I have too much on my mind.
I write this with a lump in my throat.
The day before Lucas' birthday, I took a pregnancy test and it came out positive. We had only been "trying" for two weeks! Can you say fertile? Stranger things have happened...
Learning you're pregnant the first time is one of the most exciting moments in a woman's life. Not only is it a major milestone on the path of adulthood, it is one of the most joyous experiences you will ever have. I will never forget the day I found out I was pregnant with Lucas. I cried tears of happiness, excitement and fear.
Learning I was pregnant a second time was a little more shocking for me. I had just gotten back to my pre-pregnancy weight and into my favorite jeans. The hair around my face was starting to grow back and I was FINALLY starting to get the hang of this "mommy thing". The tears this time were out of pure disbelief. I was excited for sure, but also troubled by how our perfect little family of three was going to change drastically. I was mostly concerned with how this new addition would affect Lucas and how I might handle two under two. Doing the quick calculations, Lucas and his sibling would be almost 21 months apart.
I thought I was nine weeks along at my first OB/GYN visit when an ultrasound revealed that I was only measuring at six weeks. We were told we could have our dates off.
I'm pretty good (obsessive) with dates and knew deep down inside that something was terribly wrong.
Blood work was ordered to check my hCG (the pregnancy hormone) levels and more ultrasounds a week later. Unfortunately, my hCG levels dropped and we learned last Thursday that there had been no growth to the embryo since week six.
I had a terrific pregnancy with Lucas, (you can read all about my experience here) so why would I think anything would or could go wrong with this one? I certainly felt pregnant. I've been tired and famished and snarky.
But, in the end, my gut was right. There was something wrong and this pregnancy wasn't meant to be.
Of course, we'll never know exactly what went wrong (see #3 of my Friday Flip Offs for how I feel about that).
I never wanted to be a part of this group... a woman who has suffered a miscarriage and also a mother who is already blessed with the knowledge of the beautiful outcome of a full term pregnancy.
But here I am, a reluctant member with so many questions and so much sadness. Why did this happen to us? What went wrong? Did I do something different this time around? Will it happen again?
I know that miscarriage is far more common than we like to think and often times there are no answers. I'll have to accept that. Eventually.
All I know right now is that this hurts, I'm sad and because I don't want to wait around for my body to have a natural miscarriage, I have a D and C (a procedure to scrape and collect the tissue from inside the uterus) scheduled for this afternoon.
Please keep me and all of the women that have ever had to go through this in your thoughts... if just for today. Thank you. xoxo
The best is yet to be.
This post was written for the word game, Word Up, Yo! hosted by Natalie (Mommy of a Monster), Kristin (Taming Insanity) and Liz (a belle, a bean and a chicago dog).
If you like words too, play along!This week's word is snarky.