Waiting...

I thought we had a name picked out for our daughter ( although we haven't shared it yet) but I may change her name to Patience. Ok, not really but sometimes it feels like I should. I am not complaining, don't get me wrong but it seems like I must still not have the patience thing down because God seems to continue to want to teach me patience. Throughout this journey of embryo adoption and subsequently pregnancy it seems like there has just been a lot of prayer and waiting, waiting and prayer. Waiting to get a date to go down to Tennessee for our evaluation and then for our embryo transfers, dreaded two week waits for pregnancy tests after our transfers, disappointments after two failed transfers. Lot of prayers, waiting and prayers. After I got pregnant with this precious baby girl there was waiting but it wasn't hard. I enjoyed the experience of pregancy. I enjoyed seeing my belly grow as I knew there was a miraculous life growing inside of me. I knew that there was lots to be done before I felt "ready" for her arrival so the waiting was not hard and prayers of course were for her to continue to grow and thrive and be healthy. As we approached her due date time really seemed to fly. I thought for sure that she was going to come early. But saturday was her due date which has come and gone with no signs of our baby joining us yet. Now the waiting is getting hard again. Of course I know that the wait is worth is and just like everything else God has a plan for this little life. He already knows the second she is going to be born. And more than anything else I just want her to be born healthy but I am getting anxious to meet her and the waiting is getting harder and harder. I am so excited to see what she looks like. So excited to hold her and kiss her for the first time. So excited to see Josh meet his second beautiful daughter. And so excited for Raegan to meet her little sister for the first time. I praise God for this life and I pray that she will join us soon in God's perfect timing.

If she doesn't decide to come on her own then I will be induced on August 13th (which also happens to be Pop Pop's birthday!). They will have me come in the night before to be prepped and then I will be induced in the morning. There is a chance that what they give me the night before will induce labor as well ( which I am kind of hoping happens since it's a little more natural than Pitocin). So if our baby girl doesn't come before the 13th then it looks like she will be sharing a birthday with Pop Pop. I will post here again if anything happens before then but if not be sure to check our other blog www.growingthroughadoption.blogspot.com where I will post once our baby girl arrives!

Thank you to everyone who has supported us and loved us during this journey!

No News

I went to the doctor's for my weekly check up yesterday and there is nothing new to report. All they have continued to do each week is check the heartbeat which sounds great and measure my stomach which is measuring on target. I haven't really had any signs of labor yet so I am not anticipating anything happening before my next appointment next week but I guess there is always a chance everything could just happen at once and I could go into labor quickly. So only time will tell. I will be 38 weeks tomorrow! It's hard to believe that one way or another we will have another baby in our arms in a matter of a couple of weeks or less! The carseat made it's way into the car last night and our hospital bags are packed. So we are ready for our little girl when she decides to make her appearance. In the meantime I am just trying to get some things prepared for Josh and Raegan for when I have the baby ( laundry, clean house, food, etc). I hurt my back somehow on monday night so it made it tough to get much done this week but it feels much better today so I have been able to get more done in an easier fashion. I'll keep everyone posted! Next week I have an appointment on thursday and they will do a full exam then so maybe we'll know more at that point!

Almost "Full Term"

I will be 37 weeks this coming saturday. That is considered full term. Wow! Where did the time go? I can't believe that in a matter of weeks ( or possibly less) we will be having our second baby girl. We are very excited to meet her and for Raegan to meet her little sister! I went to the doctors today and everything is still going good. The heartbeat sounds great. I am measuring on target and the baby is in the right position. When the doctor measured me she told me that I was "all baby". I appreciate her saying that but I'm not sure I believe her! I get asked a lot how I am feeling. And my response is really that I actually still feel really good. There are some days I wake up feeling sore or really tired but generally speaking I still feel good for being as far along as I am. It has been a blessing that I haven't experienced any back pain or really any major pain given my history of back/spinal problems and surgery. I am still sleeping fairly good at night on most nights. And I think my tiredness during the day has more to do with the heat and chasing around a toddler than it does being pregnant. I am starting to take a nap during Raegan's naptime almost every day now because I am tired and figured I should start trying to get some extra sleep while I can. So overall, things are going really well. I start going to the doctor's weekly now. Josh and I went on a hospital tour last week and I got pre-registered at the hospital so we should be ready to go when the time comes. We just need to pray that when the time comes that it isn't during rush hour since our hospital is about 30 minutes away without traffic! I know everything will work out fine though and we are excited for delivery day!

