Pregnancy Update- July 17, 2012

Look at that sweet little thing. This was taken a week ago on our sonogram appointment. Everything looked great! We could see and hear his or her little heart beating. The heart rate was 164, nice and strong!  Our official due date is Feb 20th, 2013. I had already figured that out and the baby measured exactly at what I had figured! I had some anxiety leading up to this appointment, for obvious reasons, but in reality I was much calmer than I expected. God has just been so good to me in helping me stay calm. I am so thankful for that. I'm ready to be out of the 1st trimester though! For more reasons than one! :)

I'm already thinking about delivery. As many of you know my last two deliveries were c-sections. And you know that I tried with Eli to have him. That is called attempting a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean). Well, I've been contemplating trying the same. I have been praying about it for some time and even prayed that if it were a possibility that my hubby would bring it up. And you know what? He did! I almost started crying! We had talked the past year about just going ahead with a 3rd c-section whenever I got pregnant and not dealing with trying again. For him to bring it up out of the blue was truly an answered prayer. But it's not that easy. Most doctors will not let you try for a VBAC after one c-section much less two. It is a 'higher risk' situation although the risks are not greater than any other surgery (umm.. like a cesarean). The risk is that there could be uterine rupture and that would require immediate emergency care. Chance of uterine rupture is very low, something like 0.9%. The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists updated their guidelines which states that women who've had up to two cesareans- including those having twins-  can attempt a vaginal delivery, as long as the prior incision was low and horizontal (mine both were). Round-the clock access to emergency care is required to try a VBAC, as well. So, what am I saying? I ask you to pray for me. Pray for this decision. I honestly don't want to try and fail again. It's such a depressing thing to go through. I know I can't be guaranteed that it will work but I want to have the guarantee that it's the right choice for me. The hardest thing is going to be convincing my doctor and if I can do that, I'll be more confident that this is the right direction. So pray for clarity and pray for my doctor. I haven't brought it up to him yet and I am scared! He's already mentioned repeat c/section and pregnancy prevention since this will be my 3rd c/s. That makes me sad because what if I want more kids?! If I could successfully have a VBAC, I could for sure have more children and my doctor would be more confident of that as well.

How am I feeling? Yucky. All food sounds gross but I get super hungry and have to eat! I'm having a hard time drinking my water. Ew, it's so gross! I am exhausted. The afternoons are the worst. I pretty much lay around and do nothing. My motto right now is if we have clean clothes (even if they are piled on the love seat), clean dishes and food, we will survive! I'm praying that this will all end soon. With Eli, it started easing up around 11 weeks. I'll be 9 weeks tomorrow! :)


I give thanks for the blessings granted to me through the prayers of many (2 Corinthians 1:11)! Thank you!

Pregnancy Update 7/3/12

I decided, for various reasons, that it was time for a new doctor. I actually had planned to see a new one before becoming pregnant but being pregnant kind of makes you speed up that process! I had prayed about the decision and asked around and had in mind who I wanted to see. Well, I was not disappointed. My new Dr was very gracious and comforting. I just appreciated the care I was given and the way it was given. I was not anxious at all! In fact, I was quite calm about the entire process! My blood pressure was actually the lowest it's been in a long time while at the Dr's office! I suffer from 'white coat syndrom' and typically my blood pressure spikes when at the doctor! I can assure you that is only a God thing. He is so good.

So, I had my first appointment a week and a half ago. As I mentioned, it went great. I am in fact 'officially' pregnant (if the 3 positive home pregnancy tests weren't enough). I am taking extra folic acid as a precaution and they also checked my progesterone levels because of my last miscarriage. I found out last week that my levels were great! My next appointment is this coming Friday and that is when I will have my first sonogram. Pray for me friends! I will be 7 weeks and 2 days, which is exactly the same gestation that I found out that I had miscarried.

It's always fun to take my hubby to the doctors. If you know him, you know that he loves to joke around. Dr. D was asking me a few questions and he asked what I did for a living. When I told him that I stayed home with my kids, he said, "Oh, well you must have you a man that makes big bucks!" As soon as he said that, the Hubs looked over at me and said, "You do?" Haha! He's so funny! I really love him.

So, how am I feeling? Well, I feel pretty good when I first get up. After I eat though, it just goes downhill from there. It progresses from just a funny feeling in my mouth to nausea by the end of the day. Those are the moments when I try not to think that I may have several more weeks left of this. The only time I feel good is when I'm actually, literally eating. I am eating well though, no sweets during the week especially! And so far, I'm still walking 2 miles a day! I hope I can keep it up as long as I still feel okay in the mornings.

