Where has the time gone?

Gosh, it's been forever, so much has been going on.  Today was finally a lazy Sunday, so I promised myself I would update the blog today! So here is what has been going on:

We had a doctor's appointment at the end of August.  Gavin's heart rate was in the 140s, which is great and I am still measuring for a December due date :) I gained 6 pounds, but since I didn't gain any in September, the nurse and doctor weren't worried at all.  The total I had gained to that point was 14 pounds. My hip started bothering me so my doctor suggested a belly support belt. Joe and I went to Babies R Us and got one and it seems to help if I am going to be standing a lot, but sitting it doesn't really help; all it manages to do is squish Gavin causing him to kick me!

Oliva's second birthday party was the second weekend in September. We had so much fun with the Rawson's and seeing that precious miracle baby enjoy her swing set. Life is just so much better with them in it, they are the best!!

September 17th was my first baby shower.  It was hosted by my two sister in laws in Washington, Missouri.  It was great to see family that we hardly ever get to see living down here and the party was perfect with some amazing food! We got some much needed baby stuff and we are super excited about the stroller/car seat travel system Alicia got us! This coming Saturday is my next shower, and I can't wait to share in the fun with more family and friends!

All dressed up and ready to celebrate our little miracle!



Overall, we have just been sooo busy! I am not really sure where all the time has gone, but here we are about to enter the 3rd trimester! Gavin kicks mommy all day long, I guess that's what soccer players do :) and he always stops kicking when daddy tries to feel him, he is a stubborn little guy! He is currently about 2 pounds at 14 inches long, they grow really fast at this stage!  We go to the doctor on Wednesday, have trivia night at the church on Friday, Saturday is my second baby shower for my side of the family and next Tuesday starts our birthing classes at the hospital!  I am still in so much awe that I am experiencing all of this and that I wil have a son at the end of this journey! I can't wait for the next chapter to start, I am sure it will be more fulfilling than I can even imagine!

*PS - Lauren, I promise I will update again really soon, not another 2 months :)

It's A BOY!!!!!!

It's a BOY!!!! Gavin Elijah Morgan! Yes, his initials are GEM, not by mistake, as he is our little gem!

My parents came in town last Sunday and stayed until Monday when I had an appointment at ultrasona to get a 3D ultrasound.  It was so cool! We could see him so clearly! He looks just like I Joe, with a long face.  He was kicking away, so already a soccer player too.  He was sucking his thumb, chewing his arm, and just doing everything so cute.  It was great to be able to experience this with my parents, especially since they are so far away.

After we knew it was a boy we went to Babies R Us to get a few things. We got the lamp that matches the bedding, his changing pad, changing pad cover, border for the walls and a few clothes.  It's all still pretty surreal.  Joe opened the closet just yesterday and said "Holy Cow, there are baby clothes in here!".  I think we forget!

I had another doctor's appointment on Thursday.  We confirmed he is indeed a boy.  His little heart has all the chambers, we were able to see the left and right side of his brain, the cerebellum, his little thigh bone (coming in at a whopping 1 inch), and he was again kicking away! Since he was so developed, they moved up our due date to December 31st! Let's hope for that tax deduction!!! But really, all I want is a little healthy baby, so this year or first of next, I will just take healthy!

Yesterday and today we are getting the walls all done.  Joe painted yesterday and we are adding the border today.  I will add pics when we are done!

Things Are Coming Together

Things are coming together around here! We have the tall dresser in the baby room, my parents have the crib and they just ordered the dresser/changing table combo to be delivered in about 2 weeks! It is so exciting to go in the "spare room" and see baby furniture in there.  I now realize I had myself convinced I would never get to experience this!

We have been keeping busy around the house, clearing out closets and reorganizing things around the house to declutter before we reclutter with baby stuff. The baby stuff is more than welcome, don't get me wrong, but I am loving the cleaness lately!

Today I was just shutting down my computer at work packing up to head home and I was resting my left elbow on my left knee, kind of crunched over and I felt something weird...I was feeling the baby for the first time! I felt a little flutter and it was longer than I had prepared myself.  I know the baby is only 4 inches or a little more, but it was like he/she was saying, hey stop squishing me! I was so excited, I texted Joe, who was elated, and yelled at two of my bosses that I just felt the baby.  We talked for a few minutes about it and they were so excited! I am feeling so blessed to be able to feel our little creation now instead of just hoping and praying everything is fine, I can fell the little bean in there now, so reassuring!

