Showing posts with label baby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baby. Show all posts

3.30.2018

A Birth Story: Luke Ezra Marozas

It's been a minute since I last posted. And there have definitely been some updates in our life. I love reading birth stories and hearing peoples' experiences. I hope you'll enjoy ours. I'll start from the very beginning.

I had a doctor's appointment on Monday, February 26th. It was a routine visit, and I was feeling pretty good that day at 36 weeks and 4 days. I went in and my blood pressure was high. They made me lie down on my left and rest and re-took it later. Baby looked great, but they didn't like my blood pressure. They were worried that I was on my way to pre-eclampsia. They allowed me to go home but not first without a trip to the lab to have blood drawn and do a 24 hour urine collection. They told me to monitor my BP the rest of the day. I don't know about you but if someone tells you that your blood pressure is high and that you just need to relax....it's not all that easy. Well my blood pressure continued to go up. I called the office twice and left 2 messages with my readings. They finally called me back and told me to head in to labor and delivery. I was freaked out. I had to stay 24 hours overnight and be monitored. My blood pressure did go down and was put on mild bed rest. I followed up with my doctor that Friday, March 2nd.

At that appointment, my doctor went over everything with me and asked me how I felt about an induction. At this point, I was 37 weeks and 1 day. She wanted it scheduled for the following Thursday night which is when I turned 38 weeks. It was all getting super real. I called my parents and let them know when they needed to start heading our way. We got confirmation the following Tuesday to come in Thursday night to start the induction process with Cervidil. They ended up being super backed up with lots of deliveries so instead of getting there at 6:30pm like planned. We didn't get in until about 10pm.

Our last picture as just us.

Some of the goodies for everyone who helped us. We also had gift bags for those nurses assigned to us. Don't forget your nurses, ladies!!

We got all checked in, and they started the Cervidil. Not sure if any of you have had this placed but ouch. I was thinking it was some type of suppository gel insert or something...no! It's essentially plastic. My nurse placed it. My body took to it right away and my contractions started. I took some mild pain medicine to rest because my contractions were on top of each other. At 2:30am on Friday morning, I heard a slight pop. My water broke. Um OK!? Brian was freaked out. I was laughing because they said that it (Cervidil) could send me into labor but it was unlikely.





Once my water broke, my contractions were super intense & on top of each other. I could not rest and had a long ways ahead of me. I called for my epidural and thank you Jesus for that. Fast forward to around lunch time...I was almost complete. It got really real and we were ready. Well...we had to wait a bit longer and started to push around 2ish. I pushed for about 3 hours. I hadn't had anything to eat and I was really exhausted. I remember looking at Brian and crying. My epidural wasn't working all that well; I was so exhausted and had zero energy. I wanted to waive the white flag and have them roll me to the OR for a C-Section.




They called my doctor and she came in about 6:30 or so. She checked me and said that she was going to stay and coach/push with me. I had had about an hour in between my initial pushing with my nurses and the time that Dr. Wang had gotten there. I must have gotten a second wind. We think his head was turned to the side instead of being tucked chin down so it was A LOT to get him out.


Luke Ezra was born at 7:49pm on Friday, March 9th. It was a crazy delivery and one that I, Brian, nor my doctor said they would ever forget. As soon as he was out, I was a sobbing mess. During his delivery was shift change so I got a whole new set of nurses. But everyone stayed and cheered me on and congratulated us. I remember grabbing their hands and thanking them because they were SO sweet and didn't have to stay. I have big tears in my eyes typing this because I just LOVED them.

Marozas Party of 3 + my SAINT of a doctor, Dr. Wang! To say we love her is an understatement.

Stay tuned for part 2 to come. As long as it took Luke to get out....he wanted to extend his stay at the hospital just a bit longer.

1.04.2018

Patience: Journey to Baby.

This post has been a long time coming. It has been something I kept quiet on for a long time. I think most people who go through this would say they feel the same way. They keep quiet or only tell a select few. I won't beat around the bush.

You know how it goes....you date, you get engaged and then married, you have your fun with just you and your spouse for a year or two and then babies come along...at least in the South. So easy right? Not for some & definitely not us.

Our journey to have a baby started back in early summer 2014. I remember exactly where B & I were....we were eating Mexican (I can still picture the booth in the restaurant.) and were talking about it. You've heard it before, "Oh, let's just see what happens." We hadn't been married a year, but I was antsy. B was hesitant but knew how badly I wanted a little one. He agreed and in my mind I was thinking....oh this is going to happen so quick!!! I was so excited.

Fast forward 10 months (January 2015)...still no baby. I was deflated & irritated. I made an appointment with my doctor to talk about it. She decided to do some blood work and see what was going on. On the outside...everything was "normal" for me. No issues. My levels looked slightly off and she told me she thought I wasn't ovulating. She prescribed me Femara, 2.5mg. I would take it on certain days and then have my blood drawn on cycle day 21 to see if it helped me ovulate. Still nothing. She upped my dosage, 5mg. Nothing. This went on for about 9 months or so.

