We Have a Name!!

When we found out we were pregnant, Anthony and I had agreed that if the baby was a boy then we would use his middle name, Truitt, as either the first or middle name. We had said we didn't really want to use any other family names, but after going through sooo many names nothing sounded right except for one. My dad's middle name is Kent...Truitt Kent sounded perfect! For a while we had said that the name would be Truitt Kent for a boy, and everyone liked it. However, as time went on it just didn't sit as well with me..kind of hard to explain.

Once we found out Baby B had a heart condition, we knew we had to pick a name with a strong meaning. I began going through books and googling different things, but still nothing. Finally I decided I would just pray about it...duh...I should have done that from the start! So I began asking the Lord to give us the perfect name. About a week after praying, Anthony's cousin sent me a message letting me know that she was praying for us, and that when she prayed she was calling Baby B Josiah which means God heals/Jehovah saves. As soon as I read that she was calling him Josiah I instantly began to cry. The Lord had answered my prayer through Katie...I knew in my heart that this was the name for our baby boy! I immediatly called Katie to tell her (even though she had said she completely didn't expect us to name him that). Anthony was at the gym at the time..and I couldn't wait for him to get home so I could tell him! He loved the name as well as the meaning.

And, so there you have it....Josiah Truitt Barfield!!
If you haven't ever read about Josiah in the Bible, I encourage you to do so. He was actually the King of Judah, and what a godly man he was! It is so nice to finally have a name, and in a way makes it more real. January 29th can't get here fast enough, we are ready to meet you Josiah!!

"Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did,

with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength..."

~2 Kings 23:25

Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome

Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome...after about 2 hours of a combination of waiting in the lobby and trying to get a good scan of Baby B, this was our diagnosis. I go back next Wednesday to rescan (they could not get a good picture of his mitral valve..he has learned to be a stinker about cooperating...). Dr. Videlefsky...or Dr. V for good reason, is pretty confident that this is what Baby B has and I feel pretty good about him being right as well. After all he is a pediatric cardiologist and focuses only on the heart and not the specialist who has to know a little bit about every part of the baby. So, I guess our diagnosis technically could change..but we will wait and see.

Let me first say how impressed Anthony and I were with Dr. V. He, along with his ultrasound tech were so incredibly patient with Baby B. They ended up alternating twice trying to get the pictures that they needed to make a diagnosis. Once Dr. V finished his second scan he told us he was going to go visit another patient, but after that he wanted to spend a lot of time with us in his office explaining everything that he had found.

We sat down and Dr. V drug his chair over to the same side of his desk that we were sitting. He took out a piece of paper and a pen, and then proceeded to tell us he wanted to draw us a picture of what exactly was going on with Baby B's heart. He began by telling us that Baby B has (from what he sees) a very serious heart condition known as Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. He then started drawing a picture of a normal heart and how it functions, including the lungs and body. He then explained to us how blood travels through the different chambers, arteries...basically the complete function of the heart. Next he began to point out what he saw to be wrong with B.

B has a hypoplastic left ventricle (hypoplastic just means small). This would explain why Dr. Pohl's ultrasound tech had trouble getting a good picture of all 4 heart chambers. He also has critical aortic valve stenosis (which means his aortic valve is very narrow). Dr. V also mentioned he could see where B's left ventricle tried to enlarge in order to push more blood through his aortic valve but was unsuccessful and has in turn caused some damage to the walls of his left ventricle.

The typical treatment for this is called the Norwood Operation and is broken up into 3 surgies. It has been around since the 1980s and has an 80%+ success rate.

Stage 1- will be at birth
Stage 2 - between 4-6 months
Stage 3 - between 18 months and 5 years

I never thought I would say I was greatful for taking that awful biology class my freshman year of college..and I can clearly remember staying up almost all night before a test we had, trying to memorize the entire heart because we were expected to redraw it. I am now thankful for that class! It made it a little easier to understand what Dr. V was explaining to us and what each surgery would consist of. I do not want to overload your brain with all kinds of medical terms or even try to explain what each surgery will do. But with each surgery Baby B's blood flow/circulation will greatly improve.

Now let me be completely honest and share with you what Dr. V has told us. There is (as of now) no cure for what Baby B has. The Norwood Operation only eliminates Baby B's use of his left ventricle and essentially reroutes how blood will flow through his heart. All of the work that the left ventricle normally does will be done by his right ventricle. Praise the Lord that doctors have been able discover that this is even possible and will give our baby a chance at life!! But, with the good comes the bad sometimes. Because Baby B's right side of his heart will be pulling double duty this means that his heart will more than likely tire out faster. Dr. V mentioned that many children by the time they are somewhere in their 20s usually require a heart transplant.

Right now my mind is not even focused that far in the future, and who knows what advances science will have made by that time anyhow. For now all of my attention is focused on keeping B put and allowing him to grow inside of me so that he will big and strong for what he will have to face when he is born. He has a strong heartbeat that was at 140 yesterday and from what every doctor has told me, there is no reason why I shouldn't be able to deliver B naturally. Unless of course "normal" emergencies arise and there would be a need for an emergency c-section. Some have asked what will happen after he is born. If all goes as planned, they will take him straight to the NICU and begin an IV of prostoglandin (a medicine that willl keep a certain part of is heart open that normally closes after birth). He will remain there for 2 days and then they will transport him to Egleston. By this time I should be alright to leave the hospital and be able to go with Anthony to be with B.

Many have asked how we are doing emotionally, and I can honestly say we have an over abundant sense of peace and comfort about this entire situation. Now I would be lying and we wouldn't be human if I said we didn't have our moments from time to time. It's hard to think about the life threatening situation your baby is going to have to face as soon as he is born. We have chosen to look at the many blessings the Lord has given us so far. The blessing of knowing about B's heart before hand rather than after he is born. The blessing of having the Norwood Operation to help B's blood circulate through his heart in a different manner. The comfort of knowing that Christ knew exactly how B would be formed before he was even conceived and that none of this information is knew to Him. The privilege to go the the Lord in prayer and ask for specific healing of B's condition and knowing that if He so chooses, He can perform a miracle and completely heal B before he even gets here. Let me say we know that Baby B WILL be healed one way or another, whether it be from a miraculous healing from our Lord, through the surgery performed by the doctors, or when He meets Jesus and is given a new body. Baby B wins no matter what...

