Our Pregnancy Story

So I've been meaning to sit down and write our pregnancy story but have been really busy since I returned to America and a full-time work schedule. But in a nutshell, it has been 4 years of struggle to become parents - and it turns out that what works for some doesn't work for others.

We had tried everything up to In Vitro and were planning on trying that when we got back from Micronesia. I felt like I just really needed a break from it all and hoped that somehow a year on a tropical island might help with the emotional rollercoaster that we had been on. Two miscarriages, lots of drugs and hormones, and numerous invasive tests to find out what the issue was. Turns out I have low progesterone and a short luteal phase, which essentially means that the embryo does not have enough time to implant or enough of the hormone necessary to make it implant.

So we had been saving our money for IVF and seriously looking into adoption – even filling out the initial paperwork - but ended up having a wonderful surprise instead! Now this surprise wasn't totally out of the blue, as I had been going to a local medicine woman on our island, who it turns out has excellent results! I did not expect for it to work but thought why not? We've tried so many other things.

Sister Jim and me in front of the little house where I got abdominal massage. This is the house on her property where her teenage daughters slept. They had a stereo, TV and DVD player in there along with a mattress.

 

This local lady, Naomi Jim, made me what they call 'local medicine' out of leaves and bark and whatever else and it was disgusting. I took 3 different batches of the stuff, as well as went to see her regularly for abdominal massage – where I laid on the floor in one of the little shacks on her property while she rubbed my belly with coconut oil and told me that she would fix me – I said ok, we’ll see!

Here is me drinking the local medicine on our patio

Of course I made Matt try it too!

So after several weeks when she told me I was all done and that I could get pregnant, I told her thank you, paid her $40, and that I would give it 3 months. If no luck, I would come back and see her for more massage – it was after all very relaxing…and cheap!

So when the 3^rd month came so did the pregnancy! Crazy. We are still so grateful – we had started to give up on the thought of ever getting preg. And having had early miscarriages in the past we weren’t even sure that it would stick, but after having the ultrasound and seeing the heartbeat it was amazing. Never had I gotten that far before.

I can’t give all the credit to the island medicine though, I do have to credit Western and Eastern medicine as well! Because I have low progesterone I started taking those pills right away as soon as I found out (I had brought an Rx with me just in case) which is needed in the 1^st trimester for implantation. Also, my mom’s friend is a Body Talk Therapist and she had been doing some energy work on me to help with my hormones so that I could more easily get pregnant!

So really, I owe it to all 3 types of medicine, East, West, and Island.  Matt and I feel so lucky and blessed to be able to have this wonderful experience. We only have a month to go (give or take) and are trying to prepare ourselves for the huge life change ahead!

This is me at Christmas - I think I am twice as big as this already!