The amazing Jen Hetrick with her son Chase (22 months). Jen and her husband were able to conceive Chase within months of deciding to try and went on to have a very easy and enjoyable pregnancy. Jen had planned for a vaginal delivery but always knew she'd want an epidural. When she carried past her due date her OB told her she'd continue to monitor her but if she went 10 days post dates she'd need to come in for an induction. Jen had a check up a 40 weeks + 9 days and it was determined her fluid levels were really low. There wasn't anything concerning but they decided to go ahead and start her induction then. Jen went home to eat a large meal and then to the hospital where they began her induction slowly by catheter dilation. After nearly 18 hours her son still hadn't arrived but she had become feverish and Chase's heart rate had begun to drop after contractions so, ultimately the decision was made to deliver via cesarean. She was prepped to go back when an emergency came in and she was pushed back to her room. When she finally taken in for delivery things went well. Jen was able to hold Chase for a short time after recovery before he was taken to nursery for 4 hours of antibiotics. Jen had planned to exclusively breastfeed but was told his blood sugar was very low and allowed them to give him formula. When he was reunited with her his sugars were still low, so she was able to formula feed him one more time before he latched perfectly and began to breastfeed. All worries about whether or not that would complicate their nursing relationship disappeared. Jen had some issues with oversupply in the beginning but was able to exclusively breastfeed Chase until he was about 11 months old when she made the decision to wean fully so they could try to conceive again.
On Chase's first birthday she had a positive pregnancy test. Because her cycles had been all over the place she didn't know how far along she was and went in for some blood work. Her levels were very high so they scheduled an ultrasound where they saw a gestational sac but no other signs of pregnancy. Because there was concern for an ectopic pregnancy or the possibility that she was very early in pregnancy they continued blood work and ultrasounds. It was ultimately determined that there was no viable pregnancy and she was diagnosed with a blighted ovum though her doctors scheduled a D&C to further ensure there was no ectopic pregnancy. Jen hemorrhaged and lost a liter of blood during her D&C which was quite traumatic and led to months of anemia. She later learned that she had a very large blood clot within her cesarean incision that required months of monitoring. While the clot eventually resolved itself it revealed a defect that could contribute to fertility issues or complications in future pregnancies and needed to be corrected. Jen was very afraid of consenting to another procedure after her D&C but she and her husband very much want more children so she ultimately chose to have it repaired. Three weeks ago, she underwent a laparoscopic surgery to repair the defect and feels that things have taken a positive turn. In 3 months, if all goes well, she should be given the all clear to try again which she and her husband are very much looking forward to. While Jen very much hopes they can conceived and birth another child on their own she says that adoption or surrogacy are always options.
