Sunday, December 19, 2010

Seven Weeks Today!



Well, sorry for taking so long to let you hear from me, so I’m here to tell you about our last visit to the doctor. So, we went to the doctor for a follow up visit to our scare we had last week and could actually see our little cookie for the first time. Sorry for the cliché, but it was beautiful. We were able to see the head, butt and the yolk sac again, but the best part was seeing and hearing the heartbeat. Its heart was beating at a rate of 118 bpm, which according to my mom means it’s a boy… but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. But we found out that our cookie is between the size of a grain of rice and a peanut. And they determined that we were six weeks, five days along so at this point we are exactly seven weeks. I looked back and determined that we actually conceived on Halloween. How cool is that? Our doctor estimated our due date at August 2, but she did say not to set our calendar by it because we probably will not actually have the baby that day, I’m hoping for two days early… But any way, that’s where we’re at, it’s all a bit overwhelming, but I wouldn’t trade this for anything. We’ll continue to keep you updated as things progress.




We’re such proud parents and I’ve attached our most current baby picture! You can see the head (the little circle to the right) and the heart (a small white spot right in the center of the picture). The long part to the left of the head is the baby’s body and we decided it looks like Eve from the movie “Wall-E”… if you look at it sideways! Feel free to comment if you have trouble finding any of its parts. It’s a little hard to explain over the internet, but I’ve done my best!

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Our First Scare

On Tuesday, I had some spotting after using the restroom. I called Christopher on my lunch break and he had me call my doctor immediately.

Spotting is never a good sign in early pregnancy, so my doctor squeezed us into the first ultrasound appointment the next morning. Christopher and I spent out night praying that God would take care of our little cookie and keep it healthy, and give me the strength to carry it to full term. Our main prayer was that the God would cease the bleeding.
When we went to bed, I hadn’t had any more spotting and we fell asleep feeling completely at peace with the situation.

We woke up the next morning, a little bit anxious, but mostly excited about seeing our miracle for the first time!

We got to Central Baptist a little early. Since we’ve never been through this before, we had no idea what to expect. My mom and dad came with us for support. When Christopher and I finally went back to the exam room, our ultrasound tech showed us what we could see of our baby.





The black oval in the center of the ultrasound is the gestational sack and the circle inside is the yolk sack. This feeds the baby until the placenta is fully formed. After our ultrasound, we went to see Dr. Ashmun so she could tell us what everything meant.
We waited for almost two hours.


Apparently she was booked solid and I never understood being “squeezed in” before then. When we finally got to see her, she explained that there was no bleeding behind the placenta – which is a good sign. She told us to be “cautiously optimistic”. She told us that based on the first day of my last menstrual cycle, they should be seeing a fetus by now, but the gestational and yolk sacks both looked fine. She said that we looked like we’re around 5 five weeks and she thinks we just got our positive very early.

We left feeling very reassured and confident that our baby was fine, and praising God for answering our prayers.

Later that afternoon, I had a little more spotting. I wanted to cry, I was so upset. After talking with some friends, I decided that the bleeding was from the ultrasound, and my theory was backed up by the decreased amount over my next few trips to the bathroom. By 2:30 that afternoon, I had completely stopped bleeding.

I am happy to report that I have been blood-free since then and we can’t wait to see our perfect miracle again next Friday before we go to Gatlinburg for our anniversary.


Please join us in praying that our baby will grow and develop healthily, that God would let me be strong enough to carry it, and that Christopher and I would be able to trust Him throughout this pregnancy.

Thank you all for sharing this wonderful miracle with us.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Preg-Zombie

I was always curious about pregnancy symptoms. I wondered if the symptoms just “started” once a pregnancy test was positive, and I wasn’t quite sure why they wouldn’t show up beforehand. In the book I’ve been reading (I’m Pregnant by Lesley Regan, MD) pregnancy symptoms usually start around four weeks into the pregnancy and home tests usually start detecting HCG levels around week 5. What my book says is the most important thing to remember is that every pregnancy is different and everyone will have different symptoms at different times.

Since we found out about the baby, I have been having bits and pieces of the typical symptoms. I’d feel nauseated after I ate anything but Cheerios or saltines. I’ve been joking that the only thing the baby likes is Cheerios. I’ve had to use the bathroom every 30 minutes and I’ve been having trouble staying awake all day. What’s blown my mind the most is how forgetful and clumsy I am! I can’t remember words like refrigerator or how to start my car… I feel like I’m completely brainless and to be honest, it’s quite hilarious!


Looking back to the weeks before we found out, I’ve got several instances where the symptoms of pregnancy had surfaced, but I just didn’t recognize them at the time. One day, Christopher and I were driving in the country and we passed a gravel truck. The smell was horrible and made me so sick, but Christopher wasn’t affected by it at all. Also, I was sleeping a lot more than normal and had a lot more problems with motion-sickness than normal.

But today was the first day I actually felt pregnant.
I woke up around 6:30am and my stomach was churning. I laid in bed for a while, hoping it would pass like it has been over the last weeks, but eventually I asked Christopher to get me some water, Cheerios, and a vomit bowl – in case I couldn’t make it to the bathroom. I felt so bad asking him to get up that early, but he’s so amazing and brought me everything I needed to start feeling better.


