Our Pregnancy Journey

With each passing week we get closer & closer to meeting our little man, and the anticipation is steadily growing in the Davenport house.  We talk about him all the time, are constantly thinking of ways to make his life the best we can, and I can't help but look at tiny baby boy clothes on the Internet all. the. time!  He is so loved already!  We will be 33 weeks this Sunday and in a few short weeks will go from just us to us plus 1.  I have written about the pregnancy thus far, but wanted to remember how we got to this point (not that I will ever forget, but its something that I/we can talk about now).

We started trying for a family as soon as we got married.  We both knew we wanted children, and we wanted them as soon as God saw it in his master plan to bless us with them.  We tried for a couple of months with guessing roughly when I was ovulating based on my body signals.  After that didn't work we started buying ovulation kits.  We used those for about 6 months with no such luck.  After 9 months or so of trying we went back to my Ob/Gyn for answers.  We had a couple of options to choose from.  One was we could continue trying on our own for a bit more & see what happens.  We knew we weren't choosing this option because it obviously wasn't working in the first place.  We also knew that something was going on with my ovulation every month because some months we would get positive results on our tests, and some months we wouldn't.  The second option we had was for them to perform a procedure on me called a hysterosalpingography or hysterosalpingogram.  This procedure is done to check a woman's uterus and insure that her fallopian tubes are in fact open and not blocked causing infertility.  We knew this is the route we wanted to go.  We wanted answers and we wanted them yesterday.  So, we scheduled the procedure to be done in December 2013 (after a little over a year of trying for a little one).  If you haven't ever heard of this procedure here's how it goes:  I was brought into the X-ray room because they take X-ray images of your fallopian tubes and uterus.  In order to get your organs to show up in the pictures they inject a gel-type dye into your fallopian tubes using a wand inserted up thru your cervix and into your fallopian tubes.  I won't tell you how it felt because its unfair to impart my experience on to someone else (especially if you are about to go through this procedure) but I will say there was a lot of cramping during the procedure...like the worst menstrual cramps of your life.  There was also some mild bleeding after the procedure was done.  But, with my husband by my side and my wonderful doctor at my....well you know where he was....we forged on.  Within a day we got the results back - both of my fallopian tubes were open and my uterus looked fantastic.  YES!!  A small victory for us and a positive result in our favor.  Since my tubes were open and my uterus was good, it was time for us to say goodbye to our Ob/Gyn and we had to now go to a fertility specialist in Billings because there was nothing more our Ob could do for us at this point.

Since we had to be referred to a fertility specialist we had to wait for them to call us to schedule an appointment with them.  We were lucky to be able to get in to him right after the New Year at his next available appointment.  So the second week of January we started going to see him.  We both went through a round of tests and I had so much blood drawn from me over those weeks that I'm a pro at having my blood drawn now.  And anyone that knows me know that I HATE needles...so for me to say that tells you how often I had my blood drawn at the doctor.  I had every test performed on me known to mankind.  My husbands tests all came out normal so we knew it had something to do with me.  During the weeks of waiting there are tons of thoughts that go through your mind - from will we have to do IVF to why has my body failed me.  We discussed all of our options with our doctor after my blood results showed what I was suffering from - PCOS or Poly cystic Ovarian Syndrome.  I had all the working parts but not enough hormone to send the signal from my brain to my ovaries to tell them to release the egg.  Some months I would have just enough hormone in my body for it to show up on the ovulation kit as if I were ovulating and that's why we got positive results those months.  There are lots of ways with dealing with PCOS, and our doctor told us he was going to get us pregnant no matter what it took.  We had 3 options to choose from and would try them in this order.  The first was for me to take the hormone Clomid once I started my next period in order to really ramp up my egg production, then between day 14-18 go to the doctor every day for an ultrasound to see when my egg was mature enough and should be "released".  On that day I would have to give myself (or my husband would give it to me) a shot in my stomach of hormone to make my body release the egg.  We would try soon after that for a designated period of time, then wait 2 weeks for the results.  If this didn't work the next thing we would try is IUI where they would insert Wesley's goods directly into where it needed to go.  And the final option we had was IVF (if all of the above failed).

