Lucky 7

Ginny turns 7 months old today.

She is......

Ginny @ 7 months

Bright


Beautiful


Happy


Sweet


Mine!





It is that last one that surprises me the most. I still pinch myself to make sure this isn't all a dream.

For years, I wanted to be a mom.  When I wasn't dating people, yet getting older, I contemplated adoption, sperm banks (ruled out immediately), and even fostering children.  I couldn't justify the adoption when money was tight for just me.

Then, God brought Chris into my life!  All things were possible with him.

After struggling with losses, God blessed us with Ginny. She is a blessing!When I look at her, I feel such love and joy!

It is hard to believe that 7 months have passed. I can't imagine my life without Ginny. She is the light of my life, the love of my life, my world. She is amazing! God is good!

Bathing Beauty

Ginny during her first bath ever!

Ginny loves bath time!  It hasn't always been like this. Her first bath in the hospital was filled with cries. Her early baths at home involved fussing.

Ginny's first bath at home. Doesn't she look thrilled?

When she was about 1 month old, Ginny discovered that baths weren't so bad after all. Ever since she could sit up, though, bath times have become one of Ginny's favorite activities ever! She loves to play in the water, splash and kick,  and eat her bath toys (well, she tries).  She will even put her head in the water trying to get to a toy.  (Poor thing hasn't made the full connection that using your hands is the best way to get the toy to your mouth). Soon we will need to move her baths to the bathroom instead of next to the kitchen sink.  All the splashing she does results in water everywhere.

Anxiously awaiting her bath!

"Diving" in for her toy

"I love bath time, Mommy."

I don't remember a time when I found bath time as joyous as Ginny does. For me a bath is about relaxation.  For her, it is all about play time!  Ginny is my bathing beauty and her baths bring a smile to my face.

Happy Days Are Here Again!

A miracle has happened!  For the first time in over 7 months, I got 8 hours of sleep!  

Saturday night we put Ginny to bed at 7 p.m. like we normally do.  She fell right to sleep.  She did have a period of fussing around 10 or 11, but after putting the paci back in her mouth, she fell right back to sleep.  I was asleep by 10 p.m., anticipating being woken around 4 a.m. for her usual feeding.  Instead, I woke at 5 a.m. and realized that Ginny hadn't woken me.  I was in a bit of a panic.  I went to her room and saw that she was still sleeping (okay, I actually put my hand on her back to make sure she was alive).  Then, on my way back, I did a happy dance and said a silent cheer to myself.  

Ginny, sound asleep, with Elfie!

My baby girl slept the night through!  A first!!

Ginny slept until 6 a.m. Since it was the time change that night, it meant that she got 12 hours sleep.  Chris and I celebrated that wonderful Sunday morning.  It was a good day.

I fully expected that this would be a temporary situation, and that Ginny would resort to old habits and not sleep the night through again.  I have been pleasantly surprised.  She has slept at least 11 hours in a row every night since.  She does have a crying jag or two in the middle of the night but goes right back to sleep once getting her paci.  

While I'm sure we will again run into irregular sleep when the next tooth comes in or when she hits her next growth spurt, for now I will enjoy having sleep and no longer dealing with sleep deprivation.  After being spoiled with sleep, I now may reconsider trying for a 2nd baby in the near future.  

(Okay, I'm lying on that last part but I do love finally getting sleep.)

Eating Lunch with Daddy

My husband, Chris, is a meteorologist for the National Weather Service (NWS).  His job is not a 9 to 5 job.  The weather is 24 hours/7 days a week.  As such, the meteorologist work varying shifts around the clock every day of the year (Chris sometimes has day shifts and other times has overnight shifts).  Often, we do not see Chris on the weekends, because he works most of them.  His weekends may be a Monday and Tuesday instead of a Saturday and Sunday.  Additionally, he works 7 days in a row, most weeks, before he gets a day off.

Ginny before we left the house to see Daddy at work!

