A Little LaRosa & The First Trimester

DISCLAIMER: This particular blog post will be an honest account of what it was like for me and K as we made the decision to expand our family and the first twelve weeks of the pregnancy. Just a fair warning, things may get gross, funny, and just plain real. I hope you enjoy the journey!

Adding a LaRosa

Leading up to my annual checkup with my OBGYN in October, K and I had been seriously discussing starting a family. At that point we had been together for over 8 years, we both had been working steadily, we were moving towards construction on a new house, and we were both getting older… more importantly, I was getting older; truthfully, the “becoming parents” phase of life always seemed like it was far in the distance, and I felt like it sort of creeped up on us.

At my appointment, my doctor was really excited to hear that as the new year rolled around, we were going to start trying to have a baby (a little self-serving in my opinion, given her career choice), and after all my lab work came back, we got the official “thumbs up” and some instructions: Step 1.) Have two complete monthly cycles without oral contraceptives before trying to conceive – this will allow the uterine lining to be more welcoming to a fertilized egg; Step 2.) Track those two cycles to determine when I am the most fertile – ovulation occurs anywhere from day 10 to day 18; Step 3.) Have intercourse every other day from day 10 to day 18. As per my OBGYN, following these three steps would allow us to conceive in 3 to 6 months.

Following some quick math and some good old fashion cycle tracking, K and I determined that we would start our efforts to conceive on January 1^st; we really hit the nail on the head when we said we would starting trying to get pregnant “in the new year,” don’t you think? Trusting my doctor’s instructions, we were content with a potential due date between December 2017 and March 2018, especially since the estimated completion of our new home was between August 2017 and October 2017 – weather permitting. Little did we know…

The Beginning

The first week of 2017 I discontinued the use of anything that could be harmful to a new baby, and sadly this included all my acne medication. Apparently the joys of becoming a mother include full force adult acne in addition to going through life feeling like you peed yourself all day while trying to conceive. One of the other joys was some feelings of doubt… at least on my end of things. Beyond the typical male excitement of going through the motions of making a child, K was legitimately looking forward to becoming a father. “I’m going to be so good at it!” he’d tell me when I asked if he was ready to become a dad. I, on the other hand, was more on the side of reluctant acceptance; it’s not that I didn’t or don’t want to become a mother, but it’s a very permanent decision. It’s scary.

By January 10th, I started to feel… off. My lower back was starting to hurt at work. I was crying in the car when Selena’s “Dreaming of You” played on the radio. I was waking up in the middle of the night sweating. I started to feel bloated. I was taking naps in the operatories at work when we didn’t have any patients in the office. K was uncertain all these perceived changes were not just in my head, and the dog was no help when I’d push my belly in her face and ask her to use her doggy senses to tell me if I was pregnant. On January 18th, two days before I was supposed to start my period, I took a pregnancy test in the morning before work, AND THE DANG THING WAS POSITIVE! K wasn't so confident. The second line that denotes a positive test was a fainter pink and he wasn’t convinced that the window on the test had nothing showing before I used it. Looking back, he claims he was trying to not get his or my hopes up, but I think he just didn’t believe that we could be that fertile.

January 22nd I took a second pregnancy test and confirmed the results from four days prior. This time though, there were no questions. I showed the just opened test to K and then almost immediately after I peed on it, those two equally dark lines showed up. We were officially pregnant! I called my OBGYN’s office and got scheduled for my first appointment, but it wouldn’t be until February 22nd when I was in the 8th week. It felt like FOREVER to wait!

The Evil First Trimester

By the fourth week of pregnancy, my lower abdomen was definitely bloated and firm. I started to feel hungrier than normal, but nothing ever sounded appetizing. My acne calmed down some, just in time for the heart burn and severe abdominal and lower back cramping to start; apparently both totally normal symptoms of pregnancy as the uterine muscles and ligaments start stretching to accommodate a growing baby and your GI tract slows down.

