Herald News Article

It's been a while and I promise I'll update (for those of you who still come on here) but I have to share this amazing article my husband wrote for the local newspaper. He has a way with words and captured our family's story in such a way that it makes re reading it go through it all again. 


Herald News Link

Collins' Kentucky Derby Extravaganza (2 months late)

I cannot believe I have a two year old. The night before her actually birthday Marty and I blew up two dozen balloons and once we knew she was sound asleep we snuck them in her room on the floor along with a huge Minnie balloon. I thought when she wakes up it would blow her mind to have all these bawoons in her room :)  Wednesday morning came and the look on her face as she whispered, "WOW" was totally worth the start of her celebration. That morning we met Collins' friend Grayson for breakfast where the two of them had a ball at 8:30 in the morning screaming and disrupting all the other breakfast goers. Lol. We had gymnastics still then came home where Marty made it back from a work trip just in time for us to give her our gift, a Mercedes Benz power wheels because that's pretty standard at 2 years old. That night we went to All Aboard in Downers Grove which is a train themed restaurant for kids. It was actually really fun. Collins had a blast and we took Nonna and Poppa with us so she was thrilled because they let her do anything :) plus they had deep fried pickles so I was good too.

The Saturday following her birthday we put together a Kentucky Derby themed party. I clearly wasn't thinking because I decided to cook all the food for 40 adults, and 20 kids while being 7 months pregnant. We had a full menu consisting of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, Kentucky hot brown sandwiches, bluegrass salad, fruit salad, Kentucky bourbon sweet potatoes, Kentucky bourbon bacon chex mix, cocktail shrimp, bourbon meatballs, mint julips and a Bloody Mary station! It was perfect and even though I felt like death after getting into my bed after being on my feet all day I wouldn't have changed a thing. Collins had the best time with all her friends and of course the bounce house :) Thank you to everyone who made it to the party! She is spoiled rotten but she deserves it...right :)

Porter's birth story

Here we are! I laugh because I remember it took me awhile to write Collins' birth story as well. I had a friend say I've been waiting to read an update on Porter what are you busy at home with two kids :) We are adjusting that's for sure!

I'll get right into it. On Thursday June 25th I had my usual appointment with Dr. Font. Collins and I usually grab some Starbucks breakfast and head over. However this morning Marty didn't have to be into work until later so to give me a break he stayed at home with Collins allowing her sleep in a little too. So off I went, in pajama pants a tank and braided pigtails with a hat... Classy I know. Listen I wash my hair once a week and this day just happened to be day 7 so the braids were a must :) I was hooked up to the monitors around 8am and Porter was cooperating as usual moving about. After my NST I went to the ultrasound room where I meet with the Dr. He does his thing and I'm on my way. As he was doing my ultrasound he asked if I would be ok coming in to the hospital on Saturday for another NST. Thinking about our busy day I agreed to it figuring I could go early in the morning sometime. Things went silent and he continued the ultrasound. He said your fluid is low. When it gets below a 5 that's when we worry and you're at a 4. Still oblivious I said oh yah so now what. He said let me call Dr. Khater. You're gonna have this baby within 24 hours. Immediately I got hot and just stared at him. I was only 35 weeks and 4 days. I asked is anyone else really hot! I couldn't believe it and I'm pretty sure was in shock because nothing crossed my mind other than I need to take a shower! Of course I was unable to go home and pack anything or get anything ready, I needed to be monitored until delivery. Because of my blood thinners I needed to wait 24 hours after my last injection which was around 10pm the night before. So my csection was schedule for 10pm that night! I called Marty and said hey you ready for a baby. Dead. Silence. He thought I was joking. I said I can't come home either so you need to get Collins packed for my moms and get my stuff your stuff and Porters stuff all together. Keep in mind it's only 845am so we have plenty of time however I didn't want to be alone too long in the hospital. 

