Lucky 24

My 24th birthday is in 2 days.

I remember a week or two before my 21st birthday I had my tonsils taken out. That was not a fun experience, but I made it through and my hubby (who was my then-boyfriend) made it quite a good birthday for me by taking me on a trip to Branson. I also remember on my 6th or 7th birthday, I was playing on the kitchen table with the fructose bag (sugar substitute). I accidentally broke the bag open -- don't ask my why a kid plays with a bag of sugar because the answer is beyond me -- and didn't tell anyone and ran away from it. When my step-dad found it half-poured out on the table, he was furious. He called all 4 of us kids over and asked us who had done it, and of course I lied. He eventually found out and I got spanked for it...yep, on my birthday. That birthday kinda sucked, but it's nothing compared to the one I'm about to have.

Losing a baby is about the most painful thing I've ever been through. I've been cheated on by a previous boyfriend, I've been betrayed by friends, I've had a few painful surgeries, I've been abused in my past in some of the worst ways -- but the emotional, physical, and mental pain of those things are hardly comparable to losing my own baby....4 times. I think the only thing comparable would be to lose my husband, mother or father, sister or brother, sister-in-law, or little nephew or niece (of course my 2 best friends are also included in this roster) -- I'm thankful to still have these amazing people in my life. So... my 24th birthday will be 6 days after I found out I was having a miscarriage and just 2 days before my D&C surgery.

On my 24th birthday on Thursday I'll still be in a bit of pain from the surgery, still be a bit doped up with pain medicine, and still be desperately trying to mend a broken heart. That just sucks. And I know the days following it are going to be worse as I sober up from the anesthesia and medications, and have to face reality again. 2008 just has not been my year. I know that God has been merciful to me. I lost baby 2 in January... I was so blessed that God let me get through Christmas before I miscarried, I prayed so hard for that. And if I would have lost this baby ON my birthday, that would have been awful. I don't know why it happened again, but I am thankful it didn't happen on a day that was special to me.

Sorry if this sounds a bit sporadic or does not make sense. I'm still quite doped up from surgery anesthesia and the pain meds I'm on.

Why Did You Have To Leave?

I carried you faithfully for 7 weeks...why did you have to leave me? I really thought that I would be crushed Saturday when I went in for my (emergency) ultrasound and saw your beautiful little heart was no longer beating. But I was rather calm about it. I knew it was coming, I knew it from the very beginning. I tried to convince myself that you were the one, but I could feel it wasn't right. I guess you needed to go to heaven to be with your 3 other siblings? I don't understand it and have a hard tinme accepting it... I wanted you so badly. The sadness comes and goes in waves. Sometimes I'm ok one minute, but then the next minute I start to well up with tears. People tell me that it will get better with time...but I know better. You were number 4... I don't get any less sad when I pass by a loving mother doting on her newborn. I don't get any less sad when I think about what could have been with you, me, and your daddy -- let's not forget your 3 other siblings that went before you. I don't get any less sad when I think about where I should have been in my pregnancies and how sad I am when my due dates come and go. It cetainly does not get any easier to watch the people whom I was pregnant with go on to have their healthy, beautiful babies. But I can't blame them, it's not their fault you died.


This is killing me inside. I really don't know how much more of this I can take. This is really stupid, but I feel as though I'm not a part of the "parent club". What is a parent club? you may ask. It's a stupid club that I have invented in my mind about people who are parents, especially young or new parents. My best friends are in it (gosh that sounds so junior high school) and I can't even begin to be a part of it. I don't know what it's like to have a little person depend on me every second of the day, or to know what its like to decide what discipline to give a child that is my own, or to have somebody that I can look at and see a reflection of mine and Daryl's love.

My surgery is at noon tomorrow. I'm a little nervous about how I'll feel after because last time I had major bouts of nausea (nooooo fun at all). I know how it feels after, the empty and hurting inside, and I'm not looking forward to it. But what's done is done, I can't change the past. :(

Hope to be better...

