The End of My Pregnancy Journey...

For most women, pregnancy lasts approximately 9 months, give or take a few weeks to include recovery from childbirth. However, since I never seem to be able to do anything the "normal" way, mine has lasted a whopping 14 months and 24 days, from beginning to end including all appointments and treatment from complications. Last Saturday I officially went off of blood thinning medication that I was taking as a result of the blood clots that I developed following my c-section and partial hysterectomy while giving birth to my beautiful baby girl. It has been an extremely long road filled with more ups and downs than I could count.

This whole roller-coaster began in January of 2009 when I became pregnant. I wouldn't call it a planned pregnancy but we had pulled the goalie, so I guess for all intensive purposes...we were expecting to get pregnant at some point. Luckily for us it was very easy and for the most part the pregnancy was a breeze. Our little baby that we affectionately referred to as "Pinot Grigio" was very healthy and grew at a normal rate and I really had no major issues, save the two trips to the hospital for cramping pain, which we later figured out was an unusual side effect of prenatal yoga (that's what I get for trying to be trendy and work out while pregnant). Towards the end, in my third trimester, I developed high blood pressure but it was by no means dangerously high. I was put on modified bed rest so that we could keep in under control. Ten days before my due date I was diagnosed with preeclampsia and delivered.

All in all though, it is not terribly uncommon for these things to happen and I was very fortunate in that the baby was considered at term and there were no risks to her health in delivering her a little early. Obviously, I did not anticipate the complications that occurred during her delivery and was devastated with the result. Oddly though, as time has passed I have grown to take a great deal of comfort in all of the post-care I needed. It was as though I was not done with the pregnancy process and that made it not hurt quite so badly. Since this is the only pregnancy I will ever experience, it is a little sad to see it go. I know that I have several options for having more children, whether it be through a surrogate or adoption, but as any woman who has bore a child can tell you, there is nothing at all that compares to carrying your baby for those wonderful nine months. I can honestly say that even if I had to go through all of that pain to do it again, I would in a heartbeat. Layla is the most precious, wonderful baby and what I wouldn't give to have so many more!

All woe is me-ing aside (yes, I know that is poorly written, but you get the point), I feel that I have grown as a person through this experience and even though I have moments, sometimes whole days, where I wonder why this happened and where I am supposed to go from here, I am exceptionally happy with my wonderful daughter and the life that my husband and I have created for her. We are so very happy with where we are (especially now that we are all getting more sleep) and are looking forward to watching Layla grow and eventually considering expanding our family.