13 weeks/ 2nd Trimester

I am finally at 13 weeks!! So far I haven't gained any weight... surprising, but hopefully this trimester I will be able to gain the weight the babies need. I've been pretty sick, but my appetite is coming back. The babies kick pretty regularly. My stomach is heavy so walking far distances is tiring, but my energy is coming back. I can go most days without napping, but it usually means I'm going to be early.

Elijah talks to the babies and is so funny about making sure I'm feeding them.

All is well with me! I'm so thankful for no complications thus far. I will more than likely be on bedrest in the next 10 weeks or so, but I'm hoping to make it to 28 weeks still being able to do things.

We have movement!

ABC are very active little people!! In the last few days I have felt them move more and more. Last night I actually felt one kick from the outside! I am 12.5 weeks so its pretty early to be feeling them, but I am not complaining! I am so so so enjoying every moment of it! Pretty soon Justin and Eli will be able to feel them too!

Here is a picture of me at 12 weeks... I'm huge.... and uncomfortable, but so very excited and happy to be blessed with these babies!

Triplets

I don't even know where to begin. I guess I'll just start from the beginning of yesterday.

Yesterday was my first OB/GYN appt with this pregnancy. It was long awaited for and I was over the moon excited about it. We've known for a little over 7 weeks that we are expecting. To the rest of the world the 7 weeks seemed to crawl but to me it flew. When I was pregnant with Elijah I felt like I was at the doctors all the time so I was looking forward to not having to go all the time. Boy, was I ever wrong in that thinking!

We got to the doctors and I was taken back pretty quickly. Because it was my first appointment my doctor had to do a few different exams and then also go over my medical history. Before long I was getting my first ultrasound! As soon as I saw the screen I knew we were having multiples. My doctor asked "did you see that?" I said "oh my gosh, yes!". Justin looked at me with a confused look but then nervously smiled to reassure me. She began to count "one, two, three, four... oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" I started to cry. I knew we were having more than expected and I immediately thought "how are we going to do this? how can we afford 4 babies!"

As the ultrasound continued we heard and saw three healthy babies. All great size with strong beating hearts. Then we got to baby D. The sack wasn't empty, but the baby had already passed. There were no fluids pumping through any organs. Our sweet baby D went to be with Jesus at around 8 weeks gestation. My heart sank a little. I continued to cry and began to pray for the Lord to protect and watch over our three healthy and thriving babies.

Once Justin realized we weren't having 6 or 7 he just smiled and laughed. He held my hand and kissed it a few times. He assured me that God would provide for each of these babies.

After the ultrasound we went to my doctors office. We sat down and talked about some major details that would affect the pregnancy. The major one was that because there are so many we will have to deliver them early. My due date isn't till September 5th, but as long as all goes well we will be welcoming ABC (as they are being called right now) in the first few weeks of July. They will spend a few weeks in the NICU growing and developing some more before coming home. I also will have to have a c-section which does not thrill me at all. I'm actually more nervous about that than taking care of three little ones. At about 24 weeks I will be transferring my care to a doctor who specializes in high order multiples. More than likely at around that week I will also be put on bedrest. It is very common to spend many weeks on bedrest with multiples and the more you have the sooner you will be on it.

So far I haven't had any major complications. No bleeding, contractions, or major pains. We are continuing to believe that God will protect and keep these babies for as long as need be and that I will have very few complications.

We ask that you be praying for both the babies and myself. The chances of miscarriage are higher with three. Every week I am pregnant is a week they get stronger and have a higher chance of surviving. Also, my uterus is stretching and growing at a much faster pace than normal so the odds of it rupturing are higher... Again, we have faith that God will continue to hold us in His hands.

Isaiah 43:7 says "Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him."

5 years of wedded bliss!!

Where has the time gone? Today we celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary! I can still vividly remember the moment Justin asked me to be his girlfriend. He has made this crazy life so fun and rememberable. Justin is everything and more that I prayed for since I was a young girl!

7 weeks 2 days

Well I had thought I'd post in the last week because I thought I was going to see my doctor to see how many babies really are in there, but it looks like that won't be happening till February. What can you do? Honestly, I'm not in any hurry to go to the doctor. Everyone else is though! This last week has been interesting. Last Friday I woke up in the middle of the night pretty sick. I think I got some sort of food poisoning or maybe my body just didn't like what I had eaten for dinner... either way, it all came back up. Justin was great taking care of me. He hasn't had to deal with me being really sick other than migraines so it was great to see him in action. He was gone for 95% of my pregnancy with Elijah so this is a whole new playing field for him.
Well, ever since that Friday I have felt perpetually nauseous. It's pretty annoying to be honest. I was feeling so great for about 2 weeks then it was like a brick wall hit. I have good days and bad days. The bad days consist of lots of cartoons for Eli and naps on the couch for me. On my good days I try to get stuff done around here that I don't do when I'm down. Let me just say, I do a lot around here! The house has been in chaos since I got sick. There is probably 5 or 6 huge loads of laundry to put away and the entire house needs to be cleaned. I was able to convince Justin to clean the bathroom yesterday because the smell coming from it was making me sick. See, isn't he just so good to me? Today is a much better day. I didn't wake up with a headache and I'm not feeling that sick. So that means I need to get lots done.
Elijah has been great on my bad days, especially last Friday when I literally didn't get out of bed all day. He entertains himself and lets me sleep. He actually comes up and kisses my forehead and tells me to go to sleep so I can feel better. I don't think we'll get lucky again with a kid just like him.. Actually, if the way I feel has anything to do with how this new baby will be I can bet it will be the polar opposite of Elijah. We are up for the challenge though!
Well, thats all the news I have now. I hope to have more news in the coming weeks about the baby/ies. For now, i'm off to relax for a little while with Elijah before I get to work!!