As I have said many times before, the Lord places trials in our path for a good reason. We don't know what the Lord has in store and I look forward to the day when I can look back and say "So...this is what you had in mind..."

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

before you were born I set you apart..."

~Jeremiah 1:5



Not IF You Face Trials, But WHEN

***UPDATE: I wrote this post on Friday after we had our appointment with the specialist. Please note that Baby B's diagnosis has changed, but from Friday-Tuesday morning this is what we believed he had. I felt I should still post this because it is a part of our journey. Unfortunately his new diagnosis is not better. In fact, not that I wish he had a heart problem, but since he does I kind of wish it would have been this rather than the news we received yesterday (9/25/12)...I will post soon about what we have found out)***

Today we had our appointment with Maternal Fetal Specialists. Dr. Pohl referred us to the specialist after we had our 20 week anatomy scan because they were unable to get a clear picture of the 4 chambers of Baby B's heart. Our appointment was at 9:30 (really 10 but I had to fill out a huge packet of papers).  Shortly after 10 I was called back to check my vitals and leave a urine sample (what's new? haha). I was then sent back to the waiting room and Anthony and I proceeded to wait 45 minutes....yes, I was actually starting to get a little annoyed. Finally they called us back and we were taken to room one, the perfect place to take a nap! Dim light and no noise =) The ultrasound tech was very nice! Baby B was actually in a good position to check his heart so she went ahead and did that first. **his head was on the right side as well...every other time we've seen him he's been on the left, guess it was time for a change!**

We could definitely tell that this scan was more in depth as you could see the baby's blood flow in the heart (and other parts like the umbilical cord) with different colors on the screen. The entire week I had had such a peace about what we were going to find out at this appointment. I expected the tech to say "alright, I don't see any problems, baby boy is perfectly fine". However, as the scan continued and the tech remained pretty quite I felt in my heart that something probably wasn't right. I could tell Anthony felt the same way as he will usually talk to me and say "oh look at that", etc. She proceeded to cheack other parts of the baby (measuring the head, looking at the brain, etc) pretty much what my doctor's office had done last week. She also reaffirmed Baby B was definitely a boy! After the scan we waited for the doctor to come in and tell us the results. After about 10 minutes of waiting Dr. Read finally knocked on the door and walked in. He introduced himself and and asked why we believed we were here. I told him what Dr. Pohl had told us (about the 4 chambers and movement of the wall). He then proceeded to tell us that the baby did have something wrong with his heart. The next several minutes, we received what seemed like a whirlwind of information...

Dr. Read explained to us what he believed to be the 2 defects of Baby B's heart (this diagnosis will be confirmed at my appointment next Tuesday with Dr. Videlefsky, the Pediatric Cardiologist). 1) Transposition of the two great vessels and 2) Ventricular Septal Defect. So...what does that mean? Let me explain to the best of my knowledge, and I'm sure I'll learn more as we have more doctor's appointments:

1) Tranposistion - this basically means that the 2 main arteries leaving the heart are switched which does not allow adequate mixing of oxygenated and unoxygenated blood to mix.

2) Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) - this is a hole in the heart. And, according to Dr. Read this is actually an ok/good thing right now as it is allowing some of his blood to mix.

The only way to fix transposition is with surgery, actually 3 surgeries from what Dr. Read explained. But, at least it IS fixable! What will more than likely take place (keep in mind this could change I guess, we will find out more next Tuesday and at another appointment that we will have with a pediatric cardiac surgeon). is after Baby B is born he will be given some medication (from what I've read it might be prostaglandin) and will then have to be stabalized. Once he is stabalized he will be transported to Elgeston Children's Hospital where he will undergo his first heart surgery. Now, I'm not exactly sure when the next 2 surgeries will take place, there was a ton of information to take in at the time, but I believe Dr. Read said all 3 surgeries would be completed by the age of 6 months. SHEW...what a lot to comprehend!!

It's kind of difficult to breakdown all the emotions and thoughts that were running through my mind while in the ultrasound room. Part of me wanted to breakdown and have a good cry, but the other part of me wanted to hold it all together so that I could understand everything Dr. Read was explaining to us. You could classify me as the "worrier" type, I am definitely the emotional one in the marriage...that's alright I'm a girl! Today I was not the normal "me"...I have no doubt the Lord held me together as we received the news about Baby B and all the things we learned we are going to experience after he is born. You know, you usually tend to say to yourself or to someone who is going through something big like this, "I have no clue how I would feel or how I would handle that! I don't think I would be able to...". But, you know what...you alone are not getting yourself through whatever trial you may be expriencing, it is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ! He gives us exactly what we need, He sustains us and holds us together when we want to fall apart. I have no doubt He was right there with us when we received this news, He had to be...because it is an unexplainable feeling of comfort and a clear mind that I had as Dr. Read was explaining everything to us.

As we were waiting for the nurse to come back in to let us know when our appointment would be, the song "If You Want Me To" by Ginny Owens popped into my mind... you can listen to it HERE. I have no idea what the Lord has in store for us and others during this trial. And, keep in mind He never said if you experience trials, but WHEN you experience trials. I do know He uses all things for His glory. I will just continue to pray for His will to be done and that some day I will understand why He allowed us to go through this. Maybe it is to draw us closer to Him, maybe it's so someone will come to Christ, I'm not sure what all the Lord will do from this trial, but I know it will be something! I will choose to accept it now and understand it later...

"If You Want Me To" -Ginny Owens

 

The pathway is broken
And The signs are unclear
And I don't know the reason why You brought me here
But just because You love me the way that You do
I'm gonna walk through the valley
If You want me to

Chorus:
Cause I'm not who I was
When I took my first step
And I'm clinging to the promise You're not through with me yet
so if all of these trials bring me closer to you
Then I will walk through the fire
If You want me to

It may not be the way I would have chosen
When you lead me through a world that's not my home
But You never said it would be easy
You only said I'd never go alone

 

So When the whole world turns against me
And I'm all by myself
And I can't hear You answer my cries for help
I'll remember the suffering Your love put You through
And I will go through the valley If You want me to


Gender Reveal Party!

We decided we wanted to throw a gender reveal party once we found out we were pregnant...since they're all the rage right now =) After telling them family mom said she and dad wanted to help...I think she was hoping I would tell her early what we were having! The hardest part was determining who we would invite..even just limiting to family could have potentially made for a huge party! All of Anthony's family lives here while all of my family either in North Carolina, Ohio, or California. We came to the conclusion to only have the grandparents-to-be and great grandparents-to-be come for the family and then we also invited a few close friends. I hated having to limit family, but there is just no cut-off point and we would have ended up having to book the fellowship hall at church!

