Gretchen Penelope Gray

For those of you who've been asking about Gretchen's birth story here it is:

Gretchen was due November 17th and she showed no signs of coming on her own so we decided to induce on Saturday, November 26th - my Dad's birthday!

I was induced with Shelby so I knew what to expect - more or less.  I checked into the hospital at 7:30 am and by 9:00 am I was all hooked up to the IV's and was getting the Pitocin drip to bring on contractions.

My nurse, who I ended up totally LOVING, botched her first attempt at putting in the IV.  She punctured my vein and I bled a whole bunch.  It hurt really bad and left a nasty bruise.

When I checked into the hospital I was dilated to 3 cm so my doctor/brother-in-law, Ryan, told me he'd come check on me around 2 pm and then he'd break my water.  For the next 5 hours things went pretty well.  I was having contractions, but I couldn't really feel them.  The monitor I was hooked up to told me they were coming every 3 minutes and were fairly strong.  Things seemed to be progressing.  When Ryan came at 2 pm to check on me I was expecting to hear that I was dilated to at least a 5 or 6.  He told me I was at a 3.5.  Only a 1/2 an inch of progress in 5 hours!!  What?!?!!  Ryan decided to break my water in hopes of speeding things up.  After he broke my water I got an epidural in anticipation of things moving along rather quickly.  For the next 2 or 3 hours I sat around watching movies and waiting for my contractions to speed up and intensify.  But, instead of speeding up and getting stronger the contractions totally stopped.  At about 5 pm Ryan told me he'd have to ramp up the Pitocin even more to get things going.  He said that he didn't think I'd be ready until about 9 pm.  Ugh.  More waiting.  Since we thought we'd have about 4 more hours Travis and I started to watch another movie.  About 15 minutes into the movie I started feeling really uncomfortable even though my contractions still weren't too strong or close together.  My nurse had the anesthesiologist come back and give me a boost in my epidural.  Since I was feeling really uncomfortable my nurse decided to check my cervix to see if there was any progress.  What I heard next was, "Oh my gosh, I need to call your doctor.  You are ready to go!"  Apparently, I went from being about 4-5 cm dilated to 10 cm in about 15 minutes!  The baby also went from being at a -1 station to a +3 in 15 minutes as well!  Ryan told my nurse to turn off the Pitocin to slow the contractions so he could make it to the hospital in time.  Unfortunately, when Ryan got to the hospital 15 minutes later my contractions totally stopped.  So we had to turn the Pitocin back on and wait for the contractions to start up again.  We ended up waiting about 1 1/2 hours.  My contractions still never got very strong, but I managed to push through 4 contractions before little Gretchen was born!  A total of 17 minutes!  Not bad at all!! 

Waiting for the contractions to start up, again.

 

Ryan getting everything set up!

Gretchen arrived on Saturday, November 26th at 7:57 pm.  Weighing in at 6 lbs 14 oz and 20 inches long.

  

 

 

Big Sister meeting Little Sister!

The Grandparents

Look Who's Expecting!

Much Anticipated & Long Awaited

I was diagnosed with having a fertility problem when I was 20 years old.  My doctor told me I was going to have a hard time getting pregnant, but with the help of fertility medications like, Clomid, I would probably be able to conceive.  6 years later I was married and I began to realize just how difficult it would really be for me to become pregnant.  It took doctors and the help of an (really nasty and mean) endocrinologist 6 months or so to discover the reasons behind my fertility problem; Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS).  I started on Metformin, a medication known to help women with PCOS conceive.  I also took Clomid 6, 7 or 8 times and it NEVER worked.  In May 2006, just before I was about to take my last round of Clomid, I  I found out I was pregnant.  I miscarried at 6 weeks.  All in all, it took us 2 years to become pregnant with Shelby.  She was our miracle baby.

We thought we had my body figured out by the time we started trying for baby #2 in the fall of 2008.  After 1 full year of absolutely no success we started searching for natural remedies for PCOS.  We learned that a low-carb diet is very helpful with women in PCOS so I started low-carbing in November of 2009.  In January, I learned that PCOSers who run for exercise (as opposed to walking or elliptical training, for example) have more luck achieving pregnancy.  So, I began running - a lot.  In May 2010, I became pregnant, but I miscarried at 5 weeks.   After the miscarriage, we began looking into more natural remedies to help with my diet and exercise routine.  In the fall of 2010, we discovered, Insulite, a series of herbal supplements to be taken 4 times a day.  Insulite, in conjunction with a low-carb diet and exercise has been proven to help many women with PCOS conceive naturally.  In October, 2 months after I started taking Insulite I found out I was pregnant again.  I miscarried at 9 weeks just days before Thanksgiving.

I know I am not the only woman out there who struggles with infertility, but it sure felt like it. The holidays were miserable.  I felt like all the happiness was sucked out of me.  All the hope I had for having more children was pretty much gone.  I started trying to figure out how to become OK with only having 1 child. I was in really bad shape.  I cried a lot.  And I prayed a lot, hoping to find answers or some sort of direction.