Making my way to the hospital I begged the first nurse I saw to allow me to shower! Which they did, however I was given one tiny bottle of baby shampoo and a baby comb. Ouch. That went over well. Still in shock I think I was finally admitted and hooked up to the minitors. Given my IV and told that I could not eat or drink anything for the rest of the day. Are you joking!! I left a delicious smores treat from Starbucks in my front seat just waiting for me after my appointment. Legit no water, not even ice chips. I was able to get one round of steroids for his lungs hoping that would work in his favor when it was time to be born. Around 10am I was fully admitted and now it was the waiting game. All the while assisting Marty with getting the entire family prepped. Lots of texts with lists were sent back and forth and finally I think he got it all :). I of course hadn't said bye to Collins or had any last minute time together so I wanted her to come see me before it was go time. Marty, my mom and Collins all made their way around 1230pm or so. Collins of course had no idea what was going on but she was very concerned about her mama. We were able to hang out for a couple hours before she was done hanging out in a hospital. 

The waiting was horrible. Especially with nothing to eat or drink and just watching the clock slowly tick on by. By 8pm I was a ragging bitch. Begging for anything a sip of water, one small ice chip. Instead I was given the sour drink to help soothe the acids in my belly before the section. NICU spoke with us about how it would be quite possible that he would need to spend some time there because of his lungs. The last 4 weeks in the womb baby's lungs really mature and they grow what is called brown fat which is what keeps us warm. Unfortunately Porter wouldn't be getting either since we were 4 1/2 weeks early. The anesthesiologist also came in to speak with us about my spinal. Those don't scare me, I'll take one right now actually :) Then finally Dr. Khater came in. That's when I lost it and started crying. My nerves got the best of me. Khater reminded me that everything was going to be ok and we were going to get through this and meet our son! When he left the room that's when Marty got the brunt of my concerns and crazy. It was the same freak out I had before going back with Collins. I just have this feeling as if I can't do this and I legit think about what's about to happen and don't want to. I told him there has to be another way I'm so scared! I luckily am able to calm down and close my eyes and take a breather. That's when my nurse came to get us. It was finally 10pm! 

I walked my big butt down the hall to the OR and got onto the table for my spinal to be administered. Barely felt it, the numbing shot was the worst part. Dr. Khater waited maybe 20 minutes before poking me to see if I felt anything and of course I didn't. I will say this csection was a bit harder than with Collins. I needed a bucket because I felt like I was going to throw up and my chest felt like an elephant was sitting on top of me. The anesthesiologist took great care of me though and made sure when I felt like that he took care of it immediately. After what only felt like a few minutes I heard the baby is out! And heard him crying! Khater showed him to me over the curtain and the first words out of my mouth were Marty he's bald! Haha I guess I expected him to come out with a full head of dark black hair like Collins. At 1037pm weighing 5lbs 8oz and 18 inches long Porter Thomas Mitchell was born! They were able to bring him over to me so I was able to see him and talk to him but then had to take him to the NICU because he was working too hard on breathing and needed some oxygen. Marty was able to be with him the entire time while I was being stitched up and sent to recovery. I definitely didn't get the skin to skin like I wanted immediately and I wasn't even able to feed him until 24 hours later. Thank god I was on medication or else I would have been a lot more upset at that time. I knew he was in good hands though.

I wasn't able to see him until that next morning once the spinal wore off. It was the longest 10 hours of my life. My poor little baby was hooked up to oxygen, and an IV. It was terrible seeing him like that. Going through what I did with Sloane and Knox was definitely the hardest two deaths I've ever gone and am going through, however I do not know how parents get through NICU life. Porter needed to stay for exactly a week. He was off of oxygen within 12 hours and off his IV within a few days. I was discharged on Monday once he was finally able to stay in my room. Convenient huh. By the grace of God St. Joes has what they call a nesting room. It allows parents to stay in the hospital free of charge to be close to their baby in the NICU. Luckily for me breast feeding moms get seniority over anyone else and also lucky for me nobody else needed the room. So it was ours, well mine because Marty had been going home to make it as normal for Collins each night. Porter was eating using a syringe of my breast milk and then I would try and nurse. Being so small it's harder on them to work so hard for milk and having to maintain his temperature was also taking a lot out of him. The reason why we were there for a full week was because he was slowly gaining weight and it was hard to keep his temp up. Slowly but surely he was able to maintain that and gained some weight back. Leaving the hospital finally that following Thursday was the best thing for me because the room I stayed in was practically a jail cell, however wonderful because I was able to stay with my baby :)

We are all adjusting now at home and I cannot believe Porter is already going to be a month old on Saturday. We went to the doctor last week and he was a whopping 5lbs 15oz so he's gaining but just cant break that 6 pound mark yet :) But as much as he is on the boob I'm pretty sure he will be beefing up in no time. Collins is the best big sister. It took her a bit to get used to him but now that she knows he's here to stay every morning the first thing she says, after mommy of course is Porter! Where's Porter! It's the cutest thing.

