The Results of Faith, Hope, and Perseverance: Pregnancy

I'm sure many parents out there have experienced the feeling of knowing you are pregnant, but not knowing when to spread the news. We were especially cautious given all that we had been through. The nurse told us our next big hurdle would be to see the heartbeat on an ultrasound at 7 weeks. We kept our news to ourselves, plus our parents and very close friends who knew we went through in vitro. So, we had a few weeks to wait until we could see the heartbeat. I was starting to experience mild morning sickness, only I'm not sure why they call it morning sickness because I had it at all times of the day. Then, just a few days before our ultrasound appointment and hopefully next big hurdle, I experienced some bleeding. Looking back, it was really nothing much and I probably shouldn't even have worried, but worry is my middle name. After a few phone calls down to Iowa City, I think they were tired of me and agreed to do the ultrasound 2 days earlier than originally scheduled. We went in the room like many times before, but with a lot more on the line this time. Right away we saw our tiny little blob with a fast moving blink inside. The tech told us that was the heartbeat and the doctors confirmed everything was great!

This is our ultrasound a couple days before 7 weeks. The next huge hurdle cleared! We were so excited!


Strange to me, we were then released from the care at the University to a regular OB in Cedar Rapids. I felt funny not having to go to Iowa City all the time or being in close contact with them. They did so much for us and now they wouldn't know anything about our progress unless we told them. In fact, as we were leaving the University for the last time, our favorite nurse's last words to us were, "Send pictures....of your belly!" I thought that was really awesome because she understood what it meant to me to be pregnant and experience all parts of it, including the big belly! We did send them a picture of my belly and of Aria once she was born. We got a letter in return both times, which was unexpected and yet another reason why they are so great!

I remember calling the OB to make our first appointment there and I asked if they would do anything special for us because we went through in vitro and the nurse replied, "Nope. You are a normal pregnant person, now!" I loved hearing that!
We started becoming more confident sharing our news with others. I made a list of those I wanted to be sure and tell myself instead of it spreading across the internet. After I had exhausted my list, I told the last group on it, the basketball players I coach. We were about 11 weeks along at that point. I'm not kidding when I say that after I sent a text to 10 high school girls announcing my pregnancy, at least 50 more people knew right away, as well. So, if you ever need news to travel fast, tell high school girls! :)

As for the rest of the pregnancy, it was pretty uneventful and good. I can't say I was one of those women who "loved" being pregnant. Sure, I appreciated it and loved the idea of it, but I just couldn't wait for Aria to come out. Plus I worried about every ache and pain.

Along the way we got to have several ultrasounds. A few because Aria was hiding parts they needed to check and several because we were considered high risk because of in vitro, even though everything looked great! I had to include this one because I love the picture of her spine! This was at 24 weeks and when we were "regular" patients at the OB!


We had all the tests most pregnant people do for cystic fibrosis, strep b, and the quad screen. A funny story about the quad screen: that was a big deal to me. The quad screen predicts the likelihood the baby has a severe genetic disorder like down syndrome. We had the test done and had to wait 4 weeks for the results. At the next appointment, when we were nervous to hear if we had a normal baby, the doctor never said anything about it. He was about to let us go and I asked if they had the results. He looked and looked through his computer and finally found it as normal. He kind of shrugged it off like no big deal, but it was so important to us to hear that. After that test was normal we decided there was no reason to do an amniocentesis, as the University had recommended. If we would have done that test, we could know if Aria has a balanced translocation like Justin or if she is normal like me. Everything was going so well in the pregnancy, we just decided it wasn't worth it. If Aria has the condition, it shouldn't matter until she wants to have children and a blood test can be done to find out. By then, who knows what technology will be out there. So, for now, we don't know. We are just thrilled to have a happy, healthy, beautiful little girl!

Don't worry, my in vitro story isn't quite complete. There are a few more things I would like to share in regards to emotions and the wrong ideas about fertility clinics.