To Our Miracle Baby

To Our Sweet Miracle Baby-

You may not know it yet, but you are already a spoiled little thing. Mommy and daddy are crazy about you. Mommy and daddy's mommy and daddy are also so excited. Already baby beds going up, books being bought, and diapers being stocked by grandparents. As we sit here tonight watching The Voice, we long for you to be here to be able to play with you, to look at you, and to rock you to sleep. We will find out if you are a girl or a boy at the end of this month. (Mommy can NOT wait- daddy calls you "Junior" or "Judith" depending on what his mood is that day). The general consensus is that you are a boy. I have no feeling whatsoever- I just want you to be healthy! :)

You have already spent 16 little weeks growing. I cannot believe it. You are the size of an avocado (about 5 inches long), and you weigh about 4-5 ounces. You have been good to me in that I have not been sick at all. I just love to sleep! I have not had any cravings other than I prefer spicy food over sweets. I think I felt a little flutter the other night- maybe you were on the move? It was very short and I'm not positive that's what it was, but I'm believing it is! Lately on our doppler, your heartbeat has been very strong and I can pick it up almost immediately. Unless I am trying to catch it on the screen and take a picture- in that case you turn into a little acrobat and move all around and I have to chase you! It has been between 150-156 consistently.

I pray for you every day. For you to grow healthy in physical size. For your brain to develop and grow (that's the OT in me, I think!). For you to develop a beautiful personality. For you to love God above all else. And for us as your parents to make the best decisions for you while you are unable to make your own. I don't want to rush through the next few months, but we have waited and prayed for you for so long, and cannot wait for you to be here.

You truly are a miracle.

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Oh, Baby, baby

The other night I decided to whip out the doppler, for the tenth time, to just see if it would pick up the baby's heartbeat. I had not been able to find it but I wasn't getting discouraged because I knew it would be hard to pick up that tiny heart. But Thursday it picked it up loud and clear! I yelled at Kyle who was on the phone. Thinking I was hurting, he ran in there and I said, LISTEN!! We got to hear it for as long as we wanted and not just a one or two minute ultrasound. So sweet.

We had our first appointment today with my regular doctor. She was so excited for us. She took her time and answered all of our questions and went over everything possible with us. I was mad at myself last time for not videoing the ultrasound, since Kyle wasn't with me. The baby was moving like crazy and he missed it. :( So this time we taped it! The baby wasn't as squirmy as it was last time but oh, how precious.

We are up to a Lemon

This week, my pregnancy app says baby Klober is the size of a lemon. It's strange that something that big can be in your belly and you can't feel it yet. I know it will come, it's just weird to me. Here are belly pics so far for months 1, 2, and 3.

 Month 1 (more of a "before" shot)

Month 2 

Month 3

Month 2 was a bad picture- we took like 3 and Kyle said, "You sure are picky with these belly pics." Well, if you could get my actual belly in it instead of the kitchen table...He did better month 3 :)

I had a tiny scare this morning at work. About 8:45 I felt a little light-headed. I ate a handful of some nuts I had by my desk, and got really clammy. I took that child back and went to the nurse and had her check my blood sugar. It was 37. That's the lowest it's been, to my knowledge. She had me stay in there and eat peanut butter and drink some juice. 20 minutes later it was up to 47. Still low but I felt a ton better. I ate a few grapes and went back an hour later and it was 85. I called my doctor to just see if I needed to do anything and if she thought the baby was ok. The nurse called back and told me that can be normal because your body is working super hard for both you and baby. She just said to make sure and eat something protein-rich every 2 hours. I was eating about 6 times a day but I guess that wasn't enough for the little stinker. :) Hopefully I will not have to go through that again. It was not fun. Good news is, as of Saturday, I am in my second trimester! 

Milestone

Guess what we are celebrating tonight?! (with an early bedtime of 9 p.m.!) Today was the very last day of my progesterone shots! This is great news to me although I will feel weird not having to take some sort of shot or medicine. We are very excited! I realize I look pitiful in the picture....just adds to the effect!

