Well, Schroedingers Zygote is relaunched. I guess I’m now a “parenting after infertility” blog. The way things change. The old site is backed up, and I’m working out a way to archive it, but I really wanted a fresh start for technical reasons. So here we are, “It’s not just a thought experiment any more.”
So here’s a quick recap of the old blog.
New Years 2008, we decide to toss fate to the wind and start thinking baby. Quickly after tossing out rings and pills and shots and all that rot, it’s fairly evident that ovulation simply isn’t happening in the scant 14 day cycles I’m having.
Most of early 2008 was spent charting basal body temperatures and cycle lengths ad nauseum before I sought out advice of my OB, who concurred that indeed, I was not ovulating. He ordered basic tests and sent me off with a script for Clomid.
A few rounds of that go by, with variable success rates of actually inducing ovulation. In the end, we seek out help from a fantastic reproductive endocrinologist.
He orders workups. An HSG. Continues with the Clomid protocol, just with more surveillance under the watchful gaze of everyone’s favorite ultrasound wand.
A few more rounds of Clomid go by. By this time, it’s December 2008. I get laid off. My sister in law has a baby. Christmas. New Years again.
January 2009 rolls up and after consulting with our RE, we make the decision that after sitting out this cycle, we’ll move on to intrauterine insemination (IUI) with Clomid and an Ovidrel trigger.
This was the point where I started Schroedinger’s Zygote, assuming I still had a long journey ahead of me. We got incredibly lucky, instead.
February 11, my cycle started. Things go well. 2 big beautiful follicles on the mid-cycle ultrasound. February 25th, we scheduled the deed. After an agonizing two weeks, I cheated and peed on a stick a day early. It was positive, but hubby wouldn’t believe it. The next day, it was still positive.
Wahooo!
Our betas doubled beautifully. Actually… more quickly than expected. Finally, that first ultrasound told all. Hubby likes to recall the phrase, “I’m seeing two gestational sacs…”
And so it went. After a short wait-and-watch to rule out the chance of the terrifying “vanishing twin syndrome,” we moved up to really real prenatal visits! We were going to have babies, and they were due on November 19th, 2009!
We decided not to find out genders, and in a fit of optimism, went to a midwifery practice in hopes of a natural birth. To skip ahead a lot, and to shorten this entry down a bit, Baby A never did turn vertex, and Baby B stayed transverse the whole pregnancy. We scheduled a C-section for (Friday!) November 13th, but it was not to be. On a visit for a routine ultrasound, Baby B hadn’t grown at the same rate as A. Further inspection revealed blood flow anomalies in the umbilical cord, and so, at 37 weeks and 1 day, our babies were born via emergency cesarian section.
Two sons, on October 29th, 2009.
Tycho James, 6lbs1oz
Kepler John, 4lbs10oz
They are named after the astronomers Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler, and their middle names honor both of their grandfathers.
We spent Halloween in the hospital. Kepler was taken to the NICU shortly after we all settled into a recovery room for basic monitoring on his breathing and body temperature, though he had no complications. When he was released on Monday November 2nd, we all came home together.
Today they are 12 weeks old. Things aren’t easy, but complaints melt away with flashes of smiles.
Tycho is nearing 11lbs and Kepler just passed 9lbs. They’re nursing fabulously and just light up the room wherever they are. They are loved by so many people, some they haven’t even met, and our family is simply amazed to be so lucky.
I’ve restarted this blog to document our ups and downs, and give family, friends and the world a peek into our virtual window.
Schroedinger’s Zygote was the phrase I used to describe the two week wait, of simultaneous hope of pregnancy, and tempering it with reality. Like I was pregnant and not-pregnant at the same time. Well, folks. Schroedinger’s Zygote(s) are here.