The party was scheduled for Sunday the 16th at 2:30 in the afternoon. That gave Anthony and I 4 whole days to keep the secret between just the 2 of us =) it was nice, but hard at the same time!Everyone kept trying to get us to slip up and say "he" or "she" and it was actually much harder than I thought to keep from spilling the beans!! I kept saying "trust me,  it's just as hard to know and not say anything as it is for you not to know".

We originally wanted to have the party at our house, but once we started figuring up who all would there, we realized there was no way our little house would comfortably fit everyone. The party ended up being at my mom and dads and it worked out pretty well. Mom and dad rearranged some of the furniture so that everyone would have a place to sit, and I attempted to decorate a little. There was also WAY too much food..but that's alright we had leftovers for the next few days =) Rather then revealing with cake or cupcakes, we decided to reveal the gender with a box of balloons.

**A note to those of you who might plan on doing the balloon reveal or just need a large box: we asked a bunch of stores and dad ended up getting Academy Sports to save him 2 from one of their shipments. Anthony and I found out when we went to Party City to get balloons that they have a big cardboard dumpster that they throw tons of boxes (of all sizes) away in. The lady blowing up our balloons mentioned that the dollar store had a cardboard dumpster as well.**

Once everyone was finished eating and we fellowshiped for a bit, I shared the prayer quilt my Aunt Debbie had made for the baby and brought down during her and Uncle Mike's Labor Day weekend visit (I'll post a separate blog about that). Then of course mom shared a few things and made everyone cry, thanks mom! After that we all headed outside for the big reveal.

We gathered at the end of the driveway so mom and dad's big oak trees wouldn't get in the way and then proceeded to cut open the box....as soon as we opened it all of the BLUE balloons flew out and everyone cheered!! It was so fun to see everyone's reaction!! Pretty much everyone, minus a few friends and family, decided to head back home. The rest of us went back inside since it was hot and we shared the outfit we had bought to bring Baby B home in. We all just kind of hung out for a but and then decided it was time to clean up. I'm glad we ended up throwing the reveal party. I'm not sure I would do it with every child as it took some planning and getting ready for, but I'm glad we did it.

 

 

 

 

...Now, if we could just decide on a name!

What's Baby B Going to Be?

September 12th was our scheduled anatomy/gender scan and 9:30 couldn't get here fast enough!! Anthony, as usual met up with me at the doctor's office and we headed back to the ultrasound room. We had debated for a few weeks prior whether or not to find out at the appointment what the Baby B was or if we would have them write it down, go out to dinner, and then find out over dinner what the gender was. We decided at the doctor that we would just go ahead and find out while we were there and it ended up being the first thing she checked!

Let me say, there was no denying it was a BOY! As soon as she got a good picture I asked "is that a boy??" and she said "it sure is!". How exciting!! The whole time everyone had been asking me if I had a feeling of what it was and I honestly have to say there was no special feeling. Everyone had been thinking it was a boy so I just kind of went with the flow and thought maybe it was. Anthony had been thinking girl, but I think he was presently surprised when we found out it was a boy! One of the nice things is we can narrow our name search to just boys!!

The rest of the scan consisted of checking measurements of different things like his head, stomach, and different bones. Everythings measured great but she did have some trouble with his heart. He wasn't in the best position and she ended up going back 3 or 4 times to try and get a good clear picture of the four chambers of his heart. she mentioned she would let Dr. Pohl know she had some trouble, because she said she'd rather be honest then say she could clearly see all 4 chambers. We were sent back to the waiting room with a few pictures, one of which is by far my favorite, he looks like he is praying =)

Praying Baby B!

After a short wait we were called back to meet with Dr. Pohl. He greeted us and asked how we were and then began to explain the information the tech had relayed to him. He confirmed that she did have trouble finding the fourth chamber of his heart and that she was concerned with some of the movement of the wall of his heart. Surprisingly at this point, I wasn't freaking out. We patiently listened as Dr. Pohl told us that he would schedule an appointment for us to go to Maternal Fetal Specialists to get a follow-up ultrasound of Baby B's heart. I asked him what he thought could be wrong, but of course there was no way to tell as of yet, or even if there was anything wrong. He did say that there are around 50 different things that can be wrong with a baby's heart and they range from mild to severe. But, other than that he couldn't really tell us much more until we had the results from the other scan. I remember him saying "try not to worry, even though I know you probably will..".

He asked how everything else was going and if I had any questions. The only thing I asked was if it was normal to feel like you're breaking in half when you turn over in the middle of the night! So far that's been the worst part of pregnancy...it is NOT fun to switch sides..Of course it can be normal since your body is releasing certain hormones to losen all your ligaments, etc. I just have to suck it up ;)..and did I mention my pelvic bone has started to pop as well..it sounds terrible, haha!

Surprising Family

The day we had decided to tell our family had finally come!! My mom's birthday is on June 20th and we had planned to tell her and my dad then, but we were so close to 12 weeks and we couldn't keep the secret any longer. So, we decided to give her her birthday present a week early!

My mom has been a hair dresser for over 50 years! And, one day Anthony told me he wanted me to learn how to cut his hair...coming from the man who is pretty picky about getting his hair cut every 2 weeks (at least he used to be)...are you kidding? Mom had taught me how to put on her color, so I had been doing that for quite some time, but a man's haircut?? Anyhow, she taught me about a year ago and I have been cutting Anthony's hair ever since. Talk about saving some money!! Before mom retired she had been doing hair in her salon, located in their basement, for the past few years and so I have a great place to cut hair. We've made it a routine that about every 2 weeks we will come over on a Friday or Saturday so I can cut Anthony's hair. We decided that on Friday (July 13) that we would head over to "cut Anthony's hair" and give mom her birthday present early. Perfect plan...they wouldn't suspect a thing.

With Shiloh (baby #1) I had bought 2 bibs, one that said "I love Grandma" and "I love Grandpa". We had planned on surprising them with the bibs until we had our miscarriage, and then I tucked them away in a drawer. I was so excited I would finally be able to use them! I wrapped them both up separately and placed them on the bottom of a gift bag. About 20 minutes after getting to my parent's house we made mom come in and open her gift. Anthony had our camera and was able to video the whole thing! Her reaction was great, and of course dad was excited but he's more of the quite type =). Mom and dad had a sunday school get together that evening and mom insisted that they "wear" the bibs to show everyone...

