My Pregnancy

It's going to take a little while to get this all out, but I want to record every detail of what happened so everyone knows, and so I don't forget.

Nick and I got married last June after about 3 years of dating and being engaged. We took our honeymoon to Rome and the Vatican. When we received the sposi novelli (newlywed) blessing from Pope Benedict XVI at the papal audience, I specifically prayed that God would bless us with a child. As we walked through St. Peter's Square after being in the Basilica, Nick turned to me and asked if we could name our first born son Peter. Without a second's pause, I agreed. We had been told by my doctor that due to some congenital birth defects I have, it might take a while for us to become pregnant. To our surprise and delight, I took a pregnancy test 3 months later which was positive.

I remember that day like it was yesterday. It was September 29, 2012, and I had been feeling really tired and sore that week. Just on a whim, I took a pregnancy test privately while Nick was preparing to head to work. After a minute or so, both lines came back very clearly. I was pregnant! I ran to show Nick and I could barely speak. All I could do was shove the test in his face and say "Look!". He was elated, but he had to go to work. I immediately called my parents and they came up to celebrate with me. Later that day, we told his parents as well.

I went to the doctor and had it confirmed. I was indeed pregnant! Unfortunately, my progesterone levels were pretty low. Nick began giving me progesterone shots, but around 8-9 weeks, my levels dropped dangerously low. We feared that I was going to miscarry. After all, my mom had had 4 miscarriages; I was the only child that had survived. It was a very scary time, but eventually my levels went back up. I was referred to the high risk obstetrics group at Good Samaritan Hospital since I only had 1 kidney and had had pelvic surgery before.

From the beginning, I remember that I felt very ill. I immediately began retaining fluid and swelling much more than was expected at that point. I was nauseous all the time, although I never got sick. I developed vertigo (inner-ear dizziness) and had to miss a lot of work. I was working for a temp agency at the time as a Spanish-speaking customer service representative, and I feared telling them my news. I struggled to keep silent and give excuses, but eventually I was forced to tell them the news. About 3-4 weeks after that, I was let go for reasons that I do not understand.

Our friends were so excited for us! But then two close friends of ours had their baby, who they new had anencephaly, a congenital birth defect where the brain and skull do not form. It was so hard to be there for them and think of my own little child inside. I remember sitting in the last pew of the funeral at the church, and sobbing uncontrollably while holding on to Nick. I prayed, "Dear God, please don't let this happen to us. I could never handle losing our baby." Fateful words.

I was feeling a bit better and was over the vertigo. We needed the money, so I went back to Macy's where I had worked before. After 2 weeks, I had already had to go to the hospital and get checked out for pelvic pain and my back and feet were so sore that I was forced to quit.

After this, we were able to have our first detailed ultrasound at 16 weeks. I was in love! We did not know the gender yet, but we knew he was perfect in every way. I also began to feel Peter moving at 16 weeks, much earlier than anyone else I knew. Once I began feeling him, I was so excited! It was like the pregnancy became real. Although I was having a lot of back pain due to pinched nerves, I began shopping for baby things and we decided we wanted to find out the gender of our baby.

Around 18 weeks (end of December), I was having so much back pain that they decided to do another ultrasound that is normally reserved for 20 week pregnancies. During this, we found out that we were having a boy! I have never seen Nick so proud! My mom and I began looking for blue baby boy clothes, and Nick and I decided on the name Peter for sure.

The month of January became more and more difficult for me as the pregnancy progressed. I had to spend a lot of time in bed and my swelling really got worse. Eventually my morning sickness came back and I just did not feel right. I had a doctor's visit on January 28 and was given a clean bill of health. After this, I really took a turn for the worse, but none of my symptoms were unusual for pregnancy. I had no idea at the time how sick I really was.

To be continued in the next post...