Pregnant after myomectomy: Baby Gabrielle is here

A year after my myomectomy, I got pregnant and I am happy to relate to all my followers that Baby Gabrielle is here and doing well. To all those who are struggling, there is still hope. I have proven that God is still into miracles and there is still hope for all.

I understand your struggle as I have been there. I understand the tears, not knowing who to talk to and have to listen to insensitive comments from people who does not understand what you are going through even though they are just trying to help.

In all of this, I have learnt to rely mainly on God as a source of strength and hope. I cherished and I am very grateful to my husband who never lost hope, never give up, was always a strong supporter and prayer warriour and my surgeon Professor Joseph Frederick who heads the fertility clinic at the University of the West Indies hospital in Kingston Jamaica ( he did my surgery and took my baby and as good as he is, he still called me a miracle woman and that's how you know God is above doctors because even with their greatest skills, sometimes they too lose hope, but God never does). I am also thankful to all of you who continue to read and support the blog, and supported me through my ordeal, your comments, emails, phone calls meant a lot and through it all it was good to know that I am not alone even though we do not wish any of these sickness on each other.

I hope you follow my page on Facebook because even though I was not getting a chance to blog especially during the pregnancy, I continued to share very interesting and important information about different issues of the uterus on the Facebook page. The information includes new research, healthy lifestyles, what PCOS, endometriosis, fibroids etc sufferers are experiencing, trying and what is working...So keep posted to that page and whenever you have a story share. If it is one thing I will encourage you to do even though it is the hardest thing to do (especially with how critical people can be) is TALK! Do not fear talking. If I had chosen to give little details when my lecturer asked me if I was pregnant, I never would have met Professor Frederick, one of the best surgeons and a researcher in the field of fibroid in Jamaica, I never would have  known the many people who are going through the same and can encourage them to stay strong and maybe today I would not have been looking at the face of my beautiful daughter. Just as me talking might have helped you, you talking may help someone else. Tell us your success story, your struggles, your treatments and how they are working and let us continue to help and encourage each other.

Being Pregnant after Myomectomy

When you have gone through some issue, no one understands you like you, unless there is someone else who have gone through the exact or similar things. This is what we are about and I share my personal story from time to time because I know the information I sought and still seek as a person who have suffered with fibroids, endometriosis and ovarian cysts. Prior to and following my myomectomy, I researched persons success story, what was the myomectomy like, did they get pregnant after healing and how soon, what are the risks, what was their pregnancy like? Today, though I am still on the journey, I wish to share a little.

Fear will creep in. Your thoughts of miscarriage will come and go and you have to be ready to shut it out. For me, I depend on the word of God. One thing I know is that you cannot afford to be stressed and you have to enjoy your pregnancy. You will not only worry about miscarriage, but the baby's development and most of all, what you are not doing right. Sometimes, I am afraid to lift a broom, afraid to walk for distances that were a normal part of my life and afraid to have sex...yes...but don't worry. Concerning sex, you might not be stressing your partner with lack of it because even he is careful and fearful. It takes a little coaxing even after the doctor says it is ok to have sex to get your partner to give you some and we know sex is not something men normally turn down.

Even after passing your 3 months (the high risk end), although you might feel a bit more confident, there will still be time that you wonder about the strength of your uterus as it stretches, especially if your baby is growing fast. After about 19 weeks, your baby will start to kick and they get harder as he grows, sometimes so close to the bladder, it will send you to be bathroom, but those kicks is your most wonderful experience. You rely on them to tell you the baby is alive and well since he is so active. 

I don't know what it is like to be pregnant before the surgery. I had the surgery April 2012, got pregnant, February 2013, roughly 4 months after my recovery and for me the myomectomy helped because I could not have gotten pregnant before it, mainly because of the endometriosis. The journey so far has been smooth, nothing out of the normal. I will be doing an ultrasound soon to look on the fetal anatomy and other aspects of the child development and hopefully will also know the gender. I will keep you abreast, but I leave this with you....Don't lose hope. If you plan to do the surgery, the most important thought for you, would be finding a skilled surgeon, absolutely important whenever cutting is involve and I will also advise you to pray...it would seem simple and fruitless for some, but I dont know what I would do without that connection to God.