Proud Grandma and Grandpa Reck!
This will be grandbaby #9!

We waited until Saturday to tell Anthony's parents. Anthony and his dad referee little league football in the fall and they ended up having to ref some early scrimage games that morning/afternoon. We planned on having pizza at their house after they had finished and I offered to bring the dessert. I decided to get a cookie cake at Publix and I had a lady at the bakery write "We're having a baby!" on it. I palced it in a dish and covered it in foil so they wouldn't be able to see it. About 30 minutes after eating we decided to get out the desert..I'll never forget Sharon saying "just bring me a piece.." I told her she HAD to come see it because it was the best desert I had made yet, haha! Bubba took off the foil and immediately shouted "whoohooo!" It took Sharon a second to read it and then repeatedly said "are you kidding, oh my gosh!". We again were able to get their reaction on camera and it was great! Jessica, Anthony's sister left that Thursday for a vacation in Mexico and we knew she wouldn't have service on her phone. We ended up sending her a little clip of an ultrasound and she immediatley called congratulating us!

The surprise cookie cake!

All of the surprises turned out wonderful and we couldn't have asked for better reactions from everyone!

I Know You're Sick of Doctor Posts =)

**To save you from reading more boring posts about doctors appointments, I'll just combine a couple so we can try to get caught up to present time:

June 12 appointment:
I had my 3rd Doctors appt. in 3 weeks today. I must say it's kind of nice to be able to see your baby each week and get that extra reassurance that everything is ok. Anthony wasn't able to go this time but I asked him if he could take off for the next one in 3 weeks...seems so far away! Everything looked great again. The baby had definitely gotten bigger and Dr. Pohl mentioned that it had a lot of room to grow, which is good. He said the babies that usually get in trouble are the ones who don't have a very big gestational sac to grow in. He also noted and showed me 2 spots around the outside of my endometrium. I can't recall what he said they were called but he explained that it had something to do with my low progesterone. He again stressed thats why it was so important that I'm taking the Prometrium. The 2 spots are nothing to worry about but he said they will probably clot off and make their way out (glad he told me so I'll be prepared and not freak out!).

He measured the baby and it stayed right on track showing that it's right at 7 weeks, so Dr. Pohl made my official due date January 29, 2013! I asked him when we'd be "out off the woods" and he said normally it would be 8 weeks, but because of this whole progesterone thing, not until 10 weeks...3 weeks! It feels so far away! I saw the heartbeat again and he made a picture plus a dvd for me! So neat to be able to show Anthony since he wasn't there. I also met with him in his office as he had a couple things he wanted to ask/share with me. First he wrote my due date on the back of a card, lol. Then he asked if I was planning on having a natural vaginal childbirth. I said yes and he replied "good, that's how I believe it was meant to be anyways, I have a very low c-section rate as well". Glad to hear that as I do not plan on having a c-section unless absolutely necessary. And, we're going to attempt no epidural as well...we will see! He also discussed the optional 12/13 week ultrasound (the nuchal fold scan) to do genetic testing for down syndrome, etc. Anthony and I haven't discussed this thouroughly yet, but I'm leaning towards no, because there is always that chance of a false positive which would just lead to extra worry. And, we will love our baby no matter what.

Baby B at 7 weeks!

July 3 appointment:
July 3 is Anthony's dad's birthday. We had debated whether or not to let the family in on our little secret, but decided we would continue waiting until we got closer to the end of the first trimester.

Anthony was able to meet me at this appointment (he's only missed 1 so far). My vitals and weight were fine and we had another ultrasound as well. This one was the best by far because Baby B actually looked like a little baby and not just like a little peanut!! You could see it's legs and arms moving all around, it was so precious! The baby definitely put on a little show for us and even had the hicups at the end...melt my heart!! Baby B measure right around 1 1/2 inches and had a good strong heartbeat.

Baby B at 10 weeks!

We decided to go ahead and do the nuchal fold ultrasound, but not the blood tests (which according to Dr. Pohl tend to have a greater chance of false positives). While doing the ultrasound Dr. Pohl mentioned he could tell the baby looked normal and therefore the unltrasound should be fine. This will also give us another chance to see the baby, who wouldn't want to do that!?


July 25 appointment:
Today we had the nuchal fold ultrasound and everything looked and measured great!! It was soo fun to see how much Baby B had grown!!! B was very wiggly and active this morning..so it took a while for the ultrasound tech to get a good picture of what she needed. We did get a cute picture of B with his/her hand in their mouth =)

Hand in mouth

Don't Worry be Happy

Tuesday (6/5/12) finally got here and I met Anthony at the doctors for my appointment. We did the normal routine of weight/blood pressure, and then sat in our room waiting for our second ultrasound. Dr. Pohl knocked on the door and came in. I think at that point my heart was about to beat out of my chest! I was ready to see this baby and make sure everything was alright. I remember praying and asking the Lord to prepare my heart for whatever news we were going to receive that morning. As soon as Dr. Pohl found the baby on the ultrasound  he said "looks like we have a baby with a  heartbeat!"...I on the other hand had no clue how in the world he could tell. He had me lay still and showed me where you could see the baby's heart beating on the screen, what an awesome feeling and relief to see your baby's heartbeat for the first time!! Everything looked perfect, and Dr. Pohl estimated that the heartbeat was around 120 BPM.

Baby B's second picture!

 

I mentioned to Dr. Pohl that I had expereinced some spotting and cramping that weekened and he reassured me that the cramping was better to have than the spotting, which made me feel a lot better. He also explained that the Prometrium I'm on for my progesterone levels could have caused the spotting if I had taken a dose a little late. Taking a dose late could cause my levels to drop, therefore causing the spotting. That definitely made me realize how important taking that stuff is. I hate taking it but I will if it means it's keeping that baby in there! I was thinking it might have been from going to the driving range, but not necessarily. However, Anthony and I decided I will avoid golfing for awhile just in case.

One of the worst symptoms so far has been feeling sick to my stomach anytime I think about food (especially healthy food, like veggies!). Nausea can also be a symptom of the Prometrium so I'm guessing it's a little of both. I have been living off of carbs for a while..which I feel terrible about eating, but it's the only thing I can stand to eat! Hello hashbrowns and grits...and the entire can of Pringles salt and vinegar chips that I finished off in 2 days!...oh and the nightly bowl of Cocoa Puffs. I'll mention I'm shocked I haven't gained 10 pounds already but instead I've lost about 2 pounds, but I'm not complaining!!

