Sarah feeling her kick

Can you believe I'm actually updating more than once in a week! I can't either. I really want to update more, I just get tied up with a million other things or I get tired. BLAH!

On June 12th around 10 PM we were laying in bed like we do every night watching TV and I was doing my normal news watching when Harper started kicking. She is a funny little girl. She has her "kicking" fests which occur during the morning and late, late evening. If this is anything like she will be outside the womb then we are in big trouble at night time LOL! Anyways, I told Sarah that she was kicking and kicking hard nonetheless. So like we have done many other nights Sarah put her hand on my bare belly in hopes that she would feel her kick. Keep in mind im 28 weeks weeks and we were starting to get sad that she could still not feel her kick. I laid there with my belly ready and she kicked and kicked some more and finally that moment when Sarah felt her kick brough tears to both of our eyes. It was the most amazing feeling for both of us. We could now know what it felt like for the two of us to feel her kick. Something so little that just flooded our hearts with joy. So since then every time she kick Sarah runs to my belly and tries and feel her and without a doubt she is finally getting used to us and our hands around her. This was one of those moments where you stop and look around you and know that EVERY struggle you went through to get to that point was so worth it. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

28 Weeks

I honestly don't know where time has gone. Everyone keeps telling me is slows down and then it feels like it takes forever for the baby to come but to the two of us we feel like time is flying right past us and finding time to breathe is becoming a challenge. Tomorrow we are 28 weeks! Which means we have less than 12 weeks or 85 days to go. However you look at it its going by super fast. I never thought in a million years we would be sitting here getting ready to meet our miracle our little baby girl. I can't wait for the day for her eyes to meet both of our eyes and tears to run down my eyes. Tears of joy. Tears of long awaited love. 

Pregnancy has been going great. Nothing to much to complain or mope about. If every pregnancy was like this then I would be pregnant all the time! It's been such a walk in the park *knock on wood*. I better be careful with my choice of words because maybe next post I will be posting about how miserable I am, LOL! I haven't weighed myself in two weeks. I know for sure I have gained something because baby is growing and so is my belly. It's like overnight my belly just appeared. For a while I didn't feel "pregnant" and now I'm fitting more and more into maternity clothes and I can see my belly pop out! The most awesome thing to see on a daily basis. Before I used to hate looking in the mirror now I love it and just stare at my ever growing belly. Makes me smile. 

So what would a girl with an easy pregnancy have to complain about? Really, nothing. The only thing I am finding more difficult is keeping my bladder normal. I have to pee all the dang time other than that and mild pressure on my lower belly everything is peachy. Thankfully there has been zero swelling with my feet or ankles. For sure I thought the other day when our temperature hit 105 I would be seeing my feet swell and thankfully nothing. Phew!

So what has happened in the past couple of weeks?! Well, we celebrated 9 years of being together and being in love. I still can't believe I have been in love with my other half for nine years. She is my better half and I truly understand what people mean when they say you couldn't live without them. I could never live without her. She completes me. Her daily smile and laugh still tickle me, and it will never, ever get old.

I also celebrated my birthday. Years before if you asked me how I felt about getting older I would have been sad and terrified and this year I was just happy. Age is just a number. Before, in the previous years I was scared because it seemed as thought birthdays reminded me that we were one more year without being pregnant and our chances of fertility had lowered. This year we celebrated the fact that I was given another year to live and celebrate life. 

In upcoming news our baby shower is next Saturday. Can't wait! Everything is just getting real!

Oh and how could I forget....tomorrow I have my dang gestational diabetes test. Now this is not my first time. My doctor had me have one at 16 weeks and I passed no problem....this time I am a tad scared I won't pass it. I have just been to good of friends with sweets. I hope and pray all goes well. I just want our baby girl to be okay. We also have a doctor appointment! Can't wait to see how all is going.

Well I leave you with pictures of the last two weeks!

My birthday celebration!

 27 weeks, 4 days bump!

 27 weeks, 4 days bump! Out shopping!

Bows made for Harper from a friend

 More bows 

 Baby shower gifts are starting to arrive for Harper!

 

How far along? 28 weeks

How big is baby? Cauliflower

Total weight gain/loss: Not sure, LOL! I will find out tomorrow!

Maternity Clothes: Maternity shirts/maternity pants

Have you started to show yet? Yes! Finally!!

Sleep: Better

Best moment this week: Feeling Harper kick more and more. Her kicks are getting stronger!!

Miss Anything? Hot dogs

Movement: Movement each and every day!

Food Cravings: Sweets

Anything make you queasy or sick? Not right now

Gender prediction: We already know its a GIRL!

Symptoms: Short fused 

Major purchases this week? baby shower items

Looking forward to: Seeing her on 4D soon!

Meeting with the Attorney

This past Friday we met with an LGBT attorney in San Francisco to go over the adoption process for my wife Sarah after the baby is born. It is very unfair that we have to go through something like this but we do. We live in California and have a registered domestic partnership which we have had since 2009. Since living in California with this domestic partnership Sarah will have all parental rights no problems, its all the other states outside of California that do not protect her unless they offer domestic partnership as well. We do not want anything to ever happen and I want Sarah to have these rights that everyone in the world should have.

