What to do After Finding Out You’re Pregnant? Life After IVF

Hola Belleza,

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged. As you can imagine the last 7 months have been quite a rollercoaster. I wish someone would have told me what to expect after finding out I was pregnant. Preparing for IVF was a shift toward having a positive mindset. With all my attention on IVF this was the first moment I was able to concentrate on being pregnant. My first trimester after IVF was a door opening to a whole new journey.

Before I get to tell you a bit of my pregnancy journey, I want to first give a BIG SHOUT out to all the Mamas out there. Us women have something very special but going thru pregnancy has elevated my respect one million percent for all women. Moms pull it off everyday but I am still not sure how they do it. I think that will be an unknown and what makes being a mom so darn difficult yet so rewarding. I value and love my mom more than ever; a single mother without family nearby when she had me, full time job while juggling college. PHEW!

THE MOMENT WE FOUND OUT WE WERE PREGNANT

Just when I thought I passed the hard part, then came the pregnancy. I was about a year or so into IVF treatment and the moment we found out I was pregnant I was extremely happy and felt so blessed. I still do. I’ve been waiting for my bundle of joy for 5 years now. Why wouldn’t I be.

I vividly remember waiting to hear back from my blood test to know if we were pregnant. The implantation was on September 11, 2019. A date that many of us will never forget for the rest of our lives. And for once it took a different, much more positive, meaning for me. I kept thinking, this was the day we lost so many lives and yet I am creating one. How bizarre.

PREPARING FOR IMPLANTATION

My fertility doctor asked me to come into the office 10 days after implantation for blood work to see if I was pregnant.  I was advised to rest the first couple of days, meaning no lifting, avoid going up and down the stairs, hydrate, eat healthy and just chill. I did it for 5 days. In my heart, I was thinking, this baby is sticking to my uterus!

The first couple of days I felt a cramp (a very subtle one) and I was told that is a sign the embryo is implanting. Every time I felt the cramp I would put my legs up and pray. It cracked me up seeing myself upside down on the couch because it reminded me so much of the Friends episode when Phoebe was implanted with her brother’s triplets. Friends episodes were playing and replaying on my TV throughout the week. I needed to be in good spirits and laughing. I was so thankful to have my mom  by my side to take care of me and spoil me.

I listen to doc and followed orders to the “t”— I…

• Chilled
• Watched Friends
• Read
• Meditated, CALM app was my BFF
• Disconnected from social media
• Prayed for Baby Tigrett so much
• Kept my faith up
• Started visualizing all the stages of pregnancy, i.e. Pinterest Boards were so helpful and so much fun
• Listened to motivational podcast, i.e. Tony Robbins, Oprah, Marie Forleo
• Read What To Expect When You Are Pregnant by Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel

ARE WE PREGNANT? THE ANTICIPATION STAGE

On September 20th I had my appointment for my blood test to find out if I was pregnant. The anticipation was making me so nervous. My mom and I stopped by church once we got out of the doctor appointment to say a prayer. I even called the priest that married us on my drive to my appointment. I had my blood work at 11ish and by 2pm I was going to receive the news. It was 4pm and nothing. I think I checked my phone for missed calls every minute. I kept thinking, what’s meant to be will be.

When the phone rang my heart was going a million beats a second. Then the nurse tells me that the machine to read the blood is not working and so I would know by Monday. PHEW! For some reason I felt relief even if it meant I had to wait a couple more days.

WAIT FOR BLOOD WORK OR TAKE PREGNANCY HOME TEST?

My blood was sent out to the lab and we should get results after the weekend or I could take the pregnancy home test. I decided to wait until Monday for blood results. I wanted to hear it without a doubt from the blood results. I’d been through so many pregnancy home tests that the feeling of looking at one more just doesn’t bring good memories and I wanted to maintain my happy spirit.

That same night I received a call just as we were about to Netflix and chill. It was my fertility doctor’s office to tell me that we were PREGNANT!! I had put the phone on speaker grabbed my hubby’s hand and just as we heard the news I was in a state of shock. We were both in shock. My mom had the happy cry. And we all prayed. It felt unreal.

THE EXCITEMENT OF THE FIRST TRIMESTER

We found out we were pregnant at 4 weeks. When the embryo is implanted is about two weeks old and then 10 days after for blood results so about 4 weeks pregnant.

I was advised by my fertility doctor, Dr. Uzelac to take it easy. Avoid stress. No working out until given the green light. Healthy eating. I decided to protect my spirit and my baby so much I turned off anything that would bring me stress, i.e. news, work stress, social media, you name it. I was determined to go pass the first trimester. I’ve been there before. Looking back at my past experiences was not an option. My focus was to just look forward to being pregnant. I even started sleeping on my left side. Somewhere, I read it was best to sleep on your left side so I started at 4 weeks pregnant. My hubby thought I was crazy.

“But you still have 8 more months babe”.

I didn’t care. I would do anything to have a healthy baby. As I began enjoying pregnancy I started losing appetite for poultry, or meat or anything that would fly 🐓 or moo 🐄. I became a pescatarian and vegetarian (not by choice). I also lost my sweet tooth, I am a huge dark chocolate lover. And to top it off, I could not even smell or see a bottle of wine, and I live in wine country.

This was a complete shock to me because I thought I would be craving the most bizarre things at 1AM and would have my hubby drive in the middle of the night to get it for me. I thought it was going to be how it is in movies… me craving a chocolate lava cake. Forget it. To my hubby’s luck that did not happen. He was already afraid of my crazy cravings prior to pregnancy.

WELCOME MORNING SICKNESS

I was in my first trimester during harvest season in Napa. That time of year, all you smell throughout the valley are the aromas of wine making. Everywhere you drive in Napa during this time of the year you smell fermented grapes. I love that smell but now, while pregnant I could not stand the smell.

Walking my furry baby Leo was a torture. I could smell wine and wine country. Walking by Michelin rated restaurants was as if someone wanted me to never like food again. I remember I had to hold my breath while walking by any restaurant. I didn’t understand why but it was concerning since I considered myself a foodie and wine lover. Good news is we’ve been eating more at home, saving a ton and eating healthier. I’ve eaten more vegetables and fruits while pregnant than I have eaten in 40 years.  YEAP! I am pregnant with our first baby at 40. But hey, age is just a number.

BELIEVE BELLEZA!

That’s right Belleza. Never give up on something that you can’t go a day without thinking about. The thought of being a mom and having a family was something I looked forward to once we got married. I just never imaged it would be this difficult to get pregnant, nor did I ever think I would be going thru IVF. I don’t think anything prepares you to go through IVF and pregnancy. Life is unpredictable. Life throws us curve balls. We just have to learn how to dance and keep our faith up. Accepting I could not get pregnant naturally was hard to face. I always had hope that things would work out even as hard as this journey may be. The day I made the decision to be okay with the unknown and surrender was when everything started to flow.

OJO: I was nervous and kept thinking can this really be the time I get to be pregnant and have my bundle of joy. All I can say is God’s timing is perfect. BELIEVE Belleza.

Un beso enorme y tons of positive vibes desde Napa,

P.S. Nos vemos la próxima semana. I will be sharing 5 Lessons I Learned During My Pregnancy.  No te lo pierdas. ¡Vale!