Want to Know The Genders??? Watch The Video to Find Out!

Is That The Babies Moving???

One of the most exciting moments in pregnancy is when you feel those first little flutters of your baby kicking. But wait, I didn't feel any flutters.  I started second guessing what I felt because all I ever heard about was it felt like flutters, gas bubbles, a tickle and a twitch.  Last week I felt something like a muscle spasm and a little electric zap that didn't hurt.  I decided to do a Google search about it and thankfully found other women who had the same feelings as me.

Yesterday, Lawrence and I were in the backyard setting up some patio furniture and as he is putting it together while I was sitting there supervising...lol...I started to feel a lot of little muscle spasms from where Baby C is.  Baby C was definitely making him/herself known.  It's so amazing! 

Need Encouragement While Waiting For your Miracle Baby???

In December 2011,  I had convinced myself I was pregnant, so I started searching the internet for the signs and symptoms of pregnancy. While in my search I came across a site called, "Baby and Bump".  This site is for anyone who is in the beginning stages of trying for a child, all the way to pregnancy.  I clicked on many threads of women discussing their pregnancy symptoms, or what they thought were symptoms, and a lot of what I read was very discouraging.  Ladies would rant on and on about their situations and were very negative and I knew that was not what I needed.  I needed to find a thread on the site where there were other women who shared the same faith, so we could encourage each other, but I couldn't find one.  Ding! The light went on in my head...I should start a thread myself!  And that is how it all started.

If you are one that needs encouragement during your waiting, please click on the link below and it will take you to the thread.  You can read stories of how God has worked in so many women's lives all over the world and each of them with their own unique situations.  We share devotions, scriptures, our personal struggles, the ups and downs of this journey and most importantly, we pray for each other.  The cool thing is, there have been almost 200 women who have stopped by the thread to share their store and many others who just log on to read without ever posting.

Some women have already had 2 separate pregnancies since joining the thread and there are some who are praying if adopting is the right option for them.  It's been a joy to get a chance to be a part of these women's lives and I'm honored that they would share their journey with me.

Here is the link to the thread I started Jan 1st 2012

Christian Ladies TTC, We can encourage one another

2 more weeks…

Until we find out what genders these 3 little blessings are!  I have to be honest, I am a little nervous because I would really like at least one boy and one girl in there and I don’t have a preference of what I would like the 3^rd  one to be.  Of course, first and foremost I want them all to be healthy.  I have had a couple of dreams where there is at least one girl in there and I know Tay would love to have a sister and my mom would love to have a granddaughter to dress up.  If they end up being all boys, then I know God has a reason for it and I will be blessed no matter what.

I have been trying to figure out the statics on percentages of having all boys, all girls, 2 boys and 1 girl and 2 girls and 1 boy and thankfully I found this picture that cut out the work for me.

 I say we have a pretty good shot of having at least one girl or one boy at 87.5%.

Tay and I went shopping this past weekend for some baby clothes for our gender reveal.  I'm not going to spill the beans on how we will do it, you will just have to wait and see.

Here is my prediction...

 

How did the Dr appt go???

The purpose of this visit was to find out if I had any concerns or questions regarding the pregnancy, to check the babies to make sure all looks good and to start measuring  my cervix to make sure it's not opening or shortening.

As soon as we checked in and sat down to wait to be called back to the exam room, I was starting to feel really anxious.  It's been about a month since I've seen my little ones and I couldn't wait to know how they were doing and see how much they've grown.

The Dr walks in and the 1st question is, "How are things going?".  I let him know that I have been doing much better since taking both anti-nausea meds and that I tried not taking them and it was a disaster.  He said to continue on for as long as I need.  Then he looks at the chart and noticed my weight gain wasn't up to par with what he would like to see, but I told him I was trying.  I have now gained back 13lbs of the 14 I lost in the 1st trimester, so that's progress!  He told me to try and get extra calories in from whatever I can tolerate eating...hmmm, Ice cream, cheesecake, chocolate and pizza???  lol!  Funny thing is, I don't even crave those things.  He told me to try Ensure to help boost the calories and I told him I drink that already and it's DELICIOUS, he laughed and said that's great, continue with that.

Now it's time to look at those babies!!!  There was an intern that was in the room with us, so she did the ultrasound while he was explaining to her what we were looking at.  Can you guess what the intern Dr's name was???  Dr. Brown!  This time the ultrasound machine seemed to be on extra maximize, the babies were huge and filling up the whole screen.  I'm used to seeing these little humans wiggling around, but this time they were giants.  

I love the thumbs up! It's like Baby C is saying, "Don't worry Mom, everything is good in here!".

I told Lawrence it's still not real to me.  I see them on the ultrasound screen and my belly is surely growing, but can't comprehend that they are developing in MY womb.  It's still very surreal and I really wonder when I'm going to realize that those precious babies are MINE and are growing healthy and strong in MY womb. I'm guessing reality will hit me when I can start feeling them move.  I can just picture it now...I'm at work and all of a sudden I got a leg using my lungs as a soccer ball, then a fist punching my stomach like a punching bag and hopefully the other will be sleeping at that time...lol!  It sure is amazing getting to experience each step of pregnancy, I've always dreamed of being where I am now.  