Lastly, I would please ask anyone that is reading this to stop and pray for strength and healing for my family as we navigate through some very tough times.  My aunt hasn't been given a very good prognosis with her stage 4 Ovarian cancer and was just admitted to the ER today for having fluid in her lungs. At this point, chemo isn't working, so all we have is prayer.  This is up to God, modern medicine isn't working, so we need the strength and healing from up above, not that we haven't been praying for strength and healing this entire time, but at this point, this is all we have.  I know it is selfish, I just don't think we are ready to lose her yet, but that is easy to say when we aren't experiencing her pain.  I just hope when the time comes that she is called to heaven, the rest of the family can see the good in all of this and know that her pain is gone.  But no negative thoughts for now, though reality is hard to escape, only prayers for strength and healing.  Thank you.

           ***We love you Aunt Cin***
Ovarian Cancer...It Whispers...so LISTEN

What A Weekend!

Whew, what a great weekend! The 4th of July weekend was a blast for us! Friday Joe and I went downtown with Lauren and Olivia to the Springfield Art Walk to see some art that Jeff (Lauren's husband) did and to walk around and see other art.  Jeff is truly blessed with an amazing talent, check out these photos below. A short description of what you are looking at is these are photos of normal everyday things, like a dollar bill, taken under a microscope, magnified hundreds of times and then colored afterwards.  Seriously amazing work, and by far the best art at the walk!

Saturday we went to Fireworks at the Field, which was a fireworks show being put on by the City of Springfield.  With our admission sticker we got into the Discovery Center for free and then got to go see fireworks on the field at Hammons Field, which is where the Springfield Cardinals play.  It was awesome! Joe saw some of his co-workers there who were reporting and they were able to get us free drinks from the green room so we didn't have to pay.  The show was amazing and we had a ton of fun at the discovery center!



Joe at the Discovery Center. This thing you stand on and when your body weight is exactly centered it makes you spin round and round, needless to say he only did this for a few seconds for me to get a picture, because it was slinging him around!



Joe and me sitting on the field waiting for fireworks!



Saturday was so much fun, but we were dead tired! Sunday we went to Lauren and Jeff's to bbq and had an awesome dinner with them and sat outside for a few hours, it was surprisingly nice out! We went home at a half way decent time so Joe could sleep because he had to work that night.  He came home Monday morning and needed to sleep so I did laundry and cleaned up the house. 

At about 2:30 I got a call from Lauren saying they weren't staying at the aquatic center because Olivia fell and had a huge bump on her head, so their plans were to be at home.  I got Joe up around 3:30 and we went to the store to get some hamburger to bbq with Lauren and Jeff and O and we got some fireworks to shoot off. 

We swam with the Rawson's in their pool and bbq'd and shot off fireworks, and just chilled enjoying each others company.  It is so great having them here, it was like we never skipped a beat. I can't imagine life without them, they are truly amazing friends and baby O isn't such a baby anymore...she is a grown toddler with the attitude bigger than her mommy! Here are some pics of our fantastic 4th of July! We are truly blessed!

So that was the weekend...yesterday was another doctor's appointment.  It was just your standard monthly appointment to make sure everything is going as it should.  It's hard at this stage of pregnancy to know if everything is ok since you can't feel a kick or anything, so you just hope for the best.  We went in and got to hear the heartbeat...156 this time! Doctor says that is very strong! We scheduled our next appointment for the first week of August. 

My family is coming in town the last weekend of July/first week in August.  We have an ultrasound scheduled with Ultrasona on August 1st to get a 3D done and determine gender.   We are super excited to find out what Baby M is and I can't wait to start feeling these little flutters I read about!

No more Progesterone!!

Today was the first day since April  that I didn't have to use my progesterone suppositories!! I have been counting down to this day since about the day after I started them and for some reason I am less excited about not having them than I thought.  I am extremely nervous that my baby and my body will not produce enough progesterone on its own and something will go wrong. 

Everything I have read says the fetus should be producing everything itself now so I shouldn't worry, but it's so hard not to! I have been dependent on them.  In my head taking the progesterone equaled me having a healthy pregnancy so without them everything surely can't be ok.  I have to tell myself that my doctor is the best out there and got us this far and would not recommend something she wasn't sure was ok to do or not to do in this case. 

I guess I just have to trust my doctor, my baby and my body right now and hope and pray that we produce enough of the good stuff known as progesterone to keep a happy little home for my baby for at least 28 more weeks!

