Background
With both of my pregnancies, I suffered from severe gender disappointment. My Mom died tragically when I was relatively young and I had always wanted a daughter. I just couldn't imagine going through my life without that Mother-Daughter relationship. For my 1st pregnancy, my husband and I used the Shettles Method to conceive a girl and I got pregnant during our 2nd month of trying. This is quite good since with Shettles for a girl you have to stop intercourse at least 2-4 days before ovulation, making it even more difficult to even get pregnant. When I found out that my 1st son was most likely a boy at my 12 wk sonogram and confirmed later by Amniocentesis, I was devastated and had to seek help. Although I wanted both a boy and a girl eventually, I felt that I needed to have a daughter first so that I could relax and not worry about the second one. But, I quickly got over it and enjoyed most of my pregnancy and the anticipation of my 1st baby boy. In conceiving our next child, again we used the Shettles Method and I got pregnant again in the 2nd month of trying. That summer I had heard about a new home blood DNA test, Acu-Gen's Baby Gender Mentor, on the Today Show, that promised 99.9% accuracy in revealing your baby's gender at only 5 weeks gestation. I decided that this was the product for me and I purchased it even before I was pregnant. After I became pregnant, I sent in my blood and in 2 days I had my results, "Congratulations you are carrying a baby GIRL!" I was thrilled and went out and bought pink clothes and lilac paint for her room. At 12 wks I had Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS), a test similiar to Amniocentesis, but done much earlier. Again the sonogram looked obviously like a boy and I was worried. When I got the phone call a week later that the gender came back BOY I was beyond devastated!! I had walked around for almost 2 months thinking I was getting my dream of having a boy and a girl. Again, I ended up in therapy, but it was much worse this time. I questioned the lab results and the second results came back with 2 sets of chromosomes. One set male and one set female. The best explanation for this was maternal cell contamination, but there were also other explanations that could suggest a vanishing twin or even an abnormality in the baby I was carrying. I had a hard time accepting that I hadn't originally conceived a girl as well or that my baby was still really a girl. At my 20 week sonogram, finally I had to come to terms with the fact that it was definitely a boy, but insisted that my placenta be tested after the birth for evidence of a vanishing twin girl. During my entire pregnancy I never bonded with my baby-to-be and couldn't imagine ever loving him. I was so angry and cried all the time, sometimes wishing I would miscarry. But, when he was born, everything changed as I always knew it would deep down. I fell in love with him immediately!!! During my pregnancy, I found the In-Gender website when I did a search for gender disappointment. I spent a lot of time on the Baby Gender Mentor forum, which at the time consisted of many other women in my same situation. I kept seeing pop-ups for gender selection, and although I knew about Microsort and Ericcson, I did not know that such a thing as IVF/PGD was possible. During the last few months of my pregnancy I researched gender selection and made an appointment for 6 wks after my delivery. I also struggled with the decision to do IUI/MS with a 90% success rate or the very expensive IVF/PGD with a 100% success rate for conceiving a girl. When I found out that Microsort did not accept patients over 39 yrs old, my decision was made for me. I would be 40 going on 41 when I cycled.
Consultations:
My first scheduled consultation was with a doctor my OB had recommended. I scheduled the appointment for 6 weeks after the delivery of my 2nd baby boy. Although my insurance company did not cover IVF, I was hoping that I could at least get my consultation paid with just a co-pay. This doctor did not take my insurance at all so I decided to cancel the appointment. I also was not ready to take the next step with my baby being so young. I also thought the doctor might think I was crazy. So I made another appointment with a doctor that took my insurance for only a $40 co-pay. During the visit my husband and I were actually impressed with what we saw and heard. The doctor was very friendly, put us at ease and answered all of our questions. Although I knew I already was not eligible for Microsort, this doctor didn't really seem to recommend it and gave me the impression that it wasn't worth the trouble. He quoted me a fee of approximately $12-13,000 which he said included PGD but not medication. Before leaving his office he gave us his personal business card and told me to contact him by e-mail or on his cell phone. My husband and I were very optimistic about this doctor and about the process.
A few days later I contacted him through e-mail. After several e-mails, he finally responded and told me to call him on his cell phone and we played phone tag for over a week. I felt very uncomfortable about this, but eventually spoke to him directly. After asking him a few more questions, he told me to contact him again as soon as I was ready. My original goal was November 2006 when my youngest son would be 6 months old.