Since Chris works so hard to provide for our little family, I do what I can to make his life easier and reward him for his hard work.  Today, Ginny and I decided to bring Chris lunch.  His office is about 30 minutes away in Lincoln, Illinois.  I know that the people in his office love a local Chinese place (that does not deliver) so I offered to pick up lunch there for not only Chris and I, but also for the rest of the office.

Ginny & Daddy hanging out before we ate lunch.

Ginny and I stopped at the Chinese place on the way to office and picked up the order.  Only 3 other people put in orders today.  Once we arrived a few of Chris's co-workers spent time admiring Ginny.  Lunch was good.  I could tell that Chris enjoyed having his "reward" today.  He earned it.

Ginny learning the finer points of forecasting.

After lunch, Ginny got to learn about Daddy's job and helped doing some forecasting.  Maybe she will be a meteorologist someday. That would not be a bad thing.

Both of my meteorologists! :)

Bouncing Baby

Today Ginny and I started a new adventure--attending a Musikgarten music class called "Bouncing Babies."  The class is 30 minutes once a week for the next 14+ weeks.  I say plus because there are no classes the weeks of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's.  However, the class will meet 14 times.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect, although I had a slight inkling after attending new parent orientation on Sunday. We had a lot of fun.  Ginny is not as much a participant as I am at this point, but she did seem to enjoy the movement and singing.  Ginny loves music in general--particularly when I sing to her.  Now she is in her own mini-heaven because I'm singing to her for about 30 minutes at a shot.

What fascinated Ginny the most were all the other babies in class.  I honestly think I gave birth to an extrovert. She loved all those other faces and that they were about her size.  At 5 months old, Ginny was the youngest in class.  Most of the other babies were around 8-9 months.  By the time the class is done she will almost be 9 months.

Next week, Daddy will get to join us.  I'm looking forward to it.

In Love & Baseball

Friday night, my husband, Ginny, and I were watching the St. Louis Cardinals game on TV.  We do this often despite Chris NOT being a Cardinals fan.  In fact, we are part of a "mixed" marriage...I'm the Cardinals fan (the best team ever, if you didn't know) and he misguidedly is a fan of the Milwaukee Brewers.

As you might imagine, during baseball season, things can get tense in our house.  The tension amped up a bit once we had Ginny.  How would we raise her?  As a Cardinals fan or a Brewers fan?  Not unlike our *"marriage contract", we decided to compromise.  We decided to raise her as both until she can make up her own mind. (Of course, she will be a Cards fan like her mommy. LOL)

Well, back to Friday...Chris decided to use the laptop while we were watching the game.  I was curious and finally, after waiting for a bit, I asked what he was up to.  He decided that since the temps were supposed to be nice and cool on Labor Day, that he would look into the cost of tickets for the Cardinals/Brewers game at Busch Stadium.  Luckily, he found great seats (lower deck, 3rd base side) for a great price ($19 each).  The decision was made to go to the game.

The view from our seats!

We had a blast! Despite the Cardinals losing (boo Brewers...lol), it was a wonderful day!  It was sunny and 72.  Ginny was in a great mood and seemed to be having fun!

Ginny enjoying herself!

Ginny & I

Ginny enjoyed the game so much that she even fell asleep!  We hope that she learns to appreciate baseball as much as we do--no matter what team she supports (of course, she will be a Cardinals fan).

Chris holding a sleeping Ginny at the game!

**"Marriage Contract:  Let me briefly explain our marriage contract.  I am a Cardinals fan while Chris is a Brewers fan (poor soul) and there was no changing for either of us.  However, he had no commitment to college teams and I am not a football fan.  So, we agreed on the following: Chris will support the KU Jayhawks in college sports while I will support the Green Bay Packers in the NFL.  It works for us! :)

Loving Ginny

I knew that once we had a baby our lives would change forever.  In some ways that change was scary, but, yet, eagerly anticipated.  Now, I cannot imagine my life without Virginia (Ginny).  I love her beyond any measure.  She is the greatest treasure, blessing, and light in my life.