I’ve been asleep ALL day… We went over to Cathy & Gordon’s house and I slept on their couch for hours. And I’ve napped twice since then, but I feel like I could fall asleep again at any moment. I told Christopher he could call me “Preg-Zombie,” since that pretty much sums up how I’m feeling.


My “morning” sickness from earlier hasn’t really subsided at all today. But I hear it gets better in the second trimester, so I only have a couple of months to wait!


There’s one thing I keep telling myself, and it’s something I asked Christopher to remind me of if I forget. All this feeling bad is the way I can feel my baby right now, and that makes it so special. Even though I’m feeling bad, this is an answer to prayer that has been long awaited, and I am so thankful for every minute of nausea and fatigue – not to mention, every trip to the bathroom!

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Baby Fever

I have to admit that I have the fever. I love being pregnant and I’m completely in love with this baby I’m carrying.

After only six days, it has totally stolen my heart and I am having trouble thinking about anything else.


     I love knowing that I am a mom.
     I love knowing that my body is growing a perfect little being.
     I love knowing that the child I am carrying was entrusted to me by God.
     I love knowing that it is a result of amazing, unending love. 



I can’t wait to hold my child in my arms for the first time.
I can’t wait to count its fingers and toes.
I can’t wait to kiss its little nose.
I can’t wait to see its face and know that it is a combination of Christopher and me.


My life has been completely altered and now, my life revolves around this child.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

a prayer for my child...

Jesus, I want to take the time again to thank You for Your impeccable timing. We cannot see what lies ahead of us, but You know where we're going to end up before we even start walking! Your faithfulness to fulfill Your promises astounds me, and in my darkest hour, when Your presence holds me close, I am ever grateful for your grace and mercy.

Thank You for trusting Christopher and myself with a child that even now You are molding to reflect Your image. I cannot wait to see the beauty that will resonate from its heart, soul and mind.

I also want to thank You for all the negatives we've gotten over the past years. Thank you for retrieving us from the dark places as we waited on your timing. All the effort and tears that have gone into those months have been washed away and I know that THIS child has been destined to be ours since the beginning.

I pray for Your protection over our child. I ask that You keep it safe inside me, so that it can grow and develop. The first few months of a pregnancy are terrifying for an expecting mother, and as I'm only a few weeks in, I pray that You keep my body and my mind strong. Help me not to worry, but to trust that even though this child is growing inside of me, You are holding it in your hands every step of the way.

Thank you for the privilege of bearing a child of God.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Finally!

This has been a week of "finally" for Christopher and I!

I finally figured out blogspot so that we could share our good news... that after 2 1/2 years of trying and failing, we are FINALLY PREGNANT!!

We've been waiting for that little plus sign for so long, we were beginning to think it would never happen. But on Saturday, November 27th, we snuck into my parent's bathroom and I peed on a stick. The tests say to allow up to 3 minutes for results, but our plus sign showed up within seconds! We were completely dumbfounded.

We were both thinking "is this for real???"

On Thanksgiving, I had been given an extra pregnancy test by a friend, and needless to say, my mind was plagued by that little stick all day. I was only a week late, but taking that test was all I could think about. Christopher and I had decided we'd wait until Tuesday to take a test since we'd gotten so many negatives previously. He definitely didn't want to rush anything and I, grudgingly, agreed to wait.

Saturday morning, we were going to the Christmas tree farm with my family, and then watching Ghost Town with Christopher's family later. When we woke up, Christopher deciced it would be a good day to take a test since we'd be spending time with both of our families. Unfortunately, he didn't tell me until after I had gone to bathroom. So we decided to wait... again.

On the way to the farm, I was so sick to my stomach. We thought it was just car-sickness, but we little did we know, there was more to it than that.

When we got back to mom & dad's house, we snuck away while they were setting the tree up. While we were in the bathroom, mom knocked on the door wondering what we were doing. When we got our results, we KNEW it was a positive by the sheer fact that we had never gotten that result before. I left the bathroom and asked if someone would do me a favor and do a google search for e.p.t. pregnancy test instructions. My family was so thrilled. My dad didn't want to react too early for fear that our hearts would break if we read the results wrong. My mom just kept looking at image results of positive tests and comparing mine. Our plus was a little faint, but it was most definitely a plus! Ali couldn't stop smiling.

When we left my family, we couldn't get to Cathy and Gordon's house fast enough. Renee and Joel were out walking Buddy (their sheltie) when we arrived, so we broke the news twice. When Christopher said "we've got some news" I barely had time to pull the test out of my pocket before Cathy was hugging me, jumping up and down, crying and telling us how faithful God has been. What a God moment it was! Renee and Joel were just as thrilled when we told them.



We are approximately in week 5 of our pregnancy, and right now our baby is the size of an orange seed! Our first ultrasound is scheduled for December 20th, and I can't wait to hear the beating of his or her heart!

Please keep us in your prayers over the next months as it will be the most rewarding and difficult time we will ever go through!

Our first night as parents.