I took my last bit of antibiotics early early this morning, so maybe I will start to feel a lot better soon. I think they were making me dizzy, faint feeling, and nauseated...yuk. My uterus is still sore, it feels on my stomach like I've done about 600 crunches in the span of 4 minutes. So I'm still taking a little bit of the pain medication, but I have cut wayyyyyy down on it. I've been uncomfortably nauseated tonight, I don't know why. I wish it to go away though, I've got better things to do with my time then sit around the house feeling sick!! I hope to be feeling much better by my follow-up appointment on Friday.

Post Surgery

Surgery went well. I waited for 2 hours in my surgery waiting area before they finally took me in, but it went pretty fast from there. My mom, sis, and hubby were there with me. It was nice because they made the time go by fast.

They took me into the OR and I got to talk to my doctor for a few minutes. He was very kind and helpful... I'm very sad that he will be moving his practice to Texas in a couple weeks! It's hard to find a really good doctor these days. The put my arms down on little "arm rests" on the surgery table, and covered them with a warm blanket. They placed the "oxygen mask" -- "this is just oxygen, I swear!" -- over my mouth and nose, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up FREEZING in the recovery room. After I shivered for a few minutes, the nurse came to me and covered me with several warm blankets (below the ones I already had). I don't know how long I was in there for, but they sent me to the family recovery waiting room after that. The first thing I remember is my mom saying "he got enough specimen/baby for the chromosomal testing!". I was very excited about that, because that's part of the reason I wanted the D&C and not the natural way this time. I was a little worried that he might not be able to get anything to test, because I had already started bleeding a little before the surgery. The results should be back in 3 - 5 weeks. I'll try not to think about it so it will go faster. I hope that my baby didn't have the same chromosomal disorder as the first one did, which was Trisomy 15. I don't think that is the case though, because this baby died 2 - 3 weeks before my first one did. My mom thinks this baby might have had a Trisomy disorder too, but we won't know until we get the results back. If so, that's probably going to be very bad news, because I don't know what we will be able to do about it, nor if we will ever be able to have a healthy baby. I want some answers but I know they will not come quickly.

I have been dead to the world out of it most of the day. I felt pretty good leaving the hospital around 1:00pm, but on the way home from the hospital, I started feel very queasy. When hubby dropped by the store to pick up cat litter and Ginger Ale for me, I thought I was going to pass out from being so nauseated. I called the doctor and he called in a script for me to pick up at the drugstore. I crawled into the back seat of the Toyota to lay down, and waited for hubby to get back. He came back in a couple of minutes and took me the rest of the way home. I practically ran to the bedroom where I could lay down. I took some pain meds, the Methergine (the same meds I took last time to clamp down the uterus and get out any leftover tissue), and waited for hubby to get back with my anti-nausea medication. Laying down helped the nausea significantly, so I was ok until Daryl got back with the medication. I laid down for a good 5 hours. I've been taking the medication my doctor gave me -- methergine (I'll take it for 3 whole days, I like to call it the medication that GIVES me great pain, LOL), vicoprofen (for the pain...ugh, there's lots of it), and the antibiotic (so my uterus doesn't get infected, that I take for 5 days.)

Mom came over and made my favorite dinner!! Mashed Potato Casserole -- I haven't had that in years. Yahoo! It was yummolicious, and helped me to feel a little bit better just by getting some food on my tummy. She's done my dishes and just been around to help me out and give me moral support. I love my mommy!! Hubby is here too, and holds me when I cry in bed at night and give me so much good moral support, but there is nothing like a mother's love.

Surgery

D&C tomorrow at 0930. I'm a little nervous about it but not too bad. I'm just ready for it to be over. I think (hope) this will help me emotionally... this way I don't have to agonize over every trip to the bathroom, or think too much about what happened/is happening. If possible, they are going to send the baby off to the lab for genetic testing.... I'm hoping that can give me answers on why I keep miscarrying. Then maybe we can find a solution to it and be able to actually have a healthy pregnancy. I'm not happy about this, but there is obviously nothing I can do. I've been balling my eyes out every chance I get. I don't know why the third miscarriage is hitting me so hard..maybe because I had so many plans and hopes and dreams for this baby. I really thought this baby would make it, but I guess I was wrong.