It isn't fair in some ways that a child never fully understands their parents' love for them until they become a parent themselves.  I loved Ginny before she was born, but that love grew by leaps and bounds once she was born.  The love for her continues to grow.  It is a love unlike any other I have ever felt.  My parents made sure to let me know they loved my sister and me, especially Mom (only because she is naturally more demonstrative...not because she loved us any more than Dad).  Even with all that love being "thrown" at us, while I loved (and still love) my parents, I did not realize how much they loved us until Ginny was born.

Ginny is a wonderful gift from God.  I am thankful every day for her....even when she is cranky or doesn't let me get much sleep.  I enjoy watching her learn and discover new things.  Her smiles light me up from the inside.  I laugh so much with her now. Just watching her enjoying a toy will have me laughing hysterically at times.

I even cry due to her.  If she is in pain and I can't fix it, I am in pain too...often with unshed tears in my eyes.  This past Thursday she went in for her 4 month check up.  She had some shots she had to get, and I found myself crying with her.  I hated hearing her in that much shock and pain.  It tore me up.  I knew she needed the vaccinations, but didn't like seeing her going from smiling up at the nurses to the sudden howl and tears.

My greatest worry in life is now Ginny.  I worry about her more than myself or anyone else I know.  After Ginny was born, it took a while for my milk to come in and Ginny lost 15 oz, over 15% of her body weight.  That was a cause of concern.  While some weight loss is normal (around 5-7%), she lost more than normal.  It took a little while for her to gain the weight back, but now she is super healthy and gaining like a champ.  At her appointment we found out that she is now 14 lbs. 6.5 oz. and 23 3/4 inches long. Just seeing those numbers made me beam!

From now until the end of my days, Ginny will fill my thoughts and life.  I couldn't be more grateful for her.  Loving Ginny is the best thing ever!

A Good Baby?

One question I hear from a lot of people upon seeing or meeting Ginny is "Is she a good baby?"  I've got to be honest.  This question baffles me.  I don't understand it in the least.  Because the opposite of good is bad. So if I were to answer "No" that would mean that she was a bad baby, right?  How is it possible for an infant to be bad?

I suppose the question is asking if she is colicky or not.  My preference would be that instead of asking if the baby is good, to ask if the baby is colicky.  To me, even a colicky baby is a good baby.  Babies are inherently good, I believe.  They are just following their instincts and doing what they know best---peeing, pooping, eating, and sleeping.  Unfortunately, they can't yet talk and tell them what is wrong so they often cry to express their needs.  For some, the needs are not being met in some way (or so it seems because the baby is colicky) and the parent can't meet it because they have tried everything they know to calm their baby.

It is my opinion that I have the best baby in the world.  She is adorable, beautiful, sweet as can be, and doesn't often cry for no reason.  She is cranky on occasion and right now she is a little "piggy"--wanting to eat all the time.  But, no matter what, even when she is cranky and crying, she is a good and wonderful baby!

Eat, Poop, Pee, & Sleep

Before you become a parent, you discover that you have a lot of choices to make--from how you plan to birth your baby (with drugs or without, etc) to if you plan on finding out the baby's gender to getting a changing table or not. I know Chris and I weighed our options as we encountered each decision, but for the most part, we knew what we wanted to do long before the decision needed to be made.  We knew that we wanted to be surprised as to the gender and that I would require a c-section.

There are 4 things that a newborn does in their early life that is easy to predict--they eat, poop, pee, & sleep.  Quite simple.  But, each item requires a choice for the parents to make.  Who knew?  