At the end of the visit Lawrence asked, "So, everything you seen today is right on track and you don't see anything that can be a concern?"  Dr said, "No, everything looks great for this stage".  WOOHOO!!!

Thank you Lord for giving me the opportunity to experience the joys of pregnancy and allowing me to be a mother to these 3 precious children.  I am forever grateful and give you all praise and glory and I pray our story reaches out to many and that they will have hope in you.

A Must have item...A Fetal Doppler!

It seems like forever since we have seen our little loves on the ultrasound machine.  Our next Dr appointment isn't until March 11th, it seems like so far away.  For now I have to rely on my faith and symptoms to know everything is okay and they are developing perfectly in my womb….but wait…I do have something that can give me reassurance until the time we get to see our babies….THANK GOD FOR FETAL DOPPLERS!!!
This little device has put smiles on our faces  countless times.  I had purchased it the 1^st time I found out I was pregnant back in March and never had the chance to use it.  When I was 9 weeks and 6 days, I found it, dusted it off and asked Lawrence if we could check and see if we can hear something.  It was a no go!  I looked up the reviews on the unit we bought and some women heard a heartbeat at 10 weeks, but said you have to be patient because it may take minutes to find it.  So the next day at 10 weeks, we gave it another shot.  The unit has two places to insert headphones, which is awesome so we can hear it at the same time.  I laid down and he began to put the gel on my tummy, which was not nice and warm like at the doctor’s office, it was freezing!  As soon as Lawrence put the doppler on my stomach, we heard the heartbeat of a baby for the 1st time EVER.

The Doppler Pro

The Doppler Pro Assistant

Jr Doppler Assistant

Soon after, Lawrence became a doppler pro.  We would listen every couple of days and now know how to find each baby to listen to each ones heartbeat.  Can you say amazing???  Their heartbeats sound like galloping horses, it's the best sound.

Best $30 investment!

How the AngelSounds Fetal Doppler works:

The AngelSounds Fetal Doppler is a genuine ultrasound fetal doppler which works on the principle of measuring the blood flow through your baby's heart. The AngelSounds Fetal Doppler uses the ultrasound effect to make your baby's heartbeat clearly audible.

God Winks

My family has been through a lot these past 6 years and I sometimes joke that our life could be turned into a Lifetime movie, but God has been so good to us and has granted us such a sense of peace through everything. I have witnessed God’s hand throughout our entire journey with infertility in more ways than I could ever fit into a single entry (we will refer to these moments as “God Winks,”) I’ve ended up at a doctor’s office where the staff has become like family. I can talk to my doctor about our faith and the major moral realities of infertility treatment. I know that the staff constantly said prayers for us, even though they didn't share the same faith as Lawrence and I.

And for those of you who are asking how I could possibly be thankful or at peace during this time, or for those of you who have that “If God is so great, how could this be His plan for you, when plenty of ‘unfit’ mothers have no problem getting pregnant” mentality, I say to you this: How can you not see God’s hand in all of this?

Medically, I fall into the "Unexplained Infertility" category.  My body has responded perfectly to medications. We have produced beautiful embryos every.single.time.  I’ve been poked/prodded/drained of blood more times than I can count. While it’s possible that there is something we’re missing, there’s a very real reality: It just wasn't ‘our time’ yet.

Maybe I’m naive. Maybe I’m being too simplistic. If that’s the case, I’m okay with it. 1 Samuel 1: 27 states, “For this child, I have prayed.” For this child. For this child. I know that when my children arrive and I hold them in my hands, it will make perfect sense. At that moment, I will know that those children are children of our destiny. Those were the babies that God specifically chose for us. Not Gingy (our first baby who we called 'Gingy' since in the ultrasound the baby looked like a gingerbread man), not the twins from our second cycle, but the ones that are developing in my womb this very moment.
 
I’ve always found tremendous peace in knowing that looking back, everything worked out and fell into place exactly the way it was supposed to. To me, that is no accident. That is God’s hand in our lives. Five, ten, even twenty years from now, we will look back on this journey and we will be able to see how things have fallen into place without accident. It’s like when you’re caught up in fog, and you can’t even see the water beneath you, but you know it’s there. Eventually, the fog burns off, and things are exactly where they’re meant to be.

For those of you going through infertility (or any other trying situation) I think it’s very easy to fall into the questioning mentality of “Why me?” You know what? Every time that whole “Why us?” thing has popped into my head, it has immediately been replaced with a thought of “Why NOT us?” (And that’s a God Wink.) There’s a reason that God chose this journey for us. It’s all a part of our adventure.

*Parts of this post were taken from a woman named Loren who has faced this IVF journey and is still praying and believing for her miracle.