After thinking about this whole situation for awhile, I decided that maybe I should make another appointment with the doctor my OB had recommended. I decided to come right out and ask his assistant if he would do PGD simply for gender selection. She said yes. I guess my biggest fear in going to a doctor who wasn't in my insurance plan was that I'd go to the appointment, pay $600 and then be told that he wouldn't do gender selection. Now that I knew he did, I felt much more at ease. I scheduled my appointment for October, and just prior to the appointment had my Day 2-3 bloodwork.
The office and staff was much more impressive at this IVF clinic. The doctor was very professional and after our consultation he actually did an ultrasound. He said I had 9 anthral follicles, which he said was very good. He also said my bloodwork came back good. He said I had about a 30% chance of conceiving with transferring 2 embryos and about 20% chance with 1 embryo. I never really paid much attention to these odds, because I just felt that I was very fertile and these statistics are based on women who are infertile. There are no studies done on success rates of women who do IVF simply for gender selection. So I put this all in the back of my head and told myself that I would beat the odds. They then did bloodwork on me and my husband and I was given a welcome folder, which included a lot of detailed information about the practice and process. When I told them we were very sure we were going to go ahead with this, they told me I would be contacted by various coordinators the next day.
The next day the whole process was put into motion. I was scheduled for a Hysterosalpintogram in early November, orientation and injection class and genetic counseling with Repogenetics, the lab that does the PGD. We decided that my January cycle would be the best time to try. I started doing research and comparitive pricing on medication. In December I arranged a withdrawal from my 401k in order to pay for the procedure. I wanted to make sure it was fully paid in 2006, so I would get the benefit of the tax deduction for medical expenses and waiver of 10% penalty on early withdrawal of retirement funds, with my 2006 tax return, instead of waiting until the next year. So, by Christmas I was ready to go and was just waiting for my January period to start.
My Cycle
On December 31, 2006 at 7:00 pm I spotted. I did not expect my period until January 4th and I am usually very regular, so I was very concerned. My medication protocol was a Day 2 start, so if this truly was my period, the IVF clinic was closed the next day, New years Day, the only day of the year they are closed!! Just my luck! I called the night line at the clinic and the doctor told me to come in on January 2nd (CD2). The next day I spotted a little in the morning, but I did not get a full flow period. Now what? I decided to go in for morning monitoring anyway the next day and let them decide what to do. When I went in, they told me that my blood work would determine if I was ready to cycle. When I arrived they drew my blood and did an ultrasound. Everything looked good and they would call later in the day with instructions. When they called I was told to start my meds. But I still didn't have my period, so I started to stress out. That evening I started my injections. My protocol was 225 iu Follistim and 150 iu Menopur. My husband gave me the injections in my outer thigh and I was amazed that it didn't really hurt. The Follistim was a "pen" that you dial up the proper amount. The Menapur I had to mix a powder with a liquid, which made me nervous. Also, even though the needle didn't hurt, the Menopur medication burned a little going in.
Two days later, January 4, 2007 (CD4), I got my full flow period as originally expected. I immediately called the clinic, very nervous that my cycle was now messed up. I spoke to a nurse and an on-call doctor, but just wasn't satisfied with the answer that "it was fine..." so I began e-mailing my primary doctor, Dr. G. He also said it was fine as long as I had stopped bleeding by Monday or Tuesday (Jan 8th or 9th, or CD8 or 9). If not, I might be cancelled. Although I knew I probably would be finished with my period, I continued to be stressed out about the whole thing and considered cancelling my cycle voluntarily. After all, I needed to have the best odds possible. We only had the money to do this one time and if my cycle had to be cancelled after many days of taking these expensive meds, maybe I should just cancel now. But, I decided to continue.
I went in again for my 2nd morning monitoring on Saturday, Jan 6th (CD6). This time there was only bloodwork and I was told to continue my meds and come back on Monday. On Sunday, Jan 7th, my AF tapered off and was completely gone by Monday, Jan 8th (CD8) What a relief!!! Again, this was just bloodwork. I returned again on Wednesday, Jan 10th (CD10) for my 1st ultrasound since Day 2. I was told by the attending doctor that I had a "handful" of follicles. This was my 2nd source of stress. What did a "handful" actually mean? Did it mean 10? I needed to get a lot of eggs, because at my age, 40 going on 41, the number of normal embryos I would actually get was only about 0 to 3!!! Then add in that I'm only transferring females and what's left? So I was very nervous that 10 eggs was a very low number.