Thanks in advance to those of you who are praying and will be praying for Friday! I am nervous and excited all at the same time!

 

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!

Psalm 118:1

Luke turns SIX!

Look at that sweet little face! 

Can you even believe this little guy is SIX! Me either! Look at the handsome little boy he's turning into!

We celebrated twice because that's how we do it! Since his birthday was on a Tuesday we had cake and he got to open presents from us and his grandparents. Everybody should get to celebrate on the actual day, right? Then we celebrated with more family and friends on Saturday for his party. We decided to do something different this year and asked all of our guests on Saturday to not bring a gift.  Luke was a little upset at first but accepted it. We are trying to curb the little materialist we have on our hands. We want him to learn to value people more than things! And do you know what? He had a GREAT day! He didn't once mention presents! He really enjoyed the most valuable, tangible thing we have, our friends and family! Here are a few photos from that day:

 

Luke having fun squirting a friend at the party!

Getting ready to blow out his #6 candle on his Millennium Falcon cake! 

This was actually after the party. The boys just played and played all day long!

And this next picture needs a little more explanation. After the party the whole family went to some friends of ours 5K fundraiser run for their adoption. The Hubs ran and did great. I helped out by pointing! Haha! The boys hung out and played with all of the kids. After the race Luke was upset that he didn't get to run in the 1 mile fun run, so he, Eli and a few others had their own race around the church. Well, Luke tripped on something and hit the cement! It scared me so bad! It turned out he was fine (took a little trip to the ER because neither of us saw him hit the ground and he had a pretty nasty knot on his forehead) but he was pretty scraped up. His face already looks so much better! I took this the next day before church.

My sweet boys face!



It's healing so well though....

This was taken yesterday, a little over a week after the accident! 

Happy, Happy Birthday my little guy! What an amazing little boy you are!

Here we go!

My friends, the rumors are true! I am pregnant with a sweet little person! It's still very early, only about 4 1/2 weeks. I wanted to share some of my thoughts on why we've told everyone so soon, being pregnant after a miscarriage, ect. So, here goes.

Yes, I took all these tests! It was a 3 pack, so might as well take them all! 

First of all, I am extremely excited! A new baby? Yes, please! When the Hubs and I found out last week we were both sort of in shock. It's been a year and a half since my miscarriage and a little over a year since we started trying again. So, after 13 months of not getting pregnant, a positive test was a little different! Great news, but out of the ordinary! I knew that I could have children and in the past it had been so easy to conceive. That lead me to believe that God just wanted us to wait. I'm still not sure why, but He knows and that is good enough for me! He is always faithful. So, many people who
have had miscarriages wait to tell the masses of their little blessing and that is perfectly okay! In fact, the Hubs and I had conversations and prayers over what to do. Who do we tell? When? What about the boys? Well, of course we were going to tell our parents, but what about the rest? I knew of a few select people that I definitely wanted to know because I coveted their prayers. I have friends who I could call at any time of the day or night with a prayer request and they would drop everything they were doing to pray for me. Oh, how thankful I am for them! But as we talked it through, my wonderful man said, "Crystal, let's just trust God." Yes, trust Him. So we are. We want our boys to hear our prayers and to see our trust. We want our boys to know that we aren't afraid of what might happen, whether it does or not, but that ultimately it's in God's hands and we trust Him to the fullest.  I think of Ann Voskamp and how she often speaks of living with an open hand, not a closed fist. Take what He gives, for He is always good. That's not always easy, but it's how I want to live.

"Open-handed living is the only way to take God's hand." ~ Ann Voskamp.

"For I am the Lord who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you." Isaiah 41:13

That doesn't mean that fear doesn't want to creep up. It does. So, pray for me. I am so grateful for those who I know are already lifting me and this sweet baby up. That is really the only other reason we wanted to go ahead and tell everyone, especially our church family. We want their prayers! And we know they pray! I am confident they will pray for us during this pregnancy and I am confident that if something were to happen, they would be there to pray and encourage us as well. We need our church family and I would do the same for each one of them. We really are so blessed!

I do want to say a special thank you to those of you who have prayed for me during this past year. Many of you have been so sweet to lift us up and help us pray for a baby. You've encouraged me so much! Please keep the prayers coming!

 I love the LORD, because he has heard
  my voice and my pleas for mercy.
 Because he inclined his ear to me,
  therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
Psalm 116:1-2

Linking up with Women Living Well Wednesdays and The Better Mom!