I guess we shouldn't be surprised in the way Porter entered this world, because this Mitchell family always shows up with a little fun drama :)

   

Porter Thomas Mitchell

We would like to introduce our son

Porter Thomas Mitchell

Born June 25, 2015

Via Csection at 10:37pm

5lbs 8oz

18inches long

Porter was born a bit early at 35weeks 4days gestation so is spending some time in the NICU. Already after 24 hours he has conquered a ton and hopefully moving out of the NICU and finally being able to meet his big sister :) 

Baby Lit Book Review

Before Collins' nap time and bed time everyday either Marty or I will read Collins multiple bedtime stories. Lately we have been loving the Baby Lit Book Collection! I came across these when Collins was first born and had started her collection with four of my favorites! If you haven't heard of these amazing little books then you need to check them out. You will not be disappointed I promise! 

The creators of Baby Lit Books have found a great way to allow parents to read classics to your toddlers and at the same time teaching them colors, numbers, and just recently Spanish! Jane Austen, and William Shakespeare are two authors to name a few, including titles like Wizard of Oz, and The Secret Garden which are two favorites in the Mitchell Household. They are full of amazing colors and illustrations with easy to read large words making these books an easy and fun read for all ages. 

I have collaborated with Baby Lit to give one lucky little lady or little man two books of their very own to add to their ever growing book collection! Find me on Instagram @mitchellncompany for your chance to win! You won't be disappointed, and if you have the time check out http://babylit.com and see for yourself all of the amazing titles they have to offer! 

29 week update & Mother's Day

We had an appointment with Dr. Font for a usual checkup. It was the first appointment since being told I have gestational diabetes. It was not a normal day because my appointment was later at 10:45am and I figured I'd be waiting all day however that wasn't the case. I walked it and was the only one in the waiting room and got called back immediately! As soon as he walked in it was all business, what we're you're fasting numbers this morning, what were your numbers last night. Granted he had a copy of the past week in a half of numbers however he apparently wanted to hear it from me. Shoot I thought I was doing good however he was seeing otherwise. I hadn't gained a pound since the last time I had saw him and he is concerned that I am starving myself in order to maintain my blood sugar numbers. Partly true, I'm not starving myself but I could definitely eat more if I wasn't so concerned about my numbers. So now we are in talks of being put on insulin. He's giving me one week to see how I do and then he will make the decision ultimately. So that will include more needles as if I need anymore. Baby is definitely still breech and is measuring 1 week ahead on head, femur, and belly and weighing approximately 3lbs 1oz. At this time exactly Collins was 3lbs 8oz so they seem to be pretty close!

For Mother's Day we took my mom with us to Peek a belly to take a look at the baby in 3d just like we did with Collins at 29 weeks. He was not having it. He is frank breech just like Collins was so his legs are up by his face and he wouldn't put his hands down for nothing. I jumped I jiggled I shaked I ate chocolate I pushed him. Ha. He ended up putting his hands down for a hot minute to give us a few good photos and by the looks of it I'm getting another baby Mitchell :) and I wouldn't change it for the world. He has his daddy's chin and his sisters nose and cheeks. 

Collins on the left, baby boy on the right 

Collins on the left, baby boy on the right 

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Collins surprised me with beautiful flowers and a shopping spree :) she's so sweet. We had breakfast after our appointment with the family and then spent the rest of the day shopping and eating! Lol. It was a great day spent with my little girl. We hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day!!!