At my next ultrasound, Friday, Jan 12th (CD12), the news was a little better. The doctor counted about 12. On Day 2 of my cycle my doctor had predicted that my egg retrieval would be on Thursday or Friday (Jan 11 or 12th) but now here it was Friday and although I was close, it was going to be a few more days. This was my 3rd source of stress. My husband is an attorney and has to make frequent court appearances in the early morning and is sometimes scheduled for depositions at the last minute. He needed to know well in advance when the egg retrieval/ sperm sample date was going to be, but with IVF, there just isn't any way of predicting this accurately. My husband and I argued frequently throughout the whole process.
As it turned out, my egg retrieval was set for Monday, Jan 15th (CD15), which was a holiday! That was my first sign of good luck! We had hired a private nurse from my pediatrician's office to administer the HcG trigger injection, which had to be exactly 36 hours before the scheduled ER. This would be my 1st intramuscular injection (IM), and because it is so important to be precise about the timing, I didn't want any problems or mistakes. She came over at 11:00 pm Saturday night Jan 13th to give me the injection and give my husband a lesson on administering the subsequent IM progesterone injections that I would start after the ER. Well worth the $150 we paid her for this peace of mind!! I was soooooo nervous about this 1 1/2" intramuscular needle, but was very surprised that it actually didn't hurt!
Egg Retrieval
The next day, Sunday, January 14th I went in for bloodwork and was given my time for egg retrieval the following day. The next day was Martin Luther King Day, a holiday, so this was a great source of relief. The courts are closed so I wouldn't have to worry about my husband having to take off from work. Although his office was technically open, he was able to take the day off.
Monday, January 15th (CD15) we went into the IVF clinic for egg retrieval. I couldn't believe this was actually happening and I was extremely nervous. But I couldn't show it because my husband was ridiculously nervous about his "part" in all this. He packed his bag with a DVD player and porno DVDs that he recently purchased for the occasion. He was so worried he wouldn't be able to perform under this kind of pressure and the sterile room he would be put in to. We even considered booking a hotel so he could do his thing and then run over to the clinic with the sample once he was done. At 9:30 am when it was his turn we sat in the waiting area with everyone else. All the other guys seem to be very relaxed and were in and out. While my husband was giving his sample, I was called to the dressing area to get ready for my ER. My husband later joined me and he was relieved to say he was successful and it was a "good one!"
I was called into the operating room, put in to sterups and after a few seconds the anesthesia had kicked in and the next thing I knew, I was wheeled to recovery. It was a little scary being in the operating room, but it was over in what seems like a split second. In the recovery area my husband came in and I recovered for about 30-45 minutes. Then the nurses got a phone call from the embryo lab that I had gotten 14 eggs! I was thrilled with this number! After worrying about only having 8-10, 14 seemed like a good number to me. We left the clinic and went out to lunch to my favorite gourmet pizzeria. Then we went home and I rested for the rest of the day.
Fertilization Report
The next day, January 16th (CD16), I got my fertilization report. This was my late Mom's birthday, so I felt it had to be a good luck day. We found out that 10 eggs had fertilized, so we had 10 embryos! I was happy with this number, but was a little disappointed that the other 4 didn't make it. The reason was that some of them were over mature and some were just not good. But, I did the math (80% for women my age) and I figured that out of the 10 embryos, I would probably end up with 2 normal embryos, which would hopefully be female.
Beginning the day after the ER, we started on Intramuscular Progesterone injections. Although some clinics used progesterone gel, mine insisted on the injections. Although it wasn't pleasant to know I'd be doing this for several weeks, and longer if I got pregnant, I was totally comfortable with the injections being the most effective protocol. I also started Medrol and Tetracycline in oral form for 4 days. During the several days after the fertilization report, I was not given any information about how my embryos were doing, nor was I allowed to call. This was frustrating.
Embryo Transfer
I was scheduled for my ET on Friday, January 19th (CD19). This would be a 4-Day transfer which was routine at my clinic for PGD patients. I had heard about 3-Day and 5-Day transfers, so I was naturally curious about the reason for this. I never really found out why, but I am guessing that with a 5-Day transfer there is more chance that an embryo could expire and they wanted to get them in as soon as possible after PGD was complete, not waiting for the "Blast" stage. On the morning of my ET, my son got really sick. Up until now in my cycle we had not involved any of our family members in babysitting requests. My husband has a hard time lying and we didn't want anyone to know about what we were doing, so we were able to work it out with 2 babysitters. But, this time we had planned on using my Mother-in-Law to babysit during my ET, telling her we were going out with friends. With my son being sick, this would not look good for us, so we had to cancel with her. At the last minute we were lucky to find another babysitter that we had never met before. Not the kind of stress I needed on the morning of my ET.
