August 2012 was my last post. WOW! All I can say is that when I last left you...I was not in a happy place. I wondered if I would ever have the strength to pick myself up and try, try again. It took awhile but I finally felt strong enough...eventually. Yes I put the pieces of my broken heart back together and in June of 2013 we returned to Victoria to try yet again....and yet again we felt the pain of failure. Only this time it was different. I really started to think about WHY this was happening to me. My doctor kept saying "Your uterine lining just won't thicken enough for your embryos to properly implant and stay there. That is why this keeps failing." I took that information and decided to try to find out how I could fix this problem. My research revealed some interesting things and I soon realized I was my own worst enemy. I had been the reason our IVF was not successful. Turns out if you want a nice thick uterine lining you need to be physically active and you need to eat a healthy diet. These were things I was definitely not doing ...but I resolved to try anything and everything to get myself in the best shape of my life. I started with a fertility cleanse and eating a bit healthier. In September of 2013 I began going to Zumba twice a week. I was losing weight little by little. In October I went to a "Help for Hormones" seminar, where I learned about saliva testing to see how imbalanced your hormones are. A person then goes over this with you and makes recommendations for changes you can make. I had nothing to lose so I gave it a shot. The saliva test revealed that my hormones were way out of whack. Low estrogen, low progesterone, low cortisol...the works. I started a vitamin regimen, taking progesterone cream and following a grain free diet and before long my periods were back and I was losing weight like crazy. I continued to follow this lifestyle and lose weight and I was doing great. In the spring of 2014 I began running (after a friend of mine who was training for a 10.5 km run asked if I'd be interested in training with her). I decided to give it a go and I fell in love with it. By August I was running up 7 km in one go! I had gone from being a size 20 in August 2012 (and staying that size for almost the whole next year)...to being a size 12 in August 2014. During these healthy lifestyle changes I finally gained the confidence to try again. So...we made arrangements to return to Victoria this summer. Our goal was to return in July. Things didn't work out. We got delayed because of blood test results getting to the clinic slow and so we had to postpone until August. I wasn't overjoyed about this. August was going to be a hugely busy month. My in-laws would be here for just over a week...and the of course there is the back to school preparations. BUT...we found a date that would work to go back. August 21. We rearranged the plans and made it work. It wasn't going to be with Dr Hudson (he was away on holidays) but Dr Graham would be doing the procedure. (Once we got there we realized not only was their no Dr Hudson...there was no Tammi or Leigh either.....it was a nurse we weren't familiar with too!) Not only that, but the whole protocol that we followed to get prepared for IVF was different. NO needles! I was on viagra of all things (not in the way you'd imagine...it's actually great for uterine lining...google it!!) Anyway, this is where it gets good people. Sometimes plans don't work out the way we want them to. We think we need things to work out one way but God has different plans and he truly knows best. All these changes (me, my lifestyle, doctor, nurse, protocol)...they equated to success! On labor day, 2 days before I was due to go for my blood test, I had this feeling that I was supposed to take a pee test. So at 6am on Labor Day...I took a pregnancy test and it was POSITIVE!! I was in disbelief! I mean...I was completely in shock. Crying, hysterical shock. I woke Luc up from a dead sleep screaming "LUC! Wake up!" And he...in his groggy sleep voice said "What? What's wrong?" I (crying of course) said "We're going to have a baby! I just took a test." He continued "It worked?" "Yes! Unless I'm going crazy. There are two lines on that test. Go look." He got out of bed and checked. "Yeah. There are. Holy crap we're going to have a baby!"
Yes folks. 3 blood tests and 2 pee tests later..lol..we finally believe and we are adjusting to the fact that we really are going to be parents. I'm 9 and a half weeks! We've seen the heartbeat on the ultrasound and we know it's real...but man we kind of thought it might never happen for us. But, God says yes to his promises! We just had to wait for his timing and let me tell you the timing could not be better. Our due date is May 10 and we are beyond excited. I am so happy to finally be able to share some wonderful news with you and to catch you all up on what has happened in our journey since we left you last in August 2012.
Much love and God bless!
Jen
xoxoxox