We're pregnant!!

That's right. We found out on New Year's eve! It's probably the best late Christmas gift I've ever got! 2 years and 1 month after our first time trying! It has been a long emotional road, but I couldn't be happier than I am right now!--- that is until I see this little one and hold it in my arms!
My last post I wrote about having to do IVF to get pregnant and it being a year long wait. I was completely discouraged. Justin and I both felt like maybe God was closing the door for us to have our own so we began the adoption process. We submitted our paperwork and actually still have an appt for Jan 10. I think I will probably cancel it now since God has clearly closed those doors--for now!
This last month I started my new treatment which consisted of progesterone, clomid, follistim, and HCG. We actually weren't going to try this month because we were going on vacation and with this new medicine you have to have shots and ultrasounds on specific cycle days. I emailed my doctor and told her that we'd start fresh the beginning of the year. The day she replied was the day I started my cycle on my own! Completely surprised and shocked since I haven't actually had one on my own in a while (at least 3 or 4 months and before that 5 years!) It also happened to be the last day before we'd run out of time to complete the medicines before leaving on our vacation. I was rejoicing because I just knew that God was doing something big! Everything went as smoothly as it could. I was able to take most of the medicine before leaving, but Justin did have to give me the HCG the day after we left. He was a sport about it and did it without it even hurting a little bit. Within 24-36 hours of the shot I would ovulate (for the first time since starting this journey) I took a couple pregnancy tests to see if I was and sure enough I was! I also tested for about 10 days after that to see how long the HCG lasted in my system. On Christmas Eve I tested negative so I really thought I wasn't pregnant... even though I would be just a week post-implantation.
We went about the next week as if I wasn't pregnant and just enjoyed being with family. It was always in the back of my mind, but I honestly thought it wouldn't happen with all the things going against us.
At 7:30am on New Years Eve I got up to go to the bathroom and to test. It immediately came back positive! I just kept saying "oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh". I debated waiting to tell Justin right away, but I couldn't keep it in. Shortly after Elijah woke up and we told him the news! He immediately asked for a brother and a sister. I just couldn't believe it! We were in shock and just amazed at how great our God is. We had so many people praying for us this time, people we didn't even know.
My due date is September 5, 2011. That is unless we are having more than one which is possible, but we don't know for sure yet. I will hopefully know for sure the end of this week.
Justin and I give all the glory and praise to the Lord. The last two years have certainly been full of ups and downs both mentally and emotionally, but we are grateful for the extra time we've had with Elijah as well as the extra time to really unite as a family. We can't wait to meet this little blessing(s). I am trying very hard to enjoy this entire process.
Thank you to everyone who has prayed for us and for this little blessing. We ask you continue to pray for a healthy, event-free pregnancy.

IVF/ Adoption

This week was like any other week around here. Justin worked, Elijah had preschool and lots of play time with friends, I cleaned and cooked and snuggled both my boys till they turned blue! Then came Thursday. I made a last minute doctors appt because I needed to get ahold of my doctor to order me more medicine and she wouldn't respond to my emails. I had no idea that at that appointment our expectations would change forever.
You see, for the last 2 years every doctor has been hopeful that we would get pregnant within the next few months. At this point I have done 8 rounds of clomid. I went on a diet during the summer to help my body do what its suppose to do. I don't ovulate or even get a period on my own. Which isn't surprising because of my PCOS, but the odd thing is is that all my levels are normal. Nothing is elevated even a little. I also have had one successful pregnancy so why shouldn't I be able to have more?
My doctor proceeded to tell me that our only option would be to do IVF. No big deal right? NOT! I still have 6 more months worth of treatment before I can be put on the year long waiting list. So at the earliest we are looking at next February for our first round of IVF if all goes as planned... and well we all know that dealing with military doctors nothing goes as planned. So while the news was hard to digest, the hardest part is that we may not even be in the Marines next February.
Justin and I are praying about what our next step is because his 5 year contract is up in October. If he gets out we will start this process over (not all of it, but some anyway) and be put on a new waiting list with a new doctor and possibly paying for the entire thing ourselves.
The news is hard any way you look at it. We've been trying over 2 years and will be trying for at least 18 more months before what I need done can get done.
All the while we have been praying about adoption. It's always been a conversation in our home. Even when we were dating we talked about adopting later in life when our kids were older... never did I think it would be something that we would start to seriously pray about at the ages of 24 and 25. We have though and we are excited at the prospect of this being the way we will add to our family. We are still in the praying and seeking council stages, but we both feel this may be where God has been leading us all this time.

I'd also like to add that we do know that God can get us pregnant at anytime and we have faith that he will heal my body. He has given us this desire and has placed us here for a reason. We are so very thankful for the support that our family and friends have given us. Please continue to pray for and with us as we wait on the Lord to reveal to us where we should be going from here.