So....I am now 23 weeks along:) How has this pregnancy been???? Pretty typical for me with a trip to the emergancy room already under my belt at 19 weeks which is par for the course. In the beginning I had more blood tests than I ever imagined I would to watch the hcg numbers climb and to check my progestrone. I was getting blood draws every 3 days or so for a few weeks. Since my progestertone was low I was put on suppliments (gross, and messy btw) until I was 12 weeks along and the placenta could take over for what I was not able to produce on my own. I felt as if I had been drugged the whole time, super sleepy almost to the point I could not wake up it felt like sometimes and VERY sick to my stomach morning, noon and night. But it is worth it knowing we did everything we could do to give the baby the best shot of sticking! The girls really have been excited. They all say they want a boy and have said it all along. I do have to admit that I thought thats what the baby was for the whole first trimester......at 19 weeks I was having contractions after a long drive and went to the ER in Grand Forks where they later transfered me to Land D for monitoring.......they ordered a ultrasound and found my placenta was anterior which explained why I was not feeling the baby kick as much as I had in previous pregnancy. They also found that I had a fibroid on my cervix....the technition also found that we are having a .........baby girl:) 5 girls.......I was happy....surprised but happy. I love baby girls and cant wait to sew little outfits and dress her up:) I think once the girls find out (in the delivery room) they will be super excited as well.
We had an ultrasound at 22 weeks and it was confirmed to be a little girl....the fibroid was gone and the placenta was in a great position! I get to go back to see her again in a few weeks as she had her feet up by her head and they could not get a good measurment of the spine....I can't wait:) We have a name picked out and have had it for a month or so now.....the baby's name will be Evalynn Rose Smith.....I have a secret drawer where I have been buying little girl things and keeping them so the other girls do not see and find out the gender. We are not telling anyone else the gender till the baby is born.
Well.....that about catches us up. I am feeling better some of the time...am still very tired....throw up every now and then and have contractions off and on......I pray that this baby is full term......anything after the middle of August is great with me:)

Long time...no update but great news!

So....On Dec 27th, I got my positive pregnancy test! Who would have ever thought that it would have happend so fast....or that I would get sick so fast. In the early weeks of the pregnancy I was feeling good....but on the bloodwork that was run by my fertility doctor they found that I had low progesterone and they needed to start me on supplements. It was all downhill from there as far as how I was feeling. That stuff made me feel terrible and as if I was drugged all the time. After the first 14 weeks I was taken off of the supplements and it took about another 4 weeks for me to start to feel better and not throw up all the time:)
As I sit here today I am 21 weeks pregnant and waiting for my ultrasound in a few days. I am so so thankful, excited, thrilled and scared. Everything we had hoped for came true. Each day I see my girls getting more and more ready to be big sisters. Little Jillian will be almost 9 when the baby is born and is really excited to pass the torch on to the baby of being the littlest in the family. She takes good care of me and spends the most time talking to my tummy and bringing me glasses of milk to drink to keep the baby healthy.Every day she takes her finger and pokes me in my tummy and giggles. What a lucky little baby to get to have all these sister to love him or her:)

Thyroid and hearts on my chart:0

I have been tracking my tempretures and daily symptoms on Fertility Friend online religously now for the past 3 months. My morning tempretures appeard very low (96.1) and coupled with some other symptoms I was having I suspected that my thyroid was not functioning properly which can affect ovulation. My fertility doctor agreed and has started my back on thyroid meds and is giving me the rest of this cycle and next month to get pregnant on my own before he "takes the bull by the horns" and starts me on fertlity drugs (clomid) and a shot to make me ovulate. Gregs numbers were great at his last SA so we think we have a great shot still. I still have not lost hope for this cycle....it does not look pretty on the charts and graphs....but I asked Santa (my boss dressed up at a party) for a baby for Christmas and I am supposed to test around that day.....so you never know;) Some days it almost seems like its going to be a sure thing the way DH and I talk about it. He has been a trooper through all this....bd'ing on command is not what he though it was going to be. But, we are one of the lucky couples I think as this process has brought us closer together and has us working together towards a common goal. Think I might go out tonight and pick up some more PG tests as I think I am 9dpo.....not sure though:)

We got LOTS of swimmers

Well, I have been doing my part as far as temping every morning and keeping track of things on fertilityfriend.com. Greg did his part by having his first SA (seman anylisis) done at the 2 month mark. Guess what! 102 million sperm and 64% motile! I am so excited. My ovulation kit predicted my ovulation day this month as being on the Thursday the 12th of November this month. I have been poas's non stop! I really should not as a test probably won't come positive till Thanksgiving time at least if I am pregnant this round. I so want this to happen fast. I can't wait for the girls to experiance all of this with me. And to see everyones face in the delivery room when we find out if it's a boy or girl. (something we did not do with the other girls...we found out every time) Greg has been keeping up on his vitamins and I take a daily one as well. I want to do EVERYTHING I can with this baby to be sure of a healthy pregnancy:) Gluten free and loving it.....sort of:)

It's done---The boys are back in town:)

On September 11th Greg went to Dr. Showe in MN and had his vasectomy reversed. We told my Dad and he was not very supportive. Like he said....if we were telling him "surprise...we're pregnant" he would be happy....but knowing that we are purposly trying he would try to talk us out of it. Anyway....its done and was a piece of cake.
From when we arrived at the doctors office to when we were back on the road home was only a little over 3 hours! They were very professional and I felt Greg was in safe hands the whole time. Results at the time of surgery were that there was clear fluid and sperm on both sides....yippy!
It has now been two and a half weeks since his surgery and we officially began trying on Sept 27th. I don't think that I actually O for another 10 days....but we plan on trying to get this done as fast as we can. For all that he is gone through I hope the surgery was a success. It would be so sad to have gone through all this only to find out we still have no chance.

Gaining some ground

What a differance a few months makes. We were finally approuved for a personal loan and are going to be signing papers today to fund the reversal procedure for my husband. We already have the doctor picked out....hopefully can schedule the surgery for late September or early October. Before we went into the bank to request the loan....Greg and I spent a moment in our car in prayer that we would be guided to somoeone that could help make this dream come true. Here is the funny thing....I am 5 days "late" right now and have been spot on for the last few years. I am sure it is just due to my very high level of stress at work, however....it makes me feel even more excited to really be pregnant.....and to be late for a reason. Fingers and toes are crossed that eveything goes well today and we get the loan.

Crossroads

We are still trying to figure out how we are going to come up with the $7,500 for the reversal. All of our savings are tied up in two of the homes that we own...and my husband refuses to put it on credit....we have been down that road and never want to be in debt again. I understand his reasoning....but the clock is not only ticking but it is POUNDING in my head. At 34...it feels like I don't have much time. We were shooting for August.....but it could take a few years yet before we concieve. Ugh.....a few times I have felt like throwing in the towel. Emotionally I feel like we are at a crossroads of either not going forward with this or going all in....I don't do things half way. I think if things don't move one way or the other in the next 2 months I will make the choice myself and say that we are going to be done having anymore children and focus on just being great parents to our 4 girls we already have.