Almost 11 weeks

We are almost 11 weeks along with this IUD pregnancy. We found out at 5 weeks that I was pregnant. At the time, I was wondering "Hmm could I be pregnant?" but immediately thought "No way, there is no way i could be pregnant. I have very reliable birth control." I even looked up the chances: there is less than a 0.6% chance of getting pregnant with this IUD. Well, after having that thought process several times, we finally got a test which showed the tell-tale plus sign. I immediately went into the ER, spending 5 hours until 4 am, knowing I could be in a high risk situation. The doctor on call who I called that night said to go into the ER and I was petrified by what I was reading on the internet. At the ER, there was an attempt to remove the IUD, but no success. There was bloodwork (high Hcg counts ie viable pregnancy) and an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed a gestational sac and no heartbeat yet. I left the ER feeling more lost than before. The next day I began bleeding, and I was sure I had miscarried. After a long Memorial Day weekend, I was able to get bloodwork that confirmed even higher Hcg counts. Then I saw a doctor who attempted another removal of the IUD (after seeing a heartbeat on another US). There was no success that time either. I was informed that it was in my best interest to terminate the pregnancy, because the IUD absolutely had to come out, even if that meant bringing the embryo out with it. I left upset, calling Greg at work on the way out, crying. But we were determined to seek more information and opinions. We had already talked so many people and doctors who saw or knew of normal births with an IUD. We decided to continue with the pregnancy. We had wanted one more child anyway...

What followed was a scary period of seeking doctors and more opinions and yet more information. I knew we had to get into a good hospital in Boston to manage our situation. By some miracle (thank you!), a good friend got us in to see a doctor with Brigham and Women's in Boston. I was so relieved to finally feel like we were in good hands. This doctor has only seen 3 or 4 cases of this in his 20 + years of practice. He did a third and final attempt at removal of the IUD, without success. The next step was to do an US to carefully visualize the IUD, and then attempt removal, guided by the US. Well, on the US we saw that the IUD had moved from the bottom of the uterus near the cervix, up to the top of the uterus above the fetus. So in order to remove the IUD, it would definitely take the fetus out too since it was in the IUD's path of exit. So, we were advised to wait and see. Greg and I left the hospital, well, feeling different things. Greg, being an IUD baby himself, tended to feel hopeful and optimistic. I was petrified of having a sharp pointy object floating around in my uterus, let alone near a growing embryo. There was nothing more we could do. The risks were scary. There is an increased risk of miscarriage, all the way up until the 3rd trimester. There is also an increased risk of preterm labor, which means we can't breathe a sigh of relief until week 28 (7th month) which at that point the baby, if born early, will have a good chance of survival without serious developmental defects. There is a risk of perforation of the uterus, and a risk of infection. If infection is not caught early, it can result in loss of the baby, and possibly my uterus, and even worse, death. However, this is a relatively low possiblity compared to the other risks.

Now the pregnancy is being followed closely. It is hard to get too attached to the pregnancy because of the fear of its loss with all these risks. But, I am trying to take it day by day and not worry too much. Because of the bleeding, I am not allowed to exercise, which is proving to be the most difficult thing for me. I feel like my newly pilates-sculpted body (lol) is losing its tone, and my stomach is not as flat as it was already! But the exericse was mostly for my mind and mood, and I am feeling the effects of being idle. I am not even allowed to walk, let alone do pilates or run. I am really hoping I will be able to exercise soon. I am so irritable and moody that I may be living alone if I don't watch out! Greg is being so understanding, I really have to give him credit. Greg is so excited and really wants a boy this time (the Chinese pulse says it is).

The kids are excited about the baby, although Mimsy doesn't know what it means. She thinks we're talking about her. She is going to be really jealous. She wants to be the only baby around here. Noah wants more kids around all the time so he will be happy.

Here is a picture of the fetus at 9 weeks. I think the IUD is above its head, the white circle. The IUD is kind of pressed against the top of the uterine wall, but the US caught its end in the picture.