11 Weeks and 4 Days

I had the longest OB appointment ever.....and had the opportunity to pray for two different ladies while I was there!  Got to the office at 8:25am.  Saw the insurance lady at 8:30am, then the OB nurse who went over all the things not to eat, do or think about when you are pregnant...then had blood drawn, and then it was about 9:45am.  At that point I waited over an hour just to see the doctor, but while I was waiting, I overheard another patient greet a nurse and ask how the "babies" were doing (she was apparently pregnant with twins).  She responded that her water had broken at 22 weeks and she had lost one of the babies.  Oh how my heart broke for her.  I just prayed for her silently in my heart, because the nurse said she was so sorry, but "at least she still had one baby left".... yeah, that doesn't take away the pain of losing the first baby.  The patient handled it graciously, and I never saw her again....she was taken back for her appointment. 

So finally I get in to see the doctor and he explains that he had an ectopic pregnancy first thing in the morning, and that set him back at least 30 minutes, so everything was running late.  My second person to pray for!  I instantly remembered when they told me about my ectopic pregnancy; my very first pregnancy loss...and how numbing it was to think that I had a perfectly fine baby, growing in the wrong spot, that they would have to remove.  I felt so bad for the mother-to-be who lost her baby this morning. :( 

After my checkup I had opted to do all the diagnostic testing which includes blood work and ultrasound- nothing invasive.  Prior to Mary Grace I had never performed any of these tests with the mindset that "I wouldn't abort if something was wrong with my baby".....of course that statement is still true today, but now the difference is...that I want to know if something is wrong with my baby, if I need to start preparing for life with or without a baby that may have special needs.

So by the time that everything was done, it was 12:15pm!  I wish I had brought a snack!  I was starving.  The great news is that baby is measuring a day ahead (11wks 5days)!  The ultrasound looking at the nuchal fold was within normal range, and baby was alive and moving all around!  Heartbeat of 161!  Thank you God for a squirming, live baby on the screen!!!  I had of course prepared myself for the fact that things may not go well at this appointment.....just due to past experience.  So it's such a big relief (and almost a shock!) when things go right!

Thank you Jesus!

I'm back....with news!

To begin, I have to apologize for my unexplained absence over the last month and a half...wait, 2 months???  Is that right?  Ugh....I'm sorry.  Life has been....to say the least....in transition.  The kids and I are back with Rob, but we are not yet in our own house.  My mother-in-law has been gracious enough to let us rent from her until we get the right house.  We have started the homeschooling year and gotten back into the routine of co-ops and field trips....

And on top of all that....the news!!!

I'm 10 1/2 weeks pregnant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow...yeah, we were trying but I was not expecting God to bless us so soon, with my past history!  So we were kind of blown away and are VERY excited and grateful. 

Nausea set in at 5 weeks and I was pretty miserable until my first appointment at 9 weeks when my OB gave me zofran by day and something else for night.  We were both surprised that I had lost 7lbs in those first 9 weeks.  I had only thrown up a handful of times but it was really the nausea that kept me from wanting to eat or drink- anything!  Now that I'm on meds, things are much more manageable and I can eat again!  Not alot at one time, but it's a big improvement over not wanting to eat a thing.

Baby was moving during my ultrasound and we saw the heart beating away.  It is only one little bean in there (I was pretty convinced that I must be having two with the kind of nausea I was having), and baby was in the right place, measured right on track, and there were no cysts or anything unusual around my ovaries this time!  Unbelieveable!  Maybe this will really be a problem-free pregnancy!  I can hope and pray!

So 10 1/2 weeks gives me a due date of April 11th.  This must be God's sense of humor, because Isabel's birthday is April 27th and Ian's is April 5th.  Maybe we just make April babies?  Anyway, I'm getting too far ahead of myself....I am trying to take it day by day and be thankful for each day I have with this growing little babe...because I know how quickly things can change.  My heart has really been torn for the blogger friends who have recently lost babies, and my prayers are with you for God's healing.  Also heavy on my heart have been some special bloggers and friends still struggling with infertility.  My prayers are for you as well! 

I will try to be better about updating!  Sadly, I haven't been reading blogs very much either these last two months.  Trying to get things balanced while we are trying to find a home ;)