We go back next Tuesday (6/12/12) at 2:45pm for another ultrasound. Dr. Pohl likes to scan a good bit since I am on the progesterone. Technically he didn't want to scan until the following week, but he will be out of town on vacation. Anthony mentioned again after the appointment how glad he was we switched doctors, and I must agree!!

No More Golf

Anthony has an awesome schedule for work! He works 10 hour days Monday-Thursday and has every Friday off. It's so nice when I'm not substituting to be able to have a 3 day weekend. Just recently, Anthony has gotten into golf. I grew up with my dad playing and he started taking me to the driving range at a pretty young age. I enjoyed it but didn't really stick with it once I started playing travel softball. Rather than playing softball in college, I ended up playing golf with my roommate. They needed an extra girl for their team, and since I had played a little before I thought why not? I am SO glad Ashley (my roommate) talked me into playing! It was such an awesome experience, I learned a lot, and even got to travel to different places to play on some pretty cool golf courses!

Ashley and I on probably the coldest day I've ever played golf!

He was such a great boyfriend for coming with my
dad to walk 18 holes and watch me play



The best golf trip we took was to Jekyll Island! SO fun!



I had been bugging Anthony to try out golf and he finally decided he would give it a try. Golf has got to be one of the  most frustrating sports. One day you'll play great and the next you can look like you've never even picked up a club. I think Anthony has finally learned that and has begun to enjoy it more. His swing has definitely improved!

Great action shot!
 

At my first doctors appointment, I asked Dr. Pohl if I could still play golf. I think I kind of caught him off guard, haha, because he stopped for a second and then said he didn't see why not. So, Anthony and I decided to hit up the driving range the Friday after my appointment. Anthony and I split a bucket and we spent about an hour hitting on the range. I felt pretty good but didn't want to over do it. The next day I noticed a little bit of spotting after I had gone to the bathroom...and my heart stopped! I had also been experiencing some cramping. That was how my miscarriage had started and that was all I could think about. Of course Anthony told me not to worry and that everything would be alright, but Tuesday (my next doctor's appointment) couldn't get here fast enough! We both decided that golf would be put on hold until after the baby comes. Needless to say, Anthony has been working very hard on his golf game and is convinced he will beat me the first time we actually get to play 18 holes together...in his dreams! =)

Finally! I've almost brought you guys up to speed with where we are at in life today!!
My first doctor's appointment (besides the quick bloodwork check) was on Wednesday, May 30th. Anthony was able to be there with me, which was nice since he couldn't go to the last baby's first appointment. I did the whole pee in a cup thing and the most exciting part was, we had our first ultrasound! And, it put our estimated due date at January 22, 2013! This was our first time actually getting to meet Dr. Pohl. He was very nice and asked us a lot of questions. It seemed he was really interested in getting to know us. My next appointment was scheduled for the following Tuesday at 3:45 for another ultrasound at 7 weeks. I still have to take the Prometrium (Progesterone) 100mg 3 times a day until I'm 12 weeks. The one positive thing about having to take the Prometrium was that I got to see the baby quite a few times because Dr. Pohl likes to scan about every other week until after the first trimester. I did ask if the progesterone deficiency was a one time thing, or if it will be something I'll have to do for each pregnancy...more than likely,  I will have to take it for each pregnancy.

Baby B's very first picture!

The ultrasound showed me measuring at 5 weeks 6 days. That wasn't too far off from going by the first day of my last period which had me a 6 weeks 1 day. What an amazing feeling it is to be able to be reassured that, yes, you do have a baby in there and it looks like a little egg at this point! I guess it was really just the yolk sac, but still cool!

No Such Thing as Coincidences

"Many are the plans in a person's heart,

but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails" ~Proverbs 19:21

After subbing at one school for quite some time, I mentioned to one of the ladys in the office that I was looking for a new OB/GYN. She immediately mentioned she went to Dr. Pohl at Women's Healthcare Consultants of Gwinnett and couldn't say enough good things about him. She also told me about 2 other teachers that used him (one of which was pregnant at the time). And now has the cutest baby girl!..Congrats Emily!!

I was a little skeptical at first since it was a male doctor. I had only been to women up until this point, but the referrals for him were great so I had to check him out. Tuesday, the day after I found out I was pregnant, I became really sick. I woke up feeling like I had a terrible case of the flu! I was nauseous, my lower back hurt like crazy, I had a headache, and a fever of 102. I knew I had to call in and let the school know I wouldn't be able to come in. When Cicely answered the phone I told her what was going on. As much as I didn't want to "let the cat out of the bag", I told her I was pregnant and thought maybe I should call the doctor. She congratulated me and said that they normally don't see patients until about 8 weeks. With that information I debated for about 2 hours at home before finally deciding to call. I can recall telling Anthony "If this is what it feels like to be pregnant, I'm not sure I want anymore kids..." Hah! I must have felt terrible!!

The lady on the other side of the phone was super sweet. I told her I was a new patient and what was going on, and for some reason I felt the need to tell her I had had a mscarriage back in January. THANKFULLY I did. She then asked if I would be available to come in for some bloodwork. I told her sure and asked when they had an appointment, her answer "whenever you can get here". I hurried and got dressed and made my way to the office. I waited for about 10 min. and Ms. Pam (the nurse) called me back. She drew some blood and told me they like to check progesterone levels, especially if you've had a miscarriage before. If my levels were low, it could possibly cause a miscarriage if not treated. They told me they would call as soon as they got the results, and so I went home to try and get some rest/feel better.

Wednesday came and I felt SOO much better (must have been some sort of 24 hour flu thing). Doctor Pohl's office called that morning and told me that my progesterone levels came back and were at 11.1...and they like for them to be over 20. Wow, almost half of what it should be! They called me in a prescription for Prometrium (progesterone) and said I needed to start taking it ASAP. I took 4 pills a day: 1 in the morning, 1 in the afternoon, and 2 at night until I was 12 weeks.

