Baby supplies

So, yesterday was our first experience with shopping for supplies. WOW!!!!! We are a bit overwhelmed to say the least! I cannot believe how many gadgets there really are for such a tiny person! I know I probably don't need half of the stuff out there but I still was overwhelmed with just the neccessary items. Everything seems to shake, rattle, and roll! There are toys built into every otherwise normal piece of equiptment (i.e. strollers, pack 'n play) It's all a bit much!

18 weeks pic

Another baby bump shot... it's growing :)

almost 18 weeks and counting...

So, I am amazed at the food obsession I have. I can't really call it cravings because I don't believe you can crave EVERYTHING!!!! I read in one of my many books that I am in a time of "rapid growth" for this little one. He/She must be growing rapidly all right! I now not only have a second breakfast but also a second lunch and a night time snack! This is crazy! I can't say that I have any favorites... very unbiased! I guess if there is anytime to be pregnant and wanting to eat everything I couldn't have chosen a better time of the year! Merry Christmas to you all :)

a little bit of sadness

As many of you know, Dave's dad is not doing well. He was diagnosed 8 weeks ago with a very aggressive brain cancer and he is losing his battle rapidly. We want our baby to have something to cherish related to his/her grandpa. Last night we decided we needed a picture of grandpa's hand holding our little one. Although this seemed a little odd (grandpa is not very coherent at this time) we knew that our time with him is disappearing quickly. It is a very challenging time for our family as we grieve this impending loss. Please continue to pray for all of us. Thank you

Good Report

Today I saw my OB again. Everything is going along perfectly :) I've gained 3 pounds (and no, I probably will never report how much I've gained ever again!) and the baby's herat beat was 150 and strong. I've had some weird ache-type feeling in my lower abdomen and my doctor confirmed that it is simply the stretching of the ligaments. No other real complaints! I'm so lucky!!!! So far soooooo good.

14 weeks!!!

I am 14 weeks today :) Feeling good! Newest craving is bagles and cream cheese. I can't feel the baby yet but I do feel the stretching occasionally. My next OB appointment is in 2 days. I can't wait to hear the heart beat again. Otherwise I'm sure it won't be that exciting of an appointment. Dave and I are getting a little more excited now that the baby bump is growing significantly. I'm very thankful for the Motherhood and Old Navy stores! The maternity clothes are not as bad as I thought they would be. We'll see if I still have that opinion in a few months!

update

I am so thankful to have made it through the first trimester!!! I feel relatively good. I still get tired out faster than normal but I got a feeling that will be the case for pretty much the rest of my life! My belly seems to have "popped" this week. I'll get a pic soon to post, as soon as I deem one worthy of sharing. I tried to take one and it didn't turn out very flattering. Not sure if I will ever feel like one of these type of pics is really all that flattering though, we'll see! At least the maternity clothes that I've found is kinda cute. I've really enjoyed staring at my ultrasound pics. They are so precious! It's been tough to realize that the baby is okay when I can't feel anything. I'm sure all of you moms out there understand that one :) I see my OB Nov. 25 and I think my next ultrasound will be pretty close to Christmas (around my 20th week), and yes, that means we could have the opportunity to find out if we need pink or blue things!!!!!! Yes, we plan on attempting to find out the sex of the baby and yes... we will share that news! This is all so very exciting!!!

4 D pic

While at our ultrasound today, they decided to try the 4D camera even though we are only 12 weeks and this was stunning. Here it is.... God's miracle!!!

Another Ultrasound!!!

Today was 12 weeks and 2 days!! Dave and I had the privilege to observe our little one once again! This little guy is pretty active right now. Heart Rate was 152. And, our baby appeared to "wave" at us with a perfect tiny hand!!! Along with seeing the heart, we (with the help of Joy, our ultrasound tech) were able to see both kidneys, bladder and stomach! That was just amazing! Everything is looking normal. Here is an updated pic. Looking more and more like a real baby huh?!

cravings

Just a fun fact: I started this pregnancy craving green olives. Not a big shocker I realize but the funny thing is that now, I cannot stand olives! That IS a shocker!!! So then I moved into craving pintos and cheese from Taco Bell, again, not a real shocker and thankfully my stomach doesn't turn when I think of that now. Then I wanted Hawaiin sweet rolls, I don't know what's goin' on! Now it's waffles! Except last night it was apple pie! The only steady craving that has remained the entire time so far is milk! That's a good one I think :) Can't wait to see what's next...

official announcing

Today we were able to share our testimonies in our sunday school class and as part of that we were able to announce the pregnancy! We left everyone with tears in their eyes (not really intended). It's a powerful story! We are sooooo thankful for our supportive friends!

