I can’t start Everett’s birth story without starting at the beginning, because I am so grateful for the blessings given to us during his pregnancy that brought his little sweet spirit to us.
Unlike our little surprise Luella, we were intentionally trying to conceive Everett. After the dreaded Arizona heat with the hottest August on record and bringing home Aspen when it was still reaching over 100 degrees, we had hoped for a February baby the second time. With using natural family planning, I know my cycles pretty well and had a feeling something might not be right based on some of the symptoms. When we tried the first month, things got even weirder, making me think we had conceived but the little embryoblast wasn’t able to implant. I sucked it up, went to Tahoe for a few days with my imaginary friends (one who was also TTC), came home, tried again, and on June 19th got a positive test.
(my imaginary friends, Carrie and Greta (7.5mo pregnant). Carrie and I both got pregnant the week after this, were due a day apart and delivered a day apart!)
A couple weeks later, I went to Oregon to visit my family and was pretty hesitant to announce our pregnancy. I kept feeling like something just wasn’t right. I talked to my mom and sister there about it, and really had no reason to doubt, but I would just tell them we’ll wait and see what happens.
A week after returning home I had this conversation with my sister who works at my doctor’s (gp) office. It went like this
on July 21, I text this sister again telling her I unfortunately now had a reason to call my doctor. It was a Sunday, and I had just finished telling my sister in law I was having weird doubts when I went to the bathroom and had started bleeding. That’s enough details about that.
The next day I called the doctor and he had me come in right away and performed an ultrasound. This was really reassuring, we got to see our little bean sprout with a heartbeat and everything looked good, although I was measuring a week earlier than I had expected, which was impossible based on when I got a positive test. I went home feeling much better, although still a little confused by the dates. The next afternoon I had a message on my phone to call the doctor urgently. When I did, they told me I needed to go pick up a prescription for progesterone in the next hour or two, and take it immediately. They put me on a dosage of 400mg and told me to come back the next day to see the doctor and have more blood work completed. When I visited the doctor, he told me my levels were very low, a third of what they should be at this point in pregnancy but since baby had a heartbeat, there was hope the medication would keep my body from rejecting it. I had known I might have a low progesterone issue since before we had started trying, but never had it checked. I went in two more times for blood work, was a nervous wreck when the nurses would call to tell me I still wasn’t in the clear and spent a lot of time praying. It had been a week since I had started bleeding, and after lots of prayers asking God to save this baby if it was in His will, I gave up my desires completely for His. I resolved to trust in Him no matter what, rest in His peace and praise Him for his sovereignty even if that meant losing the pregnancy. This was the first night all week I slept in peace. The next morning, I finally got the call that all my numbers were where they should be, and even better than expected, they weren’t concerned at all anymore (though I had to continue the progesterone through the first trimester). At 10 weeks I got to see baby again and he was measuring right on track with the due date we had thought he would have, he made up a whole week in growth thanks to the medicine! It turned out I had a subchorionic hemorrhage that was causing the bleeding, which often goes away on its own without complication and was completely unrelated to the progesterone issue. Part one of Everett’s birth story wouldn’t be complete without giving credit where credit is due: I am thankful God gave me doubts and then a reason to go into my doctor so they could find the progesterone issue. I am thankful for an OB that values the sanctity of life and checks patients out even when their symptoms are fairly common in early pregnancy. I am thankful my OB also believes in giving progesterone (some don’t), because sometimes there is nothing wrong with a fetus and the body can’t support it on its own or decides to reject it anyway. I have no doubt in my mind that if it weren’t for this course of events and our Father’s provision, my sweet chunky boy wouldn’t be here today. All glory to God.
(photos taken in Oregon, 5 weeks pregnant)
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