Bump to Birth: The Back Story

I knew I wanted to blog about our journey with infertility and I wanted to serve as a source of hope for those who continue to struggle with its life altering effects. I wish I had been blogging in the years leading up to the conception and birth of our daughter, but alas, my blog began when she was born and I decided to fill some of my maternity leave with documenting memories for our family and friends. Since then, I've been sharing my thoughts and life events.

Many assumed that because we (finally) were able to conceive our daughter that we'd have no problem trying to get pregnant again. A lot people may still not be aware of all that we went through to conceive our precious gem. We unfortunately, and fortunately, had the same issues and challenges in trying to conceive Baby #2. You can read about our struggle here and my thoughts on various infertility hurdles here.

When we began TTC our next child, we chose a life verse to pray while we waited and throughout the remainder of our child's life. We chose a life verse for our daughter and I was led to another verse to pray for this child. Job 5:9 became my prayer as we eagerly awaited the Lord to fulfill our dreams of adding to our family. Little did we know that this verse would completely encompass everything regarding this baby. I look forward to sharing more about that with you in the days to come.


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We began this second journey knowing that my lack of ovulation, lengthy cycles and skewed hormone levels would once again pose problems. We tried for a bit on our own but in tracking my cycles, it was evident that the issues were still prevalent. I began Metformin to help level things out (no, I don't have diabetes). We were hopeful that it would help achieve enough balance that I could conceive without anything further.

Months went by with no success or cycle regulation. I was put on Clomid to help me ovulate.  After several cycles of no success (and did I mention I had already lost about 20lbs to help move things along?) we were told we had one more round and, if not successful,  we'd have to try a more invasive approach. My hubby and I had long prayed about what we should do and we felt that adoption would be our next step.  We weren't comfortable with any further treatments, nor could we afford most of them since all things infertility are not covered by insurance.

October was a crazy month.  We had a lot riding on this round of meds. Of course, on the day I got my positive ovulation test I also came down with a random YI. I just knew we were out. My pH levels were out of whack and his swimmers didn't stand a chance. There was also no clear thermal shift on my chart to indicate ovulation had even occurred. I allowed myself to be sad and then moved on.

I had been feeling off and slightly nauseous the week of October 27th. I knew we were out but I had a couple of cheap test strips and thought I'd use one for kicks. On the 30th I tested and there was a VERY faint line. It was so faint that I thought I was probably just seeing things. The next day I woke up hopeful for some reason and picked up a pregnancy test on my way to work. When I got there I tested.  I could not believe my eyes! Science would say this was a very unlikely situation...but my God is bigger than any of this and He made it possible.

So, it is with great joy that I say we are currently expecting our newest miracle in July and I'll be using my Bump to Birth posts to document the milestones and memories of this pregnancy. With that being said, if you are dealing with infertility and such updates are difficult for you (because I totally understand that exact thing) please feel free to bypass posts under this heading.

I'll soon be catching up on our progress thus far. Until then, I leave you with this thought...

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Linking Up

My Five...

So you will see one theme throughout today's 5...announcing our pregnancy!

[Daddy]

G and I wanted to surprise Daddy since our BFP came on a day he was on shift at the fire station. I took a picture of G and put it at the end of some pictures from her trick-or-treating the night before. When we met up with my hubby the next morning, I had him look through the pictures...and this is what he saw at the end!

[My Mom]

Mom flew in from Georgia for Christmas. We wanted to wait until Christmas Day to surprise her but due to some circumstances that I'll share about later, we had to tell her when she came in.

[His Parents/Family]

On Christmas Day we had G hand them a handmade card. We had turned her hand print into a Christmas tree that she decorated. I drew some presents underneath. On the outside of the card it said, "The best gift under the tree..." (outside), "is the sweet little baby God made just for me!" (inside). We included a picture of our first ultrasound.

[Facebook]

Of course there was a Facebook announcement...thanks to my daughter for all of her help.

[The Blog]

Here is the post I used to announce our pregnancy to the blog world.


Linking up with The Farmer's Wife for Oh Hey Friday! and Carolina Charm for Five on Friday.

Big Things are Happening 'Round Here

Eph. 3:20

A few months ago we found ourselves in the midst of mixed emotions. Last September we closed on our land, which will one day become the building site of our forever home. Long before the land came through, we had begun trying to grow our family without success. We knew the obstacles we were up against in both situations.

My husband had set some specific parameters for our land purchase. It had to be at least the amount of acreage that we have now, it had to be close to his volunteer fire department, within our budget, must include a mountain view and must be within our current vicinity since our jobs have us driving in opposite directions. I know, I know. That's quite a list.

Through a sequence of events, we became privy to some information about a beautiful piece of property...that believe it or not, included ALL of my husband's "requirements". When God is involved (because He most certainly was) amazing things happen. This is just one special example of how God truly hears and answers our prayers. We made our move on the land and everything fell into place. Before we knew it we were signing our name on the (hundreds of) dotted lines.

While we were going through this process, we were still battling my infertility. I had people telling me that maybe we weren't supposed to have another baby right now and that we should just focus on selling our house and preparing the land. Yeah...that stung a little...oh ye of little faith.

I remember even saying in my prayers, why can't we have it all? Why can't we work on our dream home plans and add to our family? True, the situation may not be ideal but we both felt that the time was right and that we could have it all if the Lord allowed. He had already answered so many prayers. We truly believed He would answer this one.

I admit, it was not easy to keep the optimism. Month after month, meds and blood work, our dreams of another child were dashed. There were even a couple of months where my chart looked perfect and the timing of everything had been just right...I was certain we had been successful...but no.

