We are having a BABY!!!

Yup that is right! We are pregnant! 13 weeks pregnant to be exact. Everything looks perfect (knock on wood) so far. We have seen the heartbeat, heard the heartbeat, and seen the baby swim around!! We are more than thrilled. This is truly a blessing for us. And to think we got pregnant the cycle after the Reproductive Endocrinologist said everything was o.k.! Guess this was meant to be.

Here are pictures from 4 of our ultrasounds, 6, 7, 9, and 12 weeks. It is so amazing to see how something started as the size of practically nothing and is developing into this wonderful miracle. We are beyond words.

I am excited that all of our family and friends will be able to follow along with our pregnancy and see all the progress.

By the way, the baby is due on or around February 17th.

New life path

So, some of you know about our good news. Derick and I purchased a pharmacy! We are now the proud owners of J.E. Pierce Apothecary in Brookline, MA. It unfortunately happened quickly, and under less-than-ideal situations. But as they say, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Pierce is where Derick and I met 10 years ago, so it feels like just another chapter in our life.

Derick has put so much work into the store, just in the last month. During the transition, we had to close the store, and as a result most of the scripts were transferred out of the pharmacy. Luckily, we have wonderful independent pharmacy friends who were willing to serve our patients with the intent of transferring them back to us. We are very thankful for these friends and colleagues.

We are also fortunate to have the two full-time pharmacists stay on with us. They are both so so great. They really bring a great personality to the store and the patients love them. Although our favorite pharmacist, Steve, may be in retirement for now, our goal is to keep his spirit, and mission to serve patients alive in the store.

So if you are ever on Beacon St in Brookline, MA, please stop by and say hi.

Under Construction...

I suggest coming back in the next day or two. Lots of pics/news to share. Just need the time to do it!

:)

T stands for Terrific!

Had my ultrasound today. In fact, I had 3. I had to show up with a full bladder. Let me just tell you how uncomfortable it is when you know you "can't" go to the bathroom. It just makes you want to go that much more. I went 11 hours without going. The first thing the U/S tech said was that I got a "gold star" for the fullest bladder she had EVER seen!

Anyways, she said that my pictures looked great and that everything was normal. Then the Doc came in and did the whole saline/betadine thing so that the picture would be more clear. He agreed that everything looked great. Said that I had a follicle that looked healthy and ready to release. On the last snapshot, they both confirmed that I have a T-shaped uterus. Then they both proceeded to say, "phew that is a relief."  I looked at them with a confused look because I thought that was a kiss of death for a health pregnancy. 

When I met with the doctor afterwards, he explained that it isn't a big deal. And that it is much better than having a septum. The way he explained it was that a normal uterus should be a triangle shape, but that mine was T-shaped. They don't really know for sure but they think T-shaped uteri (like cacti, but less prickly) have an increased risk of miscarriages because it is harder for the embryo to get good blood supply. They don't do anything to fix this, just a matter of try, try again. The doctor was very positive that this will have a good outcome. He said that I might have another miscarriage (or two), but that in the end, we will have a healthy pregnancy. 

I was so relieved after meeting with him. He was really great at acknowledging that this is stressful, emotional, and unfair. But then he said he KNOWS that we will have a beautiful baby. After his years of experience, I am going to believe him.  I feel a lot better, as if some invisible weight was lifted off my shoulders.  Now I am not so worried about WHEN this will happen, because I know it WILL someday. 

I will attach some pictures of a normal vs T-shaped uterus, for your viewing pleasure. The one on the left is normal, the right T-shaped. Don't worry...they aren't mine.  :)

It's been a while

A little birdie reminded me that I haven't updated this page in a while. I can't believe that it has been over a month since my last post. Actually, a lot has happened. Days after my last post, we found out that I was pregnant. I was immediately cautious, trying not to get excited. I had my betas drawn. Betas are a lab to detect how much pregnancy hormone is present. Any thing over 5 indicates being pregnant. But the more important part of betas are whether or not the numbers double in 48 hours. This is the true indication of a viable pregnancy. Ok, enough biology lesson...so my first betas were 27, seemingly good news. However, when I had them repeated 48 hours later, they had only gone to 35. My OB thought this was acceptable, but my instinct said otherwise. I insisted on another round of betas 2 days later. The OB office called back on Friday at 4:45 pm (the waiting is really the hardest part) saying that my numbers had actually decreased back down the 20's. 

So, we have now had 5 miscarriages. I was very sad, but truthfully, I was really expecting it. The "good" news was that this 5th one was during Kristanica (instead of one day of birthday presents, I get 8 Crazzzzy nights) and Derick and I spent my birthday weekend in NYC with our friends Courtney and Neal (the other pharmacy Andersons).  We really had a great time in NYC, doing all the touristy things everyone needs to do once. We saw Ellis Island, Miss Liberty, Times Square, and even rubbed the Bull in the Financial District for good luck. 

