In God's Time: Our Journey to Parenthood

Time to gear up to start again!

2011-07-10T21:46:00.003-04:00

So we have seen Dr. Myers and it is all set to start the journey to having TJ a sister or a brother all over again. But it seems as though ...this journey will be easier than the last but with less chance of success. We will take it! Remembering that it is in God's time. So I am on a journey to drop some serious weight before our December treatment date. I would like to avoid bedrest this time around and increase our chances of success.
So we are off to the races starting tomorrow.

We are back!

2011-07-10T21:21:00.002-04:00

So I know...we last left with the birth of TJ or the impending birth...but we are back. Let me tell you how blessed we have been over the last 15 months.
1. TJ is amazing! He is a super smart little person with his own way of doing things. He recent accomplishments include saying his first sentences...running sideways...and climbing on everything.
2. We were blessed to have a great caregiver for TJ for the first year of his life that supported our parenting style as well as my desire to breastfeed him for the first year of his life. She was the best person that we could have asked for until TJ developed a little quicker than we expected when he started walking/running at 10 months. There was no adjustment time, so she had to let TJ go. She taught TJ so much...including how to eat a great southern breakfast every morning and great southern (healthy) food.
3. Once we found out that we were going to be losing our caregiver my mother-in-law decided to retire and be TJ's caregiver. What a blessing! She is amazing! I cant imagine our life without her. She has sacrificed so much for us and we appreciate it. TJ is growing by leaps and bounds with her and he is in love with books and Thomas the Train. He knows a few body parts and two colors. She is a great teacher and so much more than a caregiver. She lives with us Mon-Thur and TJ loves every minute of having grandma around. (I love almost every moment as well).
4. I am starting a new job in AUGUST at NCCU as a tenure track professor...I will be teaching (my first love) and researching (my fifth love). I am super excited about the transition.
5. The biggest blessing that we have had over the past 15 months...is family! Our marriage has grown by leaps and bounds...and I love this man oh so much. I appreciate every little part of his personality because he continues to make me laugh and spread his infectious personality to our son. Beyond our small family...our extended family has been unbroken and have helped to raise our great little person. His great grandparents...and both sets of his grandparents and his uncle. As a daddy's little girl...it is amazes me how TJ's face lights up when he sees him and how my dad's does the same. My mom is the most amazing teacher I know and she has not let up with TJ. He left saying bye bye and came home saying I love you and blowing kiss. I love my parents!
6. God has really blessed us...that when life throws us a curb ball...he gives us the hand and eye coordination to hit it out of the park. So we have adjusted to like with a perfect little person and are learning as he learns.
Simply stated...I cant express our love for the mighty God that we serve. He is so worthy of our praise and absolutely deserving of our immense faith in him and his abilities.

The time has come

2010-03-17T20:57:00.002-04:00

Officially 39weeks 4 days... Unofficially 40 weeks 4days. It is amazing that we have spent 5 years dreaming about being parents. It is amazing in those instances that you think about the pregnancy and that is perhaps as far as your thoughts get because that accomplishment alone is daunting and seemingly impossible.
So many things fell into place in order for us to get to this point:
1. There was an error in the Aetna insurance policy that grouped North Carolina with Virginia DC and Maryland requiring them to cover fertility treatment
2. I went for a job interview for the job of my dreams and so I was eligible for this insurance
3. I graduated a semester later which allowed this job opportunity to open up
4. I started my first blog which helped me to receive an invite to appear of the State of Things at which time I met Dr. Meyers from Carolina Conceptions
5. I called Carolina Conceptions and was connected with Dr. John Parks. He was thorough and young and innovative.
6. We found out what the real problems were. After two surgeries, countless clomid, femera, tamoxifen, and injectible cycles...it was never going to work because the problem was deeper.
7. We found a doctor that would take his time with us and get us a step closer to being parents.
8. Our faith in God grew ...and grew... and grew...
9. At 34 weeks it seemed as if our little guy was ready to make his grand entrance a little early...but with a little bed rest and some activity modification he made it.
10. At 36 weeks...My blood pressure started to fluctuate and I was put on modified bed rest.
11. At 37 weeks...the fluctuations were worse and I was put on complete bed rest.
12. At 39 weeks...the doctors decide to induce...which will happen on Friday
So now our thoughts have transitioned to being parents and all the responsibility that that title carries with it. So we are here. On Friday at 6am...we will start a short journey that will deliver our big little guy.
We are overwhelmed and so appreciative of all the folks that care about us and our growing family. After 3 baby showers and 100's of gifts and 1000's of phone calls...we just can't keep up. I dont know how else to say THANK YOU for helping us to celebrate our miracle. We thought we might not ever get here and now in less than 48 hours we will be parents.
THANK YOU GOD! One thing that we are sure of is that God has not brought us this far to leave us!

31 weeks down...8 weeks 6 days to go.