We waited for me to start my period, I took the double dose order of Clomid, then started having my eggs monitored via ultrasound in Miles City.  We got the news on my birthday, February 17, that it was time to do our "trigger shot".  My sweet husband was such a champ.  He can give cows, calves, horses, dogs, etc. shots all day long but he was so afraid he was going to hurt me.  The needle was so tiny I never felt it and he had warmed the medicine in his hand before injecting me so it went in a lot easier than if it was cold.  He was awesome!  Then we had to wait 2 weeks from the last day the egg would be viable to test for results.  I believe those were the longest 2 weeks of our lives but in retrospect they went by pretty fast.

The day came for me to test (March 6, 2014 - about 16 months of trying thus far) and I was wide awake at 5 AM.  It was a Wednesday...I remember that so well.  After laying in bed trying to pass the time I quietly tip-toed to the bathroom and peed on the stick.  Then I waited.  And waited.  I didn't turn on any lights except our nightlight in the bathroom because I didn't want to wake my sleeping husband.  After 16 straight months of negative results I was expecting the exact same this time around.  I had gone through so many pregnancy tests and negative results that I was used to seeing them and even though I had learned to stop crying when they were negative, it was still a disappointment.  So, when I saw the second little pink line pop up on that pregnancy test I had to do a double take.  Umm...what did that say!?  I quickly flipped on the light in the bathroom to take a closer look...and even brought my glasses in there because I hadn't put on those or my contacts yet either.  There it was....a positive result.  We were pregnant.  HOLY CRAP WE WERE PREGNANT!!  All of our hard work, tears, testing, and pain had led up to this day and we had finally gotten our positive results.  I had been planning for months how I was going to tell Wesley that we were expecting a little one.  From suppers to cards to little pink and blue onesies I had thought of it all.  And every single one of those thoughts went right down the drain when I discovered the positive results.  How the hell could I hold this in all day long?!  I couldn't!  I flung the door of the bathroom open, went to his side of the bed, sat down next to him, and whispered for him to wake up.  He immediately flew out of bed because he thought that something was wrong with me (since I was crying).  I looked at him with tear-filled eyes and said "we're pregnant!  We're going to have a baby"!  After a few seconds to react, his eyes filled with tears and we hugged each other as we realized that our dreams of a family were coming true...starting that day.  Needless to say neither of us went back to sleep that morning as the excitement was just too much for us to handle! 

I knew I would have to be monitored closely via blood work during the first couple weeks of the pregnancy so as soon as I got the orders from my doctor that morning we were off to Miles City to have my blood drawn to confirm the pregnancy.  About an hour after leaving the clinic there we got confirmation...my hormones were doing as they should and we were in fact expecting a baby! 

While it was a pretty rough first trimester for me I wouldn't change that for the world.  We are being blessed with a healthy baby boy and that is all that matters.  My husband was a champ during that first trimester because I couldn't even smell food cooking in our house without running to the bathroom to vomit.  I had morning, noon, and night sickness.  I would get sick at all hours of the day it didn't matter what I did.  From week 6 to about week 16 I was sick every day.  My doctor prescribed me some anti-nausea medicine and while that seemed to help some days, other days it didn't help at all.  We started figuring out little tricks to help ease my need to vomit every 30 minutes.  For about 8 weeks straight my sweet husband would bring me breakfast in bed so that I wouldn't have to get out of bed on an empty stomach because that would set me off every time.  As if I haven't said it enough...he was an absolute saint.  I am one lucky lady to be married to such a prince!  He would also come home after a full days work and cook supper for himself (and me when I was up to it) because I could barely get off the couch or out of bed on some days.  But, as I said before, I am definitely not complaining because I would do anything to ensure our little one is happy & healthy including being sick every day for 9 months if that is what it took.

By the second trimester I was feeling much better and my nausea & exhaustion had subsided.  I was able to cook for my husband again!!  I love cooking for him because he works so hard so that we can have the things we do so I feel like its the least I can do is to make sure he's taken care of.  Plus, I really love to spoil him because its just fun! 

And now here we are in our third trimester and inching closer and closer to the finish line.  We have had positive results from our big fetal ultrasound at 22 weeks when we found out we were having a baby boy (including healthy heart, brain, lungs, legs, arms, etc.) and for this we continually pray to God and thank Him every day. 

The one thing I want our son to always know and remember is that we worked so hard to conceive him and that he is so precious to us beyond what he will ever know...and we haven't even got to hold him yet. 