30 Weeks

I had my 30 week appointment today. Everything continues to go well. The baby's heartbeat sounded great and I am still measuring appropriately. I talked to an anesthesiologist at the hospital where I will deliver in regards to my previous spinal cord surgery. I plan at this point on receiving an epidural and my OB/Gyn asked that I consult the hospital ahead of time to make them aware of my past medical/surgical history. The anesthesiologist said they should still be able to give me an epidural but they may have to put it higher than they usually do. He also said they couldn't be sure of the effectiveness since there may be scar tissue blocking some of the pathways that the medication flows. So basically we'll just have to wait and see when I get there. The fact that I will have to actually go in labor is starting to hit me although I wouldn't say I am nervous about it. I think pregnant women just reach a point that the reality hits of " oh yeah, this baby has to come out somehow". I am just thankful that everything is going well so far and I pray that everything continues to go smoothly. This week I have to sign up for a hospital tour for the hospital that we plan on delivering at. And I start going to the Ob/Gyn every 2 weeks now.

Update From Appointment

My appointment went well last week. I had to do my glucose test and was also tested for anemia. I got a call yesterday that my glucose test came back normal but that I am anemic and need to start taking Iron. Maybe that is why I have been more tired than usual lately so we'll see if the Iron helps. Everything else is fine. And the baby is continuing to be very active. She is especially active at night starting around 8:30 pm. She doesn't keep me awake ( yet) but everytime I wake up I can feel her moving. So she must be a night owl ( most babies are, I think). I can feel her and see her moving across my whole belly. I have started doing kick counts which basically means keeping track of her kicks and movements. I pretty much have her pattern figured out so if I feel that there is any deviation in her patterns or slowing in her movements I will contact my doctor. Her room is coming along. I got the curtains for her room and crib skirt made over the weekend. And I bought a double stroller off of Craigslist last week. So things are coming along. There is still a lot to do to get ready but we are getting there!

27 Weeks

I am now at 27 weeks ( as of saturday) and I definitely am really starting to feel pregnant. There is definitely no hiding the fact that I am pregnant anymore ( not that I am trying to hide it but I have definitely crossed the line where not even a flowly black outfit conceals my belly). The baby is still very active and I got my first kick in the ribs yesterday. Sometimes I think she is doing flips in there because there is so much movement in every direction. It's fun to feel her move and to wonder what she will be like when she is born. I am still feeling pretty good but I am starting to notice the weight of my expanding belly. Bending over has become more of a chore in recent days. I also have been having a lot of indigestion which makes we wonder if the old wives tail is true that our little girl will have lots of hair on her head. I haven't really had too many cravings so Josh hasn't had to go on any late night trips out to pick up food for me (at least not yet!). I have my glucose tolerance test tomorrow and I will also be getting a shot of antibodies due to my blood type. We will start some classes soon and will be signing up for our hospital tour soon as well. It's hard to believe I am as far along as I am. In the beginning it went a little slow but now I can't believe where the time has gone. So things are going well still. I'll post more after my appointment tomorrow.