About 3 hours before my scheduled ET at 3:30 pm, the clinic called with my embryo results. Out of my original 14 eggs retrieved, 10 fertilized and all made it to PGD. Of the 10 embryos, 3 were normal, one male and 2 FEMALE!!! I was sooooo relieved! It was extremely scary waiting for this phone call, wondering if I would even have any embryos to transfer. The clinic told me to come in at 2:00, which was earlier than the original time. We live an hour away, so off we went.
On our way to the clinic, there were these beautiful rays of light coming through the clouds. My husband and I both noticed it at the same time and were completely moved by it. My Mom had died of a stroke 11 yrs ago and his Sister had died of breast cancer 4 years ago. Both of them had birthdays in January on very significant days of my cycle. We decided that these rays of light were a sign from them that they were looking out for us. It was amazing!!!
When we arrived at the clinic, the doctor came in, the same doctor who had done my ER, who I really liked. She explained a little about the embryology report and said that we would be transferring the 2 female embryos. My husband and I immediately looked at each other and said No. We had decided that we absolutely could not take the risk of conceiving twins at this stage of our lives, and of course "reduction" was not an option for us. The doctor immediately called the embryology lab and inquired about my 2 female embryos. The embryologist said that one of the females was "a really good one" and the other was not so good, so transferring only 1 embryo would not really decrease my odds of conceiving anyway. So the doctor agreed to transfer the best one without hesitation. We decided to let the other 2 (1 male, 1 female) grow in the lab for a few more days to see if we could freeze them. A few days later, we found out that neither had made it.
So off I went again to the operating room for my ET. This time there was no aneasthesia. I simple signed a few papers establishing that the names and social security numbers were correct for my embryo and then they showed me a picture of "her" on the TV monitor. I held a picture of my Mom for good luck during the procedure. The doctor popped my embryo in and it was over. Again I was wheeled to recovery, where my husband was waiting. I had to lay with my legs elevated for about an hour. Immediately, a very special song came over the recovery room radio. It's called "I hope you danced". If you know this song and have listened to the words you'd understand how meaningful it was to us considering my husband and I both lost loved ones way too early in life. I had always associated this song with my husband's sister. I had heard it at other times during my cycle and hearing it now somehow meant everything was going to work out. This was another sign that they were watching over us. For days to come, I kept hearing this song again everywhere I went. On the radio in the car, in the Mall and later at my Beta pregnancy test.
After an hour in recovery, I was released and we went home. I was so careful not to jar anything around and made my husband drive really slow. I had a pillow under me to cushion the bumps in the road. When I got home, I went to bed immediately, still holding my Mom's picture and listening to "spa music" to relax. It worked out so well that my ET was on a Friday, so bedrest was not a problem with my husband watching the boys Saturday and Sunday. I took the bedrest really seriously and even took it easy for days after that.
THE TWO WEEK WAIT
I was scheduled for my Beta pregnancy test on Monday, January 29th, which actually is only 10 days past my ET. I asked the nurses if I could come in 1 day early, Sunday the 28th because if I were to get bad news at least my husband could be with me. They said this was fine.
I continued my progesterone injections every night with little difficulty, but it was always a pretty stressful time for my husband and I. He tried to make jokes, but I stayed on the serious side until it was done. Although I was nervous during the 2WW, I don't think I was any more nervous than I was during my 2WWs with my natural pregnancies. With both my sons I had used the Shettles Method, so I took my Basal Body Temperature (BBT) every day and charted it on a graph for 6 months even before trying to conceive. When we did TTC, although it only took 2 months with each of them, I remember how nervous I was every day after ovulation taking my BBT and hoping it would rise. Then the HPTs. So really this wasn't any different, except that we had just spent quite a bit of money and were so emotionally invested in this "once in a lifetime" chance.