As for sleeping, that seems relatively easy.  Some sort of crib, right?  Well, in addition to that, we made the decision to have Ginny sleep in our room for her first 3 months of life.  She has a nursery with a crib, but until she is older she sleeps in our room.   We have a hand-me-down pack & play given to us by my sister with a bassinet in it.  So, we place her in there.  We try to get her to sleep in it, and usually she will go to sleep in it for at least one stretch of sleep a night.  The rest of the time she ends up sleeping in her little rocker.   (http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4230352)  I hope that one day she sleeps in her bed the whole night through.  

Eating is the other decision we had to make.  Bottle feed or breast feed?  To me, that seemed like a no-brainer.  In my mind, the option I always focused on was breastfeeding.  When I was younger, I couldn't imagine ever purposely choosing to bottle feed. Bottle feeding was an option if for some reason you could not breast feed.  Over the years, I've discovered that some women choose to bottle feed.  I've heard some express that they would bottle feed because the idea of breast feeding was gross to them.  Maybe it is because I've always wanted to breast feed, but I've discovered something since having Ginny---there is nothing more natural than breastfeeding.  By that I mean that it felt natural from moment one.  Did it feel a bit odd getting situated and breastfeeding the 1st time?  Sure, but that was because I hadn't done it before.  However, the moment she started feeding nothing felt more natural to me.  So far, I'm having success with breastfeeding.  There were some questions early on because Ginny lost a lot of weight initially and took her time gaining weight.  She continues to gain though and grow and seems to be a happy and alert baby most of the time. 

Finally, the last decision is how will you diaper your child--cloth or disposable.  I never thought of this as a controversial topic.  I was quite surprised when I mentioned that I planned to use cloth diapers on Facebook at the responses I got from a few people.  Many people were quite discouraging of the idea of cloth diapers.  I heard from quite a few that they thought they would do that too, but gave up after 2 weeks and thought I was crazy to try.  The best response I got was from my mom though.  She just asked me why I wanted to use cloth.  I loved that response.  I wish others had asked.  Again, this was a decision I made long before I knew I was pregnant.  I have always planned on using cloth.  For one thing, I figured if my mom could use cloth with myself and my sister, then why couldn't I.  Also, I could not justify the use of disposable diapers on a regular basis in MY head.  My imagination always went to a landfill and just the thousands of disposable diapers I would be adding to the mix that would be there for hundreds of years.  Additionally, I couldn't imagine spending the amount of money that goes into using disposable diapers for 2-3 years.  The cost is, quite frankly, outrageous.  I know many families use disposables, including my sister and my in-laws.  That's perfectly fine.  Again, this was my issue. My problem imagining the waste and cost. 

We embarked on cloth diapering slowly.  I knew that after a c-section that it was likely that I would not be up for doing laundry that first week--much less Chris.  So, we started that first week off with one bag of disposable newborn diapers.  When those diapers were gone, then we started with the cloth.  It really worked for us in that way.  It gave us a chance to just adjust to having a baby at home.  Now, we have the cloth diapers going and it is becoming a routine.  Is it more work?  Yes, it is.  I do wash the diapers every other day.  However, I love the cloth diapers--we are saving money long term and I don't picture these diapers ending up in a landfill (in fact, when we are done with them, hopefully after having another baby, we can resell them and get some money back). The only time we plan on using disposables is when we go on an overnight trip or vacation.  

Lots of choices and this is just the beginning....

The Incredible Shrinking Woman

I have become the incredible shrinking woman since giving birth to Ginny.  Seriously!  I knew I would lose some weight at the outset, but that weight loss afterward would be slow.

When I got pregnant, I was a lot heavier than I ever wanted to be, much less being pregnant.  I dreaded the idea of gaining weight and even discussed with my doctor how much weight she wanted me to gain--which was 10-15 pounds.  I wondered how that would be possible to only gain 10 pounds. I fretted about it for a while.  However, I was quite surprised as I started losing weight.  I lost weight throughout the first 2 trimesters.  Initially the weight loss probably stemmed from morning sickness.  Then my stomach felt smaller and I couldn't eat as much.  I started to gain back the weight I lost until Ginny was born.  In fact, the morning of the c-section, I weighed myself (in clothes) and found that I was still 1 pound less than I was when I got pregnant.

