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Text of the page (random words):
bad hypertension which turned into postpartum preeclampsia and hypertension we ve learned now that egg donor pregnancies carry an increased risk for this though we were never informed about this prior to conception or during pregnancy while this would not have changed our decision to do rivf i think it would have definitely informed my healthcare decisions during pregnancy for instance following a preeclampsia prevention protocol and not leaving the hospital as soon as we did birth was much tougher this time around with lots of pitocin and a cook s catheter that felt like a torture device it took awhile to get labor started and that part was pretty lovely just me and my wife walking around talking and laughing and stopping mid conversation to get through a contraction they had to keep upping the pitocin because contractions weren t super regular we were nearing the highest dose after on and off laboring all day and i was really worried things weren t going to take off i wasn t even considering pain relief until i started to have pretty intense active labor and got into the tub but started throwing up and feeling pressure i would not let them check my cervix and they estimated that because the catheter hadn t fallen out that i must be around 3 cm how wrong they were i demanded an epidural before allowing them to do any cervical checks and as soon as the epidural kicked in the catheter came out honestly i just remember what looked like a full sized balloon dripping in blood emerging from me but things were all a little dramatic at that point they checked me and i was at a 9cm and going through transition they left me for awhile someone else was pushing out their baby and i tried to rest but really just shook uncontrollably and felt terribly restless with lots of pain still particularly in my lower back i realized i needed to push a whole team of women came rushing in including a very attractive doctor who was not my midwife and that was pretty cool from what i remember wife agrees she checked me and my water broke and it was time to push it was much harder this time around and i think it is because my epidural was not as potent as my firstborn s and i basically didn t push with her until i had really labored down and she came out with very little effort baby boy was a different story and it felt like i was getting nowhere in actuality i pushed for about a half hour which isn t that long comparably mostly i felt like my head and face were going to explode and i didn t feel like i was doing it right my midwife came in just in time to catch the baby she instructed me to do some more controlled pushing but i just hulked out and ended up tearing also didn t happen with my first midwife did some weird shaming scolding for not listening to her which was her general demeanor throughout the birth because she didn t agree with the other midwife s recommendation to induce i wish i had delivered with someone else but we knew that there was a risk that we d get someone whom we didn t really like from the midwife group and i actually did like this midwife prior to my birth with her but had heard some negativity about her from other women baby weighed 7lbs and was 20 inches even at 37 weeks he took to nursing very quickly and all seemed well we left about 24 hours after giving birth he was very sleepy and struggled with staying awake for feeds but overall all was well until i got a headache that just wouldn t go away we went back in found my bp was very high and liver enzymes had doubled they diagnosed me with postpartum preeclampsia and started me on magnesium and i was readmitted to the hospital for 2 days i feel thankful that they took my concerns seriously and monitored me closely being sick and away from my newborn and toddler was a bit traumatic my wife was a rockstar and i couldn t have asked for a better partner in such a scary time magnesium sucks i was under the impression that my bp issues would be corrected once i did it and that was not the case i was put on beta blockers for 6 weeks before things evened out and had hypotension for the last week which was also really uncomfortable i also felt like my bonding with my boy was delayed and my mil noted that not only the time away but the threat to my life health may have impacted that early bonding i think she is probably right but i am so so in love with this little boy now he is amazing and so easygoing he basically just sleeps eats poops and smiles we actually are only just starting to hear him belt it out and he is very easily consoled my wife has had more time with him then with our first and we actually split maternity leave since baby was born in feb i took 8 weeks mostly unpaid yay america wife took 6 weeks paid and then i will start a 12 week summer vacation next week paid baby will be about 6 months old when he starts daycare which we feel good about big sister is doing pretty well with everything she was initially smitten and is more ambivalent now with some jealousy for sure but has had very little regression and no ill will toward the baby mostly just attention seeking behavior directed at me she does still ask to hold him frequently and talks to him he thinks she hangs the moon and smiles whenever she is near they look so much alike and i love that they are genetically bonded with the same donor and same belly mama but also with my wife and my individual features as well we all genuinely look alike it is not necessary of course but super cool this entry was posted in uncategorized on may 28 2019 by imagininggayby 8 months leave a reply about a month until due date and i am feeling this meme so much my first came on her due date well the day after but labor started on her due date and i have a slightly insane fixation and expectation that this baby will be just as punctual though i know that the odds are not in my favor anyway i am real tired of being pregnant between the sore back sore hips heartburn fatigue breathlessness and general irritability i am just over it thankful to be healthy and able to carry this lil guy of course but yeah over the whole pregnancy bit i am looking forward to meeting him and for our daughter to meet him too definitely nervous about labor but also interested to see how it differs and is hopefully improved with the midwife program i am working with vs the ob hoping that maybe my daughter can be at the birth if things align hoping that going from 1 to 2 isn t too terribly rough hoping that lil guy is as laid back as his sister i feel like we got an easy baby with our first and don t feel like people often get 2 of those tho we ll make it work just waiting around to see what we re working with this entry was posted in uncategorized on february 4 2019 by imagininggayby oh boy leave a reply i haven t written in soooo long but have been following along with others journeys this pregnancy has had a lot of similarities and some differences from my first some differences i ve noticed 1 different and less intense cravings i had a need for sweet carbs with my firstborn pancakes in particular but pie cake pastries etc were all good as well none of that this pregnancy but some sour tangy spicy leanings 2 a little more discomfort i ve had more braxton hicks like discomfort vaginal pain and cramping with this pregnancy my chest also often feels like it is being squished and i have struggled with sitting upright for longer periods of time the hour