Lemon!

14 Weeks- Officially in the 2nd Trimester!

Everything is still going great and most days I feel wonderful! I experienced a horrible 26 hour migraine this past weekend and I am hoping that NEVER happens again! Tylenol doesn't do anything for major migraines and I was so desperate that about 18 hours in I was drinking soda and eating chocolate trying to see if the caffeine would take it away. It didn't. I was worried about the caffeine at first but I know God is watching over this little baby and I am not going to spend this pregnancy worrying. So far pregnancy has been blissful and now that I am in the second trimester it should only get better from here. 

I am no longer craving the sour candy as my stomach is not upset very often. I do still love cereal more than I ever have but other than that no particular cravings. 

My mom is so excited and bought us the crib I wanted this past week (the cheapest, most basic white model crib on the market since our room is SO small). I LOVE IT! 

Shaun had the great idea to put it together in the living room so he could watch football but of course it didn't fit through the doorway....

So he took off one of the sides in the hallway...

Now it's in the room and perfect! 

I am loving the striped walls I painted over the summer when I was bored and desperate for a project. 

Here is the start to the nursery! I will not be doing anything further until we know the sex of this baby. Once that happens, all bets are off! I wouldn't be surprised if the nursery is done before I am in my third trimester. 

I have waited 4 years to decorate a baby room! So excited!

Plum Baby

We have officially reached the highly anticipated 12th week of pregnancy! Praise the Lord!

Everything is going amazing and I am blessed to be feeling great! I am still tired but not nearly as much as I was a few weeks back. I am having less and less of the stomach queasiness and I never threw up once (although there were a few times I think it would have felt good if I had). 

Although the baby is only a few inches long I have noticed my belly changing quite a bit in the past week or so. I have a small pooch that protrudes more in the evening. It is probably pizza and sour candy, not baby, but it's fun to think that after all of these years I almost have physical proof that a little miracle is growing in me. 

I am having weird sharp pains and muscle cramps in my belly, which my doctor and friends at work, say is completely normal but it sure is strange. 

We are blessed and cherishing every minute. 

Normal?!?

I finally talked to my OB and she assured me she has reviewed all of the pictures and everything is.....completely normal! Healthy baby, great location and not near the tube. NORMAL! I never fall into the "normal" category! 

We are feeling incredibly relieved and blessed. 

I could not be more in love with this little miracle baby already.  

Thank you for all of your prayers! We have almost made it through the first trimester and are praying for a drama free remainder of the pregnancy! As drama free as pregnancy can be that is. (;

The Wait Continues...

It is almost laughable but here we are again waiting 2 business days to hear wether my pregnancy is "viable" and all I can think about is my little kumquat sized baby bending and moving back and forth on the screen. It was amazing. Arms moving. Body bending at the waist and doing "sit-ups" as the ultrasound tech said. Miracle. 

We walked into the room expecting to see my OB, and instead we get just a ultrasound tech. She tells us that we will be doing an external and internal ultrasound and she is going to take several pictures. These pictures will then be analyzed by an x-ray person and sent to my OB who will then contact me within 2 business days. It was all business. Complete silence in the room until I asked her if she could tell me anything. Of course she said no, but she said she would give me a few pictures and that the heartbeat was 167 bpm (which is good). I thanked her and laid there exchanging silent looks with Shaun through my tear-filled anxious eyes as we watched our baby on the screen. 

It is so hard to think that the little baby we saw moving and healthy might not be for much longer. 

I am trying with all of my might not to think that way.

 I am holding that tiny moving body in my mind and focusing on the positive. 

I just wish I did not have to wait 2 days. I am learning to lean fully on Him once again and we are hoping and praying that today was not the last time we will be seeing that precious baby on the screen bouncing around. 

Here he/she is in all his/her alien baby glory. 

Top View: Head, Belly, Arms, and Legs 

(ignore the glare and my head in the background, I snapped this on my phone from the original picture)

Side View Left to Right: Head, Belly, Hand, Bottom/Legs

Heading to bed! Yes, it is only 7:20 but I am exhausted. Praying for Friday!

God is SO Good!

Peace.

