Project Baby Polzin

There's been something we've been working on here in the Polzin household.  A new member will God willing be making his/her appearance sometime in June 2012.  We've been very excited, yet still concerned for the past 19 weeks.

Following our miscarriage in December 2010 we went through a very rough time.  We couldn't see the reason for our loss and we were hurting very much.  We wondered if we would ever be able to have children of our own.  After a long time of trying, we finally became pregnant again in July.  However, this pregnancy was also lost at about 8 weeks.  Abi had another procedure - and our concerns deepened.  Our doctor was also starting to get concerned and wanted us to come in for a special ultrasound to evaluate for any problems.  Abi was supposed to come in for an appointment when she was "back to normal."

Well, that never happened.  Following the miscarriage normalacy never returned.  Finally, on Halloween, suspicions were high and we took a pregnancy test, which was positive.  Such emotions!  Wonder, fear, joy, grief, concern - all rushed over us.  We took another test a few days later and sure enough it was positive again.

Our first doctor's appointment was on November 14.  At that time Sheldon was measuring in at 7 weeks 6 days - we had been pregnant for a while without knowing it!  Everything looked good at that appointment - but we were still nervous.

 

Sheldon at 8 weeks
(The name Sheldon is after the Physicist Friendly Dork on the TV show Big Bang Theory - no offense to any other Sheldons!)

With our first pregnancy we had seen a heartbeat at 8 weeks, and when we went to the 10 week appointment there was none - a Missed Miscarriage.  We were very cautious and nervous about our second appointment.  Abi had access to an ultrasound machine at work and managed to sneak in a video of Sheldon at around 9 weeks - which eased our minds some.

 Here is the video:

 

Our second appointment was on December 1st.  Bry wasn't able to go with, so Abi was sure to take a picture to share.  What a wonderful sight to see - a moving, bouncing, waving Sheldon with a nice, strong heartbeat.  We were so happy that things seemed to be going well.

 

Sheldon at 10 weeks 2 days - you can seen the head on the right side, a bright little nose, and a tiny arm waving. 

Our 12 week appointment marked the end of "special treatment" - our OB decided we were now a "normal pregnancy" and would be on a typical schedule for future appointments - mapped out all the way through April.  Of course, nothing can be easy for us, and a bleeding scare had us right back in the office at 13 weeks - but all was well with Sheldon anyways.  Plus, we got some good pictures of him. (Sheldon bears a striking resemblance to Donald Duck in those!)

Christmas week marked the start of the Second Trimester.  Week 14 was doubly as pregnant as I'd ever been.  We felt some relief at hitting this milestone, yet were still hesitant to spread the news.  We did tell most extended family on Christmas, however, and got only support and congratulations.   Abi thinks she felt some movements during week 16, and we continued to be grateful for our home doppler to listen to the heartbeat.  We scheduled the appointment to find out the gender - February 2, 2012.

January 16th - definite baby movements make my day a lot more interesting. Continuing to find clothes to wear although we're decidedly in maternity clothes now (pants).  I started telling my fellow residency classmates this week.  Lots of support and congratulations from them too.  

January 17th - 17 weeks on the 17th.  

January 26th - less than 6 days until we find out what Sheldon is!  Super excited.

January 30th - After working an overnight shift, Abi had her attending try to figure out what Sheldon was - and it's a girl!  I went out shopping for "I love my Daddy" gifts for Bry to tell him the big news.  We had been thinking "boy", but just a quick peek at the girls section in a store and my knitting patterns had me very excited.  We changed from "Sheldon" to "Penny", and were seeing pink all over.

February 2 - the day of the anatomy scan finally arrived.  We had the scan which lasted about 1 hour.  Penny was lovely to watch, moving around all over.  But she refused to let us get a good picture of her little face.  Heart, kidneys, face and brain all looked good.  They did, however, see a uterine septum in my uterus.  (this means my uterus has 2 parts) Penny and the placenta are on one side of the uterus, the septum is on the other side.  So far it hasn't caused any problems with this pregnancy but we're now considered "high risk" and will need to have repeated scans and check ups.

We are thrilled to finally announce this news - it's been a long time keeping it all in!

Snow Day!!!

Bry and I are celebrating our first SNOW DAY in a long long time.  We've got the taxes done, the house cleaned up and all of our finances figured out.  

Just about finished up a month in the ED.  It was a high learning curve this month - somewhat stressful but I love my crazy schedule.  I also like doing what I'm doing - I like the ED - a lot.  This does, in fact, make me crazy by definition.

I am now stationed in the Labor and Delivery area.  Yesterday I delivered a lovely baby girl.  It is a rare experience holding a warm, wet, squirming, screaming bundle (and not dropping her!!) - and being the first to take a peek and tell the parents the gender.  (SHE was a surprise baby!)  Mom did great too - I'm always amazed at the dedication and concentration all of these women show - and the crying bit at the end.....love it.  I haven't delivered a baby since June 2009 - lots and lots to remember.  I really enjoyed that aspect of the rotation - and this time I don't have to do C-sections, just vaginal deliveries.  Lately in the ED there has been a rash of "precipitous deliveries" or women who are about to "pop" right when they get to the ED - and who knows, wherever I'm working in the future I may be on call for deliveries at night too.  