We were super excited and nervous at the same time but there we were in the city holding hands on our way to the 14th floor to meet the attorney. She was soooo nice and for the entire hour she told us the in's and out's of each adoption and we asked our questions from our list we had written out together. After much talk and going through every scenario we decided on the type of adoption that best fit our needs and family and decided that she would be the attorney we would work with. She has over 20 plus years of experience with LGBT families and more important 10 years of LGBT adoption. We are very relieved that everything will be done with her and we won't have to worry about a thing except turning in the paperwork! Unfortunately, we can't start the full on process until after Harper is born but we felt a huge sense of relief that we are going in the right direction!

Baby Harper is doing great. She keeps moving more and more and her kicks are becoming more and more stronger. The other day we started playing music to my belly. She was having fun and kicking. It was the cutest thing ever!

Other than that life is going really well and things are going fast. We have officially 101 days until she shows up in our lives. We can't wait and as each day goes by we feel more and more blessed to be where we are at.

How far along? 25 weeks & 4 days

How big is baby? Eggplant still!

Total weight gain/loss: three pounds

Maternity Clothes: Maternity shirts/maternity pants

Have you started to show yet? a little pooch

Sleep: Better

Best moment this week: Still feeling her kick

Miss Anything? Hot dogs

Movement: Movement each and every day!

Food Cravings: Donuts

Anything make you queasy or sick? Not right now

Gender prediction: We already know its a GIRL!

Symptoms: Short fused 

Major purchases this week? baby shower items

Looking forward to: Feeling her kick more and more often

Milestones-Hitting 24 Weeks!

Ever since we got pregnant we knew there would be many humps (milestones) to get over throughout the pregancy. At first it seemed as though days took forever and weeks took years and little by little we got over one hump and we were then able to breathe a huge sigh of relief. It seemed as though it was one hump after another and everytime we went to a doctor's appointment we were a bunch of nerves and then another sigh of relief.

Last Thursday, we hit one of the biggest humps we have been wanting to get over since the day we found out we were pregnant. 24 weeks. Many don't know what 24 weeks means and many do not celebrate this huge milestone. The 24th week of pregnancy usually marks the start of the age of vitality; the first time the fetus could potentially survive outside the uterus. This was huge for both of us! We know that if anything god for bid was to happen and our baby would have to be delievered there is a chance she could survive outside the womb. However, she better keep baking for a long, long time until she is fully ready to come! Last Thursday, like every other morning I woke up and reached for my phone to shut my alarm off and quickly I had remebered today was a very special day for both of us. We were both so happy to have gotten this far in the pregnancy and we celebrated that entire day.

While we were at dinner we were talking about all our milestones that we have overcome and we came up with a list...

1. Getting a positive pregnancy test
2. Seeing a sac on the ultrasound
3. Seeing a heartbeat
4. Hearing a heartbeat
5. Growth between the 6th & 8th week
6. Making it past the 12th week where miscarriage rates lower by half
7. Making it past the first trimester
8. Making sure all Trisomy and Down syndrome tests are clear and normal
9. Nuchal scan being normal and clear
10. Passing my first glucose test
11. Anatomy scan being normal and clear
12. Reaching vitality-24 weeks!

As time goes on with the pregnancy we will keep writing stuff down of our milestones that we reach. Such a beautiful thing to see written down.

This year Mother's day was such a wonderful day for us. I remember so much the past years crying and wishing we would be able to be given the chance of being mothers. Finally our time has come and we celebrated Mother's day as I had always expected in my dreams. We got each other gifts and we surprised each other with posts on each others Facebook. I swear I fall more and more in love with Sarah each and every day that goes by. 

How far along? 24 weeks & 4 days

How big is baby? Eggplant

Total weight gain/loss: Two pound=p

Maternity Clothes: Maternity shirts

Have you started to show yet? a little pooch

Sleep: Better

Best moment this week: Feeling her kick like crazy this past week

Miss Anything? Hot dogs

Movement: Movement each and every day!

Food Cravings: Nothing

Anything make you queasy or sick? Not right now

Gender prediction: We already know its a GIRL!

Symptoms: Irratable 

Major purchases this week? Closet organization

Looking forward to: Feeling her kick more and more often

Last but not least I leave you with a picture of our beautiful baby girl. She already is wrapped around our fingers! We love her SO much!

Feeling Harper Kick

From the moment we found out we were pregnant it felt surreal. As the weeks flew by I knew we were for real pregnant. Ultrasounds showed beautiful sights of our bouncing baby girl. She grew and grew but I still didn't feel pregnant. It might have been the lack of symtoms or the lack of baby bump but deep down inside my heart I knew she was there. I kept telling Sarah I would feel "pregnant" when I felt her kick because its her way of saying "Im really here mommies"! The past couple of weeks I was looking for signs of the so called first kicks. I couldn't really figure if it was a real kick or just my imagination. Sarah kept asking me everyday if I had felt her kick. My response was the same..."not yet". I was sad because so many other women around me had started feeling their first kicks....then I started to panic. Is everything okay with Harper?! Why is she not moving but again I was reassured at all her appointments that she was just fine. She was a bouncing baby girl full of energy. Maybe, she's already giving us a run for our money!

Then a couple days ago I felt this weird feeling in my stomach. Like a gas like bubble feeling. At first my instinct was my lunch didn't quite sit right so I kept going with my day. Then it happened again that evening. I told Sarah and we both got excited and before you knew it I felt no more. Then the next day again like clock work I felt this little flutter. I then knew it was no longer my lunch from the other day but rather a little tiny human in my belly named Harper. I couldn't help but smile and giggle of excitement. I looked down at my belly and said "I love you".

