Thread: ~*~*Connie's (cmljll) Birth Lodge*~*~

I've had a really rough couple days and seeing my lodge this morning literally brought happy tears to my eyes!

DH needs to get back to work so I'll try to get on tomorrow and do my intro. For now, just keep me in your prayers... I have a miserable cold, have barely slept in 2 days, and had such bad indigestion last night that it almost sent me to the ER. I keep thinking things have got to go up from here!

Get a humidifier going and buy some breath right strips (they are awesome)!! (((HUGS))) please take care of yourself and feel better soon.

((((Connie)))) I am SO excited that its time for your lodge!! Welcome

I'm sorry you're having such a rough few days. I hope you are feeling better soon. You are right, things have to go up from here

I'm being lazy and copying my LOOOONG intro from Ethan's lodge

I’m Connie and I’m 34. My DH Jesse is 32. We’ve been married for 13 wonderful years! We met at a city bus stop right off the college campus where we both lived. I don’t remember who started the conversation but we soon found out we were both in the process of changing to the same major. Our conversation continued on the bus for the mile till the bus got to my stop. He asked for my phone number to “go out for coffee sometime.” I almost said no, but then I changed my mind and gave it to him. I figured going out for coffee was non-threatening, kind of a getting-to-know-each-other type of meeting. At that time I was heartbroken over losing the only guy I had ever really loved after a few years of off and on dating and had sworn off dating for a while. I do remember telling a friend that day though that I had met someone who I had a feeling was going to be a really good friend

Jesse called me the next night and we talked ALL night! Six hours straight! That first week he was such a great friend to me. He would let me cry on his shoulder about my lost love, my family, whatever, and he would just listen and encourage me. And he did all this knowing from the beginning that I didn’t want to be in a relationship anytime soon!

We met on October 6th, we started dating on the 13th, and he proposed on the 31st! So much for avoiding relationships for a while LOL We got married October the next year.

We both ended up temporarily leaving college for a while soon after getting together. I did a correspondence course in day care and worked at a day care for a while. Jesse went back to college a semester here and there. Eventually we both ended up back in college.

Through all this time, we both wanted kids, but planned to hold off until we both graduated and he had a stable job. Our hope was always that I would be able to be a SAHM. I graduated first (2002) and got a job as a full-time tutor at a low-income (Title I) elementary school working with kindergarteners.

The summer of 2004 my nephew was born. I remember us going to the hospital that night to see him and at that point I knew I was ready for one of my own! I didn’t say anything to Jesse yet though, because he was only a couple months from graduating and we had agreed to wait. I soon found out that seeing my nephew had brought about the same feelings in him as it had in me, and we decided to stop preventing anything from happening. He graduated, got a job, and soon after we started TTC. I didn’t chart or take my temps, but I did a lot of reading and my best friend gave me all her NFP books.

Fast forward to fall 2005 – I was frustrated with not being pregnant yet. I was ready to quit my job. Just the sight of a pregnant woman or a baby would send me into tears. I started wondering if we were able to conceive at all. You see, Jesse was born with multiple severe birth defects. He spent most of his early years in the hospital having corrective surgeries. The only problems we know of that he still has today have to do with his vision – he sees 20/300 in his good eye, is almost completely blind in the other, and has no peripheral or night vision. But he had never had a sperm count or any other reproductive tests done. Add to that my somewhat irregular cycles. After so long of trying, I was really starting to doubt... At the time I was taking dong quai to help regulate my hormones, but I could only take them for the first couple weeks of my cycle – I knew if I took them while pregnant before I knew it, I could end up with a miscarriage. I stuck out that school year, but only worked half-days.

Fast forward to summer 2006 – I started having problems that seemed to be thyroid-related. My mom has hypothyroidism and a lot of my symptoms mimicked hers. I did a lot of research online and everything seemed to point to my thyroid. But I never felt at peace about getting tested. My mom’s thyroid always tested normal, but a low dose of Synthroid makes a big difference with her. The doctor had put her on it despite her tests all coming back fine, figuring that she was hypo- and it just wasn’t showing up.

