Part 7: Our first baby photos!

I had an entourage on that Monday. I was joined in the doctor’s waiting room with Grant, my Mom and Tess, my 17-year-old baby sister. I was nervous. What if there was nothing in there? I told my family that I wouldn’t ever get pregnant and that I had come to terms with that. It was ok. I would be ok. That we shouldn’t expect to see anything in there.

The night before, I had a dream. I dreamt that we were in the doctor’s office. The doctor did the ultrasound and told me we were pregnant with triplets! I was shocked and asked how could that happen?! We only put in two embryos! He said, in my dream, that they both took and one split. Crazy dream.

I walked back by myself, had my blood drawn. By this time I was a pro at the old routine at the reproductive endocrinologist’s office. I told the nurse that I had a group with me today and asked if it was ok that they all join us for the ultrasound. She said yes. I went back to the waiting room and motioned for them to follow us. We walked back into the exam room, a room where this all had started. This was where I was first told I’d have to do IVF, where we watched my follicles grow, where we talked to the doctor about how many embryos we’d implant. We had been through so much. I thought about how this could potentially be the moment where my doctor saw success when for so long he sees so many families that have struggled with years of heartbreak. I was hoping for a success, but fearing and preparing myself for the worst, the negative ultrasound.

My doctor entered the room. I introduced him to the family, hoping that he didn’t feel uncomfortable with the audience. I told him about my dream. He laughed and went in to see what was going on inside me. Grant was to my left with my mom and sister behind me. We could all see the ultrasound monitor. This was the moment of truth. Did this really work? Were the tests false positives? Was I really pregnant?

It only took a minute. My doctor said…,”there is twin a…and there is twin b.” People ask me how Grant reacted. I can tell you that I couldn’t tear my eyes off that monitor. There were definitely two babies in my belly. Two! I felt my mom’s hand on my shoulder. I was sure she was emotional behind me. Then, the doctor showed us both of the heartbeats. I was surprised we could see them so early. I was 6 weeks 6 days pregnant! It was another moment in this process that I will never forget, this time a great moment.

I remembered when I just started this process I’d see couples walking out of the reproductive endocrinologist’s office with ultrasound pictures. Today that was me. I was walking out of the office with my babies’ first pictures. I was a success!

My doctor hugged me and congratulated me and Grant. I told him that we couldn’t have done this without him, his staff, his support and his confidence. He said, as he said from day one, that all he needed was an egg and a sperm. I knew, though, that we also needed God’s support, and I knew we had it and it was all in his hands.

Here are our babies at 6 weeks 6 days. Two perfect little beans!! :)

** You can also see my huge ovary to the left...still swollen from all of the stimulating hormones!