The past couple of days it has been happening more and more throughout the day. No specific time of day but I feel it. Its such a beautiful reassurment that she is there and that she is all right. Not sure what she is doing excatly...maybe baby aerobics, dancing or practicing on her basketball moves as my wife would say but she is there moving in my belly. The best feeling in the entire world. It's almost like a little kick to say get ready mommies because soon I will be kicking for your attention.

Sarah asks me over and over to explain to her what it feels like and the best explanation I could give her was it felt like my intestines were coming out. Now that I think about it that was NOT the best or clearest answer! I now know what people mean when they say it feels like a gas like bubble. It does! I can't wait for her to grow and get bigger so then I can really feel her and while I may be singing a different tune when she really kicks me for now it makes us both happy!

22 weeks & 2 days!

It seems as though ever since we became pregnant time has slipped right through and we find ourselves always on the go! Its amazing what your priorities change to once you are pregnant and you know a baby is well on the way. You want to make sure you are prepared and that means prepared with everything. Our weekends have continued to be organizing and getting the house ready for baby Harper.  We have been cleaning the outside and garage and just organizing and organizing every nook and cranny in this house.

Recently we got a package in the mail from a very close friend. She got us our bedding from Potter Barn for Harper!! We were beyond thrilled to see her bedding here as a pre-baby shower gift. It also shows us how much love we have from both family and friends. We have been blessed with such great people to surround us. We can't even explain how much we have received in little gifts for our baby since we announced we were pregnant. We can't wait to share the love of Harper with them just like they have showed their love with us.

On Monday, April 29th we finally had our anatomy scan. The doctor's office we booked with at 12 weeks was completely booked with appointments and the only opening they had was at 21 weeks! Most  usually have it as early as 18 weeks but nonetheless time went by super quick and before you knew it there we were waiting for our scan to start. As I was laying on the table with my belly bare as can be I got this nervous feeling throughout my body. I was scared the scan would not go okay and we would hear a bad report from the doctor. I left my worries with God and I knew that everything would be okay. The appointment was an hour long and it was the best hour scan ever! We were SOOOOOO happy to be able to see our little baby girl even if it was for measuring. The tech was super nice this time! Finally the doctor came in and did his scan and looked over everything and said everything was "perfect"! Best word I had heard in the longest time. There is absolutely nothing more in the world than nothing everything is clear and we are free to go and our worries are out the door. We got some beautiful sonogram pictures on disc and even another gender scan even though we already know shes a baby girl. 

Sarah took my 20 week photo mark and even though my belly bump is still small for almost 6 months I know when I can barely move or walk I will be singing a different tune! At my last doctors appointment my total weight gain for this pregnancy so far....drum roll please.......1 whoppin pound! WOWZERS! There is NO complaining here and even though I have only gained 1 pound my stomach is stretching out  I can notice this in my pants and shirts. The tech said my uterus has only stretched out 10% so if this is true I sure do have a long ways to go before we start to really see a baby bump!

Hope all is well with everyone and sending lots of baby dust from California!!

How far along? 22 weeks & 2 days

How big is baby? Papaya

Total weight gain/loss: One pound!

Maternity Clothes: Maternity shirts

Have you started to show yet? a little pooch

Sleep: Better

Best moment this week: Knowing there is a little baby in my belly that will soon be apart of our family so soon!

Miss Anything? Sandwiches

Movement: Very tiny movements :)

Food Cravings: Nothing

Anything make you queasy or sick? Not right now

Gender prediction: We already know its a GIRL!

Symptoms: Nada!

Major purchases this week? Decor for her room

Looking forward to: Vitality

Update Palooza!

Wow...It has been some time since our last update. As you can see I have been forgetting to blog and I need to get back on the wagon. It's weird...ever since becoming pregnant its like all of a sudden a million and one things appear right in front of you and then you loose track of other stuff because of the overwhelmess of the other million and one things!

Anyways everything has been great, moving right along. Tommorow I will be 20 weeks!! Holy smokes! We are officially halfway through the pregnancy with only 20 more weeks to go! Hopefully we can keep this bun in the oven cooking long! According to our dandy pregnancy ticker we have 4 months, 2 weeks and 5 days until she is here! Yelp! I swear and time goes by I get more and more excited and nervous. Excited to finally meet our long awaited miracle but nervous that we wont be ready and nervous for all the changes to come.

In the past couple of weeks we have registered at both Babies R' Us, Target & Pottery Barn! Phew writing this makes me tired. Pottery barn was easy, Target took 2 hours (not bad)....then there is Babies R' Us.....can we say 5 hours of beeping. I was exhausted and had a throbbing headache by the end of that day. I never realized what a baby needs. There is so much out there in the market that it got daunting at first. We made it through and we registered for everything baby Harper will need! It has been fun looking at our registry from time to time. It seems so real now that we are registered and we sent the "save the dates" for our baby shower in June!

Still no movement in the house! UGH!!! Now I have felt certain things that I have never felt before being pregnant and I do associate it to her moving, but nothing consistent enough for me to be like "she's kicking"!

I know I am only 20 weeks and every pregnancy is different. I do hope she starts soon because these two mamas are getting ansy to feel her move!

