Our Ongoing Journey to Baby #2

I have decided to share our experience in hopes that I can encourage someone else, and receive encouragement.  I have learned in my life that when I share things I have gone through, or that I am going through, I can open the door for other people to have someone to talk to when otherwise they wouldn't.  I have been through a lot in my 32 year old life, and I am willing to share with others in hope that I can help someone else.

So, here is the story of our current journey...

It only took 5 months to get pregnant with Kenna with no complications. We started in December of 2010 trying to have another baby and a sibling for Kenna.  6 months later in May of 2011 we learned we were pregnant!  We were so excited!!  I had to have early blood work because in 2003 I had an ectopic pregnancy which left a damaged fallopian tube and increases your risks to having another ectopic pregnancy.  To learn more about ectopic pregnancies, click here.  The blood work showed that my HCG levels were not increasing as they should be.  We had an early ultrasound that showed the baby was developing behind schedule.  We continued with blood work for a few weeks, which still showed my HCG was increasing, but not at the rate it should be.  However, I had started to experience nausea and felt like things were going to be ok!  We had another ultrasound on July 19th, 2011 that showed the baby had not developed at all and that there was a 99% chance the pregnancy would miscarriage.  We had a D&C the next day.  My heart was broken.

We tried again, month after month, for a year without any success.  I feared something was wrong, and went to see my doctor because I had been diagnosed with endometriosis with my ectopic pregnancy in 2003.  I had laparoscopic surgery on August 30th of this year to determine if it was back, and it was back, along with findings that my left fallopian tube is almost completely damaged and not "usable" from the ectopic pregnancy.  Also, the scar tissue from my c-section with Kenna was excessive and was causing my uterus to be moved up and against my abdomen - in a place it should not be.  My doctor fixed what he could, and told me after surgery he was optimistic we would be able to get pregnant.  We were told to try 6 more months, and if we are still not pregnant, we will be talking to a fertility specialist.  We have been trying now for 3 months post surgery with no baby on the way...YET.  We just crossed the 2 years of trying mark...which for anyone who has really had to "try" to get pregnant, you know the emotional roller coaster that each month brings.

We consider ourselves so blessed with Kenna who is perfectly healthy and happy.  My goal was to have Kenna and her brother or sister 2 years apart, and we are getting closer to 4 years apart now if we were to get pregnant anytime soon.  We just continue to pray for a healthy and happy baby in our near future, and continue to thank God for the beautiful little girl we have.

I wanted to share our journey, because there is such a thing as second child infertility, which not many people have heard of.  For those of you that are still trying for your first, please try to be patient with yourself, and talk to your doctor if you feel you need to.  Trust me, I know being patient is much easier said than done...and hearing "just relax and it will happen" gets really old!  Please share your story with me or share my story with someone else, and we can encourage each other.

Love,

Carla