We meet again gestational diabetes

As if it came as a surprise I failed my 3 hour glucose test once again. I was actually kind of optimistic about this one though. Thought maybe because it's a boy I won't have it. I also thought I would be able to do the 2 hour food test that I had done at 8 weeks. Dr. Khater had other plans. So back to drinking that ridiculous drink and blood draw every hour for 3 hours. It was lovely. The office called me three days later and might I add Collins answered the phone and talked to the nurse for a good minute before I realized she was actually on the phone with someone. The inevitable was answered you failed but not too bad. Oh thanks. So I have to meet once again with the diabetes center and meet with a dietician and a RN to go over my new diet and how to work my machine to test my blood. I've already seen the RN and got my super cool machine to give me my blood sugar numbers :/

I have to test right when I wake up and that number has to be below 90. I then test 1 hour after breakfast, lunch, and dinner and those numbers need to be below 140. I didn't realize that they would make me test in front of them to make sure I knew how to use the machine so on my way I ate a chocolate donut and had a chai tea. Smart. I failed. But only by 1 point so she didn't question it.k To my defense it was an 8am appointment and Collins and I were rushing so breakfast was on the run. I meet with the dietician on Wednesday. Which I've already done this with Collins so I kind of have a pretty good idea of how to keep my numbers at bay. I've been testing for two days now and my numbers are not high whatsoever. If not below they are only higher by a few points. So far so good. Still sucks having to deal with more needles and not to mention I bleed longer because of my blood thinner but I of course will and do whatever for my babies. 

I took a break while writing this to check my blood and hello 215! Guess a hashbrown, coffee, and chocolate milk for breakfast are no Bueno...


No baby pictures but how about my 2 year old Collins at her doctors appointment which she clocked in at 25 pounds and 36 inches of perfectness :)

20-25 weeks

By now it will finally be out to friends and family that we are pregnant!! And if you are reading this coming from my instagram or have followed me for a while via blog world you now know too! It has been the best secret we have ever kept, and frankly I can't believe my loud mouth didn't slip. Hibernating is over and I can wear this belly proud!

Weeks 20-24 were very scary for me mentally. I had to get passed when Knox passed for peace of mind as well as when Sloane passed. 

I have been having every other week visits with Dr. Font getting to see the little guy and to be honest he isn't camera shy. Takes after his sister. Always looking at us, so we get these creepy big eyed photos that aren't fun ultrasound photos. I'm still waiting for a good profile view :)

We see Dr. Khater once a month and things have been going well. I finally was able to feel him kick and move around and now that I have he is non stop. Definitely more than any of his sisters or brother was that's for sure. Collins thinks everyone has a baby in their belly including herself and loves using our doppler to find his heartbeat. It is super cute. 

At a little over 22 weeks baby measured 1lb 3oz which is right around what every other baby was at this time. So he's in good company! 

At 23 weeks we went for a fetal Eco to make sure that his little heart was perfect. (After loosing 2 babies I am no stranger to depression and I am not "shy" about sharing my feelings so I have been on Zoloft). With that said I did stop taking my anti-depressant soon after finding out we were pregnant however they still wanted to check his heart to make sure nothing had come out of that. Great news his heart is perfect :)

Amazing that I have four babies and its even crazier to compare each at 20 weeks :) Ahh to have a nice young body again hahaha after your fourth pregnancy the boobs get a little lower, and the body gets a bit bigger :)

Antithrombin III Deficiency

At around 15 weeks I had a routine appointment with Dr. Font. He had ordered some extensive blood work just to take a look at a few things to rule out a couple of blood disorders. As all doctors do he wanted to make sure a blood clot or disorder wasn't one of the reasons as to why we kept having so many issues with our pregnancies. 

That's where the big Antithrombin III Deficiency comes in. Medically speaking Antithrombin III (ATIII) is a nonvitamin K-dependent protease that inhibits coagulation by lysing thrombin and factor Xa. My numbers were low and Dr. Font as a precaution wanted me on blood thinner immediately even before meeting with a hematologist. So as if enough wasn't enough I would begin twice a day injections of Lovenox in my belly that my sweet gentle husband would administer because to be honest I was freaked out. 

We had no idea I ever had this disorder before, and it is hereditary so my family is in the process of being checked out themselves. We can't know for sure if this is a reason for anything that has happened in the past but as far as we are concerned taking these injections can't hurt for this pregnancy, so why not. 

