Our Struggle With Infertility and Our Surprise Baby!

My husband Bryan and I have been married 10 years. We tried for the first 3 years of our marriage to get pregnant to no avail. Three months after we were married we found out that I had pre-cervical cancer and had laser surgery to get rid of the bad cells. My periods had always been irregular so I went to the doctor and he put me on clomid. I got pregnant the first month of taking it and when I was 6 weeks I had a miscarriage. A few months later we started the clomid again and I got pregnant. My maverick doctor was not willing to take any chances so he put me on progesterone suppositories for the first 12 weeks. I carried the baby and gave birth to Allison in my 38th week.

Between 1992 and 1994 I again took clomid 3 times and had miscarriages with each one. My maverick doctor had moved away and I could not convince my new doctor to give me progesterone. With my last miscarriage I had been spotting for days and all this doctor would do was tell me to lay down and put my feet up. Finally my husband told him that we wanted a sonogram. After the sono we went to his office and he told us that the fetus was still there. We asked him if there was a heartbeat and he told us that an 8 week old fetus will not show a heartbeat! We knew this was wrong, came directly home, found a new doctor and had a D&C the next day.

A few months later my new doctor put me on clomid and I was pregnant the first month. He then put me on progesterone and I carried my second daughter Mandi to my 40th week, when I was induced. My husband and I had talked about having a third one and decided that in the summer of 1998 I would again take clomid.

In June 1998 my pap smear came back showing dysplasia so the doctor did a LEEP procedure. He told me that it could take a few months for my periods to return, but then I had always been irregular so that was no big deal. In October of 1998 I had been feeling ill for weeks, and I still hadn't had a period since June . All of a sudden I could no longer drink my beloved cokes without getting a sick feeling. One night I got real sick and my husband told me " you're pregnant". I told him there was no way, that I had never been able to get pregnant without fertility pills and we had been married for 10 years never using any form of birth control. Well he insisted on getting a home pregnancy test, so at 10:30 that night off he went to buy one. I was shocked when it showed positive!

The next day I called the doctor and he got me in for an appointment two days later. He knew my history and knew that without the progesterone I would miscarry again. At the appointment, the doctor gave me a sonogram to see how far along I was. The doctor, nurse and my husband all said " WOW" when they saw the baby on the monitor. The doctor said " you don't need progesterone, you're in your 12th week!!!!!" We were stunned!

Since I had a laser and a LEEP procedure, my doctor decided to put in a cervical cerclage. That was done in my 16th week. During the pregnancy I got a bladder infection and a yeast infection, but other than that and losing 10 lbs the first 4 months, my pregnancy progressed fine. I had that unbearable pressure in the pelvic area and couldn't walk much without hurting but everything was okay.

In my 36th week I was tested for Group B Strep and it came back positive. The doctor gave me penicillin to take 3 times a day. In my 38th week he was going to take the stitch out of my cervix. The night before this was to be done I was sitting at the computer talking to two friends who were also pregnant. One was having contractions and we were trying to figure out if they were real or Braxton Hicks. It turned out they were Braxton Hicks contractions. My friends signed off and I started surfing the web looking up pregnancy and labor sites.

At 9pm I noticed these strange pains in my lower stomach. I got up to go to the bathroom and it hurt to walk. When I got to the bathroom I noticed that I had the bloody show. I called my husband in and he started getting our two oldest children's things together to go to the babysitters.

He also called my doctor who said "get here". We were leaving the gas station by 9:27pm and we had to drive an hour and a half to get to the hospital. We had only been there once before and on the way my husband forgot to turn off and we were lost!!!!! I was so mad at him! Finally we found our way to the hospital. We got there at about 11:30 pm. They hooked me up to the monitor and my contractions were approximately 5 to 7 minutes apart. They also gave me antibiotics for the Group B Strep through an IV. The doctor came in a while later to cut the stitch out of my cervix. By this time the contractions were a lot closer and I was begging for an epidural to which they said " NOT YET".

About this time my water broke with the stitch intact. They did give me some stadol (so they say) but it didn't take the edge off. The doctor began trying to get the stitch out between contractions but he couldn't get it! I was calling him everything but a child of God and begging them to give me a c-section. The nurse, who I call Sgt. Billie because she was like a drill sergeant, told me "we don't give those around here just to relieve your pain". Oh, I hated her! (Not really, she was an awesome nurse, but at the time she wouldn't pity me.) The doctor worked for about 30 minutes to get that stitch out, at last he finally did. The stitch had inverted so he was trying to get it out from behind and it hurt so bad. When he finally did get it out I was dilated to 3! Between him doing that and having contractions it was like having a 30 minute contraction! I was still begging for an epidural and they told me not until I was dilated to 5. I hated everyone in that room. I told them that I was going to die and that no one cared. Sgt. Billie told me to breathe through the contractions and I snapped at her " IT DOESN'T HELP!" and she replied "I know, but it gives you something to do. "

My husband had told them that once I get to 7cm dilated that I go fast. They just looked at him. Finally the angel in blue came to administer the epidural. I loved that man!

By this time it was 1 in the morning and I was able to rest a bit. They checked me again and I was at 7. At around 3:30 am I started feeling the pains in my back. I was also feeling ALOT of pressure but remembering the birth of my second daughter, who was almost 9 lbs, I was not about to tell them. I was going to hold out for as long as I could! Sgt. Billie came in and wanted to give me a catheter. I hate those things so I told her that before I let her do that she needed to check me. She looked at me like I didn't know what I was talking about, so I looked at her again and said " I feel like I have to poop". I knew that would get her attention! Sure enough when she checked me I was at 10.

The other nurses and doctor came into the room and at 4 am I pushed for the first time. Sgt. Billie got right in my face and said "if you want that baby to get here then you push again just as hard as you can." I thought to myself "I don't have anything to lose." During the second push I heard my husband say "look at the baby". I had been focusing on the ceiling so I looked down and there was a little face. They told me to stop pushing and breathe. I watched them suction out her mouth and they told me to push one last time and there she was, Cassidy DeeAnne at 4:05am on May 3rd, 1999, weighing 6lbs 11ozs and measuring 19 1/2 inches long.

She was perfect!!!

The nurse took her over to the warmer and started checking her out. My husband stood beside me holding my hand and I finally had to tell him to go check her out. The doctor was finishing up with me and when he was done he came and stood beside me and told me that the cord had been around her neck. That is why they told me to stop pushing. He also told me that he didn't have to give me an episiotomy, nor did I tear - a big difference from my other two babies!

Even though this was my third (and my husband says our last) baby, it was such an awesome experience. I am still in "awe" of it. Watching my husband Bryan with Cassie and remembering how supportive he was of me in labor makes me fall in love with him all over again.

I hope our story brings hope to couples who are going through infertility and miscarriages. I was told by one doctor 10 years ago that I would never be able to get pregnant. Another doctor told us that I would end up miscarrying all the babies I was pregnant with. I refused to believe it and kept on trying. I am blessed with 3 beautiful little girls. Now if I can talk Bryan into trying for a boy...