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We made it!  WE are a family of five and our baby making days are over!  Praise the Lord!

Traumatic Birth Story

For over three years we tried to have one more baby after our twins. We had four miscarriage and tons of heartbreak. Finally, God blesses us. We thought the trial was over, he was finally almost here. After all we went through I wanted the least amount of interventions possible, a natural VBAC (we had breech twins at 35 weeks 6 years prior). I knew I could do it! I love the class here. I learned so much! I ate my dates, started drinking RRL tea second trimester, and increasing to 3 cups a day around 35 weeks. I felt good baby was good. 

At 37 weeks baby boy flipped breech! I immediately came home did spinning babies and he flipped right back head down! I had kept praying “please give me the birth that is safest for us both” so I figured head down was a go for my vbac. 

At 38 +5 weeks, I got bronchitis and had to get on Antibiotics. I noticed I had started losing my mucus plug the couple days earlier. That night I wiped and there was blood mixed in! I thought for sure it was going to happen soon. The next day I felt so much better from the medication, so we were okay if labor started. 

38+6. It was about 10 pm a heard a pop and then a HUGE gush. My water broke. It was not a trickle. A gush like you see in the movies. I couldn’t believe it! I went to the bathroom and within 10 min I had to go poop twice! It was go time! I was starting to have contractions. I made myself another RRL tea with three bags, got my labor oils. I was contracting regularly with that tea. We went to the hospital. 

Once all checked in, of course my contractions died down and were sporadic. They had me walk the halls. Nothing. I wanted to avoid interventions, especially pit. By 6am I was only 1 centimeter dilated and bc of the time, and vbac they started me on pitocin. I knew at that point my birth preferences were out the window. I walked the halls for two hours then I found the birth ball. I LOVED that ball. It felt so good rocking through the contractions. 

I had to use the bathroom, I came out and the nurse was there concerned. Baby had a major decel and wasn’t recovering. She had me go on all fours, O2, lay on side etc. finally he started doing better. But then that continued every so often. He was not loving the contractions at all. She recommended the epidural bc I was high risk and he wasn’t doing well, so I got it. 

We also had to keep shutting off Pit and restarting so it just dragged every thing out. We basically stopped and had to restart labor many times. 

Baby continued to have decels. As a last resort, they inserted a catheter into my uterus and filled it with saline to relieve him since they figured it was a cord issue... it worked. Finally I was progressing and baby was doing great!

Once I got to five centimeters I started progressing quickly. But we were coming on the 24 hour mark. I started getting a fever. My doctor pressed on knowing I really wanted a vaginal birth. 

I finally got to ten centimeters. I pushed for 30 minutes really well. They had me wait for the doctor to get there because baby was right there. All of a sudden I started having major pain. Like a burning pain. They said it was because baby was right there. But it was horrible and did not feel right. Doctor came in and two pushes later Maverick Lucca was born blue with the cord wrapped two times around his neck at 4:03AM January 7, 2018. Daddy cut the cord and They put him on me and he was hot! He also got a fever and was 103! Thankfully he recovered quickly.

Right after delivery the pain continued! I said “why am I still in pain? It’s supposed to go away after I deliver!” They checked my uterus it was firm, checked for bleeding, I wasn’t. But I laid there in agony, I started saying “help me, help me, the pain is so bad, help me.” They decided to give me more epidural! I asked if it was my uterus rupturing. I asked why more drugs after delivery. This didn’t make sense. 

I obviously felt better with more drugs. I nursed my baby and got the skin on skin. Almost two hours later, I was being closely monitored, I was bleeding out, with blood pressure of 50/30. I was dying! A team of people rushed in and they did an ultrasound to see I was bleeding internally. I was wheeled out immediately. Before being knocked out I said “please just don’t let me die, please don’t let me die!”

I woke up at 9am in ICU. I found out I had a partial hysterectomy (they saved my ovaries and cervix) to save my life. Luckily it was our last baby anyway. I was doing well, recovering. 

The following day began the downhill spiral.
When I had my hysterectomy, my doctor (who was the on call OB), left my two main arteries open and I started bleeding internally again! I developed a football size hematoma and looked nine months and pregnant. I had to have another surgery to save my life, again! A radiologist went in through my groin to close off my arteries. They did successfully!

I was sent home with a belly full of blood.
This started the domino effect of problems. A few days since being sent home, I started bleeding which turned into hemorrhaging. I went back to the hospital and was admitted. Radiology came and inserted a drain into my abdomen and they drained 2 liters of blood. Five days later I was sent home again. 

A few days later I developed a fever and returned to the hospital, this time septic. I developed an infection by a hole left at the top of my vagina (again by the on call doctor who did my first surgery). I was admitted immediately and was put on a septic protocol and started IV antibiotics. Five days later I was sent home for the third time. This time we thought for sure for the last time. 