UPDATE

Just adding a quick update following our ultrasound...It is a girllllllllllllll...Bless God. Below is our baby registry should you feel the need to bless our little one with a gift:

Rose-Ann Smith and Rahsaan Smith's Baby Registry Link: http://www.amazon.com/registry/baby/2D65RQNY6BHGY

Thanks to all of your for your prayers, support, comments, emails etc...It is greatly appreciated.

Miracle Baby

If you have been following my blogs, especially the personal section, you will understand what I have gone through. From removing a fibroid via abdominal myomectomy, the size of a grape fruit, to finding out during that surgery that I also had endometriosis and ovarian cyst on both ovaries. So at the end of my surgery, there was a sense of relief, but also shock as to all that was taking place in my body. I had a good surgeon and again if you read, you would know how I attributed everything to the glory of God. He helped me in finding the surgeon, in paying less that the actual payment of the surgery (nothing was paid out of my pocket) and to remain calm while in the hospital and recovering following the surgery. I cannot stressed how much it was God.

Well following the surgery, I was put first on lupron, then later on clomid and was told go ahead and try again to start a family. In my spirit, I felt it would be easier, especially with the assistance of the clomid, but month after month, my period would come and I would be disappointed. I knew I was ovulating even without the clomid because I tracked it using ovulation kits monthly. I read all the different positions to put your legs following sex, whether up on a wall, cushion under hip etc...I am sure for those of you are trying, you have read them also. I would scheduled sex so that we do not have too little, but also not too much, once a day every other day leading up to, during and after ovulation. Still NOTHING!!! The tears began to come and I remember thinking is this it. Would I ever be able to give my husband a child? Would I ever be able to look at my own child and say this is the product of my marriage? Frustrated, I didn't take the clomid for a month, but even then nothing. I took it the following month and was closely monitored by the doctor to check the development of my eggs and if I was ovulating. That month, all was well according to the doctor, but still, NOTHING!!!. I cried again as my husband tried to comfort me. Sure he was worried, but it appeared his faith was more than mine. I returned to the doctor. He said to me, it seems like the clomid is not having any effect on your eggs but at the same time I was ovulating. He suggested injectibles and in vitro, both expensive procedures. Hearing those suggestions, I was somewhat fearful. I said  to myself, if the doctor should say this, it is serious. Where was I to get the money? I prayed, something I was doing all along, but this time it was more like a Hannah prayer. The prayer that left you looking drunk, drained. Morning after morning, I fell on my face and I prayed. My faith was being threatened. I needed to be reminded what was important in this life because for me, at this juncture, it was having a child and I wasn't sure if that was God's will.

That month, January, 2013 when I noticed despite ALL THE RIGHT THINGS I had done, my period came, I threw in the towel. I said to my husband, we are not going to try this month and I don't know when I would be ready again. I needed a break. I said God, this is it. If It is your will for me to have a child, then it would happen, have your way. If not, then let me find fulfillment in whatever you want me to do, which require that I am childless. Your will be done. I put the clomid  and the ovulation kit away. I refused to read anything pertaining to pregnancy and fertility. I said this month, I am going to have sex when and how I pleased. Half the people in this world who got pregnant, never planned nor did they put cushion under their bottoms, feet on wall or lie down 20 to 30 minutes after. I enjoyed my husband to the fullest that month, having sex every day sometime and more than once in the day. It was fun just making love and not thinking about baby, especially as I was going on a short vacation and would be away from him.