In September of 2015, we announced we were moving to Austin, TX. Still no baby. All I could think of was, "Great. I get to start this process all over again with a new doctor." I did some research and found an OBGYN/Fertility clinic combo with great reviews for one of the doctors. I made the initial appointment before we even left South Carolina. I made sure all my records were sent over so they would have everything. We moved in late October and the week after I arrived, I met with Dr. Wang. She was amazing. She was kind, read my records, did some baseline blood work and kept me on my prescribed regimen.

She would have me come in to check my follicles, give me a trigger shot, and then wish us luck if you catch my drift. This didn't help at all. She suggested IUI. I remember talking to B about it. He was very against it. To this day, I think he hates the thought of it. He is a very religious person and had/has his own thoughts about it...which I have come to respect. We talked about it extensively and finally came to an understanding and decided we would do max of 3 rounds and then go from there. Guess what? Nothing. We did 3 IUIs (January, February, & March 2017), paying out of pocket $$$$, and not a one of them worked. Like no positive, at all.

After the third, Dr. Wang suggested surgery. She wanted to go in and see if there was anything that might be causing a problem. She didn't want to move any further with any type of fertility treatments until she was able to take a look around. On May 19, 2017 I went in for outpatient surgery. Not knowing what was going to happen or be found. I honestly remember thinking to myself, I hope she finds something so we have an answer. If everything looked good, I was really going to be upset. B was there with me & was as cool as a cucumber. At least, that's the way he appeared to me. My nurses were wonderful. Dr. Wang came in and gave me a quick run down of what she'd be doing. Next thing I knew, I was being rolled to the OR.

I remember waking up coughing from the intubation tube being taken out. Then, B was right there by my side. He had a handful of paperwork/pictures. I remember him saying "Babe, you had a bad fallopian tube and that was the problem. Dr Wang took it out." All I could hear was, I was minus one fallopian tube. I freaked out and started sobbing. Looking back, B says it wasn't probably the best thing to say to me coming right out of anesthesia. But I think he was excited that they found the problem. My tube had twisted multiple times on itself and then had little cysts around each twist. My doctor said she had never seen anything like it in her years as a doctor. The craziest thing about all of it was that I had ZERO symptoms. I had no pain. All cycles were regular. From the outside, we were all scratching our heads.

We found out in July 2017 that we were pregnant. We had no assistance as far as IUI goes. June 2017 would have marked 3 years of trying. To me, it's all so crazy. B is just ecstatic. And my doctor uses my case and tells other couples who are struggling with infertility our story (confidential of course). She always comes in with a smile on her face and talks about our miracle baby. And at 29 weeks pregnant, it is still so SURREAL to me that we are here...waiting on baby.


{Excuse the quality of this picture, the dirty mirror, and me....the hot mess express! But life isn't always perfect is it?} 

Our journey was long, not as long as others, but still 3 years long. It pales in comparison to others who have been waiting longer or who have been told "No" or have more extensive treatments like IVF or worse, even lost a baby. It is an ugly road. I was not a nice person. I was bitter. I was mean to my husband. I said things I didn't mean. We fought about it. I cried...a lot. I remember keeping face for others. I tried to appear strong. Some days I was strong. And other days, I wasn't.

I can't tell you enough that if you are going through this...you. are. not. alone. Find yourself a good great doctor. Do your research. Ask questions. Reach out to people you feel comfortable with. For me, none of my girlfriends had any extensive problems getting pregnant. They would pray for me/us and ask me questions about what was going on, but they couldn't really help me when it came to infertility questions. And that was OK. I don't wish it on anyone. To know the answers to these questions, isn't the most fun. But if you are going through it or are just curious, I am an open book.

Life isn't perfect, and I never ever want to portray that everything is roses. I think people have much more respect for those that are real & show the somewhat messy side of their lives. What you see on Instagram or SnapChat... it's pretty. But there's always something. This isn't reaching for sympathy but just real talk is all. I never in a million years would have thought that we would have to deal with infertility. Or that I'd be blogging about it...but here I am.

And as cliche and as easy as it is to say, try not to stress. Find things that make you happy. Distract yourself. Infertility is certainly the devil's work. He sneaks in and wrecks you. And he'll try to wreck everything else too. But be patient. Easier said than done, I know. Trust me. God gave us what we wanted...but it took 3 years. He never said no....just "not yet." Infertility made us stronger as a married couple. Living 1800 miles away from any family and having a new baby (in ~3 months) just us two....that's really going to make us strong. But we are ready and are more thankful than EVER. Do I wish I and B had to go through all of it? No. But are we better people for it? Absolutely.

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