Now let me just stop and say how AWESOME God is. Looking back He had been at work all along. Had I not had my miscarriage, I probably would not have switched doctors. Had I not gotten terribly sick I would have waited to schedule my appointment for 8 weeks. Had the nurse not been so diligent I would not have had early bloodwork done to find the progesterone deficiency. And, had I not had the bloodwork, this pregnancy could have possibly ended in a miscarriage as well...that my friends is NOT merely a matter of coincidence. That is the work of and almighty God who is always looking out for us whether we acknowledge it or not. We might not understand while we're going through the storm, but when the clouds clear we can always look back and see He was at work all along. Ahh...it gives me chill bumps everytime I think about it!!

"...With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible" ~Matthew 19:26

Life Goes On

Everytime I hear that saying the old tv show called "Life Goes On" theme song pops into my mind. Anyone remember that? I'm not sure how I do. I was pretty young when it came on air, I guess I remember the theme song more than anything. I just learned today it was by the Beatles when I looked it up..."Ob-la-di, ob-la-da life goes on brah, la la how the life goes on.." If you can't quite recall the song, here is a youtube link to the song

Just as the song title says, life does go on and ours continued.
**I forgot to say a couple things in my last post about coping with our miscarriage, so I'll just add them here. With it being such an early miscarriage it felt that as the weeks went by it almost seemed like it didn't really happen. Anthony and I decided we would name our baby even though we didn't know the gender. It definitely helped us heal and it was nice to be able to put a name to our baby and not have to always refer to it as "the baby". It made it more real to us. I wanted the name to have a special meaning to it and be gender neutral. I searched and searched and finally decided on Shiloh. If you know the story of Hannah in the Bible you will recall that Hannah desperately wanted children but was barren. She and her husband would go every year to the land of Shiloh, where Hannah would pray for a baby. The name Shiloh just seemed to stick with me. And Hannah's story ends with good news. She eventually became pregnant with her son Samuel. I believe this baby was the Lord's way of saying "trust me". I know the Lord will bless us with babies one day, we need only wait on His timing.**

I had mentioned earlier that last year I nannied twin boys up until December. Their mom was able to quit her job and stay home with them, what a blessing!! Before I had agreed to watch the boys I had been planning on applying to Gwinnett County to do some substituting. When I started college I was an early childhood major, but when I transferred from Piedmont to GGC I only had 4 degrees to choose from: psychology, biology, information technology, or business...so I went with business.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for my business degree, but the more I took business classes the more I realized business was NOT for me! I did learn things that I think every person should know, ie: finance, accounting, etc. When I graduated I started the process of becoming a sub, and let me tell you, the requirements have definitely changed! You had to have your 4 year degree and take and pass both sections of the GACE, what?? Crazy...but I studied for the GACE and passed both sections in February (2011). Around that time I was offered the nanny position, and it actually worked out perfectly.

Starting this past March I began subbing in 2 elementary schools and I absolutely love it! Thankfully I knew people who worked at both schools and it definitely helped me get my foot in the door!! I ended up substituting almost everyday towards the end of the year!  It kept me busy and it felt like the end of the year flew by! Plus I love being in the school environment and around all the little kiddos so I couldn't have asked for a better job =)

I was scheduled to substitute the last 3 days of school (Mon, Tues, Wed). Since my miscarriage I had become pretty "regular" which was kind of nice, since I hadn't been in quite a while. Monday came around and I decided to take a pregnancy test. I had been having some cramps and I was a few days late, so I thought what the heck? To my utter shock it came back positive!! I guess I should mention the date: May 21, 2012.

I had told myself that if we ever got pregnant again that I would actually surprise Anthony...well that didn't happen! After I had my little cry in the bathroom, I came out to the living room where Anthony was eating breakfast and just showed him the test. He was in shock like I was. We were both very happy, but a little reserved. After you've had a miscarriage it kind of makes you a little apprehensive  to get all crazy excited when you know what could possibly happen. According to the calendar I was around 5 weeks pregnant!

Positive! May 21, 2012

God is so GOOD!

Christmas Gift and Grief

Warning: There might possibly be a little TMI for some...

Morning of December 23, 2011:
I’m standing in the bathroom in utter shock…for the first time I had gotten a positive pregnancy test! Surely I had gotten a false positive. Or was there a reason I was sick (sick as in I had a cold and couldn’t seem to get rid of it) and was on day 46 of my cycle with no PMS symptoms in sight. In astonishment I went back to the bed and said “Anthony look at this”. I don’t think I’ll ever forget his response “What is that?”..haha! I told him it was a positive pregnancy test and he couldn’t believe it. I remember him saying “are you serious?”.

The first of 3 tests I ended up taking, I didn't believe it

December 26, 2011:
I ended up calling my original OB/GYN office (mainly because it was so much closer than the 40-45 min. drive to the John's Creek area). When the receptionist answered I told her I would like to schedule a confirmation of pregnancy appointment. I will never forget her completely rude tone and response, "Well ma’am we do the same thing you do at home, a urine test. You just need to schedule a first visit". Maybe just reading this it doesn’t sound too bad..I guess you just had to be on the phone. I tend to have a lot of patience with people and I'm usually that person who is extremely nice to anyone I'm talking to on the phone, but for some reason I snapped back at her and said “Well ma’am this is my first pregnancy and I don’t exactly know the routine, so tell me what I need to do”. Anyhow…They had an opening for Tuesday, January 3rd and so I scheduled my first appointment for then. 
**I wasn't exactly sure how far along I was at this point. If I went by the first day of my last period I was somewhere around 7 1/2 weeks...but who knows how accurate that was. Like I had said earlier my poor cycles were so crazy**

January 3rd:
This day felt like it took 2 months instead of a week to get here. Since Anthony could not get off of work, I decided to invite my friend Kalyn to come with me to my appointment. I went through the normal check in procedures and waited for them to call me back. Let me mention, that I had started spotting on Sunday (2 days prior) but it had stopped by the time I had my appointment.

After being called back I did the whole check your weight and leave a urine sample thing, and then waited for Dr. Hamidi to come back. She finally knocked on the door and walked in saying "Congratulations! According to my calculations your tentative due date will be August 13, 2012". How exciting, 1 day before Anthony's birthday! She performed an examine and noted that it felt like maybe I was only about 5-6 weeks along but blood work would be able to tell for sure. I had mentioned that I had been spotting, but she reassured me that that was completely normal. And that was that, they took some blood and we were on our way home.

