Anything Can Happen

It has been a long time since I have updated my blog, so I want to apologize first. I have been busy with work and doctor appointments. As some of you are aware, I am pregnant! In two days, I will reach the six month point. I do not know how to explain it other than a God thing. It's really a miracle, and I will never know why God granted me such a huge blessing. I will never know why this happened to me, because things like this just do not happen for me. I am so happy and so ready to meet my baby. 

 As far as the gender, we do not have a definite answer because our baby continues to be in a difficult position to identify boy or girl parts. We have an idea, and I have been worried about sharing it, but have decided to go with it. After two ultrasounds, we believe (although not 100% sure) that we are having a little girl!

Anything can happen. My baby and I are living proof. 

Besides, the pregnancy I am struggling with work and my illnesses. As some know, I work with an international transportation company that keeps me extremely busy. I work twelve hour shifts, and we have entered our busy season. It is stressful to say the least. It doesn't help that I am very ill. I am motivated to work up until my due date (January 24) so that I have more time with my daughter, but as I get further along, I may change my mind. As of now, that is the goal. 

Endo and PFD symptoms continue to be awful. I still have ovary pain and my muscle spasms have been really painful and more frequent since my uterus and pelvic area has been expanding. I am not taking any medication for these symptoms other than tylenol, which is a worthless drug. 

IC is really kicking my ass. I am inflamed, urinating even more than usual, and constantly have painful flares. When I cannot tolerate the pain anymore, I take pyridium which offers some relief. For those not familiar with IC and pyridium, basically it just coats my bladder temporarily. I consider it my "band-aid." For those wondering, I have gotten the okay from several obgyns and the pharmacist to take that prescription, but I still only do it on an as-needed basis when the pain is too much to handle. I only really take it when I am working and the pain makes it too difficult to perform my job. 

Pregnancy symptoms have really been the least of my worries. After I got over the first trimester hump, it has basically been smooth sailing. I do get headaches every few days, but I manage. The two biggest symptoms have been hunger and fatigue, but the fatigue is also associated with my pain level. 

That's really it for now, but I wanted to ask for your opinions. I have spoke with other endo sisters who have mentioned that I volunteer for a c-section and have an excision while under. I was curious to hear your thoughts, opinions, and/or experience on this. Please let me know in the comments below!

xo Heather

P.S. I almost forgot to mention that my sister had her baby! My handsome nephew was born on August 30th. He is absolutely perfect! 

I Samuel 1:27

My grandparents came in to town to visit the night of June 10th. They arrived in town late that Monday evening, so we made plans to meet up the next morning. Tuesday morning (June 11th) I woke up feeling very ill. My grandparents arrived at our apartment shortly before 9am and I did not want to be a pain and complain about the way I was feeling. Instead, I ignored the way I was feeling and we made plans to drive to Tombstone, AZ. 

We hopped in the car and drove the three hours it takes to get to Tombstone - where it was also pushing 110 degrees. Tombstone is a historic western town deep in the desert, so there is a lot of walking and site-seeing in extreme temperatures. I was getting worse as the day went on, but kept trucking on. At one point, a women who worked at one of the historic buildings looked at me and asked "Are you okay? You look pale." I just smiled and said I was fine, but I was getting worse.

We eventually ended up in a building that had air conditioning and we purchased bottles of water. After several hours of making our way through the tourist trap, we got in the car and made the drive back to Phoenix. After eating supper at Burger King, I felt much better and thought that maybe I was just hungry.

The next morning, I woke up quickly and ran to the bathroom where I threw up. I was immediately irritated that I couldn't decide if it was an endo-related vomit or if the heat had gotten to me from the day before. Still, we had plans to meet up with my grandparents again and we drove to their hotel. I took a shower, and pushed on. 

After talking for several moments, we decided to drive the Apache trail and see some of the lookout points. On one of the lookout points, we had to walk 500 feet to see the view - either the walk was more than 500 feet or I was just too sick to handle it, because I felt that I could pass out. Walking back to the car, I was so nauseous and weak I almost wondered if I would pass out. 

I hopped in my grandparents rental car and took a nap. I slept most of the drive that I had been so excited to see (and the views were breath-taking). I also took two anti-nausea pills that were not taking the edge off. Something was really wrong but I did not want to ruin my grandparents first trip to Phoenix, so I ignored the symptoms.

Fast forward two days, after my grandparents had left. I called in to work, because my nausea was out of control. I did not know what was wrong with me. After several days of misery, I realized that I needed to go to the Emergency Room.

At the emergency room, I was immediately given a room where a doctor heard all of my symptoms and medical history. The doctor told me that they wanted to give me a pregnancy test, but I did not think anything of it.

Until....

The doctor came in to tell me that my urine test was positive for pregnancy. She told me that she was going to send me to ultrasound to see the baby. I was in a state of shock, then my husband looked at me and smiled. That is when the tears began to flow.

I was a woman, with endometriosis, a blocked fallopian tube and a short supply of eggs who had been trying to conceive for five years. I had began to accept that it was never going to happen, but there I was. 

Getting my first ultrasound on 6-14-2013 to see my baby. 

Our baby. 

I was able to see our baby and hear our little one's heartbeat. It was the most amazing sound ever. 

So there you have it, the infertile woman behind Hello Endo is pregnant. 7 weeks to be exact. I could not be happier. 

The reason for 5 days of nausea was morning sickness - I am officially a mommy.

xo Heather 

For this child I prayed (I Samuel 1:27)