At work and at my 28th birthday dinner with family and friends, it was hard to not share the news, but somehow K and I managed not to. It got even more difficult, though, when week six was accompanied by the start of food aversions and morning sickness, a.k.a. all day sickness. It only took me two consecutive days of feeling like I was going to spew my brains out before I called my doctor and requested some anti-nausea medication. At first I thought, “It’s just morning sickness. Everyone has it, it’ll be fine,” but it wasn’t. Going through life at a 9 on the nausea scale was pretty miserable, and I took that first dose of Zofran in the parking lot of the pharmacy. Over the next several weeks, taking Zofran every 4 hours helped; instead being at the high end of the nausea scale, I felt like I was at a 4. There were days when I felt better but certainly not good, and there were days where even the Zofran didn’t help and I could still be found hugging the toilet.

A couple days into week 11, it seemed the worst was over; I only needed the Zofran once or twice a day (typically in the evening when my “morning sickness” was at its worst), the moodiness/crankiness had subsided (I was definitely feeling more like myself again), and the Zofran induced constipation was waning since I didn’t need it as often. There was, of course, still the 3 or 4 trips to empty my bladder in the middle of the night, but I don’t expect that to be going away anytime soon.

By week twelve I was certainly starting to show. My mom is convinced that the reason my belly has been so obvious this early is because I’m so short, and there’s nowhere for a growing uterus to go except for out. That being said, I have yet to buy new pants but I did have to buy a few loose-fitting shirts to wear at work. And as someone who has lived their whole life shopping for bras in the children’s section, I’ve become very aware of my breasts feeling heavy, and I’m down to one comfortable bra. Not a problem I’ve ever had to face before.

Telling the Parents

Totally by chance, K’s parents came out for a visit the weekend of February 10th, and we figured it would be a good time to share the big news with all the parents. That Friday we took them around town and to see the site of our future home; all the while, hiding my bloated belly under my zipped jacket and secretly popping that magical Zofran every 4 hours. We had dinner at a local restaurant followed by dessert at my dad’s house where we brought out a wrapped gift for each parent to break the news: an Abuelo’s Little Monkey bib, a Keep Calm and Let Nonnie Handle It coffee mug, and other clearly grandparent related gifts tailored to each future grandma/grandpa. My dad was the first to make the connection. “Are you serious?!” he asked holding his stuffed monkey with tears in his eyes. There was joy and excitement had by all, and we were so happy to no longer have to hide the news… I was especially excited to no longer have to hide how crappy I’d been feeling all day!

After the dust settled with the parents, we texted our siblings to let them know they were soon-to-be aunts/uncles and reminded everyone to keep it all hush-hush. It was still too early to be sharing our “Little LaRosa” with everyone.

Ultrasounds

February 22nd finally rolled around and with it our first sneak-peek at the little embryo rapidly growing inside of me. Since it was still on the early side of the pregnancy, I had a rather uncomfortable trans-vaginal ultrasound with lots of poking and prodding to see the little one. Only 8 weeks and 5 days along, we were able to see tiny little limb buds, the umbilical cord, and the flickering of a tiny heartbeat.

Following the ultrasound I had some blood drawn and a quick exam with the OBGYN, and we received some unexpected news; during the ultrasound it was discovered that I have a heart shaped uterus with a broad uterine septum. The significance of this finding is that it could lead to some potential complications… the first being that if the placenta is attached to the septum, it causes still birth (luckily, my doctor and the ultrasound technician did not think this was the case), second the added downward pressure of the uterine roof on the cervix can lead to cervical incompetence resulting in spontaneous dilation and preterm “delivery” of the baby at 20-24 weeks, and finally it could cause a breached baby due to the shortage of uterine space at the time of labor. So what did this mean for us? It meant regular visits with a maternal-fetal OBGYN specialist, a cerclage to suture my cervix closed at about 14 weeks of pregnancy, and surgical resection of the uterine septum following delivery of the baby. It also meant that despite my September 28th due date, it was more than likely that our baby would be delivered via C-section around September 15th. It was a lot of information to receive all at once, and it was a bit emotionally daunting. Although a very manageable issue, it rattled me. Luckily though, K was there and asked a lot of good questions and reassured me that everything was going to be fine.

On March 8th I had my first appointment with the specialist; just two weeks since my last ultrasound it was incredible to see the outline of a little nose and to actually hear the little one’s heartbeat despite only being about an inch long. The specialist confirmed that a cerclage would be the best course of action, and I was scheduled for surgery on March 29th.

Since it was spring break for PISD, my mom accompanied us to the appointment and was so excited to see her grand baby. As we were leaving the doctor’s office, she immediately started brainstorming baby shower ideas!