On my vacation, I remember sitting in the kitchen with my mother who wanted to know what was happening with me and pregnancy. She asked what causes these things (endo, fibroids etc), how come I get them and she didn't, what was the doctor saying, what are my options. For most of the questions, I had no answer. I tried to enjoy the vacation with my niece and nephew. I hang with my friends, although I thought I was getting too old as I was constantly tired. I had a headache, took aleve. No way I could be pregnant, I thought. I didn't do anything right that month. Then my period due day came and pass, but no period. I still doubted. I played with the idea of buying a test. My boobs were so sore that I couldn't touch them, I was tired etc, but again I said, how many months I felt pregnant to the point of nausea and nothing, just pms. Still, I convinced myself to buy a test and felt if it is negative, what the heck, there are no expectations. Got home, took it and less than a minute I got a POSITIVE. I was in silence. Did I do it right? My excitement was away off. Jeez, I should have bought another one. Should I tell my mother? Instead, I called my brother who had two kids already. He smiled and said it look right, but buy another. He went to get it, but all places were closed. I was leaving for Jamaica the following day. I text my husband with a picture of the test and told him, I might be pregnant. I told him to buy another test to confirm. I wanted to jump and scream, but I didn't want to be hurt by a false positive.  Before I returned to Jamaica, I told my mom and immediately she made the sign of the cross and say thank you Jesus. I said, it is just one, let us confirm with the doctor etc, first, before any celebration. I got to Jamaica, took the test, a more expensive one, and again within secs two strong lines appear. I smiled. I thank God. I was so happy, but I wanted to hear from the doctor.

My first visit, confirm a pregnancy at 6 weeks with an empty gestational sac. I was worried, but the doctor said then I am so lucky because so many persons had to repeat the surgery. He put me on folic acid and cyclogest immediately and asked me to return so that we can see if anything form in the sac and to hear a heart beat. The following week, I went back to the doctor and to God be the glory, there was a heartbeat. Now I was SUPER EXCIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITED. He put me on low dose aspirin to take along with the cyclogest. Although I never had a miscarriage, he was taking every precaution. Yesterday, 14th May, I returned for my 12 weeks check up and things are progressing well, but this is what I want you to hear. The doctor said to me, THIS IS NOTHING SHORT OF A MIRACLE. YOU ARE ONE LUCKY YOUNG LADY. He went as far as telling me because the fibroid was so big, he had his doubts, but it is a miracle. Since the day, I found out, I was giving God praise. I knew my child is a special blessing. Yesterday though, just hearing it from the doctor, who did my surgery, I was just filled with praise. I want to let you know there is a God who is able. I am trusting him to take me through a healthy pregnancy and whatever the outcome to him be the Glory. Don't lose your faith in God, even though you might have lost it in yourself. He is able. Keep me in your prayers that I do not miscarried but have a full term, healthy pregnancy and I will be sure to give you updates.

Have I waited too long?

There are many of us who spend our time seeking to improve ourselves in this modern world. We want to have a good education, a good career, a nice house and car, a good husband and lovely children. So we make our decisions and prioritize. Education and career seems to be at the forefront, and there is nothing wrong with that. We all want to have a better life than the one of our parents and we want our kids to grow up having all that they want, no worries about clothing and school fees etc. Of course, for some of us, we watched our parents struggle on little income with 2 and more siblings and so we want different. Still, when we have it all or reach the point where we feel we can afford to have kids, and are now face with the issues of child bearing, has it ever cross your minds, have I waited too long? It crossed my mind several times.

Many of us have lived our lives believing that what we were facing in our younger days, the terribly painful periods, the irregular periods (which some of us were so happy for), the heavy clotty periods, abdominal cramps, missing school, missing work and it went on and on, but we thought it was a common thing. In fact, some doctors even told us it was common. So we spent our lives, trying to better ourselves and earn enough so we can have a satisfactory, happy life with our kids in the future. We got married, but we never rush to have kids because it is a good thing to spend at least 2 years enjoying your marriage, at least so we were told, no rush. Then the day came and we thought it would be easy. Once that birth control stop, bam! To our distress, it was not. Months passed and we realized, it can't be normal. We visit doctors who want us to wait at least a year before doing any fertility testing, but we are already emotional, distress, scared. Would I ever be able to give my husband a kid? Lord, even if it is one, we beg. I don't want to get too old. Have I waited too long?

