Week 16 Belly Picture

While I was taking this picture (I take the pictures myself with a tripod and a remote) this happened:



Yep, Lilo photo bombed* my picture.

*Photo bomb: An otherwise normal photo that has been ruined or spoiled by someone who was not supposed to be in the photograph.

Guess she was getting tired of the baby getting all the attention.

So I let her join me.



Then of course Willow felt left out so she jumped in.



If it had been safe or possible, I would have grabbed an arm full of cats to join in too.

But I prefer my eyes as they are, rather than being scratched out.

Pregnancy From My Perspective: 16 Weeks

Pregnancy From My Perspective: 12 Weeks

Pregnancy From My Perspective: 8 Weeks

Pregnancy Thus Far

At 15 weeks now I have been blessed with a fairly easy pregnancy.

Like most women I dreaded the morning sickness the most.

I really really hate feeling nauseous, throwing up certainly isn't pleasant, but being nauseous is worse.

Thankfully I was only nauseous for about a week or so.

At which point, with a box of crackers hugged to my chest, I said "Crackers, your not just a cracker...your my...friend."

(Probably 2 people got that joke reference but I thought it was hilarious when I said it)

I also threw up twice, pretty recently actually but that can now be easily avoided by not taking my prenatals with breakfast.

The first trimester I was tired a lot.

Which made me very thankful I am a homemaker and can take a nap anytime I want.

I don't know how working women do it!

Growing a baby is exhausting work :o)

Being pregnant makes me feel productive all the time.

Sitting watching tv....I'm not "doing nothing", I'm growing a baby!

I'm not wasting time on pinterest...I'm growing a baby!

The hormones haven't made me too crazy, except for one incident.

Stephen had done something that upset me but it wasn't a big deal.

But then he came up to me in the kitchen and apologized and hugged me.

I suddenly started sobbing and he asked "why are you crying?"

And I said "I don't know!"

Then I started laughing hysterically and sobbing at the same time.

Stephen got so freaked out that he literally ran out of the room.

Meanwhile I stood in the kitchen unable to catch my breath I was laughed and sobbing so hard.

I pulled myself together in a few seconds but it was kinda freaky to have no control of your emotions.

After the fact it's pretty funny, though Stephen may have some PTSD from the experience.

The worst pregnancy symptom I have is that my left ear is clogged for a couple hours every morning.

This isn't a common symptom but I have scar tissue in my left ear from having lots of earaches as a child.

But overall it's been a really easy pregnancy and I sure hope it stays that way.

My biggest complaint now is my lack of a baby bump.

I was REALLY looking forward to having a bump and it just makes me sad not to have one.

(Or at least not enough of one to make me look pregnant and not just chubby, or like Stephen told his grandma on the phone the other day "She looks like she ate too many potato chips, but soon she'll look like she ate too many hamburgers.")

It's hard to feel pregnant when you don't look pregnant.

The reason I am not showing is because I have a tilted uterus.

Most women's uterus are straight up and down or tilted forward, mine is tilted back toward my spine.

Hopefully with the baby getting bigger it should come forward and I'll have a bump.

I just have a slight fear I will be one of those women who never really look pregnant.

But as I always tell myself, I'm healthy, the baby's healthy, that's all that matters.

I am getting my prenatal care from a home birth midwife (for those of you who don't know, I am really into home birth and wrote a long post about it back in February 2010)

She comes to my house every 4 weeks for my prenatal appointment.

She is very nice and knowledgable, though a little overly talkative for my taste.

I will of course have a different midwife when we move and she will be the one at the birth.

At one of my appointments my midwife said "I'm sorry if I seem a bit rushed today, I have 24 chicks in my car."

Apparently her payment at her last prenatal appointment was a bunch a chicks.

She also said that she was once given a horse to pay for her services.

I thought that was pretty awesome.

She also works with a lot of Amish people.

She used to work at the on post hospital so she knows the OB/GYN staff there really well.

It makes it easy for me to do my tests and ultrasounds at the hospital when I need to.

This connection was really handy when we had a scare at my 12 week appointment.

She came over on a Monday and she brought her doppler to listen for the heartbeat but she couldn't find it.

She said it was no big deal and that she would just stop by later in the week to try again.

Thankfully I was able to keep calm all week and not freak out (totally a God thing since I am such a "freak out" kind of person)

She come over Friday afternoon and was trying to hear the heartbeat and it was taking a long time.

I was getting more and more nervous.

Then she asked "when is your husband going to be home?"

I really started to freak out then and said he wouldn't be home for another couple hours.

She said she would call the OB clinic to see if she could just bring me in and do an ultrasound to make sure everything is all ok.

So me and her jumped in her car and headed to the hospital.

I was really freaking out at this point and was so scared that I was going to get bad news and Stephen wouldn't even be there with me. (he was in class)

But we got there and she was able to find the baby right away with the ultrasound and then finally got the heartbeat on the doppler.