car ride over christmas and the 2 movies we recently saw were hell my sciatica is back but on the left this time and located more underneath my butt and down my leg than in my hip back this time so that s fun 3 anterior placenta and a huge delay in movement first movements were super low faint and basically in my vagina finally feeling bigger kicks and rolls higher up now 29 weeks tomorrow 4 it s a boy we didn t find out with our first but decided to go for it this time baby was not shy and i spotted xy parts almost immediately it was a bit shocking at first my wife described a feeling of shock and dismay initially which dissipated before we even left the ultrasound we re having a son she was so sure we were having another girl i thought it was a boy but was wrong with our first and wife was right so it was a fun reversal i could not stop laughing in the ultrasound of the donor sibs we know 6 are girls including ours and 2 are boys well 3 with our new one 2 families just had twin girls and a little girl so i wasn t sure if we d keep with the pattern of girls or break it i m excited to raise both a daughter and a son and i want one more too this entry was posted in uncategorized on december 28 2018 by imagininggayby 8 weeks oh yeah i m pregnant 2 replies i haven t had the time or energy to sit down and write i m off for the summer and home with the toddler parenting a 2 year old while battling first trimester fatigue and nausea is no joke though it seems to be letting up a little bit which is exactly the timeframe of my last pregnancy so yeah i m pregnant with my wife s embryo we had a little scare with a small amount of spotting at 7w3d so we got to check in on the baby and all was well heartbeat at 151 up from 112 at the 6 wk scan our 2 year old is so cute and chatty about her baby sister no we don t know the sex yet but we re going to find out this time i have no preference at all but wife and daughter are both convinced that it s a girl ️ we ll see this entry was posted in uncategorized on august 3 2018 by imagininggayby rivf cont leave a reply so we transferred one fresh good looking day 5 embryo yesterday 4 more made it to freeze which we are pleased about my lining was very thick 14mm but apparently that is not a bad thing so i m not going to worry since ive already done my googling and been reassured by the doc overall the transfer was pretty painless i had to pee pretty badly near the end but other than that it went smoothly slept much of the 4 hour ride home due to the xanax and have just been hanging at home today with the 2 year old she is currently napping and nursing not having to do the retrieval and just doing the transfer has made it possible not to have to wean which i am happy about and some women do nurse during retrieval as well had someone told me two years ago that i d be doing this whole pregnancy thing again so soon i don t think i would have believed them wife yes but here i am tiny embaby hopefully burrowing in i am a lot more laid back about all this this time around i will be disappointed if it doesn t work honestly because the process is so much work but am optimistic and will test on sunday against doctors orders this entry was posted in uncategorized on june 27 2018 by imagininggayby rivf 1 reply well wife s retrieval is set for thursday we trigger this evening then transfer to me 3 5 hopefully 5 days later wife s eggs are big and bountiful my lining is great if this works out i have to say that i really like the process and the teamwork of rivf our bodies are working together to make a baby hoping to be growing a little sibling for our little soon this entry was posted in uncategorized on june 19 2018 by imagininggayby rant 1 reply out of town childfree weddings fine whatever inviting people to your out of town wedding having them book cabins at your in the mountains retreat and then casually mentioning after the fact that kids aren t welcome at the ceremony or reception but are definitely still welcome to come hang out in the days leading up to said out of town wedding and that they ll work on trying to find some childcare but no promises so maybe bring someone along to watch your kids i m so pisssssed we re talking a 2 day drive out of town 1000 worth of cabin fees that we would put on the other couple we are sharing with if we back out now not cool man also my friend with a new baby who also had the oh so convenient out of town childfree wedding is upset that she can t bring her baby sigh at least there is some consolation humor in that this entry was posted in uncategorized on may 14 2018 by imagininggayby switching gears 1 reply well we re not pregnant but rewind a few weeks wife and i were discussing our plan should she not be pregnant i told her i thought that we should switch to ivf if when the time is right and possibly consider doing reciprocal if they can synch our cycles and do a fresh transfer as it is unlikely that her lining would be adequate for a fresh transfer she has been pretty tight lipped about planning for the in case future because she found it disheartening but once we found out how thin her lining is the reality of iui working out has started to dim a bit add that to certain career opportunities and new responsibilities wife is currently looking at and it s making more sense she seemed to give a sigh of relief and even said now i kinda hope i m not pregnant and we did the poas to confirm it it was bittersweet we ve been in contact with a clinic in st louis and have gotten some price points it s not pretty but wife did get a settlement from her bike accident and we ve put that away for a rainy day cue rainy day it feels kind of weird to be putting so much money towards something with so many question marks but that s the nature of this process in general and honestly if it works out it s totally worth it money does not even begin to place a value on being moms and creating our family it is beyond money that said if it doesn t work out it will be pretty shitty i am optimistic that it will work out in one way or another though wife seems to make eggs like a champ just not lining and i had a really great pregnancy and lactate like a boss we ll see what the doc says here s to the next adventure this entry was posted in uncategorized on january 29 2018 by imagininggayby tww 4 6 replies here we are again so we re doing the tww after what seemed to be a well timed insemination one 18mm follicle with trigger 36 hours later wife has been struggling with a thin lining not on clomid and we cancelled last cycle because it was under 4 this cycle we started tamoxifen which can have a thickening effect on the lining and did a whole regimen of herbs and pomegranate juice and tea and baby aspirin lining got almost to a 6 still on the thin side so i am feeling a little pessimistic but trying to be optimistic for wife our doctors seem pretty unconcerned which is a little frustrating we have 2 tries after this before we figure out how to afford ivf and i m trying not to see this as a foregone conclusion i would love for this just to work out this cycle it would be so nice for it just to work out in an easier and less expensive manner but i don t know if that s how we roll i guess that s when we just wait and see this entry was posted in uncategorized on january 18 2018 by imagininggayby probably out 2 replies wife s af hasn t showed up but it s due sometime today and we ve had all negative tests so far still of course holding onto the thread of hope that we coul...