Ultrasound Pic

I just realized I never posted my ultrasound picture!



Normal?

My first doctor's appointment since being released from Kansas City was yesterday.  My appointment was at 9:30 a.m., so I didn't have to wait all day in agony! When we got there, I checked in right away and for the first time I was able to say "can I have a label?".  You see, all the pregnant women have to get a label after checking in to give a urine sample at the beginning of every appointment.  I was always jealous of the girls that got to get labels.  Who would think you would be jealous of women getting to urinate in a little plastic cup...I sure didn't.  So there I was, asking for my label, I walked back to the bathroom and was so excited to place that little cup in the stainless steal cabinet!

At the beginning of the appointment I just talked to the nurse and we all talked about how amazing it was to have gotten pregnant on the first try with Dr. Brabec! I then had to have a full exam with my doctor, it was a damn crowd in my room though, me, Joe, the nurse, nurse practitioner and my doctor, in the tiny closet they call a patient room.  He felt around, felt my stomach and said everything looked good.

The second part of the appointment was for questions...lots of questions. Can I go on a float trip? Can I work out? Can I eat lunch meat? Do you think I will deliver before the end of the year (taxes people, taxes! really January 6th? I mean I guess we'll take it, but really?)? Totally random, but all important to us!  With all of our questions answered and all warning signs of problems discussed, the doctor said he would see me back in 4 weeks and at that time we would be able to hear the heart beat on doppler.  He then shook our hands, said congrats and "everything is going great and NORMAL".  He said NORMAL! I haven't heard the word normal in almost three years...does this guy know who I am, does he know my family? Normal? Really???? Holy cow, epic doctors appointment for sure!

My next appointment is July 6th, this time at 8:45 a.m.!

In other pregnancy news...I have gained a grand total of 3.5 pounds and am extremely bloated, so much sometimes that I have to wear maternity pants (I need to get a belly band).  I have morning sickness all out now, hopefully it goes away soon! I am constantly tired, like I need 10 hours of sleep at night to feel good in the morning!!! Hopefully this ends soon too! Joe and I are both reading tons of books and trying to learn as much as possible with what is going on inside of me!

Today I am 10 weeks exactly and our little baby is now a fetus! Here is to being NORMAL...CHEERS :)

What a Weekend!

What a weekend! I am beat!! Before we get to that, let's start on Thursday.  Thursday was our first ultrasound in Kansas City with my fertility doctor.  We drove three hours there, we were there for 20 minutes, then three hours back, talk about driving! But
I guess what we got while we were there was worth it!

We got there, checked in and went back right away, we were even early, but they were ready for us! I got changed and went in for the ultrasound.  We saw the baby right away, I was so relieved!! Just one, Just one baby! My numbers were so high during the early blood work, there was a thought it may be twins, but just one! We only need one right now! After checking the size of the baby (1cm) which put me further along in my pregnancy than originally predicted, we got to hear the heart beat for the first time. 
Our little guy had a heart beat of 138 bpm, which the doctor said was very healthy! We left with a strip of photographic evidence of the bean and went on our way, released from the doctor in KC to my regular doctor in Springfield, no more road trips!!

We both went to bed happy and as relieved as can be, prepared to take the trip home on Friday to share the news with our families.

We got to my parents house Friday night where they were having a bbq with friends.  We hadn't done Mothers Day yet, so I gave her the present first from Bath & Body Works and then gave her a tin to open.  Inside the tin was a poem Joe wrote wrapped in a onsie, announcing the good news! She looked at me and said "Really?!" and then cried a little.  My dad was super shocked, I can't remember exactly what he said, but he was really excited and gave us both hugs.  My mom then announced the good news to her friends, who then harrassed her about being a grandma now!  It was a really long night of great food and games, so we went to bed prepared for the big day on Saturday!

Saturday was my little cousin, Mandi's graduation party (maybe she isn't so little anymore, now that she has a big girl job and all).  The entire family was going to be there, so I figured it would be best to tell them all together so no one would feel left out.  We had gotten there and set our stuff down, all except my purse, which had ultrasound pictures in it.  My cousin Sara noticed I wasn't setting my purse down and bugged me about it.  She then looked at me and said "Are you pregnant?" .  I didn't want anyone else to hear, so I just shouted "Um guys, I'm pregnant!".  My aunt looked at me completely expressionless and said "are you really?" I said yes, and everyone errupted and asked a million questions.  When my other aunt and grandma Nonnie got there, I told them the news! Everyone gave me great advice, and we are super excited to have a little one in the family soon!