I haven't taken any recent belly pictures but will in the next few days or so to continue to document our growing baby bump before he arrives.  When we were at our last doctor's appointment the baby was measuring about 2 1/2 to 3 lbs and our doctor thinks he's on track to be about a 7 lb. baby give or take 1/2 a lb.  As we get nearer and nearer to our due date she will be able to give us a better idea of how big she thinks he is.  We do know that he is head down so we are thankful for that!  I do not want to have a C-section unless it is absolutely necessary for the benefit and health of our baby and myself.  I want to be able to deliver him the natural way, with the help of my supportive husband and an epidural!

While I can't promise that I will be as quick to update the blog upon our little guy's arrival, I will promise to put up pictures of him as soon as we are home from the hospital, and I will share our birth story with you.  I'm sure after I get a routine down with him I will be able to blog more but please don't give up on me in the first weeks after his birth.  I'll just be a busy new Mom adjusting to the new normal in her life!  :)

29 Weeks!

Although this is a little over a week old, I am so behind in updating because we have been so busy lately around here!  I promised my 29 week photo so here it is! 

 This little guy loves to move during the day and this Momma doesn't mind it one bit.  It constantly lets me know that he's still there and thriving with every little kick and tumble.  As the weeks wind down with us getting closer & closer to meeting him we often find ourselves talking about what he is going to look like, who he will become, and if the schedule he keeps in utero right now will be similar to the schedule he keeps once he's on the outside.  As of now he is pretty active during the day with a few little down times where he is "napping".  He's pretty quiet at night, but he is generally active between 3-4 AM (I know this because I have to go to the bathroom every night between this time...probably because he's dancing on my bladder!) and then drifts off to sleep again until I get up for the day at 7 AM.  The one thing his Daddy has noticed is every night at 8 PM he is kicking.  Every.  Single.  Night.  It's as if he is our little time clock at that point in the evening because every night he kicks about that time I always ask Wesley what time it is & he states back that I should know because he's moving around!  So we are both pretty excited to see if he is going to be active at 8 PM once he arrives :) 

I wanted to remember how much he enjoys listening to George Strait while in utero at this point in the pregnancy because I'm afraid I won't remember the small details of the pregnancy.  There's a story behind him loving music too - my sister asked me if I had played any music for him by holding headphones up to my belly & letting him listen.  She told me that Kannon would go crazy in her tummy when she played music for him.  So, I started trying it out.  The first few days I tried it I was fairly certain that I was lulling him to sleep.  But, then "Stars on the Water" came on about the 4th day...and that changed everything.  I played the music for him every day for a couple weeks straight to get him used to the sound.  Now, every time I put the headphones up to my belly and put on George he starts dancing around and having a great time.  Brittany said that when Kannon was fussy they would play music for him that they played while he was in utero and he would be calmed down.  I can't wait to see if this is true for Baby D as well.  He sure does love him some King George...and who wouldn't?  It was quite comical the other day when Wesley and I sat down to watch George's Cowboy Rides Away Tour on CMT and we had the TV a bit loud as we both love listening to George.  Evidently the baby heard what we were listening to and decided he wanted to dance away to it as well because he started kicking and tumbling.  It is a pretty awesome feeling!

We have been SO busy around the ranch that there are many days that I'm not sure if I'm coming or going.  Our entire August went by entirely too fast as his parents were gone for 2 weeks so we took care of everything around the ranch, then my parents came up for a week, we had a doctors appointment, hauled more hay, and had our end of year roping finals in Forsyth.  What a busy month for us!  This is all on top of trying to keep up with the house work, laundry, cleaning, and trying to get the baby's clothes washed and put away (because as of now his little nursery is a disaster...sad to admit but I'm definitely working on it this week).  In the evenings when it has been nice (which is most afternoon/evenings lately) I go outside and help Wesley put out mineral or lick tubs, and then we go over to the ranch & him and his Dad practice roping.  With fall right around the corner that means snow could come at any point starting in mid to late October so we are enjoying the beautiful weather and temperatures before winter comes to Montana.  And, in a short 10 weeks we will be welcoming our son into the world!  So, we are enjoying it all.  I was so proud of Wesley this past weekend at the summer roping series finals.  He won the overall roping year for the summer so he gets a really nice monogrammed jacket with "Champion Header" on it.  He also placed 2nd in the round robin roping for a saddle, and placed 6th in the 8 steer roping after the round robin.  He had a great roping season this summer and I am so proud of him!  I got some really good pictures of him and the horses this past weekend at the roping so hopefully sometime this week I will get those pictures posted to the blog as well!