Nursery is slowly but surely coming along. We bought some decals and the letters for her name. Now all we need to do is put them up! She already has so much clothes its amazing! We have all coordinated by size and I won't be washing it until a month before arrival.

Other than that, everything is great! Our anatomy scan is in two weeks! Even though we already know what we are having it will be super fun to see her organs and make sure we are in the clear. Another hurdle to jump through!

How far along? 19 weeks & 6 days...almost 20!

How big is baby? Mango!

Total weight gain/loss: One pound!

Maternity Clothes: I had to pull out my maternity band to put over my pants I wore before pregnancy. So far so good. Still have not bought maternity clothes other than a couple shirts and one pair of pants.

Have you started to show yet? a little pooch

Sleep: Better

Best moment this week: Knowing we are pregnant after so much heartache

Miss Anything? Nothing on the top of my head!

Movement: Little flutters?!

Food Cravings: Nothing

Anything make you queasy or sick? Not right now

Gender prediction: We already know its a GIRL!

Symptoms: Nada!

Major purchases this week? Diaper bag

Looking forward to: Our next ultrasound at 22 weeks AKA anatomy scan!

 

Till next time!

Chugging right along baby!

Today I am 17 weeks and 1 day today! The baby is the size of a sweet potato! Our official countdown is 22 weeks and 6 days until we see our little baby girl. Which makes it even more real that we are rolling on this train faster than I expected! When we first got pregnant it seemed like time was super slow and I counted for the weeks to change. I couldn't wait to be 10 weeks and now I sit here typing and were just 3 weeks away from being at the halfway mark! For me this is a HUGE milestone and my next milestone is to complete 24 weeks once vitality is here! Which means we only have 7 weeks to go! Come on baby girl you got this!

This past week we went to a 4D place because once you are discharged from your RE your OBGYN doc doesn't really give you as many ultrasounds as one would like. Luckily my OB is awesome and will give me ultrasounds when I request but she told me the next one wont be for awhile so we decided to see her early! It was the most amazing experience ever! Seeing her move and her little body in 4D made my heart melt and fall more deeply in love with her than I already was. Funny thing is she sure is one stubborn little baby. There is no denying that at all. What was supposed to be a 15 min ultrasound turned into a 2 hour ultrasound off and on and three walks around the building. It also consisted to drinking apple juice and eating candy to get her to move from the stubborn position she was in. She was only showing us her back and kicking away. Finally we were able to get some good shots but the lady was not accepting that so we have a free come back visit at 18 weeks. Yay! Can't wait to see her in just another week!

This is by far my favorite photo of her and shes smiling if you can see it. Can't wait to see her grow throughout the months!

I leave everyone with a photo of me at 16 weeks. I took photos before 16 weeks but I really couldn't see anything until now! Its a tiny, tiny bump but it's there LOL!

How far along? 17 weeks and 1 day :)

How big is baby? Sweet Potato

Total weight gain/loss: Still ZERO!

Maternity Clothes: I wear maternity shirts because I am not going to lie but they are the most comfy shirts ever! 

Have you started to show yet? a little, little pooch

Sleep: Off and on

Best moment this week: Watching our baby girl move a storm in the ultrasound and seeing her face smiling at us!

Miss Anything? honestly soda and sandwiches

Movement: None :(

Food Cravings: Sweets, sweets and more sweets!

Anything make you queasy or sick? Mexican food

Gender prediction: We already know its a GIRL!

Symptoms: Nada! Love it!

Major purchases this week? Storage ottoman for baby toys

Looking forward to: Our next ultrasound at 18 weeks!

2.5 years ago....

2.5 years ago this month we were preparing for our first IUI. We were so excited and nervous. We had everything ready and felt like this was it. We never knew at that moment that our world would be changed forever. We never knew how naive we were about this entire TTC process.

Thinking back to that first time and the times after that it boggled my mind as to why it just wasn't working. It seemed like we were doing everything right....were we not meant to be mommies? As our first failed IUI stared at us clear in the eye we knew it would get easier and harder at the same time. What we never knew was just how strong we would become, together.

I never in a million years thought we would be able to go through the emotional journey of TTC. We were both put to the test with our first IVF. All the countless injections, pills, exams, driving and crazy hormones were all so daunting at the start. I remember crying before we started....there next to me was my wife Sarah holding my hand with tears streaming down her face just as nervous as I was. Together we held hands tightly and went through our IVF battle ready for whatever came our way. By the second IVF we were ready. Our wounds were healed but there was still band-aids all over our broken hearts. Despite the past we kept going and kept smiling. Happy and blessed to be able to go through it again. Happy that everything went without any problems. Scared shitless we left our faith in God and let our worries out the door. We both always agreed that no matter what we would NEVER give up.

Then we got the best present in the entire world....at the moment of our positive pregnancy test all negative energy and bad memories went out the door. Only happy ones were filling the room. I remember looking at Sarah in front of me. We started jumping up and down and immediately stopped so our miracle wouldn't get hurt. We hugged each other so tight. I never wanted to let go because in her arms I felt safe. Ever since that positive test that has forever changed our lives our days are filled with daily talks to our baby girl and blissful thoughts of what she will look like and how exciting we are to become the mommies we have always longed for.

This year we celebrate 9 years together and I remember on our 4th date we were talking about children....and here we are getting ready to meet her in just five months!

Life is great, and one thing I can pass along is to never, ever give up!

