Christmas

Our only "outing" this Christmas was making it to Scott's Fball banquet... we missed about 4 Christmas parties... I felt like such a scrooge this year... nausea will do that to you I guess! Of course, I always have to do the little disclaimer.. "it will be so worth it"... and I know it will(:

Thankfully, we put up our tree Thanksgiving weekend before the nausea set in... otherwise it wouldn't have made it up. You know how some years you love your tree and others you just don't? Well, I had in my head exactly what I wanted this year... I had bought tons of brown and bronze ornaments last year (along with this gorgeous brown silk tree skirt and 4 brown silk stockings to match... for $10 TOTAL on a 75% off sale last year!) at the after xmas sales and I was so excited about a more formal (but simple) tree- Once I decorated it I was so dissapointed... not what I had pictured... but then I found this awesome brown and gold ribbon at Michaels and some more brown balls for "filler" and then it all came together.. I was so excited and couldn't wait to turn on the lights every night. Of course, no one stepped inside our condo all of December- but Andy and I enjoyed it(:

This was the only other part of our house that got touched with any xmas decorations... sadly, all of my other 4 bins full of stuff stayed in the guest room the whole month...

Well, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas Season! It's hard to believe 2009 is just around the corner!!!!

It's beginning to look a lot like.......

A BABY!!!! We had another ultrasound on Monday and were blown away to see more than just a white and black blob! It actually has a head now.. and arms and a body... and it even wiggled for us! We were so excited. Andy was precious... as soon as we got home he was like " I want to see 'him' again!" ...... clearly hoping for a boy. I was 8 wks 4days on Monday but the baby was measuring 9 wks 1 day... a big baby already... go figure. We go back at 9 1/2 weeks next Tuesday for our last visit at the specialist. Thanks again for all the prayers. We couldn't imagine a more wonderful Christmas present than this little miracle. Oh, and another little gift I got is the nausea seems to be letting up a little! I actually felt semi-normal yesterday and ate a whole meal at Bonefish. I'm not counting on it lasting for long but I will take any break I can get!

Ultrasound and Many Thanks

We had our 3rd Ultrasound yesterday and everything looked perfect again- Praise the Lord! We are a little more relieved every time we go in. I am 7 weeks 4 days. "Official" due date is July 31st. They measured the baby, the sac, my cervix, check my progesterone etc... so they definitely stay on top of things after all their hard work to impregnate me! They stopped checking my HCG levels now that everything seems to be progressing correctly. I met with my actual doctor yesterday...who I really have only met with about 4 times since i've been at the infertility clinic... and she was really encouraging about everything and wants to do 2 more ultrasounds there and then I will go on to my OB. So I am kind of starting to feel like a normal pregnant person I guess. Well and the nausea helps with that too.

Anyways, thanks so much for all the nausea tips!!! Y'all are awesome! Here are some responses to those..

- have tried ginger ale and it didn't go so great- but not buffalo rock- so I'll try that next- thanks Dana!
- Deb, I actually got watermelon and it was perfect! I also got watermelon gatorade and really liked it
- Les, for some reason Sprite hasn't been sitting well with me. I think it's too sweet or something
-Natalie, I ate a grilled cheese for dinner tonight thanks to you! (and some ranch dip and potato chips!) and I agree, I haven't been able to eat sweets at all! which is REALLY STRANGE for me!
-Mel, mashed potatoes are sounding really good... I'm going to have to make some- or buy some(: Oh, and you can have the grapico...not such a great idea for me!
-can't remember where I read something about cinnamon/red hot gum... but it definitely helps!
-Teresa, I've never been one to want to be the hero...I have no problem taking the drugs...and I have been..some nights even a phenegren for the nausea and a lortab for my cysts which pretty much knocks me out completely... no worries, doc said it was ok
Audrey and Susan-all the fruity stuff is definitely helping!
Laura- Kate is precious... so maybe if I eat lots of the orange sherbert too my kid will be as cute(:
Kris- cranberry does sound good... I'll give it a try


ANOTHER QUESTION: I know everyone is different but did most of you have this your whole first trimester, your whole pregnancy (please say no!), just a few weeks? was it off/on for you? Mine has been so constant but then today it seemed to ease up a little....but I can't really tell what's going on. No rhyme or reason to it. Do I get paranoid if it goes away soon? I've heard people say that it's a good sign so if it stops does that mean something could be wrong? I know that probably sounds crazy.... I think I read too much stuff on the internet.

Ok, y'all are awesome to be so helpful!!! THANKS A MILLION!!!

Stop the Madness!

Maybe if I wasn't nauseous all the time you could call this weird pregnancy cravings- but I'm just trying to find something to put in my stomach that doesn't make me want to gag! So I wouldn't really classify that as a craving. Hopefully that will come soon though! Anyways, Andy and I went to walmart tonight and he was so sweet to walk up and down every aisle with me as I tried to find something that sounded even remotely appetizing. Of course anything bland like bagels and pretzels is a given. I heard that lemon and peppermint flavor stuff help so I got some lemon Popsicles and peppermint ice cream. I got orange serbet for some reason??? And I'm not sure why I thought that grapico would be good. Maybe because I haven't had it since I was 5 years old. It only took about 2 sips to decide that wasn't a good idea. For some reason it's been harder for me to find things to drink than to eat. Even real coke doesn't sound good (which usually is the first thing I go for when I'm feeling sick). Any advice?

I don't know how you people took care of another human being while feeling like this. I am pretty worthless and it's all I can do to drag myself to the kitchen to check on things during what is of course our busiest time of the year. Thankfully, I have lots of great little elves to make all the "toys" for xmas this year!

Of course, I couldn't be more thankful to be feeling like I am. So I will take it... the whole 9 months if I have to!(:
We have our next US tomorrow, Dec 15th so please keep us in your prayers(:

PS. Keep scrolling for anothe post..

Tagged!

o

Only because this was is a quick an easy one I decided to do the tag (sorry if you've tagged me before and I didn't do it:(
Choose the 4th picture in your file and explain it....
This was me getting ready on the set of Good Day Alabama to do a cooking segment. I was incredibly nervous but ended up really enjoying it. Although I was thankful to be sick the next time they called and asked me to be on!

ok I tag
Deb, Laura B, Leslie, and Kimmie(:

Strong and Healthy Heartbeat

Thank you all so much for all the sweet comments on the last post- especially many of you that I've either never met or haven't seen in a long time! I've gotten several emails and comments from complete strangers over the past year that have read our story and I just feel so humbled that God would choose to use our trial of infertility for His Glory. It's really amazing. I've made so many new friendships through this journey and have been so blessed to have so much support. Even more of a blessing, has been the opportunity to be that support for others struggling through it and I hope and pray that will continue throughout my entire life.

Anyways, thanks also for the continued prayers in my very early and fragile time of pregnancy! We were so excited to get to see the little heartbeat today! I can't believe how much we can love this little black and white blob on a screen! It's crazy! The baby is measuring 6 wks 5 days and we go again next Monday for another ultrasound. I will go once a week to the specialist for the next 3 or 4 weeks and then be released to my regular OB. Please continue to pray for our little peanut(:

Besides getting to see the heartbeat today, I also got stocked up on drugs... zofran and phenergan... which I am very excited about! I haven't thrown up yet..but just feel nauseated pretty much all day everyday (which of course the doctors say is a great sign so I will take it!) If anyone has any tips on what to eat besides saltines and oatmeal I am open for suggestions(:

Thanks again for all the prayers and I will keep y'all updated!(: