Emily's Wedding Week

It is officially wedding week for my sister-in-law Emily. I feel like it's really wedding month since we have been doing so much for it lately LOL. We had the bachelorette party 2 weeks ago and this past Saturday all of the Maids of Honors and Best Men were invited on a booze cruise on a yacht. Not everyone could make it, but it was a really fun night. We cruised down the St. John's river, had dinner and drinks, and just enjoyed being out on the water.

 The Happy Couple (even though Will doesn't look like it)

 Aw Soon to Be Brothers

Loved the rocking chairs on the bow of the boat! 

It was nice to get to know Will's family better. I have only hung out with them a handful of times and it was nice to be in a smaller setting and actually talk. 

The wedding festivities will begin Friday morning. There is a bridesmaid luncheon, then the rehearsal at 4:30 with a dinner and line dancing to follow at 6. Then Saturday the girls will be up at 8 am getting prepped and made pretty for the big day. I will try to do my infertility friday post Thursday night since it will be madness on Friday. I have some stuff to update you on so I'll be in touch soon! I hope everyone has a good week and stays dry. We have a tropical storm headed our way. They say it's good luck to have rain on your wedding day...Must be really good luck to have a tropical storm on your wedding day. LOL 

Ultrasound results are in

Well friends the roller coaster continues! I went in hoping and praying that we would have 1 good heartbeat and the baby would be measuring on track. Well that did happen, so what's the issue you ask. There is currently another baby in there. Yes at the moment I am pregnant with twins.

I say at the moment because while the one baby looked great, the other one did not. It was much smaller than where it should be and you could not hear a heartbeat. Dr. Brown told me there is about a 10% chance that the 2nd baby will make it and if it doesn't it will reabsorb into the uterine wall. They call it vanishing twin syndrome. Honestly, I am thrilled to have one healthy baby and I am counting on their only being one. I know God has a perfect plan and am a firm believer in if the baby doesn't make it, it is for the best because something was just not right with it. I just hate the waiting game that I was hoping would be over after today.

Now I get to wait another 2 weeks till I have another ultrasound to see if it is still alive. I get to analyze every cramp thinking maybe thats the baby passing away. I get to look at the toilet paper every time I wipe hoping there is not blood in there from losing one. I am hoping at my next ultrasound I go in and it is gone and I have no symptoms that have pointed to that at all. So like I said the roller coaster continues. :)

I am just focusing on the one healthy baby and counting our blessings for that baby! I'm praying everything continues as planned and in 2 weeks Dr. Brown confirms how great that baby is doing! Thanks again for the continued prayers! Pray that God's will be done. He will never give us more than we can handle. Not to brag, but I'm pretty awesome then! :) I would like to note that I told Emily a few weeks ago I thought this would happen so I don't know why I was surprised today. Just another event to go through that I can use to relate to others. Talk to you guys soon! XOXO

Blakely's 16 Month Update

Height: about 31 inches
Weight: about 24 lbs... I feel like you are suddenly so heavy though!
Head Circumference: about 19 inches
Vision: We are good in this department. Nothing to report
Movement: You are a wild woman these days. It is so cute to watch you "run". You can't run yet, but when you want to play tag it looks like you are speed walking. It is so funny to watch you go. You are navigating steps better and don't sit down to do it as long as you have a hand or wall to balance yourself on when going down.
Eating Habits/New Foods: You still drink 2 -3 milks a day. You have discovered juice and are obsessed with it. You love to do your juice sign! You are liking pancakes, sausage, pineapple, watermelon, noodles, pizza, chicken, tomatoes, raisins, pirates booty, pretzels. You also tried shrimp for the 1st time and didn't mind it. You are not a big fan of cheeseburgers though.
Sleeping Patterns: You are sleeping through the night. You will wake up and moan and move around throughout the night, but you end up going back to bed. Still 1 nap a day and you sleep for about 2 hours. You wake up at 7:30ish and go to bed between 7:30 and 8.
Sounds/Words: You are talking so much these days. You can now say what, juice, more, no, go, sissy, hold you, happy, baby, shoe...literally everyday you learn a new word. Not so much sentences that we can understand, but you sure do tell us things. You are a LOUD feisty woman. You yell at your sister, fight back when she takes a toy, run from me when I tell you no. You definitely are going to give mom a run for her money.
New discoveries/accomplishments:
-You have 2 top molars that magically appeared. I always realize it after the fact and say well that explains why you were so fussy. LOL
-You are a crazy woman in the pool. You dive off the steps and think you can swim, but you cannot. You are kicking, and hold your breath for about 5 seconds, but someone has to help push you to the steps.
-You are obsessed with your My Gym class. I sing the opening song and you clap to it and then yell wahoo at the end of it!
-You watched your 1st fireworks and sat in amazement watching them.
-You are starting to do forward rolls on your own.
Places you went/Adventures: You did not have many adventures this month. Mom was on a cruise for 4 days so you hung out with Dad and Gram. And then Mom had her FET so we laid low this month. You got reacquainted with a schedule and your naps. Of course we had some trips to Chick-fil-a (you love the play area now) and ran some errands, but nothing to wild. You swim at least 5 days a week so that is fun!
Clothes: You are in 18-24 month clothes in all brands now. You are still in a size 5 diaper. Size 5 shoe
Sister updates: You guys are so great together 95% of the time. You have finally hit the age where you fight back and get what you want when Big sis takes advantage of you. She loves to help Mom by holding your hand when we walk, or picking you up to put you on the couch. She loves you so much!