Some questions we can only answer for ourselves. However, there are some important points I grasped along the way, which may influence our decisions:

• Normal to you is not always normal. Visit your gynae regularly. Express your symptoms in details and run the tests. If symptoms persist and your present doctor kept telling you it is normal, while refusing to send you for tests, change your doctor. Visit a specialist. Get your answers. A peaceful mind is stress free.
• Try live healthy from the beginning. It is not always easy and sure there are times we are doing it and the problem exists anyway, but an unhealthy lifestyle can create problems or worsen existing ones. 
• If you are already married, especially if that's your religions belief, make sure you know your status before you decide to wait for kids. Really, really important. I am sure everyone decisions would be influenced by this information.
• Finally, while education and career is important, think, would you choose it over having a child? I look at my own life. I grew up with little, within a struggling home, but neither myself nor my siblings ever go hungry or without clothes on our back. We were happy with the little we have. So while we all want to give our children the world, we wouldn't want to have the world and no kids. Maybe it is better to have a kid or two, who we are able to bring up in a happy home though the resources are limited. I am sure if we have information on our fertility earlier, we would have make different decisions in spite of what  resources we have. So again, don't take anything simple, visit your doctor. 

Have a blessed day guys. Also please follow us on Facebook. While I might not publish post as regularly on the blog, there are some interesting tips, information, researches, stories from other persons that I might feed from one site into my facebook page. 

All you need to know about infertility

What is infertility?

Infertility means not being able to get pregnant after one year of trying (or six months if a woman is 35 or older). Women who can get pregnant but are unable to stay pregnant may also be infertile.

Pregnancy is the result of a process that has many steps. To get pregnant:

• A woman's body must release an egg from one of her ovaries (ovulation).
• The egg must go through a fallopian tube toward the uterus (womb).
• A man's sperm must join with (fertilize) the egg along the way.
• The fertilized egg must attach to the inside of the uterus (implantation).

Infertility can happen if there are problems with any of these steps.

What causes infertility in women?

Most cases of female infertility are caused by problems with ovulation. Without ovulation, there are no eggs to be fertilized. Some signs that a woman is not ovulating normally include irregular or absent menstrual periods.
Ovulation problems are often caused by polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). PCOS is a hormone imbalance problem which can interfere with normal ovulation. PCOS is the most common cause of female infertility. Primary ovarian insufficiency (POI) is another cause of ovulation problems. POI occurs when a woman's ovaries stop working normally before she is 40. POI is not the same as early menopause.
Less common causes of fertility problems in women include:

• Blocked fallopian tubes due to pelvic inflammatory disease, endometriosis, or surgery for an ectopic pregnancy
• Physical problems with the uterus
• Uterine fibroids, which are non-cancerous clumps of tissue and muscle on the walls of the uterus.

What things increase a woman's risk of infertility?

Many things can change a woman's ability to have a baby. These include:

• Age
• Smoking
• Excess alcohol use
• Stress
• Poor diet
• Athletic training
• Being overweight or underweight
• Sexually transmitted infections (STIs)
• Health problems that cause hormonal changes, such as polycystic ovarian syndrome and primary ovarian insufficiency

How does age affect a woman's ability to have children?

Many women are waiting until their 30s and 40s to have children. In fact, about 20 percent of women in the United States now have their first child after age 35. So age is a growing cause of fertility problems. About one-third of couples in which the woman is over 35 have fertility problems.

Aging decreases a woman's chances of having a baby in the following ways:

• Her ovaries become less able to release eggs
• She has a smaller number of eggs left
• Her eggs are not as healthy
• She is more likely to have health conditions that can cause fertility problems
• She is more likely to have a miscarriage

How long should women try to get pregnant before calling their doctors?

Most experts suggest at least one year. Women 35 or older should see their doctors after six months of trying. A woman's chances of having a baby decrease rapidly every year after the age of 30.

Some health problems also increase the risk of infertility. So, women should talk to their doctors if they have:

• Irregular periods or no menstrual periods
• Very painful periods
• Endometriosis
• Pelvic inflammatory disease
• More than one miscarriage

It is a good idea for any woman to talk to a doctor before trying to get pregnant. Doctors can help you get your body ready for a healthy baby. They can also answer questions on fertility and give tips on conceiving.