January 4th:
I remember waking up in the middle of the night with TERRIBLE cramps...to the point where I couldn't go back to sleep. So I camped out in the living room until Anthony woke up to get ready for work. I hated to wake him up since he get's up pretty early. I told him what was going on and that I didn't have a great feeling about it. About 5 minutes later I was in the bathroom...and I won't share with you the details, but it was probably one of the worst experiences ever. At first I was thinking maybe this is normal, the nurse did say I could have some more spotting after an exam. I kept trying to tell myself that, but deep down I knew what was happening...

I waited for the next 3 hours until my doctor's office opened so I could call and ask what they thought was going on/what I should do. They transferred me to the nurses line and I mentioned to her what was happening. She said that could be completely normal (but I knew it wasn't, nobody usually passes that much blood/clots and everything still be "normal"). Her next words confirmed what I already knew to be true in my heart. My hCG levels had come back much lower than they should have been at this piont in pregnancy, but she tried to reassure me that sometimes they can be low and then all of a sudden spike. I would have to go back Friday for more blood work to check and see.

I'm not sure I can fully describe to you the emotions I exprienced the rest of the day. I think only other women out there who have suffered the tragic loss of a baby through miscarriage probably know how I felt. And, as I've learned through this journey there are many, many women who have traveled that road..more than I would have ever imagined. I will say one of the things that has stuck with me, and it may sound strange to some, it really bothered me that sometime during that morning I had to flush my baby down the toilet...no matter how small/young that baby was.

Not just in the good times but also in the bad times...

For the next 2 Fridays I had to go have my blood drawn to make sure my hormone levels were going back to where they should be. I dreaded having to go...I hated having to see all those pregnant women who were there to have a regular check up, while I was there to make sure I had passed everything, and that my body was going back to "normal"...

"..The Lord gave, and the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord" -Job 1:21



Over the next several weeks I greived and prayed and questioned why God would let this happen. Anthony and I would pray together and I would usually end up crying, but as the weeks went by it became easier to handle. The only thing I had to remember this baby by was pictures of my 2 postive pregnancy tests, no ultrasound picture. I had never really had the opportunity to see my baby and in some respects I feel like that kept me from having that full connection and maybe made it a little easier to deal with. A sweet friend (who also experienced a miscarriage a week after I did) messaged me this song she had been listening to: "I Will Carry You" by Selah...If you get a chance to read about Todd (one of the singers from Selah) and Angie Smith's journey with their daughter Audrey I would encourage you to do so. I think there are a couple youtube videos about it as well. It made my struggle seem so small.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths..." -Proverbs 3:5-6

And the Journey Continues

Almost a year into our journey and there was no baby in sight. I am usually a pretty positive person and like to look at things from an optomistic perspective. Anthony and I had been praying throughout this entire journey for His will to be done and for us to have patience and be still and wait on His plan. But, I must say as the months went by it grew harder and harder to not get a heavy heart every time we heard someone we knew was expecting a baby. Don't get me wrong, I'm always very happy to hear when those we love have a received one of God's greatest blessings!! But, if I'm honest I would sometimes catch myself asking "why haven't we received our blessing yet?".

I began nannying twin boys shortly after I graduated from college for a couple who was in our sunday school class. Brie and I would talk occasionally about what was going on and she suggested that if I really wanted to get a second opinion that maybe I would want to try the practice she went to. I thought, what the heck might as well, and I scheduled an appointment with Dr. Franklin. I immediatly fell in love with her. I told her about my previous doctors appointments and how I felt they thought I was still very young and how they had mentioned that I had "plenty of time to start my family". She immediatley took action and ordered more blood work (this time to check for things that were actually consistent with PCOS). I had mentioned how messed up my cycles were: 22 days here 40 days there and she prescribed me 2 prescriptions. Provera (to restart my period) and Clomid (to help with ovulation).

After I had my blood drawn I went and got my prescriptions filled and headed home to start the waiting game again. I was super excited because I had heard some good news about Clomid and for sure felt this was it, we would finally be able to get pregnant. I took the Provera on day 45 and started my cycle shortly after and began Clomid on day 3. I tested for ovulation starting on day 10 and to my surprise and disappointment, no positive result. I was scheduled to go back in for more blood work to check and see if I had ovulated and I remember thinking to myself, this is crazy I know I didn’t ovulate. The call from the doctor proved me wrong. According to the blood work I had ovulated (it just didn’t show up in my urine…so who knows if I was actually ovulating with previous tests I took. The blood work also came back consistent with PCOS. By the end of the month I had added to the number of pregnancy tests I had taken as well as to the number of negative pregnancy tests I had gotten. Granted that it can take more than one round of Clomid, Anthony and I had discussed and prayed about our decision to persue this first step in fertility treatment. We both agreed that if the Lord wanted us to have biological babies of our own, then we would allow Him to do so without the use of fertility treatments. **I know some have chosen to use the help of modern science and technology to help grow their families, and I think that is wonderful! We just felt as a family that that was not something the Lord was calling us to do**

Fast forward to November 2011 and adoption began popping up in my mind. Anthony and I had discussed this topic and had both agreed that we would love to adopt even if we had biological children. I'll add here that I was adopted and am SO SO thankful that my parents chose to adopt me. I feel a blog post coming on about that topic...I began praying about it and thought maybe the Lord was leading us to start this journey. Our youth pastor’s wife, recommended a book called Adopted for Life by Russell Moore. I began reading it and couldn’t put it down! Anthony and I also read it together at night until we had finished it. Let me say it is one of the most life changing books you will ever read. It puts such a different perspective on adopting and it’s something I would recommend everyone read. It out right asked us “did we want to be parents or just pass on our genes…”

 

I guess I should mention that during this whole journey we had not mentioned anything to our parents…nothing! However, my mom did find out I was not on birth control back in February when I had a kidney stone and went to the ER. She had been bringing up the subject on different occasions and I would always reroute our conversation. Needless to say I'm sure she was happy to finally have her answer! And, might I add..I have never been in so much pain before in my life!! I remember the nurse asked me as she was wheeling me down for a catscan if I had any children. I told her no and she told me that this was great practice for labor and that if I can get through this I can get through having a baby....I'm anxious to compare the two.

Who would have thought something this small could cause so much pain!!

As December approached us little did we were in for a big surprise...
 

The Journey Begins

WARNING:  There might possibly be a little TMI for some...