Come October we had already met with our doctor several times to discuss various options. We knew what we were comfortable with and our hearts were getting heavy as we reached the end of our treatment. I had one more round available before we were done. No more treatment. No more blood work. We'd be moving on. We had decided that if this last round was unsuccessful, we'd focus solely on our house and then revisit our adoption paperwork. I was okay at that point. We had a plan.

October was a crazy busy month and I felt like we had so much riding on this last round. I was pumped to see that I had gotten a positive ovulation test. Game on! And then I came down with an infection. Knowing how delicate the whole situation of becoming pregnant really is, I had resigned myself to the fact that we were out this month.

On October 31st I was reminded that my God defines and defies the odds. If you look at my chart, it does not appear that I ever ovulated. Between that and my illness, science would say I should not be announcing the news that I am about to share...

WE ARE PREGNANT! Our precious miracle is due in July and we are over the moon!

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So yes, you can have it all. Your dreams can come true. For those of you battling infertility...don't lose heart. Big things can happen. At this point we're working on our house in preparation for sale. We plan to put it on the market in March (or sooner). All of this will take place while we also prepare to welcome our precious babe in July.

I look forward to sharing how we announced our news and what has been going since our BFP.

12 Books of Christmas: 2014 Selections

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It's hard to believe that Christmas is over and a new year has begun! This year holds so much promise but before we jump in, I'm still taking time to reflect on some of my favorite moments from Christmas and the things that have shaped and grown us over this past year. One of the things that I've been missing already are the traditions that happen in our home at Christmas.

The 12 Books of Christmas is one of my favorite traditions. Last year was fun, but this year was a blast. Everyday G asked for her book and could not wait to sit, open and read. These are such treasured moments. You can check out the list of books she received last year...The List.

Here are the books she opened this year...

1. If You Give a Dog a Donut
2. Little Owl's Night
3.The Little Christmas Elf
4. Giggle, Giggle, Quack
5. Charlie Goes to School
6. Bear Says Thanks
7. Busiest Firefighters Ever!
8. Just Me and My Dad
9. Someday*
10. Minerva Louise
11. You Will Be My Friend!
12. Room for a Little One

*My personal favorite from this year...

I'll soon be on the hunt for new titles as I purchase books for next Christmas throughout the year. What book titles would you suggest?

Linking Up with Annie from Home of Malones

Christmas Memories: Homemade Sugar Cookies

I was so blessed to have my mom come up for Christmas. I love seeing her interact with G. I hate that our time together is so short and that the distance between us is so far...I have dreams for it to change some day. So until that day, we soak up every second and make as many memories as we can.

One of my favorite memories from childhood was making Christmas sugar cookies with my mom. She has used the same recipe forever and it always tastes the same. It is the essence of my childhood Christmases. To my delight, my mom chose to keep the tradition going with her granddaughter.

She even brought matching aprons! Isn't that the cutest thing?!

She and G enjoyed themselves thoroughly. Granna taught G how to roll out the dough and use the cookie cutters.

We opted out of the frosting this year and just decorated the cookies prior to baking. What fun!

Homemade Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

2/3 c shortening

1 1/2 c sugar

2/3 c butter (10tbsp)

2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

8 tsp milk

4 c flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

Cream together shortening, butter and sugar. Add the vanilla and eggs, add flour, baking powder and salt. Add the milk. Mix well and chill for several hours (or overnight).

Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

Flour your work surface. Roll out the dough and cut with cookie cutters. Bake until the cookies are very lightly browned (10-12 minutes). Cool, frost and decorate.

Linking up with Green Fashionista

Christmas Pajamas!

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I love pajamas and there always seems to be something extra special about Christmas pajamas.  Growing up, until high school...maybe college...mom gifted us new pajamas on Christmas Eve.

My best friend has taken on this tradition for our daughter.  She is after all an awesome honorary aunt. While I have no pictures of this year's Christmas pajamas from Aunt Lala (still waiting for Christmas Eve), I do have a few pictures of our darling in Christmas pajamas at a recent Christmas pajama party. So fun!

An Act of Kindness

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December 19th will be marked as one of our most difficult days to date.  I'm not at a point of sharing the "why" yet and with the joy I have in my heart from some of the events of today, I can't focus on those other things right now anyway. (I know you're curious and one day I'm sure I'll share...)

As for those good things...my hubby and I got to spend some much needed quality time together. After a long morning we opted to grab lunch at IHOP. Who doesn't love pancakes?! Side note: The Caramel Bon Bon pancakes are amazing! And no, I was not compensated to say that.

We enjoyed a yummy lunch and then gathered our things to leave. While waiting in line to pay, I stepped to the side, leaving more room for other customers since my hubby was going to pay. I saw a lady begin talking to him. I heard her ask if he worked for the fire department (he had on one of his firefighter hats.) He shared with her his career and volunteer firefighter positions. I saw her hug him and then thank him for what he does. I then saw my husband shaking his head, telling the lady no about something and then he eventually walked over to me...she insisted on paying for our meal! This precious,  blessed soul paid for our meal without any hesitation.  She told him that at one point this deed had been done for her and she wanted to pass the kindness along and that she wanted to do something to thank him for his service.

I cried.

I wanted to run and hug her and thank her for her act of unexpected kindness. This might have freaked her out so...

Instead I prayed prayers of blessings over this sweet woman and her family. My hubby and I are still humbled and can't wait to pass this bit of joy along.

How can you spread a little more kindness in the days to come?

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