We left Mandi's graduation party and went to Joe's parents house that night where his sister was staying the night as well.  We got there and gave his mom a little present, which was the same as my mom's (the poem with a onesie) And she looked at my father-in-law and said "you know what that means, right?".  Mom started crying and dad said congrats.  Joe's sister Alicia was super excited and we started talking about baby showers right away! We had to keep quiet until the morning when we would tell his other sister!

Sunday morning Joe's sister showed up bright and early to do Mothers/Fathers day breakfast.  When she walked in all the kids sat on the couch and mom was taking a picture, right before clicking the picture, she yelled "Heather and Joe are having a baby!!".  Trisha couldn't believe it at first, but we assured her, we were serious! We then took the picture, for real this time! We then had breakfast with everyone and left early afternoon. 

We got home, dumped all the stuff in the kitchen and took a 3 hour nap, we were pooped! Then got up, made dinner and dealt with the terrible tragedy of the tornados in Joplin, Missouri, and made sure they weren't coming towards us.  We are fine, the house is fine, no tornados for us.  But prayers for the families in Joplin would be greatly appreciated, the town was leveled and lives were lost. 

Hope everyone has a great week! I will be a lot less stressed now that everyone knows the news and we aren't hiding anything! So excited to begin this journey!

My First Mothers Day!!

It was so great to be able to celebrate my first Mothers Day! I may not have a baby in my arms, but I am growing a baby, so that counts! We went to church and then a play at the Little Theater called "The Foreigner".  Then we went to El Maguey, which I soon regretted with the lovely indegestion, but I seriously wanted some mexican food!!

Joe got me a card and a super cute picture frame that I will be able to put our first ultrasound picture in, which we will get on May 19th! It was a great day and I went to bed super early, which was nice!

Overall my first Mothers Day was a great success.  I can't wait until next year when I will have a baby in my arms celebrating the day with us!

And I didn't forget about my mother on this day! I am so grateful for everything she has done for me, words cannot even describe it.  She is so supportive and always seems to understand! Also, a shout out to my two aunts, who are such inspiring moms and my grandmas, who raised the people I love!

Also a happy Mothers Day to my mother-in-law who raised my amazing husband! I wouldn't be where I am at today if it weren't for her as well!

Happy Mothers Day to all the moms out there!

Blood Results

I had blood drawn on Friday, April 29th and got my results the next monday.  My level was 130, which confirmed the pregnancy.  My doctor said the number was good, but the most important number would be the one we got on Tuesday.  I got more blood drawn on Tuesday, which was 4 days after the last, that means my levels should have doubled twice.  They are supposed to double every 48 hours in a "healthy" pregnancy.  So, they should have been 520.   I had convinced myself everything was already going wrong (for no reason), so I told myself anything over 400, I would be happy.

My nurse called me at 8:30 on Wednesday morning (thank God I didn't have to wait all day!) and told me my number was....are you ready?....891!!!!!!!!! I was so elated! We scheduled an ultrasound for May 19th, I will be almost 7 weeks, so we will be able to hear the heartbeat.  If everything is good with the size of the baby and it's heartbeat, I will get released from my doctor in Kansas City and will begin seeing my doctor in Springfield.  

I am so relieved, excited, and am feeling utterly blessed at the moment.  Maybe three years was worth the wait, if I am going to have a stellar little baby growing inside me! 

*Blessed beyond words*

The two week wait...

Here is a little update of what has been going on the past few days...We went to the specialist in Kansas City on Thursday morning (after I threw a fit and cried about having to give myself the Ovidrel shot on Wednesday night, which I did end up administering myself!).  We got there and checked in, then had to wait about an hour for them to get everything "ready".  We then went back and met with the nurse and verified all of the information on everything that was going to be used, then we were about to start the procedure.  I figured everything would just go as it had the other two times I had gotten IUI, but soon I realized this was not the case! We were going to have to WORK to get this baby!!!

I layed there for about 15 minutes while the nurse poked around trying to get the catheter into my uterus.  She couldn't get it, and said my uterus wouldn't sit still.  She tried a clamp which was terribly painful, so she took it off.  After about 30 minutes of attempting to get my uterus to cooperate and open she decided to give me a rest while she tracked down another nurse to see if she could get my uterus to cooperate. 