With a pic line in place, major antibiotics, I thought for sure I would be healed. But no. A few days later, at home, my csection scar began to open up and started oozing. It was gross. I went in again and was admitted and I had another fever. I had surgery the following day. This time with my OB and and general surgeon/plastic surgeon. When they went in, they were shocked what they found. All my major organs were covered in pus. They had to open me up completely to clean it out. 

In the past I would have been very upset to have such a gnarly scar. But you get to the point you are just thankful to be alive! 

But we did finally get our baby I’ve prayed so long for! We are so thankful for him, our beautiful boy sent from above, Maverick Lucca. I’ve been home now for two and a half weeks. 

The last picture is the one that saved my life. It was not planned to be cut open completely, but the infection spread and I needed to get completely cleaned out. It has become my testimony of the goodness of God...

And THIS is my testimony of the goodness of God. Even through this, my battle wounds... God is SO faithful! I literally was on my deathbed four different times. My at home nurse told me yesterday, “I honestly don’t know how you made it.” It was because of so many of you! I had SO SO many people praying for me, people I don’t know, people in other states, coming together IN PRAYER, as I fought for my life. NO, I am NOT going to be ashamed of this scar. This scar is a testimony of the goodness of my for real God, who NEVER left my side. This scar will be a constant reminder of what I battled, how I fought to be alive for my children. This scar, my battle wound, will be a reminder of answered prayers. I am finally on the path to healing and I praise Jesus, for he is so good to me... even through this. I will NOT be ashamed. I am a walking testimony.

on the way to the hospital  after my water broke!

Thank you for those that prayed for me!

Maverick Lucca born at 4:03am Jan. 7, 2018

I woke up in ICU the following day.  

our beautiful Maverick

cont' on next post

I finally got clearance...

to wean from prednisone!  I officially cheated, and started weaning 2.5 mg SLOWLY at almost 24 weeks, because originally they told me everyone weans between 20-24 weeks.  Then they had me wait til my labs were done... blah blah blah!   Prednisone is the worst drug I have ever been on!  It is definitely a love/hate relationship because I firmly believe we would not have this miracle without it, but the side effects... rapid heart rate, moon face, excess hair on face (I got my face waxed 3 times and I might need one more!), etc.  Its horrible!  I cannot wait to look like myself again!  Currently at 22.5 mg from 30 mg and I will be 26 weeks tomorrow! YAY!!!

But I have to admit I do get worried.  My ANA's (Anti-nuclear antibodies) were higher than they would like, 99.33 when they should be less than 20.  When you google about this, of course HORRIBLE things pop up, which I cannot even repeat here.  I'm still trusting God, that he is going to protect our little bambino.

Last night I was drawing my boys a bath and I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror...so thankful for this growing basketball... I mean BABY BUMP!  God is good!

Where has the time gone... SO many updates!

13 weeks have come and gone... so fast! I'm so sorry I've been MIA!  I am sure some of you may have thought the worst, but thankfully we are all doing well!

After my last post at 12 weeks, we shared our BIG news with the world...

After every storm, there is a RAINBOW of HOPE

With the greatest joy and humbled hearts, we are so beyond blessed to announce that we are expecting our rainbow baby BOY, due January 13, 2018.

The four white roses represent our angel babies in heaven.  We will never forget them or this journey. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers, as we know how precious life is, and this miracle baby the Lord has blessed us with.  And for those of you who have prayed so fervently for us, Thank you.

"I did not give up waiting for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry.  he lifted me up out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire.  He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along.  He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God.  Many will see what he has done and be amazed.  They will put their trust in the Lord."  

Psalms 40:1-3

We had an outpouring of love, prayers and support.  It was overwhelming.  I was in tears after sharing... because it is scary putting it all out there.  But this is our story and I want God to get the glory!

And Where Are We Now?
Its hard to believe that 13 weeks has flown by!  I'm now 25 weeks pregnant! Praise God!  I'm feeling him kick, roll, and nudge me all the time now!

The first time I felt him I was ALMOST 13 weeks. I know earlier than with the twins!  I didn't believe it myself at first, but there was little popcorn popping in my tummy! It would come and go, some times I wouldn't feel it for days... then I would worry!  I ended up purchasing a doppler... BEST. THING. EVER. It took all my worry away. After RPL (recurrent pregnancy loss), you are damaged. I of course, remind myself constantly of what the Lord said the morning of our transfer, "Trust Me Anyway..."  That has been the BEST thing for this pregnancy, because things are constantly going wrong.

At my 16 week appointment, my OB, for what seemed like the hundredth time, pushed more testing on me.  I reluctantly took the forms.  With my twins, I never did any testing, knowing we wouldn't terminate the pregnancy if something was wrong.  I didn't want to do any testing with this pregnancy either for the same reason and plus I know these tests are wrong all the time and give mothers undue stress.