On January 23rd, which was 4dp4dt (remember I had a 4 day transfer), I decided to do a HPT in the evening. This was another very significant day. My Mom had had a stroke on Jan 23rd 11 years earlier, that left her in a vegetative state, which she never woke up from. I felt something really good had to happen now on this date, so I decided to do the HPT. I also calculated that if Implantation had occured, this was the day that it happened. I took the HPT and at first it looked negative. But, then I say the faintest of faint lines. I showed my husband and he agreed you could see it if you held it up to the light. But this was one of those early HPT, so if I still had the HcG trigger still in my system, I just thought that could be what I was seeing. The next morning 5dp4dt, I took another HPT with 1st morning urine. This time it was completely negative, or so I thought. That evening I took another one and again I saw a faint positive line. I thought this was odd, since 1st morning urine should be the best, but then I felt that maybe "New" HcG was entering my system from a pregnancy!!!! I called the clinic the next day and asked the nurse if the HcG trigger shot could still be in my system. She said "no" so I was encouraged, but decided to stop taking HPTs and must wait for my Beta, which was now only 3 days away.
I went in on Sunday, January 28th for my Beta. While the nurse was drawing my blood, the song "I Hope You Danced" came over the radio again. I began to cry. This HAD to be a sign!!!
I went home and began my wait for the results. Normally, the clinic would call with results of my monitoring blood tests in the late morning. The morning slowly went by as I held my cell phone in my hand and kept checking for good reception. I had never wanted the clinic to call on my home phone for fear of a family member or guest getting some information we wanted to keep a secret. I didn't get great cell phone reception in my house, so I stared at my cell phone and kept checking it. Noon came and went, 1:00, then 2:00. It was Sunday so I was worried everyone at the clinic would go home!!! So at about 2:00 I went in to my walk in closet to be alone and started balling my eyes out. Then I decided to call the clinic myself. This was 7 hours later!!! I spoke to the nurse and she said she was just about to call me. She said my Beta was a 49. No congratulations, you're pregnant, nothing. She just said to come in 2 days later for a repeat Beta. Now since I know 25 technically means you are pregnant and I had heard before that they want to see at least 50, since I was a 49 I was encouraged yet confused. I went downstairs and reluctantly told my husband that I was "probably pregnant". I got into my car and went to the drugstore and bought 2 HPT. One with a digital readout and the other just a regular one. I did the digital readout HPT and it read "PREGNANT"!!! Now I felt much better, but by now the excitement had really been sort of washed out. But my husband and I were more relieved than excited and I just felt this cautious feeling.
Two days later (Jan 30th), I went in for another Beta and my numbers had more than doubled to a 124. On February 5th, my Beta was 1437, so things were definitely going well.
ULTRASOUNDS AND 1st HEARTBEAT
On February 13th, I went in to the clinic for my 1st ultrasound. This was the 1st time I would be seeing my primary RE since the 1st day of my cycle. Before he started he said that he really didn't expect to see a hearbeat yet, but they should see something. When he say my baby girl's tiny beating heart, he looked actually surprised!! There she was my little blinking alien in space. Her heart was beating! I could hardly believe it!!! I DID IT! I had successfully beat the odds. At age 41, with one IVF/PGD cycle, and only one embryo transferred, I had conceived the baby daughter I so desperately wanted and needed! "I did it Mom!" My daughter was growing inside of me and I would someday soon feel that Mother-Daughter relationship I had lost so early in my life!!!! Now it felt so REAL!
NEXT STEPS
On February 15th, I took my last Progesterone injection. This was a total of about 5 weeks of IM injections. I began Prometrium, which was an oral form of progesterone for another 2 weeks. I had another ultrasound on February 20th and all was still looking good!
I had my 1st appointment with my obstetrician on February 23rd. Since he had know about my Gender Disappointment and had recommended my RE about a year ago, he came right out and asked my if I had done "something different" to conceive this baby. I was completely open with him about it. He seemed relieved that it wasn't a natural pregnancy, since I had cried in his office at every appointment in my last one. Now he would deal with a much more pleasant patient.
He didn't do an ultrasound, which disappointed me a little, but schedule me for one in another 2 weeks when I would be done with my Prometrium, just to check that things were okay.
Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS)
Since I am over age 35 (I'm 41), I had amniocentesis with my 1st son and CVS with my 2nd son. I struggled a little with whether I should do CVS with this pregnancy, since I knew with PGD, they had already checked the chromosomes for Down's Syndrome and other genetic illnesses. My husband and I decided to go through with it for two reasons. One, after knowing the genetic results we would tell our families I was pregnant and the gender of the child all in one shot. We kept the pregnancy a secret, because we knew it wouldn't be easy to pretend we didn't know the gender and look like we weren't worried about whether it was another boy. They would never believe that I wasn't concerned and I wouldn't be able to fake it very well. So at 14 weeks PG, we could tell everyone the good new. And two, my OB is an expert in the field of CVS and there really was no risk involved in having him perform the procedure. Actually, women that are not even his patients so to him to have their CVS performed and he is well known for his expertise. So, it was worth it to get that extra assurance that she was genetically healthy and that the clinic didn't make a mistake and put in the wrong embryo!!!! I was actually very worried about that!