In came the second nurse who asked if I had any problems before, I told her that we didn't have any problems in the past. She said she could get the catheter in somewhat but wasn't sure it was in far enough.  Then the light bulb went off in my head.  Is this why the other two attempted IUI's didn't work?  Did my last doctor in St. Louis just give up becuase my uterus wasn't cooperating and administer the washed sperm without the catheter being in the appropriate position? It was then that I decided to just shut my mouth about what hurt and let her do what she needed to do to get that dang catheter in where it needed to be! I was praying over and over to God letting him know that I was ok if this wasn't meant to be, if we weren't meant to be getting this procedure right then, to just let me know and I would tell them to stop. Right then, the nurse said, ok, we are all done! She got it! We did it! 

I then had to lay there for 15 minutes to make sure everything stayed in and to give the little "swimmers" time top get to their destination and then we were off...back on our 3 hour journey home.  I was obviously not the most comfortable sitting in the car, so Joe drove for about 2 hours to let me have some rest (even though he had only slept for about 2 hours in the past 24 with his work schedule) and then I took over and drove the rest of the way home.

I was crampy the rest of the night and just felt like all I wanted to do was lay around.  I was crampy all weekend, which we read could be a good sign of success, so we have our fingers crossed!

Today I started the Progesterone suppositories, that is not the most awesome thing in the world, but it's not so bad.  I have more blood taken on Thursday to make sure my progesterone levels are good and then can take a pregnancy test on the 29th.  We are just hoping everything goes great and my body decides to cooperate this time. 

In the meantime, we are still waiting to hear back from Joe's job opportunity in Kansas City and we have Servolution next weekend at our church.  We are super pumped for the week ahead, so hopefully that will help the time go by because neither one of us are looking forward to the 2 week wait!

Where to start?

So I gave in and decided to start a blog.  My best friend has one and I love reading all about her life and what her daughter, Olivia, is up to, so I figured my family would like to be able to read about what's going on in our neck of the woods too. 

Most everyone knows, Joe and I have been trying to conceive for almost three years now and have suffered through two losses.  We have been seeing fertility specialistS for almost two years now and have gotten no answers, not even a "you're too fat lose some weight".  Nothing. Just nothing.  We have done it all, ultrasounds, clomid, ovulation tets, basal body temperature, I have had my tubes checked, Joe has been checked, everything comes back A Ok.  Not such a great answer for someone who wants a REAL answer.  So we decided about a year ago we would just leave it up to God.  About that time we were moving to Republic for Joe's job and we had hope with a new city would come new doctors and new opinions.  I had an appointment with a regular OB/GYN to see what he thought.  He said all my tests looked fine and recommended us to the Reproductive Resource Center in Kansas City.  We went, they did an ultrasound and found I have polycystic ovaries, not the full blown syndrome, my ovaries just produce a lot of little eggs, never big enough to rupture and be fertilized.  They have a rigorous plan including letozole, ovidrel shots, ultrasounds, and IUI.  We have done IUI twice before, this is our third attempt, however we are confident it will work this time, the doctor is too.

I have lost a totalof 41 pounds in 4 months, per the doctor's request an we are now about to embark on the journey of our 3rd attempted IUI.  I have been on my letrozole for two days now, and feel crampy after taking the meds.  Joe and I are both on Z-packs to rid any infection there may be, he has gotten his blood drawn for the final tests for infection and I get mine drawn tomorrow.  I have an appointment next Wednesday for my ultrasound to see if my eggs are large enough to get my shot of ovidrel to trigger ovulation.  We will then go to Kansas City to get the IUI.  Cross your fingers this works, for REAL this time, so we can have a blessing in our arms, at last!

In other news:  Joe has a 2nd job interview this Thursday in KANSAS CITY, MO! He was contacted by the Exeutive Producer at KMBC asking him to apply for the mornig show producer position they have available.  He sent in his resume and a show he recently produced.  The EP called him and said his stuff is being sent to the morning show EP and that she would be in contact with him.  Monday, the morning show EP called and wanted to see him ASAP for an interview and to meet the staff. If it all goes well, we will be packing up, leavig Republic and my best friend, and embarking on our new life.  The financials of this new job are amazing and his salary would nearly double.  I already contacted my old boss at Millsap & Singer and she may have a position for me in their Leawood, Kansas office, which would be awesome.

SOOO....fingers crossed! This month is huge to us.  We could potentially be moving 300 miles away and be expecting our first child all in one month! The thought of being able to pay off almost all of our debt by the end of the year and be deliverying our child at the end of the year is amazing and scary all at the same time.

WISH.US.LUCK.