 I ended up taking my second trimester screening test, just to get my OB off my back.  He called me two weeks later and said our test was positive for down syndrome.  Our anatomy scan was due the following week so he suggested I call them to let them know our test results and schedule a genetic counseling appointment. I was in tears. Praying. Having my friends pray for me and our baby.

C and I talked about it. Chose to NOT go to the counseling appointment, but believe and trust God, that either way, a baby with DS or not, THIS IS OUR BABY.  We did not want to do any further testing and of course we would not terminate.  PLUS, our little one was a genetically NORMAL embryo.  This just shows you how wrong these tests can be.

We went to our anatomy scan, and there were ZERO soft markers that would flag there was a problem or possibility of DS.  He looked perfect, measured 8 oz at 18 weeks.

After all the stress from that blood test, it ended up being a good thing that we did it!  Maybe it was a God thing! The reason the test flared positive is that I have some proteins in the placenta that can cause IUGR (Intra Uterine Growth Restriction) later in pregnancy.  It tends to happen more closer to third trimester.  Of course, again, I worried and prayed like crazy, and again was reminded to, "Trust Him Anyway..."  

Because of our history of RPL and Maximus being so small, 3 lbs 12 oz at 35 weeks, and he started veering off the track at my 30 week appointment, our perinatologist is now monitoring us closely!  I go for a growth scan every four weeks, just like I did with my twins!  Because we didn't do any testing with the twins, it makes me wonder if that is what happened with Maximus' placenta, or was it my whacky immune system attacking it, or was it just a twin thing?  We will never know, but I'm thankful for the extra monitoring.  I go every two weeks, alternating my OB, and now perinatologist.

At my 22 week appointment, our little rainbow measuring right on track again, at 1 lb 1 oz...  And this face... Soooo in love!  I could stare at it all day!  One HUGE benefit of going to the peri,  next to making sure my baby is safe, is getting 3D ultrasounds! Seeing this face makes it so much more real! There is a real baby in there... 

We can't figure out who he looks more like, Rocco or Maximus.  The picture above, he looks just like Rocco, even acts like him!  He is always SO mellow, sleeping in every ultrasound!  He was covering his face the whole time!  I have yet to see him kick around, although I do feel him  so much more now, thankfully!

All my immune stuff is going well.  I just did labs last week and should get the results again tomorrow about my next IVIG.  The last few months I only needed one infusion. I had to wait to start weening fro the prednisone because my ANA's and APA's were still elevated.  My face is SO puffy and I feel so horribly unattractive from them, but they have helped give us our miracle.  I'm not taking too many selfies these days, but I just started weening from them!  I read it takes getting down to 10-15mg to where I will notice a difference in the moon face. I'm going down super slow... 2.5 a week so I don't flare and have any issues.  I'm at 22.5mg a day still.  

Here is the latest bump date, taken yesterday.  I'm not looking at the camera, because honestly, my face is SO puffy.  I'm glad I didn't blow up everywhere else!

Total weight gain so far, 18 lbs!  I feel GREAT!  I LOVE being pregnant!  I am SO thankful for this miracle and second chance!  All the glory to God!

12 weeks 1 day

Eeeek!  Has it already been almost three weeks since my last post?  I'm so sorry!  I hope I didn't worry anyone!  All is well over here!  No news can = good news :)

The last couple weeks we have been so busy!  We had our annual family reunion camping trip up in El Capitan, which is  20 min past Santa Barbara.  It was so much fun!  It is so gorgeous up there!

Before we left, I had my final appointment with my RE and was released. Had my first appointment with OB. All went well!

Today I'm 12 weeks 1 day!  Thank you LORD for this amazing milestone! 

How I'm feeling... so grateful to be at this point. I never thought we would again, but God is so faithful! I have been SO exhausted lately! I keep thinking it is going to get better but the last couple weeks, 10-12, I've been more tired than ever! I'm ready for bed at 6:30 and can barely stay awake to watch a show! We are binge watching The Walking Dead! Amazing show, we are now on season 6. It super entertaining and I can't stay awake for it the last couple weeks! 

I'm still having some food aversions and smells are still strong for me. But no morning sickness. 

Yesterday, we took our announcement photos and should have them in a few days. I'm not sure when I will be ready to share them with The world, however. We have our 12 week ultrasound Wednesday, so maybe sometime after that. I'm a little terrified, but I know I will be until our little babe is born, so there really isn't a good time, anything can happen any time! Just trying to trust God that this IS our rainbow 🌈 take home baby! 

The only people who know are those who have prayed fervently for us the last few years, and who continue to do so! I knew I would need support no matter what happened. 