2010-01-17T06:30:00.002-05:00

Today was my first baby shower. It was amazing. I had not looked forward to this day because I dont much like being the center of attention. But today I felt Beautiful...Loved...and Extremely Blessed. My family and friends were great. My best friend and very good friend Mary out did themselves. I cant wait to return the favor. I missed all those that could not make it...but everything worked out. My husband ... he is amazing to. I feel so blessed to get to be his baby's mama. So I am including some pics from the shower.

28 w 2 day u/s

2009-12-30T05:50:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the delay in updating. Time fly's when you are having fun.
The stats...baby weighs in at approximately 2 pounds 12 ounces which means at full turn...he should be at least 7 pounds. Now thats my kind of baby.
From the profile pic...he has the bone structure of his daddy. Looks to have missed mommies eyes too. So my little boy will look like a little boy. He has nice longer legs and a normal sized head. His heart beat was 145 beats per minute. He is head down with his head facing left. His booty is under my right rib and he had his legs bent with his feet under his booty. I am certain that that is no longer his current position because he has done some massive stretches tonight.

We are so excited about the way our lives will change once he born. Me learning not to work so hard will be the biggest obstacle. We have decided to breastfeed. Since the beginning of this process, I have looked forward to this bonding time with my son. I know it will be challenging because I would not like to pump for the first few weeks.

We are finishing his nursery this week. Pictures to come.

I am a little sad that this pregnancy will be coming to an end so soon. It has been the experience of a life time. I have enjoyed every part of this ...even the bad parts. It is amazing how short my memory is of the bad parts. I can't wait to meet this guy but then I will have to share him with the world. Right now...he is all about his mama. Selfish I know...but true. I am looking forward to my yoga classes to get ready for my natural birthing. On to 32 weeks...!

2009-10-29T08:23:00.004-04:00

I apologize for moving so slow but here is our update.
1) We have been to the doctor almost everyday this week. Because of some test results the doctors thought that there may have been some problems with TJ...but he is fine. All results were normal. Once again God knows more.
2)We have new pics of TJ that I will include below.
3)We have a new midwife/doctor! I love them! Life is good right now!
19 weeks 3d ...the babies profile

16w 3d The babies perfect spinal cord.
16w3d...it's a boy...on the left and right of the pointer are the butt cheeks.

Ernest Tylin DeVane IV "TJ"

2009-10-20T21:15:00.002-04:00

I was so excited to find out that we had been blessed with a little guy. So of course the next exciting process was to decide on a name for our little blessing. Well there were a couple of traditions to continue:

From Ty's family...his grandfather was Ernest...his dad was Ernest...he is Ernest...and so it only makes since for our little guy to be Ernest
From my family... all of the kids (my brother and I) have the same initials as my daddy: CRW. So it makes since that our little guy should have the same initials as his daddy :ETD.
From my family... names for the first born should be a combination of the mommy and daddy. So now this is the complicated part. My name is ClarLynda Raynell and that comes from CLARence RAY and LINDA darNELL. So notice that my moms I changed to a Y. So for our son we thought we would combine TYrone and clarLYNda and change the Y back to an I. So his middle name will be Tylin.

Daddy was not so convinced that this was the right name. However, this was the only name for our little guy. I like to think that I took the best from my mom and dad and I would hope that our little guy would do the same. Like his math and science skills from me and his history and english skills from his dad. I never thought that I could love a man as much as love my daddy and granddaddy but I love my husband in a way that words cannot describe. He makes me laugh so hard that I just have to cry. His sprit has grown to be amazingly lite and inviting. I would hope that our little guy would have the same traits as his daddy. Even the traits that get on my nerves... So that is the short of it.
We have new u/s pics...but mommy has been too lazy to scan them. I will do it this week because we get new ones next week. Have a great week people.

Was that a Kick?

2009-09-21T20:31:00.002-04:00

So...the baby kicked. It was an amazing feeling. It happened last week for the first time, but I did not believe it. Now at least once a day he reminds me that he is here. I say right now that I can't wait until the kicking and movement is more frequent...but I know I will regret that statement soon. My belly is growing so rapidly it seems. [pic coming soon] I think that my previous procedures have something to do with that. The baby is certainly not causing this much growth. Anyways theres my update.

12w3d: Never been so happy to....

2009-09-09T21:19:00.002-04:00

have a normal pregnant lady infection. I think this was God working my miracle. I was very disappointed that there was a 7 week gap between my last OB appointment and my next one. But I was not feeling well since last Friday (I slept until 2 pm on Sunday), so I called my nurse and she said I needed to come in. What a blessing...the problem was fixable and I got to see our little person (I think boy because I am the mommy and I just know, but who knows). Heartbeat was 151bpm and the baby was there. They used the Doppler u/s machine so I could barely see the baby. I am excited to know that it was not me eating too much of my mommy's cooking this weekend, and that the baby's house has moved up from behind my pelvic bone. Wheewww! My blood pressure was perfect for me 122/82 and my weight was...down seven pounds since my last visit. This was expected since I had been so sick two weeks back.
So my second piece of big news: We heard the baby's heartbeat tonight with our EBAY doppler. 148bpm...I was getting tired of hearing my own heartbeat.