I had been going to a local natural health store for a couple years. Because of them, I hadn’t been on antibiotics for quite a while (even with sinus infections!), and I was feeling much better than I had in a very long time! So I went there to see if they had anything natural to stimulate my thyroid, figuring I would try that before having to risk going on Synthroid for the rest of my life. As always, they wouldn’t recommend a supplement without going through my list of symptoms etc first. When I told them everything, they recommended I do a hair analysis. They said that some mineral deficiencies could cause or mimic hormone dysfunction. So I agreed to the hair analysis.

When I got the results back a couple weeks later, it showed I was very anemic! I was surprised, since I didn’t have a lot of the typical anemia symptoms. They started me on an iron regimen and in less than a week, all my “low thyroid” symptoms disappeared! I felt COMPLETELY different! I found out that if you’re anemic, it messes with a lot of your hormones. So my thyroid was likely not functioning properly, but only as a result of not having enough iron. I still can’t help but wonder what would’ve happened if I had gone straight to the doctor!

Thanksgiving week I had been on the iron for about 3 weeks. I was feeling bad, and my period was a few days late. Those things usually go together – feeling bad from the PMS, and an irregular cycle! Almost without fail, my period comes within 2 days of me doing a pregnancy test. So I did what I usually do – I took a test to make it come sooner, or at least seem that way I stood in the bathroom and watched the stick do its thing. Lalalalalalalalala, watch and wait, lalalalalalalalala. I looked down. Surely those weren’t TWO lines I saw?! I looked away. I looked back. Still saw two lines!

So what did I do? I ran in the bedroom where Jesse was and asked him to turn on the light where he was sitting. I handed him the stick and asked how many lines he saw. He said one. I told him to look at it under the light. He looked again and said two and he gave me this look… Before he could say anything, I blurted out “that’s what I thought” and took the stick back and headed to the living room. My mom was living with us at the time and she was asleep on the futon in there. I woke her up and told her I needed her help with something. She said okay… I said “here, you need your glasses and a flashlight” and handed them to her. At this point she was probably wondering what the heck was going on! LOL So I handed her the stick and asked how many lines SHE saw. Because, I still wasn’t believing at this point that there really were 2 lines! As soon as she looked and said two, her whole face lit up!

Jesse tells me that he always wondered how he would find out I was pregnant. “How many lines do you see?!” was NOT even close to any of the possibilities in his head! LOL But we were THRILLED!!! After all that time, it had been a problem with MY body, not his, that had kept us from conceiving! It turns out that I had gotten pregnant my first cycle after starting the iron – almost exactly 2 weeks from my last period.

My pregnancy with Ethan went really well for the most part till the last month. I had very little nausea, and felt great most of the time. I ended up in L&D a few times for what I now know were gallbladder issues. And because I carried him so high, I had horrible heartburn! I took a natural alkalizer and it helped a lot.

I was (and am!) blessed to have an OB who loves to do natural births! I took Bradley classes, and my instructor was very pleased to hear that I was going to Dr. H. She used to teach NFP classes when he did She told me, "Oh, you're going to Dr. H.? You have NOTHING to worry about!" Coming from her, that said a lot And once Dr. H. found out I was taking Bradley classes, he would ask me at my appointments if I was "getting educated" and encourage me to learn all I could about NCB. Far cry from most OB's who don't like you learning too much and questioning them!

At my 37-wk OB appointment, my blood pressure was high. They waited a bit, had me lay down, etc. and checked it again. Still high My urine was normal, I was not swollen, no other signs of pre-e. He ended up sending me across the street to L&D for monitoring and bloodwork. Everything there turned out normal. My BP eventually came down on its own. At that point Dr. H. put me on "light rest" to try to keep my BP down. I was having a lot of problems with insomnia and he said that might have been part of the problem with my BP.

Dr. H. scheduled an u/s for 38 1/2 weeks because he was concerned about Ethan still being so high. He wondered if there was something in my pelvic structure that prevented him from dropping. But he assured me that even if there was, he would still let me go into labor and as long as we were both doing well, he would let me labor as long as I wanted to give the maximum opportunity to still have my NCB

As the u/s approached, I kept getting more and more nervous. My BP was still slightly high, and I was taking my "light rest" seriously. Jesse stepped up and pretty much took over housework. I cooked easy meals and I think we did a lot of take-out too. We did relaxation exercises we had learned at Bradley as we knew that would help my BP too.