It was such a relief to hear that little thump-thump.

I guess our baby is just an introvert like its parents :o)

So yeah, that is basically it for now.

I will do another belly picture at 16 weeks and hopefully will be at least a little bigger.

Guess What?

Before I answer this question I am going to give a little history.

Don't worry, you will probably figure out the answer really soon.

April 2010: Stephen and I decided we wanted to start our family so I went off birth control.

October 2010: After 6 months of no period and no ovulation, I went to the doctor to find out what is going on.

October 2010 - December 2010: Had lots of not so fun tests to figure out what was wrong. One of them including a balloon and iodine ink...enough said.

January 2011: I was told that I have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and that my right fallopian tube is blocked.

PCOS is basically a hormone imbalance that has kept me from having a period or ovulating.

I was then admitted into the hospital's infertility program. This was a real blessing because most military hospitals don't have an infertility program and the military health insurance doesn't cover infertility unless its treated at a military hospital.

January 2011 - November 2011: Went through 5 rounds of a hormone treatment called Clomid.

I always felt very sorry for people going though infertility problems because (I thought) I knew how emotionally painful it was. I had no idea it was as painful as it turned out to be. The disappointments are heartbreaking, and you go through it over and over again. And you try to not think about it but that becomes impossible when there are babies and pregnant women everywhere. You are constantly reminded of what you want and what you don't have. I never could have made it though without the support of Stephen and my faith in God. I had to rely so much on God to get me though it all. It was such a comfort to be able to trust that things would happen according to His will and that no matter the outcome, I could be sure that it was good, even if I didn't like it or didn't understand it.

Also, Clomid gives you terrible hot flashes. I can now truly sympathize with women going through menopause.

December 2011: I started my 6th and last cycle of Clomid.

Studies have shown that most women who get pregnant on Clomid get pregnant in the first 3 cycles. This meant my chances at the 6th cycle were pretty low. After this cycle you move on to injectable hormone treatments. These treatments are not covered by our health care and cost $1000-$3000 a month. Also because they are much stronger, the risk of multiples is much higher. (Example: Kate from Jon and Kate + 8 has PCOS and got pregnant with her sextuplets while on injectable hormones). We were still trying to decide if we were going to go on with this treatment or just start the adoption process.

January 2, 2012: I had been 2 weeks since I ovulated and could now take a pregnancy test. I had spent the last 2 weeks convincing myself that it didn't work and that I was not pregnant. (I had figured out a while back that getting your hopes up was a bad idea.) I also felt like I was about to start my period so I was sure I was right. First thing in the morning, I got out of bed and went and took the pregnancy test. I came back to bed and waited the 3 minutes until you could read the results. I always make Stephen go read the results because it is easier for me to hear the bad news from him. So he got up and went to check the test. As he was walking back down the hallway to our bedroom he said "uh...babe.." and I knew instantly that something was different than the many other times. He walked into the room with the test in his hand and a goofy/surprised smile on his face and said "It's positive." My mouth fell open, I covered it with both hands and cried. After so many disappointments, it was hard to believe that what we had hoped and prayed for for so long was actually happening. Stephen got back in bed with me and hugged me and said "Let's pray." We thanked God for this wonderful blessing and prayed for the health of the baby. Then of course there was much cuddling and belly kisses and "I can't believe this is really happening"



The next 4 weeks were very nerve wracking. We were so excited but yet so nervous about miscarriage. Some studies have found that women with PCOS have a 60% miscarriage rate so we had good reason to worry. Everyday I went to bed thanking God for another day as a mom knowing that it might be my last.

At 8 weeks we got to do an ultrasound. I was very nervous that we would find out that something was wrong or that I was having quintuplets or something crazy like that. Thankfully we saw this:



A perfect healthy baby (just one) with a strong heartbeat. We were so happy and felt much less worried about miscarriage from then on.

I am now almost 13 weeks and going into the 2nd trimester so we can finally make the official announcement.

We're having a baby!

It's due September 9th 2012.

Stephen is certain its a girl. He calls the baby a she all the time.

I have no guess as to what it is, but just to be contrary I say it's a boy.

I of course have been taking belly pictures, or maybe for now lack-of-belly pictures.





We are so thankful and so blessed to have this miracle baby. God has been so good to us.

Many times over the past 2 years I would read the story in 1 Samuel chapter 1 about a woman named Hannah who was barren and year after year prayed, pouring her heart out to God, that He would bless her with a child. Then the Lord, in his goodness, gives her a child. I would read this story, not as a promise that if I prayed enough God would give me a child, but to remind me that if it is in God's plan for us to have a child then we will.

I have thought many times since I have been pregnant of this verse from 1 Samuel 1:27 where Hannah says;

"I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him."

Praise be to the Lord.