Journey to Baby Wheeler

That's right, everyone! I can finally tell the world that... I'M PREGNANT!!! I've been waiting so long to say that and it feels amazing! We couldn't be more grateful and we are so excited to expand on our family soon. However, our journey to have a baby was not an easy one. We went through the struggle of infertility. I'm sorry if what I am about to talk about is a little TMI, but this is our story of how we got here.

1 in 8 couples struggle with infertility. For a while, we were one of them. It took us nearly 2 years to get pregnant during our 3 1/2 years of marriage. During our first year of marriage, I was on birth control. We both agreed that we should wait to have a baby for a few reasons. Collin was still in school at the time and wanted to focus on his education. We also wanted to enjoy our time together while it was still just the two of us. After our first anniversary, we started talking about trying for a baby. We prayed and got the answer that we still needed to wait. I decided to get off of birth control a few months later to get myself prepared for a baby. A few months passed and we moved from Utah to Texas for Collin's job.

Shortly after moving to Texas, we began trying to conceive. Growing up, I never noticed anything out of the ordinary with my cycles. One thing I did notice was that my periods would come sometimes every two weeks, but I didn't think much of it. We honestly thought it would be easy to get pregnant. We thought it would just take a few months and than... BABY! But we were wrong. I remember crying every month when there was a disappointment or sad news that we weren't pregnant.

One of the hardest things while going through my infertility journey was seeing our family and friends get pregnant. I remember seeing pregnancy announcements on social media and wondering when it was finally going to be our turn to share our exciting news. I even started wondering if motherhood was in the cards for me. I was genuinely so happy for all of our friends and family, but was sad when we weren't even close to parenthood.

Another thing that was hard for me to go through was getting the constant questions, "When are you guys going to have kids?" "Do you want kids?" "Are you guys planning to have kids?" I know that those are normal questions that people ask, but for someone who is experiencing infertility, it can be hard to hear those questions. My answer to those questions were "We want kids, but we don't know when that will be yet." Whenever I heard those questions, it made me feel like they thought we didn't want kids. In all reality, we wanted kids more than anything.

I literally tried EVERYTHING to help boast our fertility. I tried timing my ovulation just right, checking my basal body temperature, relaxing, changing my diet, exercising more, and taking ovulation tests. Nothing was helping. We both grew concerned and decided to see a doctor after 11 months of trying. My primary doctor recommended that I see an OBGYN. When she said this, I knew just the person I wanted to see. It was someone a friend recommended to me. I was so glad she recommended me to her. My OBGYN has been amazing, honest, and supportive. For that, I am so grateful for.

We knew at this point that Collin was free and clear with a normal sperm count. It was now my turn to see if there was anything going on with me. I had my first sonogram to check my ovaries and my uterus. Sure enough, the doctor spotted a few things that was delaying our fertility. I had a polyp on the right side of uterus and early PCOS. (Poly-cystic Ovarian Syndrome). I was surprised because I didn't think PCOS pertained to me. However, the polyp was the big reason of why we weren't pregnant yet. It was blocking the lining of my uterus preventing pregnancy. I remember feeling so relieved and thankful that we finally have an answer of why it was taking a while to get pregnant. I felt like our prayers were answered that day and we can move forward.

My doctor told me that they needed to surgically remove the polyp, or hysteroscopy. About a month later, I went in for surgery. Luckily, it was a speedy recovery and I was able to go back to normal soon.

A few weeks after the surgery, we decided to do what we had originally planned. For a few months, I was taking a medicine called femara. (which basically helps you ovulate.) Since I have PCOS, my ovulation was often delayed. We decided to try naturally before going in for an IUI (inter uterine insemination). After a few rounds of femara, I got a positive pregnancy test. We couldn't believe it and told our families the news. Unfortunately a week and a half later, I took a trip to the ER and found out we had a miscarriage. The doctors there said that they couldn't find a gestational sac and that there was no baby. It was strange, because I had a positive pregnancy test. Later, I found out I may have had a chemical pregnancy.

That was one of the hardest things we ever had to go through. It took a while to overcome our trial, but we had faith that things will work out again. Miraculously, we found out we were pregnant 2 months later! Our sweet little baby whom we have waited and prayed for is finally on his/her way!

The reason why I share all this information is to give hope to those who have struggled or are struggling to start their families. Whether it be infertility or miscarriage, it is a difficult thing to go through. We once had to endure the heartache and sadness. Infertility was definitely my trial that I had to go through to help me be more patient. It taught me to not only be that much better of a parent, but also a better person. I also feel like I will appreciate and love our child more because of this experience. After the hard trials come the rich blessings. We thank Heavenly Father everyday for giving us this chance to be parents. I feel like Baby Wheeler will be well worth the wait! 

 Sorry this is hard to see. I can't tell you how many times I have seen negative pregnancy tests...

 Here is a sonogram of my ovaries. My OB said that she saw a lot of follicles. You can see the poly-cystic ovaries on the very top of both ovaries. This was part of what was preventing us from getting pregnant.

 Me just before my surgery...

 The sonogram of my uterus. You can see the polyp in the left picture. The right picture was how my uterus looks after having the hysteroscopy. You can see a big difference.

 This was how I originally told Collin during my first pregnancy.

 Bun or "biscuit" in the oven.

 Even though we lost our first pregnancy, I receive comfort knowing that we will see our angel baby again. 

 Shortly after my miscarriage, I received all these nice gifts from family and friends. We have had so many prayers and fasting for us to have a baby. I am so thankful to such amazing people in my life!

 I highly recommend Clearblue for ovulation tests. They are more expensive, but so worth it! They are very accurate and helped us get pregnant twice!

 Quotes are so inspirational and helpful when going through infertility or any kind of trial. This is a great quote that comforted me during difficult times. 

Love this one!