After number 5, Derick and I decided to go to a Reproductive Endocrinologist. Dr. Reindollar, from Dartmouth Hitchcock, was highly recommended, and more importantly, covered by my insurance. I think I was expecting him to find this secret explanation. As if he would just look at my chart and shout, "Eureka!" I should have known better. He reviewed our records, and said, "you have both done every test possible and they all look normal."  I swear I have heard this before. The one thing he did note was that my HSG (the x-ray with dye) showed that I might possibly have a T-shaped uterus. He wants to further investigate this. So next Friday, I will go and have a 3-D  ultrasound to confirm this. I have been doing some research and it looks like T-shaped uteri are very rare, and usually were the results of DES (a medicine they used to use to prevent pregnancy loss, but later found out to be teratogenic) exposure. My mom wouldn't have been exposed to this as it was taken off the market in 1971. Even more rare are naturally occuring T-shape uteri. So I guess I will have proof that I am 'one in a million' like Derick tells me on occassion.  If it is confirmed that I have anomaly, the treatment is unknown. Most references say to just keep trying till one sticks. Not exactly the answer I have been looking for.   Most days I handle all this in stride, but other days I get really disheartened.  I know that this story will have a happy ending, but it doesn't make these chapters any easier. 

On a different note, my 2 dog babies are my comic relief. Koda has definitely made room for Winston. The two get along just like brother and sister. When I watch them play, I get flashbacks of Jonathan and me fighting. On the outside it looks serious, but upon closer look,  you can tell they enjoy each other's company. Koda has really become a bossy big sister. She loves pushing Winston out of the way so she can get more attention. I have NO idea where she gets that from. 

Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers. I will keep you posted when I get the 3D ultrasound results. 

We have an addition to the family!!!

Last weekend we adopted our second baby dog, Winston. He is a lovable chow-pug mix, who was rescued from W. Virginia just like Koda. He is 2-years old, and is the same size and similar color as our baby girl. He took some time getting used to things, but he seems to have fit right in. Koda has decided to also "adopt" him as her baby. She loves to mother him when he does something wrong. It is so interesting to see how similar they are to people. Koda gets jealous of him at times. Like, when he has his arm on her bed, she gets flustered and pulls the bed out from under him!! Now I can appreciate how stressed my parents got when Jonathan and I would fight. 

We got the results from Derick's chromosome testing, everything came back perfect. That was the last test that we were waiting for and now have a green flag to try expanding our human family. We are in no rush, and have decided to let nature take its course. God has a plan for us, and we are going to follow it. :) Who knows, maybe we will end up with 7 dogs! (Just kidding Mom!) 

The good thing with waiting is that we could potentially have a baby in 2010. Why is that important you ask? Well it is a bit of a Napoli tradition to have babies (specially girls in years ending in '0'. Ok here we go, Cousin Karen was born in 70, I was 80,  Cuz Vanessa was 90, my flower girl Kassidy was 00, and potential baby to be would be 10. Pretty cool, hunh? No pressure! 

Happy Birthday Derick!

This weekend Derick and I went to Bartlett, NH to celebrate Derick's Bday. We had a great time. Stayed at a Bed and Breakfast for the first time. I had always been nervous to try this because I never liked the idea of being in someone's home sharing a bathroom with perfect strangers. This was nothing like it. The innkeepers at the Bartlett Inn had a separate area on the property, and we stayed in cute little cottages. Each room had its own gas stove, tv, and yes...its own bathroom. Nick and Miriam, the owners put a lot of care into getting to know everyone, helping with fabulous suggestions for food and entertainment, and providing delicious home cooked breakfast every morning. I would really stay there again, and hope that it will be soon. 

While we were in Bartlett, we went on our first winter hike. We rented snowshoes, packed lunches, and got Koda equipped with her backpack and boots. She was hilarious when we first put them on her. She looked like a marionette with someone moving her legs. I get belly-pains from laughter every-time I watch the video. Once she got in the snow, she was fine. But the boots didn't last. She actually wore through all of the boots. So we let her finish the hike barefoot. The hike was a lot harder than I thought. It takes a lot to balance, truck through the snow, and not fall off the edge. Going down is harder than going up, as it was steep, ungroomed and we fell quite a few times. Koda was the only one in her element. We did have a great time. The scenery was breathtaking. Once you got to the top, you instantly forgot about the fatigue and curse words you may have used earlier. 

That night we treated ourselves to a well-deserved dinner at the White Mtn Cider House. It was recommended from our knowledgeable innkeepers and we loved it. A wonderful four-course meal by a husband and wife chef team. I think I enjoyed Derick's birthday as much as he did, and maybe a little more. 

So what about our TTC  (trying to concieve) journey? Well, the visit with the MD revealed that nothing can explain the 4 m/cs. I have gone through every test possible, and they all came back normal. With the exception of one. When I had the HSG procedure, the films showed that I have spina-bfida. Of course, it is a passive form, so I don't have any real health concerns. But having this makes it exremely likely to pass it on to offspring. So the OB started me on a very high dose Folic Acid, and after 1 month of being on it, it reduces the chances of my future kiddos having it to nearly zero. So I guess, everything really dose happen for a reason. I would have never known about this if I didn't have the HSG. 

So our next steps are to have Derick's chromosomes tested, which will probably not show anything. We were going to have it earlier, but it isn't covered by his insurance and costs a lot of money. We figured we should just get it done now so there aren't any gaps in the testing. Should find out the results soon. In the meantime we are enjoying our freedom and the luxury of being DINKs (double income-no kids). Someday down the road here we will try again. But for now we are loving being just husband and wife.