First come love, then comes marriage, then comes baby in the baby carriage and a tighter budget!

I was trying to be creative with my title but seeing as I am falling asleep and my allergies are kicking me in the butt that is all I could come up with at the time.

Ever since we became pregnant my mind has been in a totally different ballpark. I now have daily things on my mind such as the health and safe being of our little girl, what she will need, and making sure everything is in order for her as she is born. Along with the endless thoughts a tighter budget has also been on my mind. I want our baby to have a great future. We already started talking about college funds, preschool, activities....yeah I know we may be jumping the gun a little fast but I am a HUGE control freak and I have to have things somewhat researched and prepared.

So with all that talk....our budget came next. Before the baby it was just "us". Now that we have a baby in the picture I want to provide the best for her so we are making sure we don't just spend to spend money anymore. I never have been a savvy shopper when it comes to food and gas but starting now I need to be more on top of things like that. I have decided that creating a baby budget will help us with all the extra costs involved in having a baby....first stop.....to stop buying for the baby because its cute!!

Ever since finding out we are having a girl we have been buying what ever strikes our eye...thing is if we don't stop now there will be nothing for anyone to buy off our registry. First person I need to get on board is my lovely wife who so happened to convince me to buy her two more pair of shoes tonight...ARG!

SO besides getting our budget ready here is a "list" I found to help us get on the "right" track.

Preschool

We would like to put her in preschool at age 3 to help with developmental skills. We want her to interact with other kids on a daily basis and get to know life outside of just her family. 

HEALTH INSURANCE

Bye bye “Individual +1” health plan. Hello “Family Plan.” This means our deductible with be $3,000 and monthly cost will go to $70 a month. I know really good insurance.

FLEXIBLE SPENDING ACCOUNT 

Need to look into starting one of these accounts to help with co-pays and unexpected "medical" expenses.

LIFE INSURANCE

Got one in place but I need to look at getting it increased in case anything was to happen there would be enough money.

WRITING A WILL

We really, REALLY need to work on setting up a will and getting it certified with our attorney. 

COLLEGE SAVINGS

The only thing more frightening than imagining our itsy bitsy Baby Girl as a college-aged young woman (who will still wear turtlenecks all day, every day per Sarah's orders) is how much her tuition will cost. And while we haven’t yet figured out how much (if any) she’ll be expected to contribute to her own education, we’d like to start saving to cover 100% of tuition. That means it’s time to figure out all the specifics of 529 plans and the amount we’ll need to set aside for tuition plus inflation starting as soon as she is born.

Ok, I know this is a bit extreme but for me this is how I cope with the many changes that are soon to come. The many changes I would never trade for the world!

Name Change

Yesterday was such an amazing day for me and our family! When we got married in 2009 I was just hired with my new job at the hospital and all my paperwork was being finalized that the thought of me changing my name would hold a stop to the process of me starting my job. Stupid thought and I regret it more and more each day that went by but I can't keep holding that grudge on myself. Anyways we knew that we wanted to change my name but with the cost of TTC it was out of the question. After finding out we were pregnant we knew the first step would be to change my name. In fact on December 31, 2012 we put in the paperwork to make this change and FINALLY yesterday at 8:45 AM my name change was official!!

I stood in front of the judge while I was sworn in and he said my old name to my new name and my heart was beating a mile a minute. I said "yes" and was dismissed. I got the paper in my hands with the certified copy that it was for sure official. Such an amazing piece of paper!

Right away we went to the social security office and DMV and changed my name immediately. Now I have the wonderful task to changed everything else! 

Now I feel like a cohesive family and once the baby is born we will start the adoption process for Sarah to adopt her. 

Life is going so well!

15 weeks

Ok....well almost! Tomorrow I will be 15 weeks preggo! I can't believe time is flying right by us. Today at lunch it sank in that in about a week I will be four months pregnant! Wowzers....they sure do not kid when they say that time goes fast when your pregnant. This leaves us with 176 days until we see our little peanut!

Things are coming along in our household! We are cleaning and weeding still. As you can tell we are in no hurry to weed out lol. We sure are taking our sweet time. Its nice to get rid of stuff that we have been meaning to do for YEARS!

The babies room got painted this weekend by my lovely wife. She also finished building all her closet units so I have more room....because based on the clothes we have recieved from friends and family she sure is going to be one spoiled little girl!

Other than that nothing really going on. I do wonder at times when the "pregnant" feeling will hit me. I know that I am pregnant because I think about it on a daily basis but I still have a teeny tiny bump and my clothes are still fitting...they are getting snug as we talk but other than that I feel pregnant but not....does this insanity make sense?!

Sarah and I were talking about it the other night and we came to the conclusion that we won't really feel pregnant until she moves and we can feel it or see it. Right now she is still so small and while she is doing baby zumba in my tummy I still do not feel her. I honestly can't wait for that moment. Until then I cherish everyday of being pregnant. Everyday that passes by is a HUGE milestone!

Getting things done!

I feel like time is flying by. When we first found out we were pregnant on Christmas Eve I kept thinking about the weeks ahead. I had so many thoughts about 6, 8 and 10 weeks. All of a sudden those weeks came and went! Now here we are almost 14 weeks and in our second trimester. Now I know what my friend meant when she said just wait....time will fly by. I didn't believe it one bit!

Ever since we found out we were pregnant we started a "list" of things that need to get done. Not urgent things but things we have been meaning to get done for sometime. This list consists of the following....