Things have been going well for us too.  We've made it through the 4 weeks since the miscarriage - and are still healing.  Things have been really good between Bry and I, and we are so so thankful for the many wonderful friends who have helped us out:

• Thanks especially to Katie and Amy for the talks and the wonderful ice-cream birthday cake. Katie your card was very welcome and I appreciate your wisdom and encouragement.  Amy - thanks for letting us cuddle Andrew and Kyle - we had a lot of fun at the museum. 
• Thanks to Kristin for coming to Madison (even if you got paid for it) and for keeping our 24 year friendship going strong (also for BUYING ME YARN!!! I love yarn and am going to start a sock pattern today!) and for some awesome Afghani food on State Street in Madison (Kabul).
• Thanks to Kelly and Bryan for bringing Addison up for a weekend in Wisconsin (in January).  We had tons of fun waking up to "my Georgie!" and the many episodes of Dora that we were forced allowed to watch.  It means a lot that you made the trek and put up with me working all weekend too.
• Thanks to our Church family who supported us with prayers, cards and books that were really helpful.
• Thanks to Heide for the relentless many phone calls and talks.  And for Lillie - nothing puts my life into perspective like a precocious 5 year old asking the difficult questions that adults are too polite to ask.

As we prepare for the SUPERBOWL our vacation to Mexico we look forward to some sand and sun.  I am looking forward to some reading and a lot of knitting.  Throw in some drinking and some guacamole and I may never ever come back.

Just a few photos from the past weekend:

 Kyle shopping at the Betty Brinn Childrens Museum.

 Addison reading.  Surprisingly this is NOT a Dora the Explorer book!

 Bry teaching Kyle some engineering.

 Kyle driving a grocery truck.

 Andrew fixing the plumbing.

 More engineering.

More driving.

Saddened

Today we had hoped to be able to post happy news that we were expecting a baby.  However, we are only saddened by the loss of the little person we never met.  We lost our baby at 10 weeks.  Abi had a procedure yesterday which, while uncomfortable and difficult, went well.  Right now we are both very saddened and upset.

It has come to our attention how common miscarriages are.  Many people have reached out to us with their own stories and experiences.  We appreciate all of the support we've received from friends and family, many of whom only found out about the pregnancy just a few days ago.  All of the e-mails and phone calls have been very comforting and we know we have a wonderful support system. 

Right now we are trying to figure out how to act.  We have decided to "get away" from it all and have booked a week long trip to Cancun, Mexico for early February.  We will use that alone time together to regroup and grieve.  Until then we are continuing with life as usual.  Abi starts working in the Emergency Department on Saturday.  Work has been a welcome thought-occupying activity for her.  Bry is continuing to pick up odd winter-time jobs at K. Singh.  Both of our jobs have been very supportive and have been giving us the time off we need.

We pray in the future to have happier news to report.  We know that God has plans for us, and at this time they didn't include a Baby Polzin.  We will happily welcome whatever he has in store for us, even if we don't understand it at the time.

As we celebrate the start of 2011 we both feel like we're beginning with a "clean slate."  We also celebrate the 5 years that we've known each other.  (We met about 5 years ago today in Tucson, AZ).  We have a great marriage and we're thankful for that.  We both have good jobs, a nice home, two cars and whole lot else.  We still reiterate our Christmas Letter (see below) that we're "very excited about 2011."

Picture found here.

polzin christmas card 2010

 January

Pretty boring overall.  A trip to Minnesota for late Christmas.  Abi learned how to knit. Bry traipsed through/across/on the Rock River all month long for work.  Abi turned 26 years old.

February

Abi moved to the lovely country of Philippines.  She worked in the city of Manila at the Philippine General Hospital.  The entire experience was wonderful – lots of traveling throughout the gorgeous country. Bry came the last week and we took a little “honeymoon” to the island of Palawan. We had a terrific time snorkeling and touring the countryside.

March

Back to reality.  Bry turned 26 too (9 weeks and 6 days after Abi, you’ll notice).  Abi matched to Emergency Medicine Residency in Milwaukee, WI.  We added a new member to the family – our 2010 Kia Forte who replaced Bry’s Impala.  It was fun driving it off the lot with just 200 miles on it!

April

Abi went to Texas to visit Emily for her birthday.  She had a great time sightseeing in Fort Worth and visiting with Aunt Judy too.   A trip to Minnesota for Bry’s sister’s baby shower.

May

Graduation.  Dr. Polzin replaced Mrs. Polzin on May 21, 2010.  The day was celebrated with family and friends.  We always have room for more guests if you’re coming our way!

June

Made the move - a whole 2 miles to our new, bigger, “residency apartment”.  Note the return address.  We love, love, love the new place.  Celebrated 2 years of marriage with a nice dinner out.

July

Residency begins.  Mainly working at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee.  We managed to make it to quite a few Brewer’s games this year….don’t mention the Twins series in this house though.  We enjoy the baseball season and LOVE to tailgate.  Hoping to get to new Target Field next year sometime.

August

Trauma surgery for Abi = No life.  New life, however was all around us – we had a niece, Liza, born on the 11^th and a nephew, Lucas, born on the 14^th.  We had the privilege of seeing Lucas in the hospital and being present for Liza’s baptism in Minnesota.  Looking forward to fun with them over the holidays.

September

Abi had a week of vacation and spent it babysitting for her 6 cousins for 3 days.  Bry continued to work out in Watertown, WI on the highway project he’s been working on for the past year.  He really enjoys his job out there.  Sister Emily came to visit to meet Lucas and we had a fun time with her as usual.

October

We enjoyed the lovely fall weather when we had some free time.  We celebrated the start of football season with a few get togethers. 

November

Lots of fun on another week of vacation.  We both went to Utah for a fun weekend…..possibly a place to live in the future? Then Bry returned home and Abi continued on to visit friends Katie and Elliot in Portland, OR.   Thanksgiving will be spent with Bry’s mom and sister Beth and her husband, Brandon – niece Liza too. 

December

We will be celebrating Christmas at our home this year with the Schneider’s.  We are very much looking forward to 2011!  Please be sure to stop in at our blog: polzinblog.blogspot.com for more updates and photos!  God’s Blessings!