About 3 hours before Ginny was born!

I had heard that when you have a baby that you lose double the baby's weight right off (placenta, etc is the double part).  When I got home on Sunday, I had only lost 4 pounds.  I was so bummed.  I was counting on a 15 pound weight loss.  However, I was holding a lot of water and very soon after getting home the pounds started to drop.  In fact, since Sunday, I have lost 24 more pounds.  That means I'm averaging a loss of 5.8 pounds per day at this rate.  I'm sure it will slow down soon, but I feel like the incredible shrinking woman.  I'm starting to enjoy looking at my figure again too.  :-)

Yesterday (Thursday) holding Ginny.  My clothes are large on me.

It's a....GIRL!!!

For months, we had fun playing the guessing game as to whether I was pregnant with a baby boy or a baby girl. A lot of people were guessing a boy based on how I was carrying.  I even did the blog where I went over all the old wives' tales--that leaned toward girl.  A couple weeks before we had our baby I did a poll for my friends on FB asking what they thought.  The majority leaned toward a boy.  I guess we fooled quite a few people because to our incredible surprise and delight, we had a beautiful baby girl--Virginia Sophia Geelhart.  She was born at 7 pounds 8.8 ounces.  We plan on calling her Ginny.

My c-section wasn't too awful, but I'm not in a rush for another.  I had a spinal to block the pain.  While the pain is blocked, the sensations of pushing and pulling are not.  The c-section was far from easy and definitely NOT comfortable.  For those out there who decide to get a c-section because they think it is easier and less painful than a vaginal delivery--I would say it is likely you are crazy.  You should try vaginal if that is an option for you.  It wasn't for me and when we decide to have another baby (if God so blesses us again), I'll have to do the c-section again.  However, all the discomfort is worth it in the end.

I've been home from the hospital for 3 days now.  Sleep has been hit and miss.  I expected that.  What I didn't expect is that even without sleep, I have more energy now than when pregnant.  What some women might forget or others might not realize is that if you have pregnancy fatigue in your 1st and 3rd trimesters, it can be nearly "debilitating".  That is kind of strong wording, but the fatigue I had left me with no energy to do much.  More sleep didn't help either.  I just felt exhausted all the time and then if I got little sleep it was even worse.  Now, the fatigue is gone.  I just have some basic sleep deprivation.  Sleep helps that.  But when I am awake I do have some actual energy.  It feels good to have energy again.  Of course, most of my energy is spent on Ginny now. :-)

I'm also recovering from the c-section.  I take pain medication every 3 hours--rotating hydrocodone and prescription strength ibuprofen.  If I miss a dose, I'm okay but end up in more pain later.  Tomorrow we go to the doctor to have her remove my staples (I have staples instead of stitches).  Hopefully that isn't too awful and will help some of the pain deplete (fingers crossed).

The most important and wonderful thing is my lovely daughter.  I can't believe I'm a mom, but I love her with my whole heart and being.  I would do anything for her.  I just enjoy gazing at her and loving her.

In 24 hours...

I will be heading to the operating room in the Carol Jo Vecchie building of St. John's Hospital for a c-section. Part of me will be slightly uncomfortable because I will not have had anything to eat or drink for 10 hours or more, but I won't be focused on that.  I will be filled with nervous anticipation knowing that my life is about to change.

It is hard to believe that the time is here and that in less in 24 hours Chris and I will be heading to the hospital.

I still remember seeing the FRER with a positive result in early August and exploding with joy.  It is kind of strange because I had such a sense of peace that this baby would be okay and I would carry it to term. God filled me with that peace from the beginning.  It doesn't mean I wasn't nervous the whole way that something would go wrong--a miscarriage or incompetent cervix or many other possibilities that crossed my mind.  Who would blame me for those fears after losing 3 babies?  However, I would always go back to the feeling I had when I first saw the positive pregnancy test.  Hope!