• painting baby room
• organizing all closets
• organizing all drawers 
• getting rid of stuff we no longer use
• having a garage sale
• building closet unit for baby room
• replace all area rugs in three rooms
• retouch paint within house
• get garage in order
• purge, purge and purge some more!

I know my list is way more but for now this is a good start. Well today Sarah decided to start on the baby closet. While she is almost done I decided to be some help and sit next to her and take pictures! LOL as you can tell I am a big help.....NOT!

We also cleaned the entire fridge inside and out and cleaned every bin. Cleaned the filter and moved the fridge. Phew!

I also decided to start putting up some of my Easter decorations. I got tired and stopped...oh what a poor excuse!

After that Sarah's mom came over and surprised us! She knew we were getting ready to buy our crib for the baby and she wanted to be the first to buy us a gift for our baby girl. She bought us our crib/furniture set! We are so excited to receive in through the mail!! I feel like a little kid at Christmas time! 

Isn't it puurrtty?! We are still undecided on the crib bedding. We are going to be searching on Pottery Barn or Amazon for our "dream" bedding. We are also going to start looking at paint colors this weekend! 

Phew writing all of this sure makes me tired!

Till next time! Toodles!

Our pregnancy announcements!

I remember 2.5 years ago gazing at baby stuff and having ideas in my head about how I wanted things to go. It seemed like we would never, ever get there. I thought we would never get be pregnant and here I type on the couch almost 14 weeks along. We knew we wanted to announce our pregnancy to our friends and family and I knew there was no better way than photos! Who doesn't love photos?! Here they are! Enjoy!!

Nuchal Scan

Yesterday was our nuchal scan. I wasn't one bit nervous because the day before we got out blood test results stating we were in the normal range for any chromosomal abnormalities. So this appointment was more of an exciting time to see our baby peanut!

When we got there they had me empty my bladder and took me to the next available room. I was full of excitement! The tech told me I had officially graduated to the belly sonogram. I was delighted! I didn't have to take my pants off anymore who isn't excited for that?! Anyways I laid down and she put the cold gel on my belly and started moving the wand on my belly. Holy smokes was it painful. She used so much pressure and it hurt. Needless to say I have many bruises from how hard she pressed on my belly. She was completely rude. Not sure why there are rude people working around pregnant women. This is a time for happiness! After ten minutes of the tech sighing back and forth and complaining about our baby not cooperating...whoops she must be stubborn like her momma she finally decided that she needed the vaginal probe. As soon as that happened she was able to get a better picture. Our little peanut was just showing us her back the little stinker! She was able to get three measurements and our average was 1.34! So after that little let down and rudeness the doctor came in and proceeded to say that all is good and that I don't need to come in until the anatomy scan....she doesn't know that we know already, LOL!

Hope all is well with everyone!

Let's play catch up! Oh and gender reveal!

Wow it has been a long time since I last posted on here. So much has happened the past couple of weeks.

To start everything with this pregnancy is going great! I have had zero complications thank God. It has been a smooth sailing pregnancy in all honesty. Around week 9 I started having major nausea and major food aversions. There was not one food in sight that sounded good. I was starving and when I ate the baby sure did not like anything....except sweets. Yes, you heard right. Anything with ice cream and chocolate sure did agree with the little peanut! Finally around week 12 my nausea subsided and food started sounding good again. I started eating more solid meals. I do find that any mexican food does not settle well at all but other than that its good to be able to eat a meal without feeling like I need to go and lay down.

Tomorrow we will be 13 weeks! Officially in the 2nd trimester! Wowzers!! Where the heck has time gone?! Now our days consist of getting the house ready and what we need to start buying. So excited for all this planning! This has been the best time of our lives. We have bonded closer and the love I feel between Sarah is greater. We both are so in love its amazing and SO in love with this baby in my belly. She has us wrapped around their fingers.

Our ultrasounds have been great, its such a pleasure to see our baby peanut growing and progressing at each and every appt. Baby is growing right on track if not even a tad ahead. Heart rate has been great and that sound will never, EVER get old. If only I could make it my ringtone!

Tomorrow we have our Nuchal scan! So another chance to see our baby peanut!! WOOHOO!! I am super excited for this scan not even one ounce of nervousness. I have felt so relaxed and calm during this entire pregnancy.

In other news we decided to do a blood test called MaternTi21 test. Its a blood test that looks for chromosomal abnormalities and at the same time tests gender....now what a double whammy! Well we got our blood drawn on Feb. 13 and this afternoon we got the results. I ran to my doctors office and picked up the envelope and ran back downstairs. Called Sarah and I opened the envelope while on the phone. I scanned as fast as I could and read the chromosomal tests first and all were negative. A huge sigh a relief was felt. Then I scanned to the gender and it said "no Y chromosomes were detected".  Holy crap!! I cried tears of joy. I said to sarah "were having a GIRL!!!". I was shaking and in tears. I wanted a healthy baby but its even more a plus for a little girl. We are tickled pink for sure!!

In the past week we lost a great man. Sarah's grandfather died. Many have told me that while one life is taken one life is given. We kept tossing back thinking God has a plan for everything. It took us 2.5 years to get pregnant treatment after treatment. We thought we would never see this side. God has a plan and while we may not understand it at the time everything happens for a reason.