(IN)FERTILITY FRIDAY

Hey guys! Here we are again on another infertility Friday. They are passing quickly which is a good thing. I am currently 6 Weeks and 5 days and theres not to much to report this week. I have been tired this week and the nausea is just starting to show itself in the past day or 2. We will see if it gets worse over the next few days. This is about the time when symptoms appeared for my other pregnancies so who knows. Still going strong with the shots and meds. My belly is definitely bigger than when we started this whole process. Not because of a baby though, it's from my heparin shots. I have lots of tiny lumps all over my stomach. It's definitely sore to the touch. Here are some before and afters. Hey at least I have gotten a tan over the past few weeks LOL.

This week is my big ultrasound. I have an appointment Wednesday afternoon to see what all is happening in there. Once you see a heartbeat and confirm baby is measuring on track, the chances of a miscarriage drop to 1% so I am really hoping for good news on Wednesday and that will alleviate some stress. I just read too much on the internet about there being an empty sac or baby measuring a week behind, which usually means you will have a miscarriage in the coming week or 2. So until Wednesday, I'm not going to feel great about anything. I really would appreciate your prayers for a little longer! They are working so I am going to ask for more for a good ultrasound on Wednesday! :)
I will be back on Wednesday evening to let you know how it goes. School starts this week for D and I have supper club on Tuesday so I have plenty to keep me busy and my mind off the ultrasound. We are just laying low this weekend. David is in Tampa for a work trip so the girls are just hanging. I hope you all have a great weekend and I'll be back on Wednesday with hopefully great news!

Emily's Bachelorette Recap

This past weekend we celebrated Emily with a little bachelorette weekend. Because so many friends are pregnant or breastfeeding babies, Emily decided to keep it low key and stay at a friends mom's beach house in Atlantic Beach. It was definitely like no other bachelorette I've ever been on. It was very low key. I guess thats what happens when you are the last one to get married and everyone is in their 30s. Friday night we had food catered to the house and did a little lingerie shower and played catchphrase. Saturday we went to the beach and just hung out. That night we went to dinner and to a bar for a little while and then called it a night. I was in bed by midnight both nights! It was a nice relaxing weekend which is what we needed because the wedding craziness is about to ramp up! I can't believe we are only 2 weeks away!!! Woohoo! 