23 Weeks

There is not much new to report as far as the pregnancy goes. Everything is still going good. Our baby is definitely growing as evidenced by my ever expanding belly. And she is definitely an acrobat as evidenced by her nearly continuous kicks and moves. Sometime last week I looked at my belly when she was moving and I could see her moving from the outside. Sometimes I really do wonder what she is doing in there. I can't really feel her moving a lot throughout the day because I don't really sit still much during the day since I am chasing a toddler around and doing mommy things all day. But as soon as I sit or especially when I lay down I can feel our little girl moving around. Sometimes when I get a chance I like to take a break during the day and stop so that I can feel her moving around. It's so nice to be able to be able to spend time with both of girls each day. I have fabric picked out for the nursery so now I just need to start sewing. I still need to finish decorating Raegan's room so I have a lot of projects to do. And I think we have a name chosen out but I think we are going to wait until she is born to announce it. We thought it would be nice to keep it as a surprise plus given my indecisiveness, I don't want to commit to anything yet in case I change my mind. So overall we are both doing good!

Saying "hello" to Daddy

Last night I got home from my small group where I had a conversation about how early you start to feel the baby kick and how long it would take before someone else could feel the kicks. We were talking about how it seems like someone would be able to feel it but really it's just us who is feeling it inside our "belly". I got home and I was laying in bed I could really feel the baby moving a lot. I told Josh she was really moving and so he put his hand on my belly where I told him I could feel her. He kept it there for about 30 seconds and after I felt her I asked if he felt that and he said "yeah". He pointed to where he felt the movement and sure enough that was the same place I had felt her. He was able to feel her move about 3 or 4 more times after that. It was funny that I had just had a conversation about it but I guess she is pretty active because Josh was definitely able to feel her moving or kicking or whatever she is doing in there. It was really an amazing time for both of us. I think the pregnancy is becoming more and more of a reality for us. I find it's still hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that I am pregnant. It has been such a journey for us and for about 3 years now I thought that I would never be pregnant. This process is no more special or less special than our adoption with Raegan, it is just neat to have a different experience. We are really blessed to be able to experience a growing family in so many ways.

Another Girl!

I never had a sister and growing up although I have always loved my big brothers, I still always wanted a sister. But for our family we found out yesterday that Raegan will have a sister! We had an ultrasound (19 weeks). It was a long level 2 ultrasound. They looked at every part of the baby. She wasn't being very cooperative. She kept putting her head down and curling up so it was hard for the Tech to get all of the measurements she needed. Towards the end of the ultrasound she asked if we wanted to find out the gender to which we responded yes. I was convinced it was a boy. At the 12 week ultrasound the doctor told us he thought it was a boy although it was too early to tell for sure. And all along my inclination told me it was a boy. I guess I don't have very good inclination. It was hard for the Tech to decide at first because the baby wouldn't open up her legs- being modest I guess. But she thought it looked like a girl. A little later she was able to get a better shot and sure enough she is a girl! We just kind of laughed because we always have a hard time deciding names and we had narrowed down some boy names but absolutely have no girl names picked out. So we have some work to do. We were shocked to find out that we have a second daughter on the way but we are thrilled. We are first of all just still in awe that God has chosen to bless us with another child and with a chance to experience adoption via a pregnancy. We are so excited to be on this journey. And we can't wait to meet our little girl in person. I look forward to seeing Raegan meet her new sister and see them grow up together. We are so excited to be on this journey as a family! I go for another ultrasound next week ( they need to check the stomach b/c they weren't able to check that on monday) and then I go for an appointment with the doctor next week as well. We'll keep everyone posted. And now I need to get to work on preparing for another little girl to arrive and hopefully have a name for it when she does! And we'll get some pictures up soon, I promise!

