Where Did Two Years Go?

Hey there Blog Land! I'm not sure anyone even reads this anymore but I'm going to do a quick post. Today we celebrated my sweet baby's second birthday. We TTC for almost two years and those seemed like the longest two years of my life. However since having my daughter, the last two years have flown by!

Today, our friends and family celebrated our daughter's second birthday, but for my husband and I, we celebrated the day that God completed our family.

Not a day goes by that I don't think about our infertility journey or those that are experiencing it themselves. Prayers and baby dust to each of you out there!

Hard to Believe

It's hard to believe that two years ago today, I was getting my period post-failed IVF and that today, I had the greatest gift of all...my sweet AR!

 

Happy birthday Jesus! Thank you for all of our blessings. Prayers to all you mommas-to-be out there that this time next year, you have your greatest gift in your arms. Love and hugs!

Where It All Began

I took AR back to WU where it all started. As I got off at the exit, I remembered how many times I'd taken that exit and been a ball of nerves...as Dr. K called to tell me the embryos had thawed nicely, on my way to get my blood drawn for pregnancy tests, on my way to have my egg retrieval, on my way to hear IVF would be the only way we'd ever have a baby and this time, I was still nervous but for a different reason. I was worried about what if I walked into a waiting room full of women wanting a baby more than anything in the world. I was so scared I was going to upset someone because I'd been in there place and I know that seeing a baby at your infertility clinic is the last thing you want to see. Luckily, Dr. O had told me to come during a time when they usually didn't see any patients so there was no problem.

Everyone in the office was so happy to see her. I was bummed Dr. K wasn't there (she's the one who did my retrieval and transfer that I got pregnant) but I did get to see Dr. Val and her nurse Mary. Everyone wanted to hold her and they were all very happy for me. I thanked them all numerously and told them thanks for putting up with me because it was all worth it. Dr. Val, who is sometimes not the most personable, even said, "This made my day. This is what it's all for."


Dr. Val and AR

My favorite fellow, Dr. O and AR. He was great with her, probably helps that he has a daughter a month older than AR. I could tell he's a really good dad.

They made my dream come true so the least I could do was make their day. It was great to see everyone but it was nice to be there on different terms than normal. Prayers and baby dust to all the patients still on their journey!

Baby A...

...IS A GIRL!!! Can you believe it? She was born on Friday, May 18 after 7 hours of labor and 21 hours of inducing. She weighed in at 7 pounds and 15 ounces and 20 inches long. She has dark wavy hair and her momma's nose. She's amazing!!! For the most part, all went well but my birth plan really wasn't followed but the bottom line is that our baby girl is here and she's amazing!!!

Here's me with my baby girl just a few hours after she was born.
Look at that grin on her daddy's face and look at her checking out her dad:Our beautiful baby girl:

Thank you all for following me through this journey and for the constant prayers and support! I plan on blogging about our little girl and all of life's other random events at my other (click word blog for link to new to blog), so please follow me there if you'd like. It's http://www.myhusbandswatchingtv.blogspot.com/ I still plan on blogging here from time to time. Baby dust and prayers for all of you!

40+ Weeks & Here We Go!!!

As you all read this, I'm already in the hospital! I'm writing this at 3:23pm on
5/17 waiting on DH to get home so we can head to the hospital. I had the
mindset that my induction would be scheduled for next week so today (Friday)
would be my last day of work for 12 weeks, we'd enjoy the weekend (I already had
in mind what all I wanted to do) and then it would be baby time!!! Well, as you
all know, kids change everything!

I went in for my 2:30pm appointment,
peed in a cup and they hooked me up to a non-stress test. Baby looks good, I was
having a few BH and baby was moving. Then the NP came in and asked if I'd been
having headaches. I told her no but that I had noticed the swelling had returned
and I could barely fit my feet into my tennis shoes this morning. She informed
me I'd gained 8 pounds!!! since last week and I had protein in my urine...not a
trace amount but real protein. She went and checked with my doc who said go
ahead and send her to the hospital to get induced tonight. I think I
took the quick change of events pretty well. She went on to check for dilation
(none) and told me to head to the hospital. I asked if I had time to wait for my
husband to get home and she was like yeah but don't dilly dally.

I called DH who thought I was kidding. I told him not to rush but don't take his time
either. I came straight home and let the dogs out so they could get some fresh
air then went to charge up the laptop, phone, camera, I-touch, etc...I made up
the bed and put pillows on our guest bed, wrote a note to my mom asking her to
do laundry and bring me some clothes when she got to the hospital. Then I sat
down to send some last minute work emails I'd planned on doing tomorrow and then
typed this up while waiting for DH. I hope he gets home in time so that I can
take a shower and he can shave my legs!!!

I can't even begin to explain how I'm feeling...excited, nervous, scared, excited!!! I'll do my best to keep you all posted but we've got to keep our family informed first! Say some prayers
for Baby A, DH and me because I know it's going to be (and probably already
has) a LONG day.

I Finally Remembered a Picture!

I finally remembered to have DH take a picture!!! Despite the "magic dinner" of pork steaks and corn on the cob Saturday night, which is the same meal my mom ate that sent her into labor with my sister and I, Baby A decided s/he was still content where s/he was!

On Sunday, Mother's Day and Baby A's due date, my sister and niece came over. We hit up Babies-R-Us and scored some sweet deals at Costco. Then my dad and grandma joined us and we had lunch at Outback. After they all left, I was about to head in for the night when I remembered to grab the camera. Here I am in all my pregnancy glory at exactly 40 weeks pregnant:

And this is also the outfit I wear pretty much every other day :) The pants and top are both from my sister. The pants are at least 8+ years old because they are Old Navy maternity pants she wore when she was pregnant with my niece! I told her I was keeping them because they're pretty comfy.

Come on Baby A, we're all SUPER ready to meet you!!!

Happy Mother's Day!

A quick shout out to all the mothers out there! Mothers to sweet babies, to angels, to furbabies, to those who are a mother in their heart. I know today can be a tough day when you're dealing with infertility so go out today and CELEBRATE YOU!