I promise to be better at posting. Tomorrow is our Nuchal scan! Can't wait to post pics :)

I would also like to thank everyone who has been here through thick and thin. You all are amazing!!

8 Weeks & 2 Days!

Okay, okay I admit it I have been a really bad blogger. Bad! A lot has happened in the past two weeks and boy do we have to fill everyone in!

SO what has been going on?!

We had an appointment with our IVF doctor today to get another ultrasound I was so excited and not one tad nervous. Its amazing my nervousness has calmed down dramatically. We were running late to our appointment and trust me this never happens. I was already excited enough it didn't help! We arrived and our favorite nurse Melinda walked us back to our usual room #3 and we waited for the doctor to come in. Finally before you knew it I was laying down waiting for the wand and we saw the most beautiful thing ever. A beautiful baby peanut. Measuring beautifully at 8 weeks and 1 day! The doctor said this is perfect because each baby has a give or take of 6 days for growth so the fact that our little peanut is growing right on target is awesome! Grow baby, grow!

Then.......we heard the heartbeat! I instantly fell in love and the beautiful sound that we heard was the most amazing thing ever. The doctor said our BPM were around 165-170. Perfect!

We then got up and got two huge hugs from both the doctor and the nurse and he said "congratulations"! We then got released and this is the last time we will see him until we are ready for baby #2 which will be a long, long time from now, LOL!

So now we are off to our OBGYN. We will be working with my OBGYN that I have been seeing for a year already. We love her and feel comfortable with her. Our next appt will be in two weeks which we will be 10 weeks & 1 day!

Our little peanut sure is growing! The first one was taken at 4 weeks 6 days and bottom one is 8 weeks!

How far along? 8 weeks & 2 days!

How big is baby? Green Olive! 

Total weight gain/loss: None!  :)

Maternity Clothes: I had to give in.....I bought a pant strecher because mine are starting to feel a tad snug.

Have you started to show yet? Not yet

Sleep: Off and on

Best moment this week: Hearing the babies heartbeat. Best music to my ears. So in love!

Miss Anything? I have had a large craving for soda....ugh! LOL

Movement: None

Food Cravings: Nothing. Food is just so blah. 

Anything make you queasy or sick? Nothing yet

Gender prediction: A girl

Symptoms: Tired some nausea otherwise awesome!

Major purchases this week? Maternity pant saver!

Looking forward to: Our next ultrasound at 10 weeks!

6 weeks and 2 days ultrasound!

I can't believe it! Were here! 6 weeks and 3 days pregnant! Feels amazing if you ask me! The past week I was getting nervous and excited for our ultrasound on Saturday because I was scared there was going to be an empty sac with no heartbeat. I talked and prayed to our baby(ies) that they would stick and grow. Before we knew it time had come and we were sitting there in the same room we had become familiar with during our follicle scans. My nerves had hit through the roof and before we knew it we saw the beautiful sac with our baby we had longed for a long time. We are pregnant with one baby! The doctor said everything was just perfect and beautiful and then we saw the heart flicker beats of beauty. My heart skipped a beat looking at the baby and the heartbeat flickering. I am so in love. We are so in love. We were able to breathe a sigh of relief and the doctor hugged us both and said congratulations! We were given our EDD of September 5th, 2013! Approx 33 weeks and 4 days to go or 7.5 months!

Our next appointment with our RE is in two weeks when we will be 8 weeks pregnant! I do believe this will be our last appointment with him :( After that we then are discharged to our OBGYN which we already have picked out and the hospital we are going to be delivering at.

How far along? 6 weeks & 3 days!!

How big is baby? Blueberry (How cute!)

Total weight gain/loss: None :)

Maternity Clothes: None, but my pants are fitting more snuggy. 

Have you started to show yet? Not yet

Sleep: Started to switch. Some days I have amazing sleep other days I have horrible sleep. I did get my snoogle in the mail and it has helped with my side and neck issues. 

Best moment this week: Looking at our beautiful babies heartbeat. One beautiful flicker!

Miss Anything? Yes, yes I do.....Honey Mustard, Mayo and Turkey Deli sandwiches! 

Movement: None

Food Cravings: Milkshakes and smoothies.

Anything make you queasy or sick? Nothing yet but I do have food aversions. Food is just not the same anymore!

Gender prediction: a girl :)

Symptoms: Tired, Lower back pain, cramps, bloated and more tired!

Major purchases this week? Doppler machine!

Looking forward to: Our 8 week ultrasound to see our little peanut growing!


It wont let me post the video of our sonogram and we didn't get any pictures because he does everything through a flash drive! Im working on it!

5 Weeks & 1 Day Pregnant!

I know I have been so bad at blogging! Would it be okay to blame it on my constant tiredness?!

Today I am 5 weeks and 1 day! Time sure is flying by if you ask me! We are still on cloud 9 and not sure we are getting down any time soon. We were soooo nervous and excited to get our first Beta and when it came back at 108 we were relieved and excited. Then we were told to come back on Monday for another Beta. That wait was more nerve-wracking than the first! We were not even fixed on a number but more of the fact that it was going to double. We then got the call after many hours of waiting that our beta had doubled and even a little more to 349!