Moving and Shaking

I am now 18.5 weeks along. We had our 16 week appointment a couple of weeks ago and everything was fine. They didn't do much at that appointment except listen to the heartbeat with a Doppler and the heart beat sounded great. It seems like right after my appointment, I really popped. I have had a little baby belly for a while but right around 17 weeks I really popped. I guess that was the point where I really started "showing". Some people say I still look really small for how far along I look but I feel huge. I have never had a belly before so it was kind of shocking when my belly really started to grow outwards! I am really excited to be showing though. I have always wanted a baby belly and now I have one. I will post a picture as soon as I have Josh take one. I haven't been real into taking belly pictures and posting them but I have had a couple of requests so I will put one up soon. Everyone keeps asking me how I am feeling. I definitely feel better than I did during the first trimester. I still have some small bouts of nausea and some food aversions but overall I feel pretty good. I still have a hard time eating leftovers but it's gotten better. And today was the first day that I was really sure I felt the baby! I think I have felt the baby move before but I have also had a lot of gas bubbles lately so I wasn't sure if it was the baby or if it was something else. But today I was sitting on the couch and I could defintely tell it was baby flutters. So that's really exciting too. We have an ultrasound on monday. It's our long level 2 ultrasound where they do a lot of screening tests and where we find out if our baby is a him or a her. I am pretty sure we are having a boy but we'll find out for sure on monday! We'll keep you posted!

12 Weeks!

I am about 12.5 weeks pregnant at this point. So I am officially past my first trimester! We had our 12 week appointment and ultrasound on tuesday. The baby was moving a lot when they were doing the ultrasound which is always amazing to see. For this ultrasound they wanted to measure the skinfold on the back of the neck and look for the presence of a nasal bone. It was a screening ultrasound and the doctor said everything looked great. I am measuring a couple of days ahead but that doesn't really mean anything at this stage. I am starting to feel more like my normal self as far as my nausea, tiredness and food aversions starting to subside. Although I am feeling more and more pregnant as my clothes keep getting tighter and I have started having really, really strange dreams. I told Josh I need to keep a dream journal because I think I could probably write some sci-fi scripts with some of my dreams. I have had weird dreams before but nothing like what I have been experiencing the past week. And I still have a ways to go! But everything is going well. We are in the process of moving Raegan into her new room so that we have plenty of time to transition her to her new big girl bed before the baby comes. We do have pictures from the ultrasound but we haven't scanned them yet so once we do we'll post them.

Ultrasound Pictures

Our Little Bean at 6 weeks, 3 days

I finally figured out how to add the scanned pictures! ( Josh put them on the network and I didn't know how to get to it) The picture above is from our first ultrasound in December. And below are the pictures from our ultrasound on Tuesday. It's amazing to see how much has changed in 3 weeks. At 6 weeks you can barely see the embryo but at 9 weeks you can actually see the baby's arms and face ( especially in the 3D images).

Baby at 9 weeks, 3 days

9 Week Appointment

Today I went to my regular OB/Gyn for my 9 week appointment. This was my first appointment with my regular doctor. I took Raegan along with me and she was really excited when Daddy walked into the waiting room. Josh came from work and met us there so that he could be there for the ultrasound and to watch Raegan. They took me back right away and set me up for the ultrasound. The ultrasound was really amazing this time. The baby looked so much different from just 3 weeks ago. It actually looks like a baby! We could see it moving and the doctor did a 3 D ultrasound for us and you could see it's little face with it's hands up to it. It was a really cool experience. It was neat to have Raegan there with us too. I am sure she is too young to really understand what's going on but it was neat to have her there. We pointed to the screen and asked her if she could see the baby and she said "yeah!". But then later we asked her where the baby was and she pointed to the wall of baby pictures that was hanging in the office. She must have been wondering, "why do mommy and daddy think that there is baby on that screen? they are obviously on the wall". We got to hear the heartbeat again which was beating very strong at 185 bpm. The doctor said everything looked great. We met with him after the ultrasound and we discussed when future appointments would be, what hospital I would deliver at, etc. It's all starting to feel very "real" now. So it was a really good appointment. I have my next appointment and ultrasound scheduled for Jan 26th. They printed out some pictures but Josh put them in his planner for safe keeping so I will post them sometime after he gets home from work and scans them. I still need to post the 6 week ultrasound as well.