After meeting with my hematologist she wanted to re run the tests one more time just to make sure that I in fact had this. My number was on the low side the last test however a year ago when I was pregnant with Knox my number was normal. After taking the second round of testing my number did go up but still remained a bit low. After speaking with Dr. Font, my hematologist made the decision to lower my dose of lovenox to once a day instead of the twice a day, which was music to my ears. I am not a baby but not a fan of any type of injection. 

I will say Marty has done well so far, every morning waking me up to injection me with the goods. I am bruising a bit on either side but that is to be expected. 

I am also on the progesterone injections once a week that my private nurse, Mrs. Mazzoni :) is ever so kindly giving me on every Sunday. Marty doesn't trust himself with that big of a needle and honestly neither do I :)

Gender Reveal

As usual like we did with Sloane, Collins, and Knox we went to Peek a Belly in Lockport to find out the gender as early as we could at 15 weeks :) But before we tell you what baby Mitchell 4.0 is here are the wives tales and what we thought all along...

Heart Rate High 160's- GIRL

Chinese gender Calender- GIRL

Craving sweets sweets sweets-GIRL

Stealing mom's beauty (my face has been a hot mess)-GIRL

Headaches-BOY

Gender Dreams-GIRL

Emotional Wreck (always ha)-GIRL

Carrying high (however that has to do with cerclage)-GIRL

Mayan Calendar-BOY

Marty and I said from the beginning that this little one was a girl and by all these wives tales it seemed as if we were correct! 

Well truth be told its a...BOY!! God has granted us with another little boy :) We are thrilled to be adding another little boy to the family and cannot wait until July when he arrives. Its only perfect that Collins has Sloane as her guardian angel and this little guy will have Knox as his :)

Collins was a little less than thrilled...I think she wanted a sister :)

Flexing and showing off

10 weeks

Christmas came and went, knowing our little secret is hard especially around family because its great news and you want to share exciting news but I know its for the best. Although I have a very nosey family who will ask anybody anything, so while I'm elbow deep in salad practically slurping the dressing my Uncle in front of everyone asks me if I am pregnant. I froze, turned red and almost started crying. I guess through this whole process I didn't actually think anyone would have the balls to ask me if I was actually pregnant. Knowing I had just lost Knox 11 months before and to anyone other than our parents all you guys know is that Surrogacy is the route we were planning to take. I was wrong. So I kindly just stated I was a little chubby and just really hungry. Ouch.

December 30th finally came and Dr. Khater came into my room hugging me as usual and saying there is my Ashley a very pregnant Ashley. I loved hearing those words. I have been embracing this pregnancy each and every step of the way. Through feeling nauseous 24/7 just waiting to puke, to bloody noses, ligament pains, being way too tired for my own good and not to mention welcome back rosacea. I am kind of rambling here but I noticed that I haven't touched on my cravings or feelings for that matter. Lets talk buffalo sauce for the first month or so. Buffalo wings were  staple in our home at least once a week. I couldn't get enough. That is what I craved with Sloane :). Something new chocolate. I am OBSESSED with it. Marty can contest. Chocolate milk, chocolate doughnuts and chocolate covered pretzels are always stocked in this house. I eat a box of doughnuts in a week and two bags of chocolate covered pretzels in two weeks. Both along side a nice glass of chocolate milk. Love it, and I'm the type of person who doesn't really enjoy desserts. However pregnant with this little nugget I am all about it. I don't share either. Well kind of, with Collins, sometimes :) I am also very very tired. From weeks 6 to like 10 I could barely get out of bed. It was rough. I don't remember being this tired with any of the other babies but Marty said I was like that with Sloane. When Collins would nap I would nap. With Marty being off for two weeks during the holiday I took full advantage of that and slept as much as I could. I am just now getting back my energy. Ill be 11 weeks on Sunday.

Now back to Khater's office. There wasn't much to be done just went over my labs from when I was in the ER, and found out I passed my glucose test! Awesome. We couldn't find the heartbeat on the Doppler and I am smart and always make my appointments on Tuesdays when I know the ultrasound tech is in, so he said lets get you in real fast and just take a peek, lucky me :) Its weird though because Marty and I just a few days before were able to find the heartbeat on our Doppler, at first it was 190 woah, then went to average between 157-165.