When u/s day finally came, I was 38w 4d. Dr. H. was in a meeting and running late, so the u/s tech started without him. No biggie - he knew exactly what Dr. H. was looking for. Soon after the u/s started, he called one of the nurses in and asked for Dr. H.'s ETA. She told him he would be there shortly and asked if he needed him as soon as he got back. The u/s tech said yes. That was when I got really nervous! But I could see Ethan's heartbeat waves on the u/s and it looked strong and steady... At one point I almost passed out from being on my back so he had me lay on my side till Dr. H. got there. Turns out my amniotic fluid level was dangerously low Ethan was handling it okay so far, but it wasn't a good situation. Dr. H. did an internal exam and I was still closed up high and tight. No hope of an induction working He gave me the option of coming in every day for NST's and monitoring really well but at that point I had had a feeling for a while that something wasn't right. Once it was confirmed, Jesse and I decided to opt for the c-section to make sure Ethan would be okay.

It was a really tough decision I had no labor, just showed up the next morning and was cut open. Dr. H. let Jesse and my best friend in the OR with me, and we were able to video in there. The nursery nurse brought me my little wrapped-up papoose to kiss before she brought him to the nursery for the rest of the assessments. My bf and Jesse followed Ethan down into the nursery and Dr. H. told the staff to let both of them in and to make sure they had the camcorder going So even though I missed a lot of those first moments, I at least got to see them on video!

As soon as I was stable in the recovery room, Ethan was brought to me. I couldn't even sit up yet, but the nursery nurse helped me position Ethan so he could start BF'ing. That was all video'ed too

Everything went relatively well with the c-section, but a few hours afterward, I had a reaction to the epidural and ended up spending most of the next 8 hours knocked out on Phenergan because of vomiting

Even though I was really upset about not getting even a trial of NCB, I still feel I made the right choice. I now know that the combination of low amniotic fluid (and it was pretty much completely gone when he was born so I know it was still dropping) plus the rising BP for seemingly no reason likely pointed to a failing placenta. It took me a long time to get past it, especially since BF'ing didn't work out either I avoided pg.org for a while, and this board for longer. I just couldn't bear hearing about all of you who got what I wanted and worked for so hard... I needed time to heal and get past it...

Thanks for sharing, Connie. That's quite a story. I loved reading about your BFP with Ethan. I'm sorry you didn't get the NCB you wanted, but it seems like you were in good hands and had a c-section that was better than most.

Great intro Connie! I've known you for awhile on PO now, but its great reading your intro. I met DH when I had sworn off dating for awhile too.

TFS your birth story with Ethan; I knew of the circumstances but not all the details. Are you seeing Dr. H again this time?

How are you feeling? Did the cold go away?

Kristen, yes, I'm back with Dr. H. In fact, at my initial appt this pregnancy, he told me that he was extra careful how he stitched me up because he knew I'd want a VBAC and he wanted me to have the best opportunity possible!

The cold is here and letting me know it I finally got some sleep last night but I'm still exhausted. I was up almost every hour using the bathroom. Only way I can breathe is taking Sudafed and Mucinex every 6 hrs. I hate taking meds, especially when I'm pregnant! My neti pot is helping some, but this is deep congestion that it can't reach.

Hoping for decent sleep again tonight! Monday night I got about 3-4 hours of broken sleep, Tuesday night I was in pain, slept an hour and a half, back up in pain, then another hour and a half of sleep, then about 2 hours of broken sleep sitting up on the couch while Ethan napped yesterday. Jesse watched Ethan last night so I could try to sleep. Right now I'm killing time before my next dose of meds and then I'm headed to bed...

Ugh, I hear ya on the meds. I took sudafed (generic substitute) tonight too, and I'm still dripping. Not fun. I hope you get better soon!

What good news about the stitching last time. That is a thoughtful doctor.

I'm really hoping you get a great VBAC this time!

Oh yes, now I remember you saying that about Dr H stitching you up last time. I am SO rooting for your VBAC!!

I'm sending lots of healthy vibes your way too.