So excited...3w4d until my level 2 u/s !!!!!

U/S Pics 6w, 7w, 9w

2009-09-06T22:28:00.000-04:00

6 weeks and 3 days old
7 weeks 3 days
9 weeks 3 days

Oh My Gosh it's really positive! BFP 7/11/2009

2009-09-06T20:59:00.002-04:00

So as you can tell I was excited. After waiting so long, I wanted to be sure...my husband still did not believe it. I took the first test on 7/11...it was a digital one...really sensitive and I screamed and hollered. It said PREGNANT...immediatly! Well I took the picture too late. The next day I took another one...it was positive too. So I went to the doc the next day and my Beta was 142 and progesterone was greater than 45. They did a repeat beta and its was 321. Betas measure the amount of HCG in your blood stream. So We were really pregnant!

The Transfer

2009-09-06T20:48:00.000-04:00

On June 28th we transferred two beautiful high quality embryos. We were amazed that it was such a miracle to see the beautiful gift that God created between my husband and I. So there was an excellent chance that we could get pregnant with twins. We would just be overjoyed with one. Our thinking was that God brought us so far for us to get to this point...that he would not let us fail. Throughout this process our faith truly multiplied as we stepped further and further out!

How it all started!

2009-09-01T12:08:00.000-04:00

Well many years ago we journeyed to a doctor that promised the world. We thought like normal people you just wait for the right time...do what mom told you not to do until you were married...and 2 weeks later you take a pregnancy test...its positive...and nine months later a baby pops out. At 23 that seemed like the general plan. Because of my prior issues we suspected that we would need some help and this doctor was supposed to give it to us. Pop these pills...pee on this stick...do the do...ah it will work. After 8 months...no success.

We need to go see another doctor that can offer ummmm...more help. Well this doc says lets test you. Yes you have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. (Well duh I have known that since I was 19). Well the good news is we can get you pregnant. Just take these pills...do the do...ah it will work. (Where have I heard this before?). So months later...no success. So we invest in a fertility monitor and think that this will work...no success. So we moved on to artificial insemination and started lots of shots and lots of doctors visits...and no success. Out of money and out of patience...we moved on.

Until I see the new doctor...we try acupuncture. Finally we get to make progress. We did not achieve the ultimate goal, but my body was working in a better way. So we decided to get another opinion...another reproductive endocrinologist. She had an excellent solution...a surgery called "Ovarian Drilling". So I say sure this is the magic solution to years of problems. One week of recovery and in a matter of weeks we will have our dream. NOT. It took longer than expected to recover and the surgery was not successful! So we try artificial insemination again...and no success. So we decide to take a break and enjoy being married.

So in the meantime we traveled. I finished school. Our marriage grew to another level and we fell deeper in love. Our relationship reached a new level. We moved into a new home and enjoyed life. I was invited to be on an NPR radio show to talk about infertility and I met Dr. Myers from Carolina Conceptions fertility clinic. I also found out that I had hypothyroidism. I was mad...I was frustrated...I was disappointed...We had invested so much in the process to find out that all these doctors missed something so important. My nurse practitioner found the problem and helped to get the problem under control over a six month period. At that time we decided it was time to go see yet another doctor. Carolina Conceptions Seemed like the choice...God dropped dr. Myers into our in our lap. So we ended up with Dr. Park from Carolina Conceptions...and he did a mired of tests that we never had done before and found the problem and he designed a solution (In vitro- Fertilization) and helped us to fight for help from insurance to pay for it. So God blessed us...So many things had to fall into place. Well they fell into place. We went through Lupron injections starting May 11th. We then started Gonadatropins injections on June 11th. We had our egg retrieval on June 28th and then we transferred two beautiful embryos on July 3rd. On July 11th, we had our first positive pregnancy test. We feel so blessed to be here!!!!! After 4.5 years, God has blessed us to get to this point and it is the most amazing and frightening experience of our lives.

We made It!

2009-08-23T20:55:00.001-04:00

We are starting to blog today August 23, 2009 as our little one has graduated from Embryo to Fetus. Today we are 10 weeks pregnant. We are starting to wear maternity clothes and are eager to tell the world...but we will wait another two weeks for that. Labor day weekend will be it for us! Over the next few days until Labor day weekend, we will tell the story of our 4.5 year journey to get here. So through many prayers in God's time we have finally made it to this point and we feel overjoyed and simply blessed beyond our wildest dreams! In the meantime...I will post some pics for your enjoyment.