Read about these tests here: HSG and SHG

So now we had some answers. The doctor wasn't 100% sure if these issues were the actual causes of my miscarriages, but he said that they probably were. He was very surprised that I got pregnant at all because of the PCOS since I don't ovulate normally. So now we had to take care of a few things before we could start trying for another baby.

I started taking Metformin right away. My dosage was supposed to be two 750mg a day. I was getting so sick with just one pill that they tried me on three 500mg a day. After the second 500mg pill I was getting really sick. So finally I've been taking one 500mg a day. On September 22, 2010, I went to the hospital to have surgery. They needed to remove the two polyps from my uterus and inserted a balloon to hold my uterus open until I healed. That was uncomfortable to say the least. On October 7th, I got the balloon taken out. On November 15th, I had another SHG done to make sure everything was clear. We were ready to start for a baby now.

Since infertility is not covered by Dan's insurance, we decided to wait till January to start trying to conceive with the help of the fertility doctor. Dan has a Payflex account that he can put money into to use for medical purposes and it's taken out of his paycheck before taxes. Each monthly cycle that we would need to do before we get pregnant cost us about $3000. That price includes all of the blood work, ultrasounds, office visits, inseminations, and medication. We did four cycles before we got pregnant. Lots of money, but worth every cent. I won't go into the details of the inseminations unless someone is really curious, then maybe I'll blog about it.

The week before our last insemination, the little blue bird of happiness dropped a gift on Dan's shoulder. For those Maier folk out there, I think Mommom was sending us luck! Another lucky thing about our timing on this one was our last insemination was on Friday the 13th. We also had to have the insemination done by the alternate Dr because my Dr was unavailable on the days my insemination fell on. I also have been out of work on short term disability since 2 weeks before this last insemination. I was having terrible leg pain, headaches, and insomnia - later to be diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Because of this, I did not have (and still don't have) the added stress of work to deal with (which I think helped).

So last year - May 26, 2010 we got a positive on the home pregnancy test. This year on May 27, 2011, almost exactly a year to the day, we got a positive with a blood test. Our estimated due date is February 3, 2012! Up to the 11 week mark, July 15th, I needed to take Endometrin (progesterone) 3x's a day to help my uterine lining receive and nourish a fertilized egg. I will take the Metformin until the end of the first trimester, July 21st.


I will forever remember my angel babies. Being pregnant now does not negate the fact that I was pregnant before. It does not make me forget all the pain I felt or the look on my husband's face of worry, concern, and heartache. An angel baby will always be remembered as an angel looking down on us from above, keeping us safe and helping us through the hard times.

I hope this first blog clarifies a few things about what we have endured to get to where we are today. We never thought it would be this difficult to have a baby. We will never take this pregnancy or our baby for granted. I may have discomforts with this pregnancy but I will never complain. I will never get upset because my pregnant belly is keeping me from doing something as trivial as shaving my legs, wearing certain clothes, or sleeping on my stomach. I will be grateful for my pregnant belly and all of the morning sickness, back pain, and stretch marks I may get. Everything is a welcomed reminder that I am still pregnant and my baby is healthy.

Thanks for reading! Comment if you'd like. And… Please follow our blog for more updates and sonogram pics.