Photo by Terri Smith
Short Version:
Boy goes to FSU
Girl goes to FSU
Boy and Girl are neighbors at FSU
Boy and Girl begin to date
Boy and Girl get engaged 5 years later
Boy and Girl get married in 2003
Boy gets into Law School
Boy and Girl move to Jacksonville
Boy and Girl buy a house
Girl gets job offer in Tallahassee
Girl moves to Tallahassee, Boy follows 6 months later
Boy and Girl get a Dog
Boy, Girl and Dog buy a house
Boy and Girl get PREGNANT, really PREGNANT
Boy and Girl have Triplets
Boy, Girl, Dog and Critters live happily ever after
Long, I mean really long version:
Our story is a little different than most couples who try IVF. My wife began to have pain in her back in February 2008. After a visit to the doctor Rian was diagnosed with endometriosis. The doctor determined that surgery was the best way to attack the endometriosis. She was scheduled for a laparoscopic surgery in April to remove some of the endometriosis. Unfortunately this minor procedure suddenly turned into major abdominal surgery. The doctors removed my wife’s left ovary and fallopian tube. The doctors told us that we had about a year long window to try to get pregnant naturally. Unfortunately the pain returned after a couple of months, June I think. During a trip to Peru in August of that year my wife began to experience severe pain in her back. As soon as we got back we headed to the Reproductive Endocrinologist. He was very blunt in the fact that he did not think that we could get pregnant. After stating that Rian's endometriosis was one of the most severe cases that he had seen, he told us that he would do his best, but offered no guarantees. We left that meeting crushed, but as Rian says, "We picked ourselves up by our bootstraps," and we got ready to tackle IVF head on.
Throughout the initial IVF process my wife proved to me that she was the strongest person that I have ever met. She hates needles but she gutted through the nightly injections that I had to give her. She just fell back on her faith to get her through. She kept the most positive attitude through the entire process. After a month and a half of injections we headed to Jacksonville for the egg retrevial. The doctors were able to get eight eggs from Rian and after fertilization we had five viable embryoes. Due to Rian's severe endometriosis the doctors decided to implant three embryoes. Well Rian apparently had on her reciever gloves that day. About two weeks later Rian woke up with severe pain in her back. After a call to the doctor we were off to the emergency room. They were worried that Rian may have an eptopic preganancy. After the e.r. determined that it wasn't an eptopic pregnancy we were elated to learn that we were having twins. Twins, huh?
A few days later we were headed back to Jacksonville for a checkup and ultrasound. We started the ultrasound and the doctor found the first sack and yolk quickly. "Well there is the first sack and yolk, oh, there is the second sack and yolk, oh, well, ummmmmRian and I decided that we would accept and be ecstatic with what every God presented us with, and we would not go through the process of selective reduction. We could not imagine our lives now without one of the Critters.
After we found out that we were pregnant with Triplets we began to get in pregnancy mode. Rian changed her diet and began to be more conscious of her routine. Rian is a very strong and determined person and she had a pregnancy plan and didn't really care if it jived with what her O.B. or high risk doctor wanted. She told them that she knew her body and that she was not going to go on hospital bed rest and that she was going to work up to 32 weeks.
We began to tell our friends in December that we were pregnant and it was quite comical to see their reactions. After that we began to coast.
Right before we began IVF Rian decided that she wanted to get back into the classroom and she got a job at a local middle school. Rian was set to have her year review on April 24, 2009. She had a great review, but due to budget issues and her being the last teacher hired she was told that she would not be back the next year. Rian broke down for maybe a half an hour, but then she got right back up and was determined to find something else. Rian had been placed on home bed rest the day before so this was not a good start to that. Monday morning we had to go to the doctor and Rian's plan finally went by the wayside. She was placed on hospital bed rest due to high blood pressure. Rian was most upset about the fact that she didn't get to say goodbye to our dog Abbey.
Rian was on hospital bed rest for about two and a half weeks. She was happy to learn that the nurses were going to allow me to sneak Abbey up to see Rian. They said that if anyone asked Abbey was a "service dog." To those who know Abbey there is no way in hell that she could ever be considered a service dog. That was a nice reunion and brightened up Rian's day.
May 13th was here before we knew it. We were going to get to meet our Critters today. We wre taken down to a holding room and Rian was later wheeled into the operating room while I was held back. After they prepped Rian they came to get me. I asked them if Rian was going to already be cut open when the bring me in. "I don't think so but I'm not a hundred precent sure that they haven't already started." I let them know that if they already made the incision and I see it they better have a gurney in there because I will pass out. Luckily Rian was still intact when I reached the operating room. I couldn't believe how many people were in the operating room, there must have been atleast 25-30 people.
The babies were out quickly, only about a minute and a half to get all three out. I was quickly wisked out with the babies and headed to the NICU with them. Rian was sewn up and sent to recovery. We were later able to both go to the NICU to see the Critters together, a moment that I will definitely not forget.
I started this blog to keep a record of everything that the Critters do from the most monumental of events to the everyday occurances. I hope that you enjoy the journey with me. I appreciate you following the blog and I hope that you have as much fun reading about the Critters as I do writing about them.
Chris