Anthony and I spent our 1 year anniversary in Helen, GA. A friend of Anthony's managed one of the hotels there and offered for us to come spend the weekend up there free of charge. Did someone say free?? I'm all about good deals, free stuff = even better! So we packed our bags and headed for Helen. I've been to Helen plenty of times but it's always nice to go back and visit. We spent out weekend walking through the little town, going tubing, playing putt putt, and going to Unicoi State Park and Fred's Famous Peanuts. Let's just say you can do Helen in an entire day, and we were ready to get home after spending 2 nights up there, but it was fun, memorable, and relaxing!

Stopped to have some fun while playing putt putt

 

We decided to take a little hike

During our stay we came to the decision that we would begin the process of trying to start a family. Anthony was still in school full time/working full time and I would be finishing my degree that December. We knew we had wanted to wait until at least one of us was finished with school and figured we would do the whole "not try but if it happened great" plan to begin. After all the Lord has the perfect timing anyway. I was super excited since I had been wanting to start our family. Anthony on the other hand was a little apprehensive, but understandably so. He's the head of our house and the bread winner so of course I can understand a few nerves when thinking about the idea of expanding our family.

Okay, before you start thinking I'm some crazy person...I know it can take some couples quite a while to conceive. While others are extremely blessed to get pregnant after the first month of being off of birth control...and I am not one to have the best patience in the world when it comes to me wanting things. Funny how the Lord works..as you will see later...

So, with that being said, after a few months I began to wonder what was going on?? And, to spare you the details let's just say I wasn't expreiencing any of the normal signs of ovulation. I took the plunge and bought some ovulation strips and after a few months of no positives...I decided I was going to schedule an OB/GYN fertility visit. Here was my thinking: I would rather go and see if everything was '"ok" than keep trying for a year only to find out something was wrong...

January 7, 2011 was our first appiontment with Dr. Walker. It was pretty short and sweet and to the point. He mentioned I could possibly have PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome). Some of the symptoms I noticeably had were weight gain, acne, and problems ovulating.  Dr. Walker nicely recommended trying to lose some weight to see if that would help. Not that I had an overly abundant amount of weight to lose, but I had definitely gained a little since we had gotten married. And that was that.

My graduation gift from mom and dad were some personal training sessions with Marion Candino (I love her!). She had trained me before our wedding and had whipped me into awesome shape so I was super excited. We were on our way to getting pregnant, or so we thought. The weight did not come off as easily as I thought it would (or like it usually does). Now part of that could possibly be blamed on PCOS (it can make it difficult to lose weight), but I think the other part of the blame can be put on myself. I love to eat and I wasn't necessarily eating how I probably should have been. I'll also add for one reason or another I kept thinking in my head how dumb it was to lose weight, get pregnant (hopefully) and then gain that weight right back…and then try to lose it again.

I continued taking ovulation tests, and by this time I should have bought stock in the companies because I was spending a small fortune on these things! Not to mention my cycles were so crazy! I would go as long as 50 days sometimes before I would start. I had lost about 10 pounds over the course of about 5 months, but there were still no positive results. It was time for another call to the doctor. This time I set up a consultation with Dr. Campbell. She took the investigation a little bit further by ordering some blood work to test for things like: thyroid, FSH levels, etc. This blood work was done after I was supposed to have ovulated to see if I really had. Blood was taken and the wait for a call was on. It only took a couple days and I got a call from a nurse. She was pretty friendly and told me everything came back normal but that I didn’t ovulate (big surprise there). I asked her what I should do and she replied with “nothing, just keep taking the ovulation tests” Right... keep spending a small fortune for the same results, no thanks. It was time to get a second opinion from another doctor’s office.

Once Upon a Time

Rather than diving right into where we are at in life at the present moment, I think I'll give a little background as to when this love story began...

After graduating from highschool, I attended Piedmont College in Demorest, Ga with one of my good friends Ashley. It was fantastic!! We roomed together, played on the golf team together (don't let that fool you, I wasn't that good), and were basically inseparable. 


Golf trips were SO much fun!

One day in January, one of Ashley's friend's mothers called to tell her that her son would be wrestling about 5 minutes from Piedmont. Ashley asked if I would like to go that Saturday to watch him, and I said sure. Wrestling though?? I didn't like wreslting...but I knew who this guy was and that he was a HUNK, so of course it was a no brainer that I would join her!!

...Cool Fact: Ashley grew up playing softball with several girls we went to high school with. One however, went to Dacula, her name was Jessica Barfield (my sister-in-law). Jessica's brother Anthony (my husband) enjoyed wrestling as a hobby and would wrestle on the weekends while he was in the Marines. I will never forget one day during our Junior year, myself, Ashley R., Jessica S., and Klair W. were hanging out at our lockers. I noticed a picture Klair had posted on the inside of her locker of herself and a hot guy! I quickly asked her who in the world that was and she told me it was Jessica Barfield's brother at one of his wreslting shows...Who would have ever thought that 5 years later I would be married to that "hot guy" in the picture I saw that day during our junior year!!

Anyhow...we ended up going to this wrestling show Saturday evening, and quickly noticed that we were waaay over dressed and wondered what we had gotten ourselves in to! To make a long story short we ended up going out to eat at Waffle House after the show with Anthony and his good friend Chad. Anthony likes to tell people he took me to Waffle House on our first "date"...Gee what a romantic, haha! The rest as they say....is history!

Piedmont golf banquet 2007

We dated for a year and a half until Anthony proposed..oh gosh that could be a whole post by itself...but it was the sweetest thing! He surprised me and proposed on the outside steps of our church after the 11 o'clock service. It was wonderful because all of our family was there and were able to take actual "in the moment" photos!



August 17, 2009

Love mom's face..haha!

 Our wedding day was June 27, 2009 and was the BEST day ever!! I couldn't possibly put all the details in this post or you would be here all night reading. Maybe I'll post about that later...But here are a couple pictures to enjoy =)

Pictures on the square

 

...And they lived happily ever after!

This One's For You Danielle...

For several months now (maybe even a year) one of my life long friends, Danielle Butler, has been harassing me to start a blog. I finally bit the bullet and decided to start one. Bare with me as this is all new..and I'll try my best to figure this thing out!!...Feel free to share any tips/suggestions/short cuts etc.

The main reason I started this blog is to keep up with everything that happens during this pregnancy =) I was already journaling everything, but this way I guess I can make one of those neat blog books I always hear about!

Anyhow, hope you're excited Danielle, Love you!