Everything has been going great. I still continue on my twice a week acupuncture appointments because they help with relaxation and help minimize the risk of miscarriage. I love our acupuncturist! Did I ever mention that she told us we were pregnant before we even tested. On Thursday, December 20th we went for our weekly appt and she felt my heartbeat on my wrist. She said "it feels great girls!" I felt the heartbeat she was talking about and it felt weird, like pearls rolling through my blood. Well after that we felt great! The next day towards the evening I felt menstrual like cramps, lower back pain and sorry for the TMI but loose stool. Exact symptoms I feel a couple days before I start my period. I literally sat on the toilet waiting for it to start. I thought it was a bust. Then after four hours it went away. Suddenly something told me this was the  our embryos implanting. The next day like clock work I felt the exact same "period like" symptoms.  A couple of days later my symptoms were a nagging headache, pulling, light nausea, and tiredness. I napped two-three times within a day. There was just not enough sleep to make me happy. 

My symptoms continue off and on. I had a horrible pregnancy cold. It started with a sore throat, runny nose, and ear ache. It went away after a couple of days, I have lower back pain and period like cramps which tell me that everything is going great. Tiredness continues daily and I just started feeling bloated the past day and a half!

How far along? 5 weeks & 1 day!!

How big is baby? Size of a sweet pea

Total weight gain/loss: None! Which is a good thing! LOL

Maternity Clothes: None, but I sure am getting bloated. 

Have you started to show yet? Not yet

Sleep: Isn't sleep amazing?! I could nap anywhere. Im just trying to make sure I lay on my left side only. This has been hard for me since I am normally a right side sleeper. I will do anything to keep this pregnancy!

Best moment this week: When my wife texted me this morning and said "Our babies are the size of a sweet pea!" She was SO happy and excited!!

Miss Anything? Honestly, nothing yet. LOL

Movement: None

Food Cravings: Turkey, Turkey, Turkey, and more Turkey!!! YUMMO!

Anything make you queasy or sick? Nothing yet

Gender prediction: We will be finding out how many babies we have growing in my womb in a week so as of right now a boy and girl!

Symptoms: Tired, Lower back pain, cramps, bloated and more tired!

Major purchases this week? Snoogle pillow!

Looking forward to: Our ultrasound to see how many are growing and their heartbeats <3

Wishing everyone lots of baby dust and happy and healthy pregnancies! 

Off to bed! LOL

Second beta!!!

Our second beta was today since they had more blood draws today then yesterday.

Our came back at 349!!!!

Will update in a post later tonight!

BETA results!!!!!!!

Results are in and my beta #1 is 108!!!!!!!!!!! We are only 12 days past 3 day transfer!! We go back on Sunday for second beta and ultrasound in 2 weeks! Will update more!

Thank you all for your support!!!

ETA: 12 hours

We have about 12 hours until our first BETA! We are so excited and nervous at the same time. We go in at the wee early hour of 7:15 and then back to work I go. Then it's the waiting game until they call. I know I will be a nervous wreck until they call not really sure I will be able to work, lol!

Nothing new to update but the fact that we used the last couple of HPT's. I know call us crazy and peeaholic but its so beautiful to keep seeing that positive test. I will update as soon as we get results!

Thank you for all the congrats!

We Caved In....

We did. We caved in even though we said we wouldn't. I mean at first it wasn't hard at all and then 7dp3dt it got hard. I mean hard. It also didn't help that my lovely wife was chasing me with a pee stick. I do believe she is more obsessed with them than me, LOL! So after the nagging and nagging I decided to test. I forgot the nervous feeling you feel waiting for the test to show its face. After waiting the necessary time we both looked up and we saw that stark white background we have been used to seeing for what seems forever.

We then got sad. We cried and then started feeling defeated. I was sad but something told me to not give up yet. We had five days to go there was still hope. I had faith in God that everything would be okay.

8dp3dt (Christmas Eve): Negative (AKA stark white test) We had family coming over and other parties to attend that day. We hosted our Christmas Eve party and by 3 PM everyone was gone. We were getting ready to go to the next party and then Sarah said lets test again. I knew what it was going to say so I said sure as I POAS. As we sat there waiting Sarah picked up the test and she said I see a faint, faint line. I said yeah right. I mean for awhile I felt like we were making up lines! I grabbed the test and brought it to the kitchen where its brighter and sure enough was the faintest line I have ever seen. I mean you had to turn in in the sun to even see it. We were shocked, scared, happy, and excited! We immediately went to Target and stocked up on pregnancy tests. We came home still in shock and smiling like never before. We opened the box and took another test before we left for the party it had only been 2 hours and there was a little bit more of a line. From there on it was a pee stick party and it has been the best feeling ever to see those pregnancy tests get darker and darker.

Even better yet we tested today 10dp3dt on a digital and it came back positive with the word "Pregnant". A word we have been waiting to see for 2 long years. We feel blessed to be at this stage. We have our BETA on Friday at 7:15! Literally 34 more hours until our test! WOWZERS!!!

I have been peeing on sticks left and right on four different brands to be exact. All different brands to confirm what we already know.

I had tried to explain to Sarah that this cycle I have felt completely different. Not just with symptoms I have been feeling an intuition. This feeling has been beyond amazing to feel. Like nothing in the world matters more but keeping these babies safe and healthy.

I have had lots of symptoms since 6dp3dt and it is really just too much to write in tonight's blog! I will make sure to update tomorrow!

Until then I leave you with some photos of our beautiful pee sticks!!!

This literally was the BEST Christmas present EVER!!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas from our home to yours!!