In January 2011, still feeling totally defeated and at the end of my rope, both emotionally and mentally, I finally turned to the help of a reproductive endocrinologist (a fertility doctor).  My consultation appointment was scheduled for February 14, 2011.  During our initial visit, Dr. Greenberg talked to me and Travis for a long time about our situation.  She seemed pleased with all the knowledge we had about PCOS and all the steps I had taken on my own to conceive naturally.  Dr. Greenberg decided to put me on Femara for 3 cycles.  Femara is a  medication that stimulates ovulation.  It's similar to Clomid, but has been proven to be more effective in women who do not respond to Clomid, like me.  She said Femara seems to work really well for women with PCOS.  She told us if this didn't work we would  move on to hormone injections which would cost us about $3,500 a month.  We were really praying we didn't have to take that route.

When March 11th came around it was time for me to take a pregnancy test.  I was beyond nervous.  The 3 minutes I had to wait for the test to work was pure torture. 

The test was POSITIVE.  I didn't believe it so I took another pregnancy test.  It was POSITIVE.  Thinking something was up with my urine I waited until the evening to take another test.  It was POSITIVE.  The next day I took 5 more pregnancy tests; all POSITIVE. 

I started freaking out.  The pregnancy tests I was using were purchased online so I began thinking these pregnancy tests were defective.  I went to the store and bought 3 top of the line pregnancy tests.  I took one first thing in the morning; POSITIVE.  One in the afternoon; POSITIVE.  And since I still thought these tests were defective I made Travis test his urine for pregnancy; NEGATIVE.

OK.  I think I'm pregnant.  My follow-up with Dr. Greenberg was scheduled for the next day so she'd be able to confirm the pregnancy.  The blood test came back POSITIVE.  My doctor put me progesterone, a medication to help sustain early pregnancies and to help improve my chances for a viable pregnancy.  She told me I just needed to get past the 12-week mark, which seemed like an eternity that would never come.  I couldn't believe Femara had worked on the first cycle!

I was totally pregnant and totally freaking out.  I just knew that at any moment I was going to miscarry.  The 2-week wait for the 6-week ultrasound was nerve-wracking. I was a basket-case.  No matter what I did, I couldn't seem to relax. 

On the day of the 6-week ultrasound I was convinced we wouldn't be able to find a heartbeat.  I was scared to death.  But, there it was; a strong heartbeat was flashing away.

I was just as nervous at my 10-week ultrasound.  I was, again, convinced there would be no heartbeat and I'd have to prepare for another miscarriage.  But, there it was, a strong heartbeat pounding away. My doctor told me that my chance of a miscarriage at this point had dropped to just 10%.  Still, I was very nervous and I was still trying to prepare myself emotionally for another miscarriage, even though my doctors didn't seem to be worried. 

On July 7th I had another ultrasound. I was 21-weeks pregnant and so very nervous.  My doctor said everything looked good and the baby is healthy.  I am having a BABY!  I feel so BLESSED.

The baby was laying sideways so we had a hard time getting the traditional profile baby picture.  We were just really glad everything was OK and that there was a good, strong heartbeat.  I am due on November 17th.  (My last miscarriage occurred on November 16th).  This Thanksgiving we will have much to be thankful for.

 

Photos of Shelby

Shelby Beth Gray

Shelby was born August 27 at 3:22 am. She weighed 7 pounds 12.5 ounces and was 20 inches long.

Portland!

We have been in Portland for 2 weeks now and it still seems weird that we don't have to drive home to Everett on the weekends. It's fun to stay up late with our families and not worry about the 4 hour drive home.

Travis' job is going well. He's been in training and orientation, which means he's been working in all the different factory plants doing all sorts of things. Last week, he injured his wrist at work and has to wear a splint for a week. It's not serious by any means, but Travis felt weird filing a workman's comp claim the 2nd week on the job.

We were able to buy a townhouse in Oregon City, Oregon. (We are about 5-10 minutes away from all family members houses). It's not a huge place, but I think we can live there for 3-5 years. It's has 3 bedrooms with 2.5 baths. We are moving in on the 10th and bringing the furniture in on the 15th. In the meantime, we've been living in Clackamas, OR in corporate housing. We have a cute furnished 2 bedroom apartment with air conditioning and cable TV. And it's all free. The complex also comes with a swimming pool, which my family is grateful for. The pool is the only reason we ever get visitors. But, I am getting tan so it's OK.

The baby countdown in getting smaller. I have a little under 3 weeks to go, but I am hoping I don't make it to the actual due date (24th). I am way more than ready to be done with the pregnancy thing. And I think Travis is done having to deal with the pregnant Ann. We will both be glad when the baby is here.

It's a Girl!

Well, our original idea of not finding out the gender until the birth went down the drain. The suspense was just killing us and we had to know. We are very excited to be having a girl. Travis is already coming up with plans to make sure his daughter likes bow hunting and guns. It's pretty funny.

This ultrasound picture was taken a little over a month ago, but it's really the best picture we have of our little peanut. I will try to get the other ultrasound pictures posted, but don't count on it.

Baby Makes 3

Yep, we're gonna have a baby! The baby is due in August and we are so excited! This ultrasound was taken at 8 1/2 weeks so it's just a little peanut. But, you can make out a head and the little arm buds if you look closely. It's too bad the ultrasound pictures don't look as good once they are printed out. But, this is the best shot we have.