So we went in and had the CVS on March 21st. Before the doc takes the sample from the placenta, an ultrasound is done. I asked the technician if she could see the gender. She said it was too early. This was 11 1/2 weeks. I had ultrasounds with both my boys at 12 weeks and there was obviously a penis for both of them. I asked her just to show me the area and sure enough NO PENIS!!! I felt very comforted by this during my 10 day wait for the results. Honestly, I never understood why so many people wait until there 20 wk U/S to see the gender and then some don't even get a clear result. I actually think it's easier to see much earlier on when the baby isn't moving around so much and has the ability to cross it's legs.
Ten days later when I went to my OB appointment, the results of my CVS were not in my file. After my exam, the doc told me to wait in the waiting room and he would call the lab. A few minutes later as I sat in the waiting room with my 2 boys, he came out and announced "It's a Girl". And she was healthy! I got all teary eyed and some other patients in the room congratulated me. Little did I know that this would start 9 months of nosey strangers walking up to me and asking me if I knew what I was having whenever I was out with both boys. Although people usually ask in any pregnancy, I found that when you have 2 boys, people just rudely walk up to you and ask out of nowhere and then congratulate you like you won a prize when you say girl! After all this, this really bothered me about people. But, I'm not discounting how wonderful it is to announce "It's a Girl" FINALLY!!!
MY PREGNANCY
What a difference from my "boy" pregnancies!!! I had very little morning sickness and I actually carried her like a little basketball instead of all spread out like with my boys. These things were just the opposite of the old wives' tales. With my 2 boys I had gained 40 lbs each. After my 2nd son was born and I had conceived again only 8 months later, I had not lost my last 13 lbs. So with this pregnancy I was determined not to gain as much weight. It actually was easy. I was never hungry after 4:00 and actually found myself drinking Ensure instead of eating dinner. I just wasn't hungry. I never craved junk food, so I felt I was getting just as much nutrition as with my sons. With them I would eat tons of M&MS and Doritos, so that's why I gained so much. I only gained a total of 22 lbs with this pregnancy, so if you add the 13 lbs I didn't lose with my last pregnancy, I'm still a little ahead!
The pregnancy was difficult in a very different way however. With a 3rd pregnancy, no one really cares, so I didn't get very much attention from my family members. In fact, I suspected all along that they didn't think I should get pregnant again so soon, or even at all, since they knew so much about my gender disappointment. Especially my sister-in-law who has 3 boys, she totally ignored that fact that I was pregnant the whole time. She barely acknowledges the fact that I'm pregnant. I know deep down that she is jealous. We kind of bonded when I was having my 2nd son, because she too had a hard time when she found out she was having boy #3. So, I know it probably hurts her a little.
Another things that was hard was having another child that was so young, especially during the summer months. He just learned to walk and was so wobbly, it was hard to be outside with him and run around with him so he wouldn't fall. Also, being 41 yrs old, I was much more tired this pregnancy. At about 4:00 every day, my body would just give out. I tried to find a babysitter for the hours between 3:30 pm and 7:30 pm when my husband gets home from work, but I was never able to find anyone. With little support from my husband's family and no support from mine, I have to say I was pretty miserable a lot of days. I just had to keep reminding myself, as my husband often did that "YOU ARE HAVING A GIRL!" So nothing else mattered. I'd get through it and get the prize at the end. A perfect family. Two absolutely wonderful boys and the precious baby girl I dreamed about for so many years.
SCHEDULED INDUCTION
Like my 2nd pregnancy, my OB said I could have a scheduled induction if my body was ready and I wanted it. This would be about a week before my due date. That way, my OB, who has a ego about delivering his own patient's babies, could definitely deliver her and I would have the convenience of getting my boys set up at my Mother-in-Law's house in advance. At my 38 week appointment, he said I was ready, dilated 1 cm and soft cervix, so we scheduled the induction for Thursday, October 4th at 5:00 am. This was 5 days before my due date, and believe my I was ready to push her out!!!
TO BE CONTINUED...