My profile

Finally pregnant!

I am originally from Denmark but live in Australia since 2000. I love this country and intend to stay here for the rest of my life. I work at Macquarie University, just out of Sydney. I teach undergraduate health and science students practical skills in lab classes, primarily Anatomy, Histology and Medical microbiology.

I have been trying to get pregnant for years and had 2 miscarried pregnancies, both in week 6, and one ectopic. This pregnancy is due to the latest fantastic improvements in IVF technology. I tried IVF 16 years ago (6 attempts) but the specialists did not know how to manage me properly. I got hyperstimulated and felt pretty miserable every time. After the ectopic I gave up and thought that I would never become a Mother. My husband and I decided to give it a last shot before the biological clock shut my hormones down for ever, and this time I fell pregnant on the second attempt, and the Baby seems to be well and normal (according to the Nuchal Translucency scan) My hubby and I are over the moon and we can't wait to welcome this Baby into our life.

Week 19: Had my morphology scan and everything is perfect! The baby - a Boy (Daniel) looks like my husband! It's amazing that you can actually see so many details! The profile pic is up on this site, the profile is my husbands, the tech scanned the face for hare-lip and we saw the lips - a copy of my hubby's.... My Mum came with us and she thinks he looks like my husband too.

When the tech told me it's a boy, I was so surprised, I was sure it is a girl. I'm glad I found out now otherwise I would have got a bit of a chock at the birth, and with all the hormones raging I'm not sure I would have handled it well. It's taken me 3 days to get used to the thought of having a son but I'm looking forward to it now ;)

My husband does not know the sex, he wants it to be a surprise. It's sooooo hard to keep the secret!!! I've already slipped up and said "he" a couple of times.....He will be thrilled - this is the only boy to carry his name/male-line in the family! My husband is into motorbikes (sports not Harley's) and he will love to teach his son to ride one as soon as he can keep his balance on one. I'm already dreading it! It's too dangerous I think, but must admit it's an exciting sport.

I'm planning on teaching him to cook and be really helpful around the house so he can pamper his Mum now and then... he,he

Week 24 to 27: From having the best and easiest pregnancy it has now turned in to a high risk pregnancy!

I had regular and frequent contractions in week 24, so I went for a check-up at the hospital and they kept me there... My cervix has shortened to 8mm and is "funneling" which apparently is bad. I was in danger of going into real labour and the doctors gave me meds to stop the contractions and steroid injections to help mature the baby's lungs. I'm on strict bed rest, only allowed to go to the toilet and to have a shower. I'm still in hospital (week 27) and don't know when I will be allowed to go home. I'm still having contractions a couple of times per hour but am being told that they are not dangerous as long as they are not regular and frequent.

The baby is doing fine, he is 2 weeks ahead in size - which is good in this situation, and I'm hoping he will stay in there for as long as possible. I'm taking one day at a time and appreciate every day my little boy gets to grow inside me. I'm really spooked by the prospect of having a tiny baby in the Intensive Care Unit with tubes coming out from everywhere... I know the chance of survival is increasing every day but I'm worrid about the health risks for the baby in the future. I was really looking forward to holding my baby after birth and wanted to carry him in a sling for the first months of his life to give him the constant contact with the mother he spent 9 months with. Now it looks like I will be lucky to be allowed to even touch him for a few brief moments at a time when he is in his incubator. I have been told that he will be past the imminent danger at 28 weeks but will not be truely out of the woods till week 32 - 34.

Week 34: Woo-hoo! It's now officially week 34 and the baby is still inside... I was sent home just before Christmas and have been on strict bed rest since. I had a couple of days in hospital in week 31 due to some severe pain in my right lower abdomen. The pain brought on some contractions and the L&D decided to keep me in for obs for a couple of days. The pain dissapeared as suddenly as it started - so I'm none the wiser...(?) The baby is growing fine and I have been told that next week (week 35) I should be able to resume light activities at home. I really need to start doing something about the nursery, even though my parents and hubby have been wonderful. They went out and bought some clothes for the baby and also a pram, a rocker and little bits and pieces for changing the baby. If he arrives now, there should be some stuff ready for him.

I'm having a scan next Monday to see how big the bub is. I have decided that I will have a vaginal birth if he arrives early and weighs less than 3 kg (6 lbs) and I'll have a c-section if he is carried to term and weighs more. My ob/gyn agrees that a c-section is probably the best option if the baby is full term as I have no muscle tone due to the long bed rest. My legs are barely able to carry me up the few stairs we have at home! If I have to push I'll faint I think.... The c-section will be scheduled for week 39 so I have maximum 5 weeks to go before I meet my little son! Amazing thought!

Week 39; Daniel was born by c-section on 6th March 2009. He was 50cm long and weighed 3.255kg. Healthy and beautiful!

see my birth story under "children"

Daniel is now 10 weeks old and is the loveliest little boy... He is very mellow and patient with his clumsy parents, greets everyone with a big smile and develops at an amazing pace. He weighs 6.2kg and is strong and healthy. He is a minature version of his Dad so he will be a handsome man one day...

We can't believe our amazing luck - my chance of concieving was between 1-5% so he is a miracle!

Daniel is now nearly 7 months old and a wonderful little boy. He meets all our expectations and more... We are in fact so happy being parents that we are trying for another child! We had 2 embryos frozen when we did our IVF cycle so we are now trying to see if we can achieve another miracle and get pregnant again. The probability is not that high, 70% survival for each of the frozen embryos when they get taken out of the cryopreservation and then a 25% chance of pregnancy for each of them - which is equivalent of a natural cycle's chance.