It's definitely getting hard to hide this bump any longer, but I'm still in that awkward in between 

Stage... "is she packing on the pounds or pregnant?" My pants and shorts are definitely snug and I don't like pressure on my abdomen, so I unbutton my pants a lot. 

We are just so thankful and humbled that we are to this point. When almost all hope was lost, God has truly blessed us! Never give up hope, put your hope in Jesus! 

NINE Weeks One Day!

Sorry for the delay! All is well over here, and our little baby boo is still cooking with no sign of ANYTHING wrong! No spotting, or bleeding, you know I ALWAYS check each time I go to the bathroom and I'm pleasantly surprised when there is nothing! This is what happens after RPL, you are scarred, and always expecting the worst.

Monday was our 8 week ultrasound. I was 8 weeks 2 days. I was nervous, of course, but thankfully my symptoms are giving me some peace of mind. I also decided to measure around my tummy for piece of mind since I'm not getting weekly u/s like I did with the twins.  May 24, around my belly button, I measured 32", then June 3, I measured 34"! Less than two weeks and I gained two inches, so I knew this little babe was growing! Although I know it's all bloat... and my daily cereal! I'm obsessed with Barbara's oat squares and almond milk. Same one I ate when I was pregnant with the boys! So funny! But I'm still weighing in at 138.6 as of yesterday, at 9 weeks. So I'm up 1.5 lbs. not too bad! I was much more starving with twins, gaining 13 lbs by week 13 and waking up in the middle of the night to eat! This pregnancy is SOOOOO much easier so far!

I started working out this week too! We have a little garage gym, and I found some pregnancy workout videos on YouTube! They are only like 25-30 min, and perfect! I'm home with the boys and hate going to the gym! I do want to find a yoga class to take once a week however! I LOVED taking prenatal yoga with the boys.

Taken 7 weeks 6 days.  I did my first workout, a yoga video I had!  It felt SO good!

Our last appointment with my RE is next Monday and I will be 10weeks 2 days. But they had me contact my OB and set an appointment, which will be this Friday! I'm going back to the same OB who delivered my twins. I'm excited bc I really want to have a vbac and he is 100% supportive of them is known at the hospital for being pro vbac! I'm a good candidate too! My mom had amazing births, longest was six hours, I being her last was born in less than an hour, almost in the parking lot! Praying I get to experience that and have a golden hour, skin on skin, with our baby! I cry thinking about it!

I'm still on progesterone and E2 shots.  They had be stop the PIO, at 7 weeks 6 days, and have me do crinone twice a day, but I've been cheating and adding an extra dose!  My progesterone was only 16 at my 8 week check up!  With my twins it was 60!  They "aren't concerned" because the suppositories go "strait to the source" but I'm sorry, I'm not!  We only have one week left of them, which is SOOO exciting, however!

I did my repeat labs Wednesday for our immune workup!  Will get results tomorrow to determine my next IVIG dose.  Praying all is still suppressed and our little one is protected!  I go in for an infusion Wednesday.

We are still waiting to announce this miracle to the world until 12 weeks or later. But I ordered a onesie that I want to use as a prop and I'm so excited it came! Going to schedule something in the next few weeks to take a few shots of the boys holding it with hubby and I.

Our little baby boo at 8 weeks 2 days, measuring 8 weeks 2 days and a beautiful heart beat of 149! Praise the LORD!

Each day, is a blessing. I can't believe we made it to nine weeks so far! God is so good!  After all these years and tears, we have our rainbow baby on the way! Never give up hope!

And please ladies, keep praying for our little babe, we need all the prayers we could get! xoxo, Sara

For this Child we have prayed...

I'm six weeks six days today, tomorrow SEVEN WEEKS!  I have not been able to say that since I was pregnant with my twins!  God is so good!

Monday was our ultrasound, to say that I was nervous, would be an understatement.  After so much loss, its like I'm just waiting for bad news.  But, its a miracle...

As of Monday, I was 6 weeks and 2 days and our little peanut was measuring 6 weeks 1 day and had a beautiful heartbeat of 113! I was in tears. After 2 1/2 years ttc #3, two IVF's, seven transfers, four miscarriages, so many tears, begging and pleading with God, and finally surrendering to His perfect will, even if that didn't include any more children, he blessed us.

Each day is such a blessing, and I really beginning to believe this WILL BE OUR RAINBOW baby! My pregnancy symptoms are getting stronger.  Today I was very nauseated until I ate something and may appetite is really off... or Im starving.  My stomach bloat is out of control... and I only have one baby!  I haven't gained any weight yet, I fluctuate between 136 or 137.  This is shocking to me since I'm on STEROIDS of all things.

We go back at 8 weeks for ultrasound  # 2.  I honestly thought I would be having more, like I did with the twins, but I don't want them.  They are a source of major anxiety.  Although, I continue to do my best to cast all my anxieties over to the Lord.... I know this little one is in his hands!