My heart is truly calm and I am so thankful that I can find rest in Him.

Last week I was able to speak during our chapel at school. I used the verse Matthew 11:28 as our verse for the day. 

"Come to me all who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you REST"
We talked about how awesome it is to be able to give our worries and stress to the Lord and how important it is to trust in Him not only when things are easy but when things get rough.

I found myself talking about it to a few of my kiddos again today and as I was talking I was almost giggling.
"Yes Lord, I know, I know, I hear you"

I don't know what the news is going to be tomorrow at our ultrasound but I am trusting in His promises to me and I know he wants good for Shaun and I. I have no doubt that He is in control. For some reason my journey to being a mom is not going to be easy or "normal" but that is ok. We will get there somehow.

As for now, we will continue to pray for this little baby and for the future of our family. Say a prayer for us tomorrow around 4:00! (:

Will I Ever Get to Relax???

I feel like I have been on pins and needles for months. 

Waiting for cycle to begin after false polyp surgery...will I be able to finish IVF before school starts?
Waiting for retrieval...are there any eggs to retrieve?

Waiting for embryo transfer...will any eggs be viable and strong enough to implant?
Waiting for pregnancy test...will it be positive?
Waiting for ultrasound...is there a sac, heartbeat, baby??
Waiting for 2nd ultrasound...is there STILL a heartbeat?

RELAX
PRAISE THE LORD

For 3 days at least....

Today I had my appointment with my OB. She explained that normally they would do an ultrasound right there in her office but since she had a CONCERN abut the LOCATION of the BABY,
she would like for me to go to the hospital to have it done, as their machines are better than the ones in her office.
She was looking over the pictures and feels that the baby is located dangerously close to the fallopian tube. It is definitely implanted in the uterus but it is near the entrance where the tube and uterus meet. The uterine lining is much thinner in that location making it difficult to support a baby at times. Basically, there will be nothing that can be done if her suspicions are proven accurate. Lots of monitoring and prayer that my uterus doesn't RUPTURE. Great.

Well there it is...I don't know why I expect ANYTHING on this journey to go smoothly.
I guess I am just meant to hit every single teeny tiny bump in the road.

I am not sure what to say except we would love your prayers. I am not sure of the exact ultrasound date but it will be within the next week or so. Please pray for peace for me, but more importantly for a healthy baby. A baby that will be able to be carried to full term. 

We've Graduated!

We have officially graduated from UCSD! Here is our certificate to prove it, signed by all of the nurses and doctors who have helped us along the way.

What an amazing yet scary feeling to be officially released from their care. We no longer have to drive all the way to La Jolla several times a week, yay! I no longer have to do injections each and every night around 6:00,  double yay!!
On the other hand, we are really going to miss all of the wonderful people we got to see on a regular basis. It has been the most amazingly positive experience and we are so very thankful to have been able to get treatment from THE BEST.

Our ultrasound was nothing short of amazing. I am now nine weeks and the baby is the size of a cherry or grape. We got to hear the heartbeat loud and clear at 175 beats per minute. Overwhelming joy.

In the picture the baby was in a bit of a sideways position so it is difficult to see but the left circle area is the head (at this stage the head does take up almost half of the body...or that could just be the fact that we have huge heads in our family...) The right circle area in the rest of the body. The connecting line from left to right is the umbilical cord. The tiny little circle at the top of the screen is the yolk sac. Anyway, you are probably thinking, yeah sure it just looks like a white blob. Yes, I agree but a perfect miracle of a white blob. (:

We are blessed and so excited everything is going well.

I am still super tired and am experiencing a very unsettled stomach off and on throughout the day. I cannot eat anything warm for breakfast and have been a bit addicted to Raisin Bran. I eat it for breakfast and also have had it a few days after work as a mid-afternoon snack. It is delicious to me right now which is rare since I am normally not a cereal eater, let alone Raisin Bran.
I have also been craving sour candy. I have eaten a whole bag of Sour Gummy Worms and a pack of Sour Punch Straws in the past couple days. For some reason the sour seems to override my queasy stomach.

Headed to home fellowship to get our worship and bible study on! We are so lucky to serve such a loving God.