Look at our sweet nugget all comfy

  Of course we had a heartbeat and of course the baby was doing great. All is well! What was so weird is that I'm pretty sure I am housing Collins twin because their ultrasounds at 10 weeks look almost identical. I know at this point they aren't fully "human" looking but take a look for yourself

Collins on top baby on bottom

I'd say twinkies for sure :) Next Appointment is Dr. Font on the 8th, Marty's birthday :) We also get to find out the gender of this little babe on February 1st and we can't wait!

8 week scare

December 13th Happy Birthday Mom! Marty, Collins, and I had invited my mom over for a special salmon dinner to celebrate the big 5-4 :) I had an appointment to get my hair done beforehand and had just gotten home right when she walked into the door. Marty was preparing the fish and sides and Collins was excited that Nonna had arrived.

I on the other hand had just finished using the restroom. Crap I'm spotting. It is what I look for each and every time I use the bathroom. Having had a miscarriage before all my children I knew what it was like. This was different in color but still I was concerned and didn't want to just wait it out and see, my nerves are shot as you can imagine and unfortunately I wasn't taking any chances.

Sorry mom, can you watch Collins while we go to the hospital instead of eating this delicious salmon. Thanks and oh Happy Birthday :)

Marty and I just went across the street to the Edward ER since it was so close. All I needed was an ultrasound. All I needed to see was a heart beat and my nerves would be calmed. Well it isn't that easy. They don't know me, and they certainly don't know my story. I needed to have blood drawn, get an IV. Be checked by the on call OB vaginally, drink tons of water to be "full" for the ultrasound finally. 

After you see your baby's heartbeat you send a selfie :)

Marty and I sat in that ER room and just tried thinking happy thoughts. I remember being in a similar room right before I delivered Knox thinking he's fine, we just can't find his heartbeat. I looked at Marty and I said we need to pray together. I have prayed before to myself and Marty and I had together said something like "Please god let our baby be ok" each and every time something went arise with Sloane, Collins and Knox. However we've never really both prayed together. So we did. And it worked :) Four hours later the ultrasound tech took us back. I said to her please just show me a heartbeat and then do whatever else you need to do, I just need to see that flicker. Sure enough 154 beats there was our little gummy bear measuring one day ahead...

Our ultrasound tech was AMAZING! She showed up everything. Where the brain was forming, where my placenta was starting to form, the little legs and arms etc. How I have a cyst on my right ovary that is producing progesterone for the baby too! She was great. I couldn't believe it, everything was fine. They ended up not being able to tell me where my bleeding was coming from and it was more brown than anything so more than likely old blood, possibly from surgery or from an old period.

My HCG was a whopping 124,021. Between 7-9 weeks it should be between 7,000 and 229,000 (quite a difference) however I was more than enough so we were happy! I was told to be on pelvic rest (which duh we are) and to take it easy. I called Dr. Khater that Monday and he didn't seem too worried. I understand regardless at 8 weeks there isn't much that could have been done but to know that my baby was doing great was all I needed to keep me a little calm :)

I also did a little side by side of all the babies right around 8 weeks, except for Knox he was 10 weeks :)

From top left: Sloane, Collins, Knox, baby 4.0



My little heartbeat

At six weeks pregnant I finally went in to see Dr. Khater and get a dating ultrasound to make sure everything looked good. For some reason I was really scared this time, every other time I was exactly as far along as I had thought and everything was perfect. This time I thought what if I am wrong or what if I am not pregnant. I'm still crazy.

Well I measured exactly six weeks :) strong heartbeat of 118. Right where that arrow is is where the little bean of a baby is. Due date of July 26th.

