Me Too

My husband and I were in Costa Rica for language school, because we were headed to Mexico to be missionaries. After leaving Costa Rica we were stateside because we found out we were going to Guatemala instead. I also found out I was about 10 weeks pregnant. Yippee!! However, about a week before we left for Guat, I miscarried - it was awful. Lots of bleeding, etc. My doctor was a Christian so he helped us through this. I did do a D&C. I probably wouldn't do that now.

After the procedure, I went to my sister's house because we were staying there for this month home. She was 8+ months pregnant. It was uncomfortable for both of us. I love my sister so much. We then proceeded to Guatemala, about a week later. NEVER DO A CROSS-CULTURAL THING AFTER A MISCARRIAGE!!!! It was lonely, awful, hard and everything in between. We ended up being in an area where we were the only non-Guat.

About a year later I got pregnant. So excited. Told everybody again. I lose this one too at about 11-12 weeks. Again, I had a D&C. Awful. My mom paid for a week at a fancy hotel in Guat for my husband and I to process this. My new friends criticized me profusely the remaining two years we were there. I think I had another miscarriage around this time, but I went to the ER because there was so much bleeding. No confirmed test though.

Now, we started fertility testing. All was basically ok. Genetic testing too. After doing a scrape test on the uterine wall, and it came back sort of ok, the doctor said, - "Go get pregnant!" We did actually within that week. I had gone to the lab to see if I was pregnant and it came back negative. I was soooooooo sad. However, I went to my ob/gyn and he ran tests, and I was pregnant!!!! Super excited. He discovered that my body did not produce enough hormones to keep the baby, so I had compound mixed vaginal suppositories for the first 16 or so weeks. That pregnancy was a model pregnancy. At 38 weeks, I went for my regular visit and my doctor had me do an xray 1(!!!!!!) which 'showed' my baby was too big to fit through the canal. We believed him - first time parents. He did a caesarean that night. My baby is un barroncito (a boy) and we were so happy. He was born on December 27. My gift from Jesus in a foreign country.

We traveled home when Andrew was three weeks old and we have stayed here since. 4 years later I got pregnant again. Because my records were in Spanish, I gave them to my old doctor in Orange. He saw the compounded hormone and had me take it again. This pregnancy was great except the vomiting that started at 10 weeks and went through delivery. She was sunny-side up and I labored 99 hours with her. We didn't know any of this at the time. Three and a half years later I got pregnant again, and did the hormone suppository too. Again the vomiting at 10 weeks through delivery. I switched doctors at 34 weeks because I did not want to repeat the delivery that I had with my daughter. This delivery was unexpected after a doctor visit and he discovered I had lost fluid in three quadrants. So, I walked to the hospital, called my husband, and they did a special induction (not pitocin). I was a candidate for this. I labored pretty easily and by that evening I was in hard labor. After three pushes, my second daughter was born. The midwife did not think I was that far along, so did not call the doctor, so he missed it. I heard the chewing-out while I was shivering on the bed. No drugs, (and the ones for my first daughter did not work, and I did not have an epidural for either) and this third one was the BEST recovery. I have three healthy, grown children. I wanted 20, but we have three.

-Kerry Sue Teravskis-