The last 3 1/2 years have felt like a roller coaster for me. As most of you know, Lance and I have been neck deep in the adoption process since August 2006. Most of the time, I was on a high. I knew that we would start a family eventually and every day I woke up thinking that maybe that was the day, but it never came. The phone never rang with the news that we had waited so patiently for. After doing all of the interviews, paperwork, background checks, a photo book of our family, a profile, required classes and non-required classes, the call for us to be placed with a child never came. I know that it would have come eventually, but Lance and I finally came to the conclusion that even though we're still young, we're not getting any younger. It was time to try something else.
There have been some misconceptions about the way Lance and I went about starting a family. Just the other day, I told a coworker of mine that I was expecting and her response was, "Oh, Kirsti! That's so great! Now you guys don't have to adopt!" A lot of people, if not most people, think that we wanted to adopt because we couldn't get pregnant ourselves. This idea couldn't be farther from the truth. Lance and I talked about adopting a child way before we were even married. It was something that appealed to both of us equally. It was something we really wanted to do. I went to see my doctor in the summer of 2005 and I asked to be put on "baby safe" blood pressure medication. The medication I was on at the time was not deemed safe for pregnancy. We tried a few different medications and different combinations of medications for about a year. In July 2006, I had a doctor appointment to check my blood pressure. At this point, I had tried about every combination possible, so Lance and I knew that this would be a deciding point for us. We decided on the way to my appointment that if my blood pressure was still not responding to the meds, we would adopt. Simple as that. Needless to say, the news was not good. Lance and I looked at each other in the car on the way home. I asked him, "adopt?" He said, "adopt!" It was decided. The next month, our journey started.
In May 2008, I started to wonder why everything was taking so long. I thought we would have been placed by then. I started to wonder if there were any other options for us so I scheduled another appointment with my family doctor to talk about blood pressure medications again. He sent me to a Perinatologist to discuss any newer medications that may have come out since we tried switching it up in 2006. They told me about two medications that were safe for pregnancy. I was really excited about this, since I had not previously tried either of them. To my surprise, they worked. I went from being on three meds to two meds and they were baby safe. I was happy to have another option.
Lance and I started trying for a baby in March 2009 and I was pregnant by November. It all seems so surreal!
I went for my first appointment on January 25, 2010 when I was 10 weeks along. I was pretty nervous going into my appointment because I just wanted and needed to hear good news. Up until then, I kept thinking that maybe there was a chance I was NOT pregnant and that I had lied to our family. Silly, I know, but that was the denial I was experiencing at the time. To my total surprise, my blood pressure was fantastic!!! I read at 114/82. I don't remember the last time my blood pressure was that good. Lance and I were pretty emotional seeing the baby for the first time. My parents and sister were anxiously waiting in the lobby to see us and celebrate the good news. It was such an amazing day! It was one that I'll never forget.
My second appointment was with a Perinatologist for my first trimester screening on February 12, 2010. They took measurements of the baby, we heard the heartbeat and they took a blood sample from me. Everything checked out perfectly! Two hands, two feet and a very strong heartbeat. The baby measured 2 1/2 inches in length and seemed to be right on track with everything. At this appointment, I was 12 weeks along.
Today starts my 13th week and I am due on August 25. We made our second appointment with the Perinatologist for April 7, which is when we will find out if we're having a girl or a boy! That day, we also have an appointment with the Pediatric Cardiologist. He will perform a baby echo to make sure the heart is okay. This appointment is more of a precaution because of Lance's heart history. He was born with pulmonary stenosis and had to have open heart surgery when he was 3 years old. He hasn't had any problems in the 33 years since then. The doctor told us that our baby only has a 4% chance of having something wrong with it's heart because of Lance's condition, so that put our minds at ease instantly. We really aren't worried about anything.
So, that is where we are in life! I had been feeling pretty fatigued lately, but I think I may be moving out of that and into the "just tired" category. I had only 2 weeks of very mild nausea between my 7th and 9th weeks and a little problem with sciatica, but that is pretty much it. Lance has been so wonderful and loving. I really could not have asked for a better husband, partner and friend in him. I am a really lucky gal. Life really is good!
I promise to try and blog more as we progress in this new journey. Wish us luck!
Our first ultrasound! 1/25/10
Baby at 10 weeks
Baby at 12 weeks, 3 days
1 comment:
Thanks for the update Kirsti! I'm so excited for you both. Mat and I have talked about adopting in addition to having children of our own too. There are so many children in this world who need to be loved by good people. :)
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