All my babies at 6 weeks except Sloane (8weeks) Top left to bottom right Sloane, Collins, Knox, Baby

The reason why I kept this all a secret was because as a family we decided to go through it together and when we got to a point to where we were comfortable and felt safe then it would be the time to let everyone know. At this point its just a lot of questions and worry from others that I didn't want to put on everyone. After meeting with Dr. Khater he said he wanted to see me in four weeks and that I should call Dr. Font and let him know as well and get an appointment set up with him as well. It being close to Christmas I wouldnt see Dr. Font until after the holiday on January 8th, and I'd see Khater on December 30th. He also wanted me to take my glucose test (yuck) to make sure I didnt have this early on. For both Collins and Knox I didn't have it until later on so I figured my chances were pretty good. I had also decided that I didn't want to take that glucose drink. It's gross first of all and second not the best thing for the baby and I had taken more glucose tests than I could count on one hand so Dr. Khater agreed with me and said that if I could find a lab that would allow an alternative to the drink then I could take it there, but his lab didn't so happy searching.

I called a few places around town asking if I could eat jelly beans or a jelly sandwich instead (I had read this article that stated those were two different options). I finally landed on the phone with Edward Hospital right down the street from me. They allow you to eat a list of foods that are on a sheet of paper they provide and after two hours from finishing it go back and they draw your blood. I was sold! Little did I know I'd have to eat enough breakfast for both Collins and I. I usually don't eat a lot in the morning so it was a little rough but instead of drinking that nasty drink I didn't care :)

That morning I picked up my sheet of paper with instructions picked up Collins and Marty and we headed to Plainfield Delight for an interesting breakfast.

I had to eat the following: 1 glass of milk, 1 glass of OJ, 1 cup of decaffeinated tea, two plain pieces of toast with 1 tablespoon of jelly, 1 tablespoon of sugar/1 cup of cornflakes (I put them together and asked for Frosted Flakes which worked perfectly) and 1 egg. I think drinking most of the drinks was what screwed me up because I got full from that but I kept on chugging. With no help from Marty and Collins who both had wonderfully looking pancakes and bacon. ugh

Two hours later I went back to the hospital where they took my blood draw. Results when I see Dr. Khater on the 30th...fingers crossed.



Five Months Later

Now if you know me well then you know I am crazy, and waiting to become pregnant for five months I was the conductor for the crazy train. Getting pregnant with Sloane took one month of trying, Collins: two, and well with Knox SURPRISE! So Marty and I both went into this fourth time super cocky. Ha pun kind of intended. Five months is nothing. It takes the average couple six months to a year, but in our world we meaning I didn't have that time. I wanted to be pregnant yesterday. After the fourth month my crazy ass went to Dr. Khaters and cried asking what was wrong with me! Did the surgery clog something making it impossible to get pregnant!? He laughed at me. He said, "Ashley think of it as the lottery. You just so happened to hit the jackpot three times and unfortunately this time you aren't as lucky. You can get pregnant we know this, just have fun!" Uh just have fun. Hi I'm Ashley, I've lost two children, do you think my husband and I are actually having fun trying to make a baby. At this point it was a job, we wanted it so bad and I think that's why I was getting pregnant. I put two much stress on Marty and myself and frankly I was still conducting that crazy train (testing ovulation, special sperm friendly lubrication etc...).

After leaving Dr. Khater's office that day I said to myself, ok its ok just keep trying. We will get there. That exact month it happened...

I wasn't even "late" yet. Up until now after four months of trying I had taken probably a dozen negative tests. So when Marty went to go give Collins a bath in my head I thought just go take a test, we need some good news just maybe we got it this time. So I peed on the stick and threw it in the garbage because Collins came running into the bathroom and I didn't want Marty to know. Haha crazy I know. So once we got Collins in the tub and I knew Marty was distracted playing with her I hurried to the garbage just to check it, very well expecting it to be negative. When I finally saw those two lines I took one look at Marty and said OMG WE ARE PREGNANT!!! He just stared at me. He thought I was kidding (hence the 12 negatives from before).

We both cried and hugged and screamed in joy at Collins telling her how happy we all were, her included ha if she knew what was happening. Like I said before I wasn't even late so before I called Dr. Khater I waited at least a week in a half just so he didn't think I was completely 100% coo coo. Although I'm pretty sure he still does. So in the next two weeks I took two more tests just to make sure my HCG was rising (not proven but taking the newer tests as long as the "weeks" calculator rises it means your HCG is as well. And it was!



Here we go! At this point all of you reading have either shit your pants in disbelief or are smiling ear to ear. Either way I hope you are ready for this ride. Which is probably for the best I kept it a secret, because it's pretty stressful :)