On another note, I've been asked if I've been experiencing morning sickness. Not too bad!! I do however seem to get night sickness. around 9:30ish I start to feel a bit queezy. Thankfully at that time I'm home from work/school and can take it easy. Otherwise, I've only had a few days of nausea throughout the day. The bigger problem has been the fatigue! That one caught me the last couple weeks. I understand that this should hopefully start to resolve this week. I am currently 11 weeks :)

No More Shots!!!

Today was my last injection of progesterone!!!! I have to say that I have mixed feelings about this. I am thrilled that Dave won't have to give me a shot every morning but as with any newly expectant mother, I am always worried about how this shift may affect the baby. This is where trust comes in! I am privileged to have wonderful physicians that are very experienced. I know they wouldn't steer me wrong. And, I'm thrilled not to have a needle jabbing me every morning. Everything is still going extremely well. 10 1/2 weeks!!!!

After a little scare on Friday we were reassured that our baby is thriving! Here are a couple new pics of our little one...

The top one is the best for actually "seeing" our baby! The head is on the right. You can actually see two arms and two legs!

This one is measuring the heart rate which was 177.

We had our first regular OB visit today with Dr. Lown. He was so excited for us! He told us that he actually read the letter from Dr. Dodds twice!!! He told us that he believes everything looks fantastic and he feels that we are "in the clear" but would like to do one more ultrasound in 2 weeks to mark the end of the first trimester officially. I told him that I certainly didn't mind any extra ultrasounds. We are so excited that things are going well right now and we are feeling more and more secure every day. I was able to share the news with my co-workers today and that was a blast :) Everyone seems so excited for us! It's beginning to feel more and more real!

babymaj

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In Vitro #5

After discussing further options with Dr. Dodds, we decided that our best option was one more in vitro attempt with a fresh specimen instead of frozen. We were enjoying our 2008 and had decided that we would most likely wait for the next year to move forward on this, but, as we neared fall we realized our desire was too strong to wait any more. On Sept. 2,2008 we had our 5th IVF transfer with 3 fresh embryos! On Sept. 12 we had our first positive pregnancy test! Then a follow up on Sept. 16 that tripled! Sept. 26 was our first ultrasound! At this point I was 5 1/2 weeks and all you could see was a dot! Looks like we have one fetus! On October 6, we had our second ultrasound... we heard the baby's heart beat!!!!! We were then free to go to my regular OB. That appointment is in less than a week. It's really happening!!!! Our due date is May 24, 2009!!!!

In the beginning...

We have been on a journey to start our family since early 2005. After realizing that because of certain medical abnormalities our only option to conceive our own child would be through in vitro fertilization, we met with Dr. Dodds. Our first round of in vitro ended tragically at about 2 weeks post conception and we struggled through some dark times as we grieved the loss of our twins. In Jauary of 2007 we tried again with frozen embryos that we had gathered during the first in vitro process. We had the doctor place 3 embryos, none took. We chose to use our remaining frozen embryos (3 again) in July 2007, again, none took. Now out of frozen embryos we had the tough decision of what now?! After much contemplation we decided to give in vitro one more try. In October 2007 after a very traumatic egg harvest we created 4 more embryos and placed them on the 19th, again, no pregnancy. At this point we felt that we were going to have to stop trying in vitro. Not only is this exhausting financially but also physically and emotionally. In December Dave had some further testing done and it was found that he actually had a viable count! We were told for the first time that we might actually be able to conceive naturally! We began attempting immediately but by April realized that this still was not the answer that we thought it would be.