I'm so looking forward to meeting Baby G and loving on Baby G.  I can't wait to "know" his or her name either.  I still have fears and worries.  My main concern now is that my baby is healthy.  That is all I want is a healthy baby....not so much for my sake, but for my baby's sake.  I will take what God gives us with joy, but I hope and pray that the baby is healthy so it can live a long and happy life.

9 months

Well, I am officially 9 months pregnant now.  I'm 36 weeks and a couple days although my uterus is measuring at 37 weeks.  It is hard to believe!  Reality is truly beginning to hit now.

I had an appointment with my doctor on Wednesday.  Now I will be seeing Dr. Quinn once a week.  I only have 2 appointments left to go--next week and the following week.  Unreal.

The appt. went quite well.  It started with an ultrasound.  We were able to see the baby (who is positioned properly with his/her head down) and hear the strong heartbeat (160 bpm).  The baby looked fabulous and measured in the 85th percentile at 6 lbs 12 oz.  The ultrasound tech reminded us that the weight could be 1 pound off in either direction.  And, at this point the baby is growing 1/2 pound a week.  So, with 3 weeks to go....we'll have a healthy size baby. Anywhere from 7 1/2 lbs to 9 1/2 pounds.  I'm hoping for the lower end of that. ;)

While getting the ultrasound the baby kept moving around, even opening and closing his/her mouth.  I loved it!   Several pictures were taken (they are posted at the end of this post).  One even showed us some hair.  When I asked if that was the normal amount, the sonographer indicated that they usually only see a few wisps and it is quite possible that our baby will have a headful of hair when born.  Wow!

After the ultrasound, we saw the doctor.  We did the basics (measuring the uterus and Doppler), plus a group B strep culture.  She also checked the cervix.  It seems I am between 30-50% effaced and 1 cm dilated.  I did notice this morning that my mucus plug seems to be coming out (lovely discharge).    That means I'm probably getting more effaced.  Also, when I walk, I feel like the baby might "fall out."  I know that isn't possible, but it is a funky feeling.  Anyhow, I guess that means the baby could come any time, from now until the scheduled c-section on April 14.

The last thing we discussed with the doctor was the c-section a bit more in depth than we had in the past.  In my 20s, I had major trauma and internal bleeding which required exploratory surgery.  So....I have a long scar going down my belly already.  I joked for years that I would love to get the "normal" c-section cut (horizontal) so I could have an anchor on my belly.  The doctor told me that she won't be doing that.  She will need to cut along the scar tissue.  The main issue is that if she makes a brand new cut (the normal cut for c-sections), it could further weaken the area of my abs and even make it more likely that I would develop complications (like a hernia).  I did ask if I could have regular stitches instead of staples.  Dr. Quinn said no.  She did say that had this been my first abdominal surgery she probably would have done stitches, but since I've got the scar, they will need to do staples to best put things back together, essentially.  Oh well.  I tried. ;)  

Our next appointment is this coming Wednesday.  It should be a quickie appointment where she addresses any concerns, does the Doppler, and measures me.  Nothing too exciting, really.  The only excitement now is the knowledge that I will meet my baby very soon!  I can't wait to hold and love on our baby! :-)

Baby G waving to everyone!  Loving those fingers!

A blurry profile shot...Baby G kept opening and closing his/her mouth!

Face---I love that chipmunk cheek!

Lots of hair, it looks like.

So Surreal

Even though I am only 23 days from giving birth to Baby G, it doesn't feel real yet. In fact, the idea of being a mom feels completely surreal.  Maybe it is because I have wanted to be a mom for so long (the last 19 years).  Or, maybe it is because I had 3 losses and I'm still partly afraid something will go wrong.  And, maybe it is because it is hard to imagine life with a baby that I can't quite picture in my mind yet (since I don't know what he or she will look like until April 14).  I'm not sure what is causing this surreal feeling.