Blakely's 15 Month Update

Mom of the Year over here completely missed poor Blakely's 15 month update! She is already 16 months so I will be posting both this week. Sorry Boo!
Height: 30 3/4 inches.... 58%
Weight: 22 lbs 13 oz.... 72%
Head Circumference: 18 3/4 inches...91%
Vision: We are good in this department. Nothing to report
Movement: You are a walker and can move around well these days. You never crawl anymore and are obsessed with your shoes. It is so cute to see you walk around in a diaper and shoes. You sit down and go feet first to go down a small step, but better safe than sorry!
Eating Habits/New Foods: You drink 2 -3 milks a day. We have changed from bottles to sippy cups  and you have them now in the morning when you wake up, a little bit before nap time and before bed. No more bottles thank you Lord. You are obsessed with fruit, smoothies, cheese, chicken, broccoli, pouches, yogurt melts, pizza, cereal (dry of course) and spaghetti. You like using a fork, but Mom hates the mess you make so it only happens every so often.
Sleeping Patterns: You are sleeping through the night all most every night unless you are sick or teething. We have moved to 1 nap a day. The nap is usually between 12 and 1 and you sleep for about 2 hours. You wake up at 7:30ish and go to bed between 7:30 and 8.
Sounds/Words: You have said lots of new words this month. You are like a little parrot. You try to repeat anything I say. You have mastered the help sign as well as the lizard sign. Whenever you see a lizard while swimming you surely let us know it's there. You are starting to get scared of some things and run to me when you see a lizard or hear a loud airplane.
New discoveries/accomplishments:
-You have 4 teeth on top now and 2 on the bottom.
-You went on many adventures this month and you are the greatest traveler in the car. You love watching DVDs with your sister.
-You are a full blown walker these days!
-You went tubing for the first time.
-You are getting great at swimming. You can swim from about 3 feet to the steps and are jumping off the stairs to me.
Places you went/Adventures: You had a very busy month. It started out with a surprise retirement party for Grammy, then we went to Lake Oconee for a week with all the cousins. You did pretty good there even those naps were here and there. While up there you went to the Georgia Aquarium and to Athens and went tubing for the first time. Then we made an overnight trip to West Palm Beach to see Linda & Leon. Then we headed to Cashiers for 4 days to go on the boat, swim, and celebrate 4th of July.
Clothes: You are in 18-24 month clothes in all brands now. You are still in a size 5 diaper. Size 5 shoe
Sister updates: You guys had such an awesome month together. Being in the car for 4-5 hours at a time could have been a disaster but it was great! You and Delainey both watched DVDs majority of the time and sat and laughed and played with each other. D would give you snacks and basically help with anything I needed. You also took the 8 hour car ride to Cashiers like a champ. Now that you are walking you can keep up with sis so you follow her around most of the time and it's so cute.

(IN)FERTILITY FRIDAY

Hey everyone! There is not much to report on this Infertility Friday, but no news is good news as far as I'm concerned. I haven't really felt any pregnancy symptoms yet. As crazy as it sounds, I want the nausea and exhaustion to hit because then I know my body is doing some work in there growing a baby. I have had some cramping, but from what I've read it is just your uterus stretching. I read back on my previous pregnancies and the symptoms hit at 6 weeks for Delainey & 7 weeks for Blakely so maybe in the next week or 2. I need to be careful what I wish for though :) I do take afternoon naps when Blakely sleeps so maybe I am more tired than usual, but just not noticing it as much. I will be 6 weeks on Sunday.

I would like to note that the shots are getting much better! Pops (my Dad) comes in every morning before work at 5:30 to give me a shot in the booty. I roll over and rub the site for a few minutes and then go back to sleep. I think laying still to let it absorb has really helped. Maybe every 5th or 6th day the shot will hurt, but that is much better than everyday and me limping around all day. The shots in the stomach are also hit or miss. I don't dread doing them anymore, but occasionally I'll hit a blood vessel and bleed and bruise. Oh well! I've got my sweet tankini I am sporting these days. LOL

After having a good 3rd blood draw, they scheduled me for a pregnancy ultrasound. I was supposed to go next Friday, but of course because I had to wait till Monday afternoon to schedule it, Friday is booked. So the anticipation will continue for another week and a half. My ultrasound is now scheduled for Wednesday August 24th....Grammy's birthday!

I am headed off to Emily's bachelorette this weekend. It is in Jacksonville
at her friends mom's beach house so nothing too wild and crazy, but it will be a nice relaxing weekend hanging out with the girls. I hope you all have a good week and hopefully  I'll be back next Friday to report another uneventful week.

3rd Blood Draw Results are In

So after a treacherous wait all day long. I finally got my results back from my 3rd blood test and they were 3364! They need to be at least 1800, but secretly I was hoping for 2000. We surpassed that so I am still pregnant and things are growing and moving in the right direction!

