Twins

Our 2 beautiful miracles!!

Chad and I are happy to announce that we will be welcoming twins into our family this fall.  As most of you know we underwent IVF in February and we were so excited to find out that we were pregnant.  Getting that phone call is something I will never forget.  My phone rang while I was at work and I knew it was the call I had been waiting for. My hands were shaking and I could barely pick up the phone.  For 2 1/2 years we have undergone multiple fertility treatments just to hear the dr. say, "Sorry, not this time.....". My nerves were just shot!!! I picked up the phone and my IVF nurse, Sandy, started talking to me.  She gave me the good news and I think for the first time in my life I was speechless (which those of you that know me well, know that this does not happen very often).  I could not physically talk. Tears were running down my cheek.  After finally getting my speech back I spoke with my nurse for a few minutes before hanging up.  I hung up and I could not move!! I stood there in my office feeling like time stood still.  I immediately called Chad at work and he thought it was bad news because I was crying so much he couldn't understand a word I was saying.  I kept trying to tell him the good news, but every time I opened my mouth tears of joy just flowed down my cheeks.  I finally spit out the good news and we both just cried with each other over the phone! We were on cloud nine!!!!!
For those of you who have been following our journey, you know all to well that the first couple weeks is the most critical for us.  It was so hard to get 100% excited, because we had lost before.  I went back every other day for a week or so to do blood work to make sure my hormone levels were increasing. Each time they would more than double and we would celebrate a little bit more.
We went into our Fertility doctor for our 6 week ultrasound and we were a bit shocked when we saw two little babies on the screen.  Once again, we were both speechless!!!  How can we go from years of struggling to being double blessed in a matter of seconds?!?!  We walked out of our appointment just beaming!!!!!! We slowly started to tell family and friends our wonderful news!!
At 7 1/2 weeks we were on our way to Florida for our annual Spring Break trip.  This year we decided to drive because air tickets were so expensive and all our extra money had gone to our IVF procedure.  We packed up the car and we got as far as Holland, Mi.  I ended up in the ER with a subchorionic hematoma (a blood clot in my uterus). That was the scariest day of our lives. We thought we were losing the babies.  And that is all I want to explain about that horrific day!!! Chad and I wish they made a medicine to erase the memories of that day.  I had almost 2 weeks of strict bed rest and 1 week of mild bed rest.  We do not realize how many friends and family surround us until something like this happens. We were so overwhelmed by all the dinners, snacks, movies, and yummies people brought over to us.  It touched us in ways we cannot express.
We went in today for our last appointment with our Fertility doctor (almost through my first trimester). It was a bittersweet day.  The Fertility Clinic in Grand Rapids, MI has given our family something we can never give back....they gave us hope when we had none, they gave us a shoulder to cry on and a person to yell at, they gave us peace and comfort, and the best of all they gave us complete joy.  We will be forever grateful to every nurse, secretary, and doctor that we came in contact with over the past couple of years.  Chad and I both teared up today when we hugged our doctor good-bye......but at the same time we are excited for what our journey has in store for the both of us and our growing family.