Kyle got pretty good at giving the shots after being terrified of them. He asked me every 5 seconds, "are you ok?" "almost done" "you still ok" My answers: yes, yes, ok, yes.

The other night was the only bad/funny experience. It felt more like he threw a dart in and ripped it out. I said AH! He said, "oh no...I mean...I just put it in and it popped back out!" It hurt but it was funny. :)

Baby Love

This is how much our little baby has grown in 2 weeks!

Thank you so much to Emily who went with me this time. I had a great time! We stopped at Pinkitzel because this is my last OKC trip and who doesn't love a Pinkitzel cupcake? I failed to take a picture of mine but I got Pumpkin Mousse. Delicious. Hands down best cupcake ever.

We heard the heartbeat again and Dr K said everything looks and sounds great. So thankful. The baby was quite a show-off this appointment- it kept moving it's arms and legs and waved its arm in front of its face. It was hard to get a still shot this time! We might just have our hands full! That's ok though- we are ready! Due date was moved to March 30. I'm not sure if it's normal for due dates to move around like that? I know it's just based on baby's size but at this rate I'll be delivering in February!

It is still quite surreal to me. Everyone asks how I'm feeling and honestly, I'm feeling really good! The only "symptoms" I have so far are being tired and hungry more. I'm slowly getting my energy back I think. I haven't been sick at all. I'm so thankful for that although I would have taken being sick if I had to. Whatever we have to do to get this baby here.

This was fair week and for the first time since I can remember I did not go. I was busy in the afternoons and we really just didn't want to go. I did, however, want cotton candy. Kyle's mom got me a huge bag. And when I say huge, I mean the bag was as long as my arm. I may or may not have eaten half of the bag that first night...

Smile for the Camera

Our second ultrasound was on August 28. Dr. K said everything looked great. We saw the heartbeat again, and little arms and legs. Tiny ones. I asked if it's possible to hear it at this point, and he just smiled and turned the sound on. It was 142. This is a moment I will never forget. What a huge miracle in something that is about an inch long! When he measured the baby, he moved the due date up from April 5 to April 1. Already growing big! And so am I- I had her weigh me and I had gained 6 pounds since June. Praying some of that is medicine :/

We have one more ultrasound in Oklahoma City and then I move to Conway to my regular doctor. The last OKC appointment is this week.

I wanted to share this with you all. Especially if you are struggling in any way. Our pastor preached over Job last night. Job was a man of God and did very, very little wrong in the eyes of God. Satan told God that if He would let him get ahold of Job's possessions and family, that Job would turn on Him. God said, "Very well, just don't touch him." Satan did just that. Took all Job had: his livestock, his land, and all 10 of his children. Still, Job trusted God. Satan said again, "If you let me get ahold of Job himself, he will turn on you." "Very well," God said, "but do not take his life." So Job had sores all over his body, but still never turned on God. 

An amazing story in which, at the very end, Job said he always knew God, but now he KNOWS who God is. I don't know if I could have done what Job did in all of his trials. But just know that God is always in control, and has a reason for what is going on in your life. Whether it is to correct, to rescue, or to bless. He is always on your side if you are His.

Picture of our Miracle Baby

I suppose one advantage of going through all of this IVF is that for the first trimester at least, we get an ultrasound every two weeks. And I am loving it.

This picture is from 6 1/2 weeks

The head looking part is not actually the head yet, it is the yolk sac. At this point, it was still a little tadpole-looking. But we are so proud of our tadpole!

I bought a crock-pot yesterday in hopes that I can cook more. I have never really been that great of a cook other than sweet things. I do, let's say, chicken strips, grilled cheese, turkey sandwiches, spaghetti, tacos. That's about it. Well, let's add frozen pizza in there. I think I will use it. I tried to use my "kettle cooker" or something like that. It doubles as a fry daddy which I never use, but I thought for some reason I could make cheese dip in the kettle part. Wrong. My sister comes in and says, "What are you doing?!" I tried to explain and she just laughed and told me to get it out of there fast. It was scolding the cheese. :/

You can go ahead and start praying for me now...