2nd Doctors Appointment

We had our second doctors appointment on Thursday. This time the boys were able to go with us. I convinced our doctor to try to find the heartbeat using the doppler even though I knew that it was still a couple weeks early to hear it via the doppler.  He agreed and said he'd try to find it. It took a little bit, but he did find it! The baby has a strong heartbeat and it was at 170 bpm. Since he was able to find it this early he said that I was in the clear to start telling people about our pregnancy. Now I feel like I am finally allowed to be excited and not be so anxious anymore! So it is all sinking in and I am just elated!! 

I haven't had any morning sickness or nausea...it's been a wonderful pregnancy so far. I think I lucked out since my mom or my paternal grandmother never had morning sickness...so I must have good DNA when it comes to that :-)

So....here we go!  I'm excited to share my journey with my friends.  I hope you enjoy it too.

Love
Lisa

I'm pregnant!!!

Instead of announcing my long awaited pregnancy only on Facebook, I want to give my testimony for those who are struggling with infertility. I know the pain you feel every time someone announces that they are pregnant…the pain, yet the joy for that person if it is someone you care about. It’s a very emotional conflict. I know, I have been there many times.

We have been trying to conceive for ten years. The first couple years we weren’t actively trying, however, we weren’t preventing it either. We did see a doctor to find out what our options were and he told us that we could opt for infertility medication but at that time we declined since the risk of multiples wasn’t something we wanted.

After we left the Air Force and got settled into civilian life, we decided to actively try again. I read the book “Taking Charge of Your Fertility” by Toni Weschler to learn more about my body and how it works. [I recommend this book for every woman out there. Especially teens that are sexually active and do not want to get pregnant. Even though I don’t agree with that behavior…let’s be real…it is happening.] After reading that book I learned how to chart my cycles and keep track of the signs letting you know that you are fertile.  That is when I realized that I may not be ovulating and that my cycles were longer than normal.

After this, we decided to see my doctor. He recommended that we start with clomid. He told us that there is a risk of multiples, however, it is the lowest grade of fertility medication out there and recommended that we give it a try. With clomid I ended up ovulating, but pregnancy never occurred.  Then, in 2008, my doctor told me about a trial that a specialist in Schaumburg was doing using In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). Because it was a trial, it would be only about 1/3 the cost of a normal IVF procedure.  We decided to give it a try.

The next few months were so stressful; yet they were exciting because I thought for sure this was God’s answer to our prayers.  I just knew that it would work. During the IVF process, I found out that I had Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (which is why my ovulation wasn’t consistent) so we had to be careful about the dosages of the fertility meds the doctor was giving me.  If they over-stimulated my ovaries (meaning, too many follicles/eggs), then the IVF cycle would need to be cancelled and I would lose this opportunity.  So, that is what made it the most stressful.  Needless to say, we made it through and they were able to return two embryos. Unfortunately, they didn’t stick and I did not become pregnant. If you want to read more about that, you can view the blog that I kept here: http://lisaestrella.blogspot.com/search/label/infertility

After going through that, we decided that we were done with medically trying to get pregnant. We decided that if it didn’t happen naturally then it just wasn’t in God’s plan.  Also, we decided when the time was right, we would most likely adopt.  However, my husband still kept faith that God would bless us with one of our own.  I, on the other hand, wasn’t so sure. During the past few years I often prayed that God would take away my desire of wanting to be pregnant and instead turn that desire to being a mom.  However, my desire to become pregnant never truly went away.  

So, between the years 2009 – 2011 I did try acupuncture. That worked to regulate my cycle, but I did not get pregnant.  Around 2011 I also started seeing my chiropractor. My cycle again was starting to get regular but still was longer than normal. By this time, I was still tracking my cycle length, but nothing else. I was mainly just waiting on the time to be right so that we could adopt.

Fast forward to May 2013.  I noticed that my cycle was longer than normal. I told my husband and let him know that I would wait for 5 more days to see if my period would come. If not, then we would take the pregnancy test.  [This happened so often that I dreaded taking a pregnancy test because it always ended in disappointment]  So, Sunday, May 19^th was the day.  I woke up early and let my husband know that I was going to take the test.  I wasn’t excited because I knew it would be negative.  However, this time was different. I took the test and it immediately showed POSITIVE! I could not believe it. I can’t explain to you the emotions that happened.  I was crying, laughing, out of breath…I was in shock! I exited the bathroom and Jesús saw me hunched over and said “Lisa, what is wrong?!” I told him that the test was positive, that I was pregnant and he was so happy and excited! He was yelling louder than when he yells at the TV for the Bulls games! Ha ha! That was the happiest day of my life. God answered our prayers, even when I had lost faith. I admit, I would pray that I could become pregnant, but I didn’t truly believe that God would bless me…so I was praying faithless prayers.  My husband though…he kept the faith and prayed knowing that God would bless us.  I am humbled and grateful for the faith of my husband…

I am now almost 12 weeks pregnant and Baby Estrella is due on Jan 14, 2014. Praise God that He has blessed us in this way.  He has given me the desire of my heart…

Psalm 37:4 Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 40:1 I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry.

Ultrasound when I was 8w2d:

Massage Therapy

As many of you know, I am attending school for massage therapy. When I first started school my desire was to specialize in clinical massage and work in a Chiropractic office. Since then, my focus has changed. Eventually, I want to be a massage therapist that specializes in fertility, prenatal, and infant massage. I am also thinking about getting certified to become a doula. 

I think it is amazing how God is slowly revealing my purpose. I have always known that I have a lot of compassion and empathy for people. But this particular area I have both empathy and passion. I am excited for this new chapter in my life. I think it will be very rewarding. I have 11 more weeks of school and then I will graduate and have my license for massage therapy. I am so very excited!!

I'm back!

OK, after a couple of years of inactivity...I am back. Let's see how long it lasts! ha ha!