It literally was the longest day ever. I got there at 7:30 to try to beat the rush so I didn't have to sit in the lab for an hour like last Friday and ended up having to wait and hour and a half. The staff was so inefficient. So then I waited for my phone call all day and finally caved and called the Dr to hear the news at 2:45. They said the nurse was busy and they would have her call me back. Nothing. So at 3:30 I called again. I finally spoke to a nurse and when she looked up the results the lab had never sent over my hcg levels. Of course they didn't. She was going to call and have them faxed over and call me back. 3:50 rolls along and no phone call and the office closes in 10 minutes. I call back again and the girl tells me she will leave a message for a nurse. Thats when I about lost it and said no I need to know now. The sweet girl Gretchen promised she would personally call over there get the numbers and call me back. She had me worried, but 15 minutes later she called me back with the good news! Gretchen is getting a present thats for sure! So needless to say I am very relieved and glad that is over!

I treated myself and the girls to some Dunkin Donuts holes after my blood draw this morning. :)

So no news is good news for the next 2 weeks. I will have an ultrasound in 2 weeks and that is when we hopefully confirm everything looks good and find out how many babies are in there. Thank you guys for the prayers this past weekend. I was bummed out Friday, but by Saturday I had peace about the situation and felt pretty good. I knew it was in God's hands and whatever the outcome was, it was meant to be. I just wanted to know one way or the other. Of course I will not feel 100% about everything till I hit 13 weeks, but at least I feel a little better. Talk to you guys soon and maybe one of these days a post will not be about me and my fertility and back to my sweet sweet girlies! ;)

Here are a few cute pics of the girls over the weekend. 

 Such a difference and my children and my sisters children LOL.

(IN)fertility Friday - 2nd Blood Draw

Hey guys! I was hoping that I would come to you today and say I am pretty confident we can change the title of this weekly post from infertility to fertility Friday,  but that may not be the case. I had my 2nd blood draw today and the number is supposed to double every 48 hours. Mine did not. It went from 505 to 890 which is not horrible, but it's not doubling so I have to go in again on Monday and do another blood draw.

Call me a pessimist or whatever you may, but I just don't have a good feeling about this. To be honest I told my sister-in-law last week that I honestly didn't think I was even going to get pregnant. That because I was being so open with this whole process that it wasn't going to work and God was going to use my situation to show others how with him I can overcome tragedy and move forward and be confident in his plan. I told her even though I'm pregnant I still feel like a miscarriage would make a good teachable moment for me. I of course would rather not learn that lesson, but if that is what God has intended than that is what will be.

So for this entire weekend, I will be laying low and be a nervous wreck. I will be analyzing every cramp and pain I feel. :( I know worrying won't help the situation so I'm going to do my best not to, but I am only human! I would really appreciate some prayers and hopefully on Monday I will be able to say all this worrying was for nothing and things look good. Have a good weekend!

Blood Results are in and ....

I'M PREGNANT!!  Praise Jesus! Halleluiah! Thank you Lord! There really are no words to express how excited and thankful I am. All the pain I have been going through is minuscule because I now know that it was all worth it!

I have been secretly holding out on you guys since Saturday. I was getting a pedicure with my sister and I got a text from a friend asking if I had peed on a stick yet. I told her no because I was too scared  it was too early and would get a negative. Well Kelli jumped on the idea too and said she would go buy me one right then to do in the bathroom. I turned them both down, but then when I got home I couldn't stop thinking about it. I grabbed Dave told him I had to do it right this second and into the bathroom I went. I laid on the bed for the longest 3 minutes ever and prayed and when the timer went off Dave went to look at the results. It said yes and I busted into to tears!

 Can you see the tears streaming down my face!?!

The test made me feel pretty good, but I wasn't going to feel 100% confident until I heard back from the blood test today. I gave my blood and came home to wait for a phone call. Well I just got the call and anything over 5 means you are pregnant and I was 505. So I am definitely pregnant!! I go back again on Friday to make sure my number is doubling. If it does, we are good to go until my first ultrasound in 2 weeks!

Just got my blood drawn!

Thank you guys so much for your continued support and prayers! God heard them and he answered! I'll be back on Friday with my usual Infertility Friday update to let you know how the second blood draw was. But for now... I'm pregnant!