How will doctors find out if a woman and her partner have fertility problems?

Doctors will do an infertility checkup. This involves a physical exam. The doctor will also ask for both partners' health and sexual histories. Sometimes this can find the problem. However, most of the time, the doctor will need to do more tests.
In men, doctors usually begin by testing the semen. They look at the number, shape, and movement of the sperm. Sometimes doctors also suggest testing the level of a man's hormones.
In women, the first step is to find out if she is ovulating each month. There are a few ways to do this. A woman can track her ovulation at home by:

• Writing down changes in her morning body temperature for several months
• Writing down how her cervical mucus looks for several months
• Using a home ovulation test kit (available at drug or grocery stores)

Doctors can also check ovulation with blood tests. Or they can do an ultrasound of the ovaries. If ovulation is normal, there are other fertility tests available.
Some common tests of fertility in women include:

• Hysterosalpingography (HIS-tur-oh-sal-ping-GOGH-ru-fee): This is an x-ray of the uterus and fallopian tubes. Doctors inject a special dye into the uterus through the vagina. This dye shows up in the x-ray. Doctors can then watch to see if the dye moves freely through the uterus and fallopian tubes. This can help them find physical blocks that may be causing infertility. Blocks in the system can keep the egg from moving from the fallopian tube to the uterus. A block could also keep the sperm from reaching the egg.
• Laparoscopy (lap-uh-ROS-kuh-pee): A minor surgery to see inside the abdomen. The doctor does this with a small tool with a light called a laparoscope (LAP-uh-roh-skohp). She or he makes a small cut in the lower abdomen and inserts the laparoscope. With the laparoscope, the doctor can check the ovaries, fallopian tubes, and uterus for disease and physical problems. Doctors can usually find scarring and endometriosis by laparoscopy.

Finding the cause of infertility can be a long and emotional process. It may take time to complete all the needed tests. So don't worry if the problem is not found right away.

Source: http://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/infertility.cfm

New Year Expectations for Women with Uterus Problems

It took me awhile to write this post even though it came to mind from the beginning of the new year. First let me wish all of you beautiful people a happy new year. 

Each time, I write a post I think of myself and the many negative feelings that have crossed my mind and I had to FORCE them out and remember God is in control of every situation. So I asked you today, what are your new year plans for your body?

Have you decided to eat everything and anything you want because you just want to be like everybody else, normal? Well everybody else is not healthy, but even then, they are not faced with our conditions. We have to live each day knowing that we are not like everybody else, but it does not make us abnormal. In fact eating healthy is the right way to go. So give up the fries and sodas, the caffiene and alcohol and whatever totally fatty food you are consuming because it is not doing you any good.

I started this year, I believe, in the right spirit, watching what I eat and how much I eat. Therefore, I have cut down on the amount I eat to keep my weight within norm, but also I have increased my vegetable and fruit intake. Now eating healthy is not cheap, but it is something we gotta do. I have also maintain good practices such as drinking my tea without sugar (not easy at the beginning but you would get use to it), no caffeine, sodas and alcohol. I have my parsley right now, out in front of me, about to chop them and make that drink that I share on my facebook page for those of you who follow it. If you don't, you should. There are some interesting things that I share on the page at times that are not on the blog, such as good food for endometriosis and fibroids etc. 

I hope that for all of you, this year have brought on new positive energy. I understand that many probably have already given up on hope out of their conditions and hope for pregnancy. I believe in taking a break so as not to fall into depression, and just enjoy your life and your husbands, but do not give up. God is in charge of your situation and though we do not always get his timing, once we remain faithful and steadfast he will see us through. There are a lot of information out there that we are not aware of you. Through my blog and page, I will seek to bring some to light so that you will remain hopeful. I am looking forward to hear from many of you either on my page or via the email at the bottom of this page. Tell me the great successes you have had this year. Share about your treatment plans or even your pains. Someone out there is listening and reading and wants direction- your story might just do the trick. Happy New Year all and baby dust to all of you.