What I do know is that I've been pregnant for what seems like forever.  9 months is really a long time.  I've gone through everything with being pregnant.  I've had loads of morning sickness---that finally seems to be going away completely (yay!).  I've had spotting.   I started feeling the baby move in small bits around 15 weeks, and now I feel bigger movements that sometimes wake me (it seems Baby G is trying to find his/her way out by force. LOL!).  The lovely "mask of pregnancy" adorns my neck, especially the right side of it.  I've had acid reflux.  That is a lot of fun....I love waking up because I just threw up in my mouth.  I can't go to sleep again then until I eat some Tums and things settle down.  Oh, and drool.  I read early on that I would likely have more saliva.  I had no idea how much.  Wow!

Then there are the obvious things like seeing your baby on ultrasounds and hearing the heartbeat on Dopplers or on a fetal monitor for 3 hours.  So, I do know that there is a baby that is arriving, but I can't seem to shake the feeling that it won't feel real until I have the baby in my arms. I still continue to hope and pray that our baby will be born healthy and strong.   I want to hold and love on my baby so badly.  3 weeks seems so close yet so far away.  I can't wait! :-)

3rd Time the Charm??

Tuesday was happy day for me. Shocking in some ways. I had taken a Dollar Tree HPT the day before and got a BFN (big fat negative). I took another that morning. And yes, I got yet another BFN. Later in the day I decided to look up on the internet how much hcG (the pregnancy hormone) was needed to give a positive on one of those Dollar Tree tests. In my search, I ran across a gal's website where she mentioned doing an experiment on the effectiveness on those tests and that of the First Response (FRER) tests. It turns out FRERs are more effective.

Anyhow, after I saw that article, I went grocery shopping. On my way home, I stopped at Wal-Mart (because their prices are better than Schnuck's) and picked up a 3-pack of FRERs. I figured in the morning I would take another HPT. Later that same day, as I was cleaning the master bath I realized I needed to use the facilities. Before I went, I decided, what the heck, I'll take the FRER HPT for the fun of it. (Yes, I am addicted to peeing on a stick [POAS]). So, I did.
I took the test with me into the bedroom and laid it on my nightstand as I patiently waited until it was 3:00 p.m. At 3, I took a look....

A BFP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It said I was pregnant!

Since Chris and I got married in July, we had 2 pregnancies....one, a honeymoon baby that I lost at 4 wks 3 days. The other in October that I lost at 4 wks 1 day. Two chemical pregnancies (CPs). I was excited and happy and shocked, especially since I was only 11 dpo (days past ovulation). I ended up calling the doctor's office to arrange for some bloodwork to check my hcG levels and my progesterone (I'm on suppositories because with the 2nd pregnancy it was discovered I have low progesterone). I dealt with an exceptionally rude nurse. Grrr....

When Chris got home, I couldn't hold back and I told him the good news. You could tell he was happy, but also not certain because of all we have gone through in the past.

The next day, 12 dpo [dpo=days past ovulation], I got a call back from a nice nurse, Michelle, who told me that Dr. Quin (my ob/gyn) wanted me to get bloodwork. Yay! On Thursday, Michelle called to tell me my numbers....

hcg (12 dpo)=112
progesterone=14.96

Good numbers!

I went back on Friday (14 dpo) for my 2nd set of b/w. The results weren't in yet before the weekend. So, I am now patiently (or not so patiently) awaiting those results that I won't get until Monday.

Everything seems to be going well so far. My boobs hurt and feel like laying on rocks at times. I'm exhausted MOST of the time. I also have light cramping. Oh, and I'm constantly worried I might lose this baby. I keep praying to God that the 3rd time is the charm. I hope it is! I pray it is! I think I may feel a bit better once I get my 2